If it’s been a blue moon since you’ve been to Fort Worth, you’ll find that Cowtown ain’t what it used to be. The fifth-largest city in Texas still has the first-class art museums, along with the 89-year-old Tex-Mex restaurant jewel and celebrity magnet Joe T. Garcia’s. The year-round weekend rodeos continue at the Cowtown Coliseum, along with twice-daily cattle drives, where a herd of Texas Longhorns are paraded down the red-bricked Fort Worth Stockyards Historic District.

But Fort Worth is going through a new kind of renaissance. A recent $200 million revitalization to the 175-year-old stockyards is a big driver of the city flourishing as a tourist destination in its own right, out from Dallas’s shadow. People are moving to the town in droves—a rush that began in 1902, when meatpacking plants arrived, tripling the population over the next decade. In 2022, 120 years later, Fort Worth was the fastest-growing large city in America, according to the latest US Census data.

With the growth comes a whole new arena of places to eat, shop, and hang your hat. World headquarters for boots and barbecue, Fort Worth also happens to be one of the nation’s top cities for art. The only Michelango in the western hemisphere resides at the Kimbell Art Museum in the Kahn Building, a modern work of art in itself. The National Juneteenth Museum will add to Funkytown’s caliber when it opens in 2025.

For barbecue buffs, folks wanting to tap into their inner cowpoke, or those who simply want more art and fun in their life, it’s time to revisit this sophisticated boomtown that doesn’t hide its twang. Visitors will discover a new Fort Worth, a place that tips its hat to the past and to the future at the same time.

Eat Your Way through Town

First things first. The best barbecue in Texas (and by extension, the world) is technically in Fort Worth. Opened by a team of five childhood friends, Goldee’s was awarded the Holy Grail of ’cue recognitions when it was declared no. 1 in Texas Monthly’s “50 Best Barbecue Joints” in 2021. The journey to the destination, near a goat farm southeast of the city, feels like a drive to see that one relative who’ll never give up on country living. You’ll know you’ve arrived when you spot the parking lot of hopeful, happy people playing cards and dominoes in lawn chairs. If you’ve neglected to bring your own, there are often extras.

Warning: getting to the front of the line could take a couple of hours, and Goldee’s is only open for business from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. But once you sit down to a tray of perfect brisket, thick pork ribs, juicy turkey, smoky beans, cheesy grits, and grandmotherly white bread, it catalyzes a religious experience that explains the horde. The month of April tempts with even more reason to visit, when co-pitmaster Nupohn Inthanousay celebrates Pi Mai, or Lao New Year, with sai oua (Lao sausage) served with sticky rice and sweet-and-sour jeow sam dipping sauce.

For a taste of Goldee’s without the drive or wait, Ribbee’s, selling baby back ribs in an old Sonic Drive-In, is slated to open in spring 2024 from three Goldee’s owners who want to offer a fast-casual experience on more days of the week (Wednesday through Sunday). There’s also Sabar Barbecue, where Zain Shafi, a former Goldee’s employee, adds Pakistani flavors to the high art of Texas-style smoked meats from a bright blue food truck at the head of South Main Street. The result delights with halal briskets, lamb ribs, and seekh kebab sausages that join with a savory fruit chaat; cucumber salad with Kashmiri peppers, called kachumber; and what Shafi refers to as Pakistani comfort food: daal chawal, or lentils and rice. It’s a balance of glorious flavors not found on many barbecue trays.

Fort Worth is also rich with barbecue breakfasts and Mexicue, of which Hurtado Barbecue’s Brandon Hurtado is the jefe. His peppercorn-crusted ribs and brisket work nicely alongside poblano Oaxaca sausages, street corn, and Mexican rice. For a break from meats-and-sides trays, try the piled-high brisket tostada or brisket barbacoa tacos when they’re on special. Or rise and shine with breakfast tacos filled with migas or brisket, egg, and cheese, served every day until 11 a.m. Brix Barbecue also scores high in the breakfast department with Sunday-morning pancakes crowned with beef belly burnt ends and beef-tallow frosting. Later in the day, don’t miss out on ultratender, Texas-style porchetta, double smashburgers, and the occasionally offered Italian brisket sandwich with provolone and hot giardiniera. Brix also has a wine list, cocktails, and a rooftop patio—rare for barbecue joints.

Fort Worth’s other major food group outside of barbecue is undoubtedly Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine, owing partly to the fact that more than a third of the city’s population is of Latino origin. Don Artemio, a 2023 finalist in the Best New Restaurant category at the James Beard Awards, brings high-end fare from northern Mexico with the option for dry-aged steaks. Chef Juan Ramón Cárdenas and his son, Rodrigo Cárdenas, specialize in tender, slow-cooked cabrito, which can be savored in chiles rellenos, or as fried costillas, or in taco form during lunch. The nopalitos fritos with soft, in-house nixtamalized heirloom tortillas are another hit, and the prominently featured Mexican wine list also makes a splash.

Tinies hits all the notes for Mexico City–inspired grub, with near-perfect margaritas and creamy queso swirled with chimichurri and served with warm tostadas. Taco Tuesdays reign supreme at Tinies, with discounted margaritas, half-priced tequila and mezcal, and $6-and-under tacos filled with rotisserie chicken, shrimp al pastor, and braised goat.

When you’re in the Stockyards and want to see a building featured in a Yellowstone prequel (and also want to avoid the tourist traps), walk a few blocks up to Hooker’s Grill, where owner Ruth Hooker and her mother, Kathryn, represent their Choctaw Nation well with succulent Oklahoma fried onion burgers and Indian tacos on fry bread.

Bend an Elbow

When you’re ready to paint the town red, Fort Worth is a fine place for jugging and jawing. Most areas, including the Stockyards, allow open containers, meaning you can walk and drink beer at the same time (but always best to check first). Start a session in the Stockyards’ Mule Alley at Sidesaddle Saloon, where craft cocktails are named after western heroines, like the hot seller Beth Dutton with whiskey, Licor 43, Ancho Reyes chile liqueur, and cinnamon syrup. Sidesaddle also has craft shots, like the Helen Groves with infused vodka and pineapple juice. For snacks, try the pork rinds, pimento cheese, and jalapeño cheddar dog.

When natty-wine-thirty strikes, The Holly sells small-batch (read: noncorporate), naturally fermented wines, primarily from Austria and the Beaujolais, Piedmont, and Loire Valley regions, in a hip spot underneath the owner’s living quarters. If your companion doesn’t have a taste for natural wine, there are PBRs and nonalcoholic spritzes, all of which can be enjoyed with uberfancy grilled cheeses (think Gouda and apple sandwiches smeared with truffle butter) from the Abe Fromage food truck.

If you’re hankering for a relaxed, dog- and family-friendly patio with occasional live music and a Jumbotron that keeps the sound on during important sportsball games, head to Birdie’s Social Club. Or bust a move at Ampersand, a coffee shop by day that morphs into a 21+ dance club with table service at 10 p.m. in the happening West Seventh Street entertainment district (note: no open containers here). Ampersand’s frequently rotating cocktail menu often features fun ingredients like pistachio, matcha, chai, and coffee.

Kick Up Your Boots and Stay Awhile

Along with new places for gorging and guzzling, state-of-the-art hotels are going up in Fort Worth at a rapid pace. For a plush cowboy-cation within walking distance of the Stockyards and Mule Alley, Hotel Drover, an Autograph Collection Hotel by Marriott, makes its guests feel like rich cattle barons. Fitted with a picturesque heated pool, Picassos in the lobby, and boot jacks in each room, it brought a little luxury to Cowtown when the Stockyards Heritage Development Co. and the Hickman family, owners of the Stockyards, opened it in 2021.

More luxury hotels have since rolled into town, including The Crescent Hotel and Bowie House, Auberge Resorts Collection, both opened in late 2023. Those visiting Fort Worth primarily for its museums will be cozy at the Crescent, directly across the street from five of the city’s best museums. Boasting a Canyon Ranch wellness club and spa, a coastal Mediterranean restaurant called Emilia’s, and over 20 of its own museum-worthy works of art, the Crescent blends well with the Cultural District.

Less than a mile away, Bowie House offers Fort Worth’s most lavish stay with the Goodnight Suite at around $6,000 a night. Other rooms start at $649—if an overnight isn’t in the cards, have a drink in the lobby for a glimpse of the stately antique bar that owner Jo Ellard salvaged, or slice into a steak from Taylor Sheridan’s cattle ranch at the on-site Bricks & Horses restaurant.

For far less expensive stays that are no less fun, Hotel Dryce or Hotel Otto might be the way to go. Across the street from Dickies Arena in an old dry ice factory, Hotel Dryce is a boutique spot that’s also super chill. Its lobby bar, Bar Dryce, facilitates that tone with weekly vinyl and silent book club nights, along with DJs on the weekends. Also not far from Dickies Arena, Hotel Otto was constructed with renovated shipping containers perfect for solo travelers or couples who enjoy the challenge of tiny-house stays. The adults-only hotel offers a welcome drink at its neighboring restaurant Gemelle, and rooms are stocked with complimentary kits to make an Aperol spritz.

Get Your Culture On 

As previously mentioned, Fort Worth’s arts scene is world-class. Among the first major museums to anchor the Cultural District, one of famous businessman Amon G. Carter Sr.’s many history-making projects was his namesake museum dedicated to American creativity, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, which was founded in 1961. After humble beginnings, including his birth in a log cabin and selling chicken sandwiches at a railway station platform, Carter began collecting art with his fortune from oil and mineral investments. Carter wished for his collection to be displayed in a museum that would benefit the public and therefore made admission free, as it still is today. The Kimbell Art Museum, founded in 1972, also offers free admission to its permanent collection of African, Asian, Ancient American, and European art. Housing works by Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Claude Monet, Elisabeth Vigée le Brun, and Pablo Picasso, its main building is a modern architectural masterpiece designed by Louis I. Kahn that plays heavily with natural light. Notable traveling exhibits are usually in the Renzo Piano Pavilion and require an admission fee.

Texas’s oldest art museum is technically The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, founded in 1892 as the Fort Worth Public Library and Art Gallery. A newer building designed around a reflective pond by Japanese architect Tadao Ando opened in 2002 and now houses 3,000 works of international art from the 1940s to present day. It also hosts riveting exhibitions, including one opening March 10 dedicated to showcasing intergenerational Caribbean Surrealism. Admission includes exhibits and is half-price on Sundays and free on Fridays.

Back in the Stockyards on Rodeo Plaza, a newer interactive museum houses the cowboy hats, film garb, and letters of Marion Morrison, a man so American that Stalin plotted to assassinate him: John Wayne: An American Experience honors the 50-year career of one of cinema’s larger-than-life heroes and the most famous honorary Texan.

Get Gussied Up

While the Stockyards has always been Fort Worth’s central shopping district for boots, saddles, and chaps, neo-cowboy stores have recently set up shop in the area, including Old Gringo Boots, which moved its headquarters from San Diego, and Flea Style, opened by a Southern Methodist University alum. Old Gringo Boots sells semi-custom boots handmade in León, Mexico, that are ready to wear in about six months—a bit faster than fully customized boots, which elsewhere can take up to two years. For now, its only brick-and-mortar, with apparel and hats unique to the shop, is in the Stockyards, but there’s talk of an expansion that will include a restaurant.

Last, for the cowgirls looking for their own perfect hat, head to the Hat Bar at Flea Style in Mule Alley. One-hour appointments come with a stylist, sips, and all the accessories, charms, and scarves needed to channel Margot Robbie’s pink cowgirl chic in Barbie.