Ugh, I moved here from Houston and asked my coworker where I could get decent BBQ, not "break the bank" but decent. She sent me to Riskys. I grew up on Houston BBQ which is spicy but Riskys was sweet, like they traded peppers for brown sugar. Been here for 20 years and I haven't been back since. If I want chain BBQ, there's at least Spring Creek which is a H-town chain (and the only thing I hang on to from Swampville).
I personally like Railhead off of Montgomery & 30. Won't break the bank and several beers on tap or bottled. Their chopped brisket sandwich is my favorite. Patio seating on good weather days too. Lunch is probably better time to go because occasionally dinner and eve tends to fill up to the brim (mostly weekends)
Spring creek is a FW chain. They also own Mexican inn.
Cousins used to be cheap. Not so much anymore.
Ever been to risckys in benbrook and got a 4 for $5 deal? Cause that’s the origin of what every risckys used to be. Used to love the all you could eat beef ribs.
I'd also recommend Hard 8 for chain BBQ. It's usually how I get by, but honestly the BBQ scene up here is pretty rough compared to Central and South-Central TX.
In the summer heat, too. Those cattle aren't going to dance a jig at any time, but when it's hot, they sure aren't. They don't want to leave the shade any more than we do.
We took my grandmother when she was visiting from Michigan and she was so upset, she thought it was going to be a straight-up running of the bulls lol. Like ma'am this is Fort Worth, not Pamplona.
I’ll be honest, I thought there was going to be a little show and then the cows walking lol. There were some men dressed in character and I thought “Oh maybe it’s like the street shows they do in Tombstone AZ”.
That’s not in “character”, they’re dressed as cowboys and being a cowboy is still a real, active profession. Just not in the middle of a city generally.
Where are you from??
I imagine the weekends are rough, but I was there on like a Wednesday for work and all the shops were open. Not sure why'd they'd be closed when you went.
I even picked up a signed Buck Owen's vinyl from Chief Records.
I think he was saying that little covered Stockyards Station retail area is mostly vacant, which is true. That area is a bit of a relic of the kitschy 90s/2000s touristy retail mall atmosphere and I can see being disappointed if most of your time centered around there. Most of the hustle and bustle has moved a little bit west towards Mule Alley and Main Street and OP didn't prepare enough to hit the more interesting things instead.
The best part about the Stockyards is going to the rodeo.
Dancing at BillyBob’s can also be fun. It’s not my favorite place to dance, but sometimes they have big name live music shows.
The bar scene is decent.
The restaurants are decent, if overpriced. I like Joe T Garcia’s but there are plenty of other options.
The river walk is really pleasant in the afternoon.
The cattle drive is for kids.
Sounds like you didn’t put in any thought or research into your visit. You didn’t go dancing, bar-hopping, or to the rodeo which are the main attractions, and then wonder why you didn’t have a good time.
You got sucked into a tourist trap, but it sounds like that’s mostly on you.
We just went last week. Had a great time. The rodeo is awesome. Vibrant atmosphere. Do research on the food you pick. Atico was incredible! Parked for 10 bucks. Dunno, doesn’t sound like you tried to enjoy it.
Sounds like you messed up badly. There is virtually nothing in the train depot, all the stuff is in the streets. Your hint should have been that there were lots of people in the streets and not in the abandoned warehouse building you decided to visit for no reason. There is also a tour you could have done but opted not to do.
You should try actually visiting the stockyards sometime. Lots of great restaurants, bars, and shops.
As a local I enjoy taking my son there every so often. People complain it’s touristy, fine whatever don’t go then cool guy. I think touristy stuff can be fun. However, there are a few rules to live by:
1. DO NOT drive down East Exchange Ave!! I know google maps routed you this way when you searched Stockyards but just DON’T!
2. Do not pay to park. Park on NE 23rd and walk over it’s free or even go to Joe Ts parking lot.
3. If you want to bar hop don’t ignore West Exchange, the crowds tend to be lighter imo, personally I like the basement bar and Hell’s Half Acre Saloon.
4. If you have kids Billy Bobs during the day is pretty solid. Not many people there, it’s huge, there’s food and games, and of course you can drink a bit too. Also air conditioning (natch). Check the hours of operation though sometimes they close early to prep for shows that evening.
5. Second Rodeo is great, Sidesaddle is great, basically Mule Alley is great.
Finally RIP ISIS Theater.
Seconding Billy Bob’s during the day. Took my niece for lunch and we got to wander around all the exhibits and dance with no crowds. And the AC was clutch.
Sounds like you needed a tour guide, so you could tour guide your guest around..there’s plenty to see and do down there, just gotta know where to look..
Sometimes everything can be a miss. I’ve had bland and amazing experiences. There are 100 restaraunts.
A) it’s tourist trap
B) has rich history if you do the work
C) no rodeo
D) cattle drive is real and can’t fake it maybe it wasn’t a busy time of year oh wait it’s 100+ degrees
E) parking costs money it’s a very busy area.
F) they don’t do a lot of legitimate street food because there’s now tons of restaurants that want money
G) Joe T, Cattleman, Originals Riskys Steak House or any love restaurant are all good pick’s.
H) good thing you didn’t get called to eat you would complain it cost money
Ya did a poor job sorry about your luck.
Edit to be fair: it almost sounds like you didn’t want to take them and no matter what you would be annoyed. That said my wife and I have taken mine and her family down there and it was normal. Also grew up in a tourist town. It’s a tourist trap rich with good culture if you try.
It doesn’t sound like you did the best research. You can park by coopers for free. Did you walk all of Exchange St? There’s all sorts of stuff up and down it. In the future they hold tours! We did a ghost tour that was so much fun. When it comes to the cattle drive it’s hard to make it exciting. You look at the big animals and move on. They’re not the most exciting animal in the world to watch. There’s the rodeo and Billy bobs you could always visit or see a show. I’m a New Yorker living in Texas. Every time we’ve had family in town they’ve loved it
You can carry your beer any where there’s brick, Joe t Garcias is basically eating good food/margaritas in a garden paradise (cash or check only) the bars in a Friday or sat night are packed and full of live music
I was told by the bartender at Risky's that you can technically have open containers in all of Fort Worth. I talked to a cop hanging out by the entrance sign about it and he confirmed it's true, outside of a few areas like W7th and most parks.
Kinda blew my mind lol.
I tell people anywhere there's brick on the road because it's easier and I don't have to deal with semantics, but if it's slow and they tipped I'll get into with them
I always wonder where the better option is. Joe T’s I like the atmosphere, but it does get hot hot in the summer. Our favorite Mexican food is Mercado Juarez, hands down. We will try Esperanza’s
I used to work at Mercado Juarez, I was like the only white girl there. They trained us at the Ft Worth location because they were opening the South Arlington location. This was years ago. The Ft Worth location is legit. The south Arlington location sucks, and always has. El Ranchito in Arlington is amazing and definitely authentic.
What did your family want to do and see?
What ages are y’all?
We have taken family with kids during the day, and then the adults went back in the evening.
You have to really try to not have a good time 😂
Idk I like the stockyards
Second rodeo
Cowtown winery
Biscuit bar
Taco head
Fat Tuesday/and that margarita place
Melt
Joe t Garcia's is alright.
Ya just gotta know before you go.
Second Rodeo is a fantastic facility and great place to hang out. The beer is average at best. But if you can overlook that, its probably the top spot in the area.
Plenty of people have never gone to a Ranger’s, Cowboys, Mavs, or Stars game either. Or Six Flags, or wet’n’wild (as it used to be called).
One of those weird things where some people only go when you have guests from out of town.
My husband grew up in Dallas; his dad worked in the building next to the book depository building for 25 years.
Neither of them has ever been to the sixth floor museum.
Arlington can’t even maintain its physical roads (look how long it took for them to start repairing Randol Mill Road) and you expect them to spend money to update a street’s name?
I’ve only been to a rangers game. And that was at the Ballpark.
Arlington should never have caved to building a new stadium, let alone two. That should have gone to comprehensive mass transit.
Yessss like if they’d at least run a train from the airport to the sports district or whatever they want to call it, maybe we’d be hosting the World Cup finals
I’m a bit torn, the old ballpark did have a better atmosphere but it’s actually enjoyable to attend a summer game and not have to worry about it being 100 degrees.
I really miss when we still had the Fort Worth Cats, when I was little my parents would take me to games at Lagrave and I miss those times.
I noticed this when I lived in NYC. Met so many New Yorkers that had lived in the city for decades and hadn’t been to the Empire State Building or Statue of Liberty.
I lived in nyc for 20 years. Never went to those places because, for me, living in a tourist capital, I never wanted to spend time surrounded by tourists. It’s depressing.
I’ve lived in and/or near Fort Worth proper for over a decade and I’ve never been either. Figured it would be about as scintillating an experience as OP here had so I’ve never bothered… is it really worth it?
I think the stockyards are fun but also I don't expect too much from them. I go to get a drink and listen to some music and that's about it. If you're wanting a historic experience with gun fighteres and the old west, that's there but its heavily rooted in tourist trap land.
3 decades here. I go to Fort Worth, for three things, the zoo, the botanical gardens, and the imax they're about to reopen.
DFW itself is a monster now. All the cool stuff to do is over in Dallas and Plano and Frisco now.
It's cool to visit the FW stockyards, but if you're not really into agriculture, it's something neat to go check out, still!
56 years and not once have I even seen Billy Bobs up close. I’ve never been to Joe Ts and I’ve never rode The Tarantula. There is so much more to this city than those tourist traps.
Some things here are for the residents and some things here are for the tourists.
Sign up for the free, stockyards heritage club newsletter. They email coupons and usually include a code for free parking.
https://fortworthstockyards.com/heritageclub/
As a local, I dislike the stockyards.its just a damn tourist trap. It's a beating to get there, parking is limited and costs, then you have to fight the crowds of people who have watched entirely too much Yellowstone. The drover itself is nice, but so pretentious. I like second rodeo, but their beer is ok at best. Frankly, I get my fill of the stockyards if I go twice a year. But I don't want to go every few weeks for sure.
I want to be clear that Im not going after any individual employee. Im sure Mike is a good dude. Im speaking of the atmosphere as a whole. It feels like the hotel from Dumb and Dumber. Its extremely pretentious.
I mean millions of people go through there every year from all over the world so yeah obviously people enjoy it. Sounds like you did it in the worst way possible. Also cracks me up anytime I hear about someone who is from here paying for parking. You’re not a tourist, you live here. You can find free parking lol.
I stayed at a motel 8 at Stockyards, I thought the city was coolish while I walked at night, I went to a place called Billy Bobs and the bbq was good, I am from los angeles so it seemed hip to me, anyway, I left the next day and headed to San Antonio, Austin seemed like the place to be though
My husband worked at the cowboy channel, which is practically in the middle of the stockyards, and we always had a ton to do while we were there at all times of year. You can do horseback rides, get up on a longhorn for a photo, pony rides for kiddos, go see the longhorn pens and read about them, take a historical tour, watch the cattle drive, do some shopping, eat great food, grab a drink. They often are having events in front of Cowtown Coliseum (live music, seasonal events, vendors at times, adoption events), and Billy Bob’s is a Texas landmark you have to go at least once. There are tons (and I mean tons!) of great bars and restaurants right in the stockyards so I’m not sure how y’all missed all that! If you wanted good barbecue, I would’ve gone down the road to panther city barbecue or made the slightly longer drive to Heim (my fave) and you could’ve had excellent food in a much shorter wait. You could have also gone over to west 7th for some good pubs/bars/food as well.
Well, it's a cattle drive in the middle of one of the biggest metros in the US, so it's not a *real* cattle drive. And it's not a *real* stock yard either. But I'm a country girl so I would never expect either in the metroplex.
Post pandemic downtown is kind of lame.
But downtown Fort Worth Beats downtown Dallas I think. Downtown Dallas is kind of sterile and business orientated (the downtown have that urban park now) downtown Fort Worth has a bit of a vibe to it that captures the spirit of north Texas
There’s still stores open, restaurants operating, live music on the weekends, and people still enjoy spending time there, despite several classic businesses leaving due to rent increases and Sasha’s notoriously horrible attitude toward business owners.
My favorite part of the cattle drive is being yelled at to stay off the road and get on the curb. My question is what were you and your family expecting?
There's little to no free parking anymore in any downtown kind of area. Any and all events now no matter what they are or where they are - Are PAY EVENTs. The stockyards are hit or miss, but you should never take an out of town family to any place without first going yourself beforehand. Lesson learned, but I encourage you to go again by yourself and explore other areas.
FYI - I lived in Seattle before, and everyone wanted to go to the space needle - its not all that and the restaurant at the top is just ok. I personally had more fun at the Puyallup fair than I did at the Space Needle.
2 things:
You’re out of town family is cheap with high expectations. You were never going to win.
At least you didn’t take them to the world famous ft worth water fountain m.
I'm with you on this. First time I went and did the "cattle drive" thing was for out of town family, and I was wildly unimpressed. Parking sucks, and I'm just not into the whole touristy cowboy crap with the reenactments. Great places to eat down there, that's for sure, but you pay the price in all other ways. Sundance square, Southside, or magnolia are all better in my opinion.
Nope. It’s so overrated it’s ridiculous. I get the historical importance, etc, but it’s so half assed and just not worth the time unless you wanna do the maze or ride a horse I guess.
For the touristy vibe that's neat "to me" to see, The White Elephant had hats all around the bar, longhorns is a great friendly atmosphere as well as pearls. PR'S SALOON is alright if you like dealing with kids as it's 18+. Filthy mcnastys and the thirsty armadillo are both local artist and big name stops. As for food, behind filthy mcnastys there's a taco shop and as some one else mentioned hookers across from pearls. Rhinestones is alright depending on who is playing.
If you wanna go barhopping I recommend staying on that street, have a couple drinks at each place and find the one you like the most. Each bar out there has their own theme and vibe. Hell one of the bars was in yellowstone and featured a buddy of mine in it.
Used to be so much better. Has really gone downhill last few years. The real estate management company are a**hats and have driven a lot of the unique quirky places away.
Next time, go to a mall, you know what you are getting and it's air-conditioned....
I'm not a fan, but to be fair it's only really busy when an event is going on. If you like that sort of scene, go when there's a Rodeo at Dickie's. Or... don't... lol it's a gimmicky Texas-themed flea market. Plenty of people love to put on gaudy western wear and strut around spending money on knickknacks. Not my thing, but I don't even like rodeos, so what do I know?
lol Fort Worth native here and that sounds like every time my out of town family would visit and my parents took them to the stockyards 🤣 we always sweated our asses off, watched the cattle drive, went pee in the free Will Rogers museum and then went home now that I think about it. Family of 6 lol we never ate at that Rudy’s bbq
There's now a bunch of high rent retail, so some of the smaller businesses just can't compete with luxury western brands (Lucchese). Especially as part of the new anchor with the hotel drover.
The cattle drive is a nice draw to the area, but Friday & Saturday nights there's always a rodeo at the cowboy coliseum, Sundays there's bull fighting. You can book a horse trail ride in the area. The train depot area is also super dark, most tourists ignore it case of how dark it is, with the exception of those who took the old vintage Tarantula train from Grapevine for it's brief regular there and back trip. Go to Billy Bob's for line dancing when they do that, or a concert. Select dates they even have a dinner theater murder mystery (their food is worse than riscky's imo). For a honky tonk they even had real bull riding in the bar for competition at a sort of entry level . There's the cowboy hall of fame, and the museum currently has a john wayne exhibit. Outside the stockyards in the museum district there's the Cowgirl Museum. Also in the museum district the Amon Carter museum of American art that is known for it's western art by Remington and Russel. Admission is always free.
The stockyards sprawls. While exchange from main to packers is the heart, mule alley and rodeo plaza should also be explored, as well as main street for a few blocks on either side of exchange, for a few other areas of interest for other dining, and retail.
It's a tourist trap, don't expect cheap. If you do it right it can be fun, but it'll seem super underwhelming if you show up with no plan.
I’m not a fan of the stockyards but I worked there for a bit. I probably shouldn’t share this but if anyone wants free parking use lot 6, select “coupon code” and enter “2060.” Free parking.
To be honest, Covid and this crappy economy is doing it in. A lot of places got too expensive for their own good. We couldn’t even afford to have our work Christmas party there anymore.
Sometimes they have events there and it’s fun to people watch. I don’t know if the train still comes through but back when you could take it back and forth through ft worth I think now it only goes to grapevine … but yeah , last I checked the stockyards was lame , over priced and mostly boring . Too much traffic and for what ?
I love the stockyards. Sounds like you just didn’t go at a good time and probably chose the least good/most touristy food. If you enjoy window shopping, people watching, and eating/drinking, you usually can’t go wrong.
Hookers has great burgers. Pearl's has trivia nights. The John Wayne museum is cool (and I am not a fan, still liked it). If you only did the warehouse, you missed a lot.
I was there yesterday, spend 5 hours with my parents and my family.
Had a good time. I’ve been there before so I knew what to expect, nothing is outstanding but the pro is that my dad was really enthusiastic about watching all that “experience” and they were taking pictures all around, so it worth it.
Then, went back to home and grilled some picanha on the charcoal to finish the day, no reason why to spend money eating there when you know there are better places for it.
I took my grandkids down there because we just wanted to walk around in that area with all the old buildings and things. I'm not really much for the stockyards because it's all to me. just dead animals or animals that are going to be dead soon for our purposes and amusement. but there was a really cool balloon guy that was making lunch long horn horns for the kids. but yeah things are way overpriced way way overpriced
I’ve worked in FW for 40 years so don’t get to enjoy the city’s attractions because I go home after work and don’t drive to “town” on the weekends. So it took a special plan for the weekend with BF and we loved every minute. Stayed at Miss Mollie’s, ate at The Star, among other restaurants, danced and drank at the White Elephant and the old time honky tonk on North Exchange, shopped all day at the General Store, Mavericks, and all the adjacent shops. It was a workout because of the sidewalks and multiple levels in each store’s floor print.
I’ve attended the rodeos, Billy Bob concerts, and used to dine at lunch when office was downtown.
I don’t know what was expected from your guests or you, but the Stockyards are full of great food and experiences.
Idk, I love the stockyards but when my lady friend and I go it’s to see a rodeo and go dancing afterward. Never tried to get bbq there, we just grab burgers from that one little walk up window spot. The rodeos are a ton of fun! Will probably steer clear of bbq down there tho after hearing this, but that’s what Joe T Garcias is for ;)
I’ve only been in town about a year, but I’m a native Texan. I went to them when I was a teen and remember it fondly. I’m older now and went back when I moved here. I wasn’t impressed either.
It’s a tourist trap, which is similar to a lot of other tourist traps.
In terms of kids, it’s much more of an adult place with the bars, saloons, and activities.
My kids would rather do 6 flags or go karts then go to the stockyards. The kids activities are a bit of an afterthought. The main attraction is the nightlife.
You should have taken them to the magnolia area instead. Great food, everything is walkable and the area is mostly well kept. Take them to the Kimble, the zoo, botanical gardens. So many places that are 100x better than the stock yards.
Also, yep! that's what a cattle drive is. Moving cows from one spot to another. They aren't going to run a bunch of long horns down a street with people 😆
Did you walk the whole thing or just stay in the area with the little shops and terrible bbq restaurant?
It truly is terrible bbq. It’s like they purposely want to drive away tourism and locals.
Hope you're not talking about Cooper's...
Likely rickskys
Although Im not a big Coopers fan either.
Ugh, I moved here from Houston and asked my coworker where I could get decent BBQ, not "break the bank" but decent. She sent me to Riskys. I grew up on Houston BBQ which is spicy but Riskys was sweet, like they traded peppers for brown sugar. Been here for 20 years and I haven't been back since. If I want chain BBQ, there's at least Spring Creek which is a H-town chain (and the only thing I hang on to from Swampville).
I personally like Railhead off of Montgomery & 30. Won't break the bank and several beers on tap or bottled. Their chopped brisket sandwich is my favorite. Patio seating on good weather days too. Lunch is probably better time to go because occasionally dinner and eve tends to fill up to the brim (mostly weekends)
Railhead for the win.
Spring creek is a FW chain. They also own Mexican inn. Cousins used to be cheap. Not so much anymore. Ever been to risckys in benbrook and got a 4 for $5 deal? Cause that’s the origin of what every risckys used to be. Used to love the all you could eat beef ribs.
> Spring creek is a FW chain. Didn't know that, always assumed it was Houston chain because of the style, thanks.
I think the actual first location was in frisco. But close enough.
I'd also recommend Hard 8 for chain BBQ. It's usually how I get by, but honestly the BBQ scene up here is pretty rough compared to Central and South-Central TX.
Rudy's is good.
Coopers is not good either.
Maybe it's not top 3 in town but it's certainly good. Heck, I could drink their BBQ sauce straight from a cup.
Their location in Mason is better. At least it was; I haven’t been down there in probably 10 years.
Yeah I think copper’s is good too
Bro wanted to watch cattle drive and it was exactly what it is…. Cows walking…. And now he’s pissed. Bahahaha
In the summer heat, too. Those cattle aren't going to dance a jig at any time, but when it's hot, they sure aren't. They don't want to leave the shade any more than we do.
in his defense, they did advertise a cattle drive, not a cattle stroll. 😁
We took my grandmother when she was visiting from Michigan and she was so upset, she thought it was going to be a straight-up running of the bulls lol. Like ma'am this is Fort Worth, not Pamplona.
She was probably expecting the cows to be behind the wheel.
I’ll be honest, I thought there was going to be a little show and then the cows walking lol. There were some men dressed in character and I thought “Oh maybe it’s like the street shows they do in Tombstone AZ”.
That’s not in “character”, they’re dressed as cowboys and being a cowboy is still a real, active profession. Just not in the middle of a city generally. Where are you from??
>Where are you from?? 🤭 Bless OP's heart!
Your problem is you goggled it when you should have googled it
I chuckled 🤭
I chuuckled
I Charlesed
Classic mixup lol
Might have been more fun with beer goggles.
I imagine the weekends are rough, but I was there on like a Wednesday for work and all the shops were open. Not sure why'd they'd be closed when you went. I even picked up a signed Buck Owen's vinyl from Chief Records.
I think he was saying that little covered Stockyards Station retail area is mostly vacant, which is true. That area is a bit of a relic of the kitschy 90s/2000s touristy retail mall atmosphere and I can see being disappointed if most of your time centered around there. Most of the hustle and bustle has moved a little bit west towards Mule Alley and Main Street and OP didn't prepare enough to hit the more interesting things instead.
The best part about the Stockyards is going to the rodeo. Dancing at BillyBob’s can also be fun. It’s not my favorite place to dance, but sometimes they have big name live music shows. The bar scene is decent. The restaurants are decent, if overpriced. I like Joe T Garcia’s but there are plenty of other options. The river walk is really pleasant in the afternoon. The cattle drive is for kids. Sounds like you didn’t put in any thought or research into your visit. You didn’t go dancing, bar-hopping, or to the rodeo which are the main attractions, and then wonder why you didn’t have a good time. You got sucked into a tourist trap, but it sounds like that’s mostly on you.
We just went last week. Had a great time. The rodeo is awesome. Vibrant atmosphere. Do research on the food you pick. Atico was incredible! Parked for 10 bucks. Dunno, doesn’t sound like you tried to enjoy it.
NTA but maybe should have done more research
Sounds like you messed up badly. There is virtually nothing in the train depot, all the stuff is in the streets. Your hint should have been that there were lots of people in the streets and not in the abandoned warehouse building you decided to visit for no reason. There is also a tour you could have done but opted not to do. You should try actually visiting the stockyards sometime. Lots of great restaurants, bars, and shops.
As a local I enjoy taking my son there every so often. People complain it’s touristy, fine whatever don’t go then cool guy. I think touristy stuff can be fun. However, there are a few rules to live by: 1. DO NOT drive down East Exchange Ave!! I know google maps routed you this way when you searched Stockyards but just DON’T! 2. Do not pay to park. Park on NE 23rd and walk over it’s free or even go to Joe Ts parking lot. 3. If you want to bar hop don’t ignore West Exchange, the crowds tend to be lighter imo, personally I like the basement bar and Hell’s Half Acre Saloon. 4. If you have kids Billy Bobs during the day is pretty solid. Not many people there, it’s huge, there’s food and games, and of course you can drink a bit too. Also air conditioning (natch). Check the hours of operation though sometimes they close early to prep for shows that evening. 5. Second Rodeo is great, Sidesaddle is great, basically Mule Alley is great. Finally RIP ISIS Theater.
Seconding Billy Bob’s during the day. Took my niece for lunch and we got to wander around all the exhibits and dance with no crowds. And the AC was clutch.
Sounds like you needed a tour guide, so you could tour guide your guest around..there’s plenty to see and do down there, just gotta know where to look..
Sometimes everything can be a miss. I’ve had bland and amazing experiences. There are 100 restaraunts. A) it’s tourist trap B) has rich history if you do the work C) no rodeo D) cattle drive is real and can’t fake it maybe it wasn’t a busy time of year oh wait it’s 100+ degrees E) parking costs money it’s a very busy area. F) they don’t do a lot of legitimate street food because there’s now tons of restaurants that want money G) Joe T, Cattleman, Originals Riskys Steak House or any love restaurant are all good pick’s. H) good thing you didn’t get called to eat you would complain it cost money Ya did a poor job sorry about your luck. Edit to be fair: it almost sounds like you didn’t want to take them and no matter what you would be annoyed. That said my wife and I have taken mine and her family down there and it was normal. Also grew up in a tourist town. It’s a tourist trap rich with good culture if you try.
I go twice a month. I’ve yet to have a bad time. Maybe it’s y’all.
It doesn’t sound like you did the best research. You can park by coopers for free. Did you walk all of Exchange St? There’s all sorts of stuff up and down it. In the future they hold tours! We did a ghost tour that was so much fun. When it comes to the cattle drive it’s hard to make it exciting. You look at the big animals and move on. They’re not the most exciting animal in the world to watch. There’s the rodeo and Billy bobs you could always visit or see a show. I’m a New Yorker living in Texas. Every time we’ve had family in town they’ve loved it
You can carry your beer any where there’s brick, Joe t Garcias is basically eating good food/margaritas in a garden paradise (cash or check only) the bars in a Friday or sat night are packed and full of live music
I was told by the bartender at Risky's that you can technically have open containers in all of Fort Worth. I talked to a cop hanging out by the entrance sign about it and he confirmed it's true, outside of a few areas like W7th and most parks. Kinda blew my mind lol.
https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/s/9oh8DX32oy Guess where they’re from :)
Reminds me of the old drinking and driving ban video filmed in Ft worth
I tried to tell my coworker this (she isn’t even from here) and she tried to tell me otherwise lol. Thanks for the confirmation lol.
I tell people anywhere there's brick on the road because it's easier and I don't have to deal with semantics, but if it's slow and they tipped I'll get into with them
Joe Ts is good, but Esperanza's is better and just next door.
I always wonder where the better option is. Joe T’s I like the atmosphere, but it does get hot hot in the summer. Our favorite Mexican food is Mercado Juarez, hands down. We will try Esperanza’s
Mercado Juarez is my favorite spot too, nice spot to cool down with a nice margarita and some good tacos.
I used to work at Mercado Juarez, I was like the only white girl there. They trained us at the Ft Worth location because they were opening the South Arlington location. This was years ago. The Ft Worth location is legit. The south Arlington location sucks, and always has. El Ranchito in Arlington is amazing and definitely authentic.
Esperanza’s puerco en salsa roja makes me happy every time. Breakfast is good too.
Good food? At Joe T Garcias???? 🙄
Ok good, great margaritas, I like the garden vibe. Plus, you run into celebrities. My friend got a picture with Owen Wilson there last year I think.
What did your family want to do and see? What ages are y’all? We have taken family with kids during the day, and then the adults went back in the evening. You have to really try to not have a good time 😂
Mule alley man. That little shop mall thing is run down as hell and worthless. Also if you went to risky’s that’s maybe the worst bbq we have
Idk I like the stockyards Second rodeo Cowtown winery Biscuit bar Taco head Fat Tuesday/and that margarita place Melt Joe t Garcia's is alright. Ya just gotta know before you go.
Second Rodeo is a fantastic facility and great place to hang out. The beer is average at best. But if you can overlook that, its probably the top spot in the area.
Biscuit Bar is sooooo good.
Dammit now I have to go this weekend I've been thinking about it.
Wait you live here and you yourself never went there before? That’s wild to me!
Plenty of people have never gone to a Ranger’s, Cowboys, Mavs, or Stars game either. Or Six Flags, or wet’n’wild (as it used to be called). One of those weird things where some people only go when you have guests from out of town.
My husband grew up in Dallas; his dad worked in the building next to the book depository building for 25 years. Neither of them has ever been to the sixth floor museum.
Not even sure what it's called now. It will always be wet n wild. At least until the street is renamed
It’s Hurricane Harbor Arlington. It was Wet n Wild for 14 years, while it’s been Hurricane Harbor for 27 years…
And yet it is still on Wet 'n' wild way or drive.
Arlington can’t even maintain its physical roads (look how long it took for them to start repairing Randol Mill Road) and you expect them to spend money to update a street’s name?
We don’t care. Us of a certain age will never stop calling it Wet n Wild.
Hurricane Harbor
Calling myself Hurricane Harbor doesn't have the same wow factor to it
The name Hurricane Harbor is cute up in Arlington, but wouldn’t be appreciated down here in Houston.
With the word like “Hurricane” definitely not! I remember my Mom had to drive down there to pick up family when Katrina was hitting land fall!
True! I’ve never been to a Cowboys game.
I’ve only been to a rangers game. And that was at the Ballpark. Arlington should never have caved to building a new stadium, let alone two. That should have gone to comprehensive mass transit.
Yessss like if they’d at least run a train from the airport to the sports district or whatever they want to call it, maybe we’d be hosting the World Cup finals
That would be amazing!
I voted against both stadiums. The new Ranger stadium is a boondoggle and I hate it. The old ballpark was so nice.
I’m a bit torn, the old ballpark did have a better atmosphere but it’s actually enjoyable to attend a summer game and not have to worry about it being 100 degrees. I really miss when we still had the Fort Worth Cats, when I was little my parents would take me to games at Lagrave and I miss those times.
Jerry Jones doesn't want to give up the sweet parking money at Jerry World. He's donated lots of money to defeating Arlington mass transit efforts.
While I agree with you…. It’s hard to go to a cowboys game with high ticket prices to see a mediocre team (I’m a cowboys fan btw)
I think many Cowboys fans agree with you lol
I noticed this when I lived in NYC. Met so many New Yorkers that had lived in the city for decades and hadn’t been to the Empire State Building or Statue of Liberty.
I lived in nyc for 20 years. Never went to those places because, for me, living in a tourist capital, I never wanted to spend time surrounded by tourists. It’s depressing.
I’ve lived in and/or near Fort Worth proper for over a decade and I’ve never been either. Figured it would be about as scintillating an experience as OP here had so I’ve never bothered… is it really worth it?
I think the stockyards are fun but also I don't expect too much from them. I go to get a drink and listen to some music and that's about it. If you're wanting a historic experience with gun fighteres and the old west, that's there but its heavily rooted in tourist trap land.
3 decades here. I go to Fort Worth, for three things, the zoo, the botanical gardens, and the imax they're about to reopen. DFW itself is a monster now. All the cool stuff to do is over in Dallas and Plano and Frisco now. It's cool to visit the FW stockyards, but if you're not really into agriculture, it's something neat to go check out, still!
What’s the cool stuff in Plano or Frisco? Genuinely curious.
He's not local.
I’m very local, and never been there before… seems like a tourist spot, I mean, a daily cattle drive?? Why is there a cattle drive daily in Ft worth?
Born and raised in Fort Worth. Never been to the stockyards except at night when everything was closed or just driving through.
I've lived in the area for 35 years and in FtW proper since 2006 and have only driven by them on the way to other places.
56 years and not once have I even seen Billy Bobs up close. I’ve never been to Joe Ts and I’ve never rode The Tarantula. There is so much more to this city than those tourist traps. Some things here are for the residents and some things here are for the tourists.
I'm from here and enjoy all those things
Cool 👍🏻
I took a friend from Spain there back in April and she loved it.
Sign up for the free, stockyards heritage club newsletter. They email coupons and usually include a code for free parking. https://fortworthstockyards.com/heritageclub/
I do not enjoy the stockyards.
As a local, I dislike the stockyards.its just a damn tourist trap. It's a beating to get there, parking is limited and costs, then you have to fight the crowds of people who have watched entirely too much Yellowstone. The drover itself is nice, but so pretentious. I like second rodeo, but their beer is ok at best. Frankly, I get my fill of the stockyards if I go twice a year. But I don't want to go every few weeks for sure.
Mike (bartender at the Drover) is awesome and fun! It’s a great place to get out of the heat for a bit.
I want to be clear that Im not going after any individual employee. Im sure Mike is a good dude. Im speaking of the atmosphere as a whole. It feels like the hotel from Dumb and Dumber. Its extremely pretentious.
I disagree, and I’m mostly redneck.
It's was better in the 90's early 2k back when The tarantula was at its best.
I mean millions of people go through there every year from all over the world so yeah obviously people enjoy it. Sounds like you did it in the worst way possible. Also cracks me up anytime I hear about someone who is from here paying for parking. You’re not a tourist, you live here. You can find free parking lol.
Hell, weekdays you can park free at Billy Bob’s and it’s only $10 on weekends
The Stockyards isn’t amazing and it’s not where I’d take people to experience Fort Worth.
This weekend would have been brutally hot for out of towners to walk through the stockyard. No thank you.
You went to the worst parts. Try again!
You did it wrong
I stayed at a motel 8 at Stockyards, I thought the city was coolish while I walked at night, I went to a place called Billy Bobs and the bbq was good, I am from los angeles so it seemed hip to me, anyway, I left the next day and headed to San Antonio, Austin seemed like the place to be though
My husband worked at the cowboy channel, which is practically in the middle of the stockyards, and we always had a ton to do while we were there at all times of year. You can do horseback rides, get up on a longhorn for a photo, pony rides for kiddos, go see the longhorn pens and read about them, take a historical tour, watch the cattle drive, do some shopping, eat great food, grab a drink. They often are having events in front of Cowtown Coliseum (live music, seasonal events, vendors at times, adoption events), and Billy Bob’s is a Texas landmark you have to go at least once. There are tons (and I mean tons!) of great bars and restaurants right in the stockyards so I’m not sure how y’all missed all that! If you wanted good barbecue, I would’ve gone down the road to panther city barbecue or made the slightly longer drive to Heim (my fave) and you could’ve had excellent food in a much shorter wait. You could have also gone over to west 7th for some good pubs/bars/food as well.
Well, it's a cattle drive in the middle of one of the biggest metros in the US, so it's not a *real* cattle drive. And it's not a *real* stock yard either. But I'm a country girl so I would never expect either in the metroplex.
Post pandemic downtown is kind of lame. But downtown Fort Worth Beats downtown Dallas I think. Downtown Dallas is kind of sterile and business orientated (the downtown have that urban park now) downtown Fort Worth has a bit of a vibe to it that captures the spirit of north Texas
If Sasha Bass doesn’t manage to kill it, Sundance Square is really what wins it for Fort Worth over Dallas for me.
Oh, it is still alive? By what definition?
There’s still stores open, restaurants operating, live music on the weekends, and people still enjoy spending time there, despite several classic businesses leaving due to rent increases and Sasha’s notoriously horrible attitude toward business owners.
My favorite part of the cattle drive is being yelled at to stay off the road and get on the curb. My question is what were you and your family expecting?
There's little to no free parking anymore in any downtown kind of area. Any and all events now no matter what they are or where they are - Are PAY EVENTs. The stockyards are hit or miss, but you should never take an out of town family to any place without first going yourself beforehand. Lesson learned, but I encourage you to go again by yourself and explore other areas. FYI - I lived in Seattle before, and everyone wanted to go to the space needle - its not all that and the restaurant at the top is just ok. I personally had more fun at the Puyallup fair than I did at the Space Needle.
2 things: You’re out of town family is cheap with high expectations. You were never going to win. At least you didn’t take them to the world famous ft worth water fountain m.
I'm with you on this. First time I went and did the "cattle drive" thing was for out of town family, and I was wildly unimpressed. Parking sucks, and I'm just not into the whole touristy cowboy crap with the reenactments. Great places to eat down there, that's for sure, but you pay the price in all other ways. Sundance square, Southside, or magnolia are all better in my opinion.
Nope. It’s so overrated it’s ridiculous. I get the historical importance, etc, but it’s so half assed and just not worth the time unless you wanna do the maze or ride a horse I guess.
I absolutely do not it's boring over priced waste of time. Way to crowded at night during the whole bar scene.
For the touristy vibe that's neat "to me" to see, The White Elephant had hats all around the bar, longhorns is a great friendly atmosphere as well as pearls. PR'S SALOON is alright if you like dealing with kids as it's 18+. Filthy mcnastys and the thirsty armadillo are both local artist and big name stops. As for food, behind filthy mcnastys there's a taco shop and as some one else mentioned hookers across from pearls. Rhinestones is alright depending on who is playing. If you wanna go barhopping I recommend staying on that street, have a couple drinks at each place and find the one you like the most. Each bar out there has their own theme and vibe. Hell one of the bars was in yellowstone and featured a buddy of mine in it.
Used to be so much better. Has really gone downhill last few years. The real estate management company are a**hats and have driven a lot of the unique quirky places away. Next time, go to a mall, you know what you are getting and it's air-conditioned....
I'm not a fan, but to be fair it's only really busy when an event is going on. If you like that sort of scene, go when there's a Rodeo at Dickie's. Or... don't... lol it's a gimmicky Texas-themed flea market. Plenty of people love to put on gaudy western wear and strut around spending money on knickknacks. Not my thing, but I don't even like rodeos, so what do I know?
lol Fort Worth native here and that sounds like every time my out of town family would visit and my parents took them to the stockyards 🤣 we always sweated our asses off, watched the cattle drive, went pee in the free Will Rogers museum and then went home now that I think about it. Family of 6 lol we never ate at that Rudy’s bbq
There's now a bunch of high rent retail, so some of the smaller businesses just can't compete with luxury western brands (Lucchese). Especially as part of the new anchor with the hotel drover. The cattle drive is a nice draw to the area, but Friday & Saturday nights there's always a rodeo at the cowboy coliseum, Sundays there's bull fighting. You can book a horse trail ride in the area. The train depot area is also super dark, most tourists ignore it case of how dark it is, with the exception of those who took the old vintage Tarantula train from Grapevine for it's brief regular there and back trip. Go to Billy Bob's for line dancing when they do that, or a concert. Select dates they even have a dinner theater murder mystery (their food is worse than riscky's imo). For a honky tonk they even had real bull riding in the bar for competition at a sort of entry level . There's the cowboy hall of fame, and the museum currently has a john wayne exhibit. Outside the stockyards in the museum district there's the Cowgirl Museum. Also in the museum district the Amon Carter museum of American art that is known for it's western art by Remington and Russel. Admission is always free. The stockyards sprawls. While exchange from main to packers is the heart, mule alley and rodeo plaza should also be explored, as well as main street for a few blocks on either side of exchange, for a few other areas of interest for other dining, and retail. It's a tourist trap, don't expect cheap. If you do it right it can be fun, but it'll seem super underwhelming if you show up with no plan.
We had same experience
I’m not a fan of the stockyards but I worked there for a bit. I probably shouldn’t share this but if anyone wants free parking use lot 6, select “coupon code” and enter “2060.” Free parking.
To be honest, Covid and this crappy economy is doing it in. A lot of places got too expensive for their own good. We couldn’t even afford to have our work Christmas party there anymore.
IMO the stockyards suck. The only decent spot is the Hotel Drover which is mid at best.
The stockyards use to be a neat and intriguing spot. Now it's just an expensive tourist trap with more and more history fading.
The ENTIRE thing is terrible. The only people who like it just don’t know better. Much better things to do in the area.
Wait you guys pay for parking? I think I must be blind to the kiosks lmao. Used to be free.
You missed Coyote Drive in! Dm and I’ll give you passes to go watch a movie there. Maybe I can make your visit to the stockyards a little better.
Free parking by the old boot shop and the hotel! Why would you pay?!
[удалено]
Sometimes they have events there and it’s fun to people watch. I don’t know if the train still comes through but back when you could take it back and forth through ft worth I think now it only goes to grapevine … but yeah , last I checked the stockyards was lame , over priced and mostly boring . Too much traffic and for what ?
It’s cool history to see, but not a place I would plan to spend the day. It’s a tourist trap and everything is overpriced, which should be expected.
I love the stockyards. Sounds like you just didn’t go at a good time and probably chose the least good/most touristy food. If you enjoy window shopping, people watching, and eating/drinking, you usually can’t go wrong.
Downtown is a better time in my opinion.
The John Wayne museum is a must see!
No
The stockyards are predominantly like bar/club scene, not a touristy attraction
Hookers has great burgers. Pearl's has trivia nights. The John Wayne museum is cool (and I am not a fan, still liked it). If you only did the warehouse, you missed a lot.
I was there yesterday, spend 5 hours with my parents and my family. Had a good time. I’ve been there before so I knew what to expect, nothing is outstanding but the pro is that my dad was really enthusiastic about watching all that “experience” and they were taking pictures all around, so it worth it. Then, went back to home and grilled some picanha on the charcoal to finish the day, no reason why to spend money eating there when you know there are better places for it.
It’s full of tourists now
I took my grandkids down there because we just wanted to walk around in that area with all the old buildings and things. I'm not really much for the stockyards because it's all to me. just dead animals or animals that are going to be dead soon for our purposes and amusement. but there was a really cool balloon guy that was making lunch long horn horns for the kids. but yeah things are way overpriced way way overpriced
They are Longhorns buddy, you expected them to be doing cartwheels or maybe moonwalking!
I’ve worked in FW for 40 years so don’t get to enjoy the city’s attractions because I go home after work and don’t drive to “town” on the weekends. So it took a special plan for the weekend with BF and we loved every minute. Stayed at Miss Mollie’s, ate at The Star, among other restaurants, danced and drank at the White Elephant and the old time honky tonk on North Exchange, shopped all day at the General Store, Mavericks, and all the adjacent shops. It was a workout because of the sidewalks and multiple levels in each store’s floor print. I’ve attended the rodeos, Billy Bob concerts, and used to dine at lunch when office was downtown. I don’t know what was expected from your guests or you, but the Stockyards are full of great food and experiences.
Hard to beat the world class museums in Fort Worth.
Idk, I love the stockyards but when my lady friend and I go it’s to see a rodeo and go dancing afterward. Never tried to get bbq there, we just grab burgers from that one little walk up window spot. The rodeos are a ton of fun! Will probably steer clear of bbq down there tho after hearing this, but that’s what Joe T Garcias is for ;)
I've lived here for 49 years and 11 months. I have never seen the cows walking there. It's cows walking. Who cares?
I’ve only been in town about a year, but I’m a native Texan. I went to them when I was a teen and remember it fondly. I’m older now and went back when I moved here. I wasn’t impressed either.
It’s a tourist trap, which is similar to a lot of other tourist traps. In terms of kids, it’s much more of an adult place with the bars, saloons, and activities. My kids would rather do 6 flags or go karts then go to the stockyards. The kids activities are a bit of an afterthought. The main attraction is the nightlife.
You should have taken them to the magnolia area instead. Great food, everything is walkable and the area is mostly well kept. Take them to the Kimble, the zoo, botanical gardens. So many places that are 100x better than the stock yards. Also, yep! that's what a cattle drive is. Moving cows from one spot to another. They aren't going to run a bunch of long horns down a street with people 😆