Stephen Montoya
Monday's reopening of Reata will not be the restaurant's last. Mike Micallef is still in search of a permanent home.
Reata’s third iteration in Fort Worth will be open for business on Monday at 530 Throckmorton St., just a couple of blocks west of its former home.
It will feature the same Western ambiance the restaurant has made its brand for 30 years. And the fare is just the same. The menu hasn’t changed.
On Friday, contractors and kitchen staff worked feverishly in preparing to open the restaurant’s temporary home. Owner Mike Micallef is still in search of a permanent base.
“We're still looking for other locations in downtown, mainly because the old location was bigger, but we wanted to be in downtown Fort Worth just because we've been in downtown Fort Worth since 1996,” Micallef said. “I think we get other business that other parts of our city do not get. There are 3,500 hotel rooms here and that hotel traffic's very important to us.”
The move represents a return to The Tower. The restaurant’s first home was on the 35th floor of the then Bank One building until Mother Nature’s unplanned visit in the form of a tornado in 2000 made the edifice a redevelopment project.
After the tornado, Reata moved to the old Caravan of Dreams in Sundance Square, where it did business for more than 20 years.
Micallef and staff learned in May 2022 that the restaurant would need to find another location after not receiving an offer to renew its lease from Sundance Square Management LLC. Micallef said at the time he was taking recommendations on a new home for the restaurant. Fans of the restaurant, including actor Barry Corbin, obliged, sending in suggestions by the dozens.
The lease expired on June 30. The restaurant’s catering division, Reata on the Road, continued to operate unabated through the transition.
The transition was made easier by the fact that the new location had been a restaurant. The new Reata was once Cantina Laredo, which closed in 2020. So, a bunch of the restaurant infrastructure was already in place.
“We’ve been at this for four months,” Micallef said. “And, yeah, this location is a bit smaller than what we had, but we’re happy we actually found a place that could still serve our regulars. In fact, we’re actually closer to some of them.”
Renovations to the over 7,300-square-foot location were carried out by Dennett Construction, and the interior design was done by Anna Harris Coker of Annah Interiors. The bar, the first thing anyone will see when entering the revolving door entrance from the street, has a new countertop and three niche spaces for bottles and more. There are also two private dining areas on each side of the main dining room.
“The biggest change to this location was the private dining rooms,” Micallef said. “That's been really important to us at Reata because that is something that we had when we originally opened up here at the top of the Bank One building. And I think that's one of the things that differentiates us from a lot of restaurants.”
Originally opened in 1995 in Alpine by Al Micallef, Reata took its name from the movie Giant, starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and James Dean. The restaurant wasn’t far from where the outdoor scenes of the movie were shot.
The reopening is a continuation of that growing legacy, not to mention a return of sorts to normalcy, Micallef said.
“It's great. Before this I didn’t know what to do on a Friday night because at 7:30 I should be in the restaurant seeing people. Now, I know I can get back to doing what I’m used to. We're eager to start this new chapter and continue crafting memorable experiences for our guests.”
Hours of Operation
Lunch: Monday-Sunday 11 a.m.- 2:30 p.m.
Dinner: Sunday-Thursday 5 p.m.- 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 5 p.m.-10 p.m.
Brunch: Saturday and Sunday, 11am.-2:30 p.m.
Bar – Monday-Sunday, 11am–10 p.m. (Full Service during the above hours.)