Lockwood Distilling, from Richardson, opens second bar in North Texas

Lockwood Distilling Co., which opened in Richardson in 2019, has expanded to Magnolia Avenue in Fort Worth.

The family-run bar in the neighborhood sells 11 locally made liquors, including pink hibiscus vodka, bourbon cream, and whiskey, gin, and rum.

Fort Worth folks may remember the storefront at 1411 W. Magnolia Ave. as a former locksmith’s shop.

“Every day we get someone who asks to have a key cut,” says Evan Batt, who owns Lockwood with his wife, Sally Batt. “So we get a key cutter.”

We visited Lockwood Distilling Co. in Fort Worth on Friday morning, November 19, 2021, just before it opened.(Ben Torres / special article)

And why not: those revisiting their former locksmith will find the added benefit of locally made liquor.

Evan has worked at several Texas distilleries and wineries and says he originally opened Lockwood to create a place he wished already existed.

“It’s this classic story,” he says: “You’re in a bar and you say, ‘I think we can do better.'”

Lockwood, in Richardson, had almost instant support from its neighborhood – which served it well in its infancy in early 2020 when bars closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Batts never took their employees off; they put her in new jobs like making hand sanitizer and bottling liquor.

Evan says food is a big part of Lockwood, and much of the menu was inspired by trips to New Orleans. The menu includes a starter of Texified Allspice cheese made from roasted Poblano peppers and smoked pecans; a muffaletta with smoked olive tapenade and Texas olive oil; and a dip with butter beans.

Chef Julio Ortiz created the menu in Richardson and will oversee the new menu in Fort Worth. Cowtown’s menu is shortened for now, but includes hot dogs with 44 Farms beef, plus some sandwiches and entrees.

The restaurant cooks with its schnapps, which is rare in local bars.

“Cooking with alcohol is almost as good as drinking it,” says Evan. The pastrami sandwich in the Richardson original is an example: it is placed in Lockwood gin.

The company sells around 10,000 cases of spirits annually. It’s known for its bourbon cream, a product that mixes well in coffee but can also be used in desserts like bread pudding. The 11 spirits are sold at Lockwood’s two bars in Richardson and Fort Worth, as well as major retailers in North Texas such as Spec’s and Total Wine and More.

Lockwood Distilling Company is located at 1411 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth. It opened on November 19, 2021.

For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on Twitter @sblaskovich.

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