One of the city’s most acclaimed barbecue restaurants is expanding: Panther City BBQ will open a second location later this year on the city’s north side, at 1540 N. Main Street, in the century-old building last occupied by La Playa Maya.
Since opening on E. Hattie Street in the Near Southside, Panther City BBQ has become one of the driving forces behind Fort Worth’s craft barbecue scene, helping turn the city into a destination for barbecue lovers near and far. Founded by longtime friends Chris Magallanes and Ernest Morales, it is one of the few Fort Worth restaurants recognized by Michelin, earning Recommended honors in both 2024 and 2025. It’s also a mainstay on Texas Monthly’s lists of the state’s best barbecue joints, once cracking the Top 10.
Panther City sets itself apart from other local ’cue joints by finding inventive ways to fuse barbecue with Mexican food, from brisket-topped elote to a wide assortment of smoked meat tacos.
Magallanes says one of the goals with the new restaurant will be to build upon Panther City’s Mexi-cue offerings while adding straightforward Mexican dishes and Mexican coastal cuisine.
“We will be expanding into more Tex-Mex options as well as some seafood options as our tip of the hat to La Playa’s history in the location,” he says.
According to the Star-Telegram, which broke the news, the eye-catching red-brick, two-story building was originally a city police substation. Later, it was used for local government offices, a library, a DPS office and, eventually, as the home of the North Side Lions Club.
But for nearly three decades, it was the north side location of La Playa Maya, a family-run mini-chain of Tex-Mex restaurants. After 28 years, the north side restaurant closed in July; locations on Hemphill Street on the south side and Sunset Drive on the west side remain open, as does a restaurant in Hudson Oaks.
Magallanes says he and Morales weren’t exactly looking to open a second location. But it’s a high-visibility space in a high-traffic area in what is essentially a turnkey building — kind of hard to pass that up.
“We actually weren’t looking at all,” he says. “When we got word La Playa Maya was leaving, we knew we would have to move quick.”
Panther City BBQ started out in 2018 as a food trailer, which Magallanes and Morales parked next to the Republic Street Bar, where Heim BBQ parked its original food truck. As Panther City’s popularity grew, so did the business.
But instead of moving, the two slowly built a restaurant piece by piece. First came a permanent building with a walk-up window and outdoor seating. Magallanes and Morales then took over the next-door Republic Street Bar and turned the entire footprint into a mammoth indoor-outdoor restaurant.
The two opened a downtown spinoff called Fort Worth Barbecue Co. in the old Bailey’s BBQ building on Taylor Street. But with an abbreviated menu and limited seating, it’s not exactly a full-on second location of Panther City.
While the La Playa Maya building is practically ready to roll, Magallanes says it’ll be this winter before the new location opens. It’ll take some time, he says, to build an on-site smokehouse, as well as reconfigure the dining spaces to match their plans.
Keep an eye on their progress at instagram.com/panthercitybbq/
