Decades before Central Market arrived, and way before Eatzi’s came to town, Roy Pope Grocery was old Fort Worth’s neighborhood market. Naturally, it was with great sadness — and for many of its loyal patrons, dismay — that the 1943 landmark near the prestigious Westover Hills area announced in April its closing. Within a month, however, plans came together for reopening, as four locals formed a partnership to revive and revamp the corner store just steps off the famously worn Camp Bowie Boulevard bricks.
The ambitious effort is led by Lou Lambert, the restaurateur-chef who owns Dutch’s Hamburgers in Fort Worth as well as Lamberts Downtown Barbecue in Austin. Partnering with longtime associate Chris Reale (known best for his many years behind the bar at Grace in downtown Fort Worth), developer Mark Harris and real estate broker Rodger Chieffalo, Lambert shares big plans for the Roy Pope reboot.