Tim Love has opened 20 restaurants across Fort Worth. Steakhouses, barbecue, Mexican, Italian, burgers, a music hall, a hotel. At some point you run out of cuisines to tackle, and Love apparently landed on that point sometime last year. His answer was hummus.
Meraki opened March 17 at 1615 Rogers Road in the TCU corridor, a few blocks west of Woodshed Smokehouse, inside the space that used to house Courtside Kitchen at the Courtside Pickleball complex. Love says he looked around the near west side of Fort Worth and realized there wasn’t a real dedicated Mediterranean restaurant in the neighborhood. So he built one.
The word meraki is Greek — it means to do something with passion, creativity, and love, which is either a perfect name for a restaurant or an obvious one, depending on your disposition. The room itself is sun-washed and coastal, with a garden patio that makes it feel further from Texas than it actually is. Love’s inspirations were Saint Barthélemy, Greece, Spain, and Italy, with Turkish and Lebanese threads running through the menu alongside the Greek backbone.
You start with spreads. The Meraki dip sampler covers classic hummus, muhammara — roasted red pepper and walnut, smoky and rich — and htipiti, a whipped feta that arrives with fresh-baked pita. The hummus is light on garlic, smooth-textured. The saganaki is the table moment: dense, slightly salty hard cheese, ouzo poured tableside and lit, servers shouting “Opa” when the flame goes up. It’s theatrical in a way that actually earns it. The börek is smoked and braised goat stuffed into phyllo and served with green tomato esme — one of the more interesting things on the menu, and worth ordering before someone else at the table steers toward the safer picks.
On the larger plates, there are molasses-glazed lamb ribs, lamb kofta kebabs, chicken kohlrabi kebabs, and a pressed beef short rib. The shrimp is served in the shell, the shells fried crispy enough to eat alongside the meat. The salt-baked halibut in citrus beurre blanc is prepared tableside, which is the kind of move that sounds like a gimmick until it shows up at your table and you understand why the kitchen insisted on it. A Greek salad rounds things out — Love has said it will be unlike anything in the city, and that’s a statement you either make when you mean it or when you’re Tim Love.
The tasting menus are the move for a proper night out. Lunch runs $49 for three courses. Dinner is $128 for seven, with the tableside halibut, tableside pasta, and tableside desserts built into the progression. The cocktail program leans Mediterranean — the Sea You in Santorini is gin-forward with a briny foam — and the wine list focuses on Mediterranean bottles.
Love’s been upfront that he’s chasing Michelin attention with this one. It is one of the most exciting new restaurants to open in North Texas this year. For a Fort Worth chef on his 20th concept, that’s either the natural next ambition or proof that the drive hasn’t gone anywhere. Either way, the food makes the case better than the press release does.
Meraki is at 1615 Rogers Road, Fort Worth, TX 76107. Lunch Tuesday through Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner hours vary — reservations through Tock. A $50 card authorization holds your reservation, released at checkout. Phone: (817) 450-6800. Follow @merakiftw on Instagram.
