Published in Fort Worth Weekly
Written by: Last Call
Is February the time to open a new bar? Because there are at least three I’ve been to in the last few weeks that aren’t even a month old. I’m not entirely sold on all them. I’m loath to go to the West 7th corridor anyway, and given The Local’s incongruent pinup mural and a string of awful picks on the jukebox, I’m probably going to wait until it’s warm enough to enjoy the patio on the reg. Admittedly, those are both nitpicky reasons to skip out on an otherwise enjoyable bar, but nitpicking is my business, and business, as they say, is good. I guess, if you go to The Local, plug your ears and have a good time.
If, however, having to listen to Breaking Benjamin and Hinder back-to-back-to-back is enough to drive you away (as it should be), just cross West 7th and go to The Mad Hatter. This newly opened shotgun bar also has an internet jukebox, but if you get there early, you can dominate the tunes. What I dug most about the place is that it’s pretty much a small, unassuming place to get a drink. Its layout is reminiscent of The University Pub, and in fact the bar is even on the same side of the room as in that venerable TCU mainstay. As I sat at the Hatter’s bar nursing a Budweiser, I surmised that if the new bar sticks around for as long as the Pub has, it will likely age into similar lived-in grace.
The reason? While a lot of new bars fixate on me-too gimmicks like gourmet burgers, exhausting cocktail menus, and singer-songwriters, The Mad Hatter’s owners only want it to be a neighborhood pub. To me, the no-frills approach to opening a new bar is way more refreshing than a Moscow Mule or a happy hour ruined by someone’s diary entries strummed in the key of G.
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