Fort Worth has been patient. Dallas has had Uchi on Maple Avenue for years, Plano got Uchiko, and Loro set up shop in East Dallas and Addison. Now the group behind all of them is finally heading west.
Hai Hospitality, the Austin company founded by James Beard Award-winning chef Tyson Cole, is bringing Uchibā to The Shops at Clearfork. It will be the group’s first restaurant in Fort Worth, and the timeline points to late 2027.
Uchibā is the looser, bar-driven member of the family. The Dallas original opened upstairs from Uchi in 2018, taking over the space that had been Top Knot, and it built its following on izakaya-style eating. You order a round of drinks, a few skewers and some nigiri, and then order more. Sushi and sashimi share the menu with small plates, yakitori, bao, a burger and a chicken sandwich that has plenty of fans of its own.
The Fort Worth location is going into a new building at 5185 Marathon Ave., at Marathon and Gage, across the street from Mesero. State filings put the project at $3.75 million, with about 3,577 square feet inside and another 2,415 square feet of covered patio.
That patio is the headline. Hai’s team has said they noticed how much Fort Worth likes to eat outside, so the plan includes a second bar out there, with seating for roughly as many people outdoors as in the dining room. Hai Design Studio, the company’s in-house team, is handling the design, and the promise is a room that looks like it belongs in Fort Worth.
Hai CEO Tony Montero has said a talk by Mayor Mattie Parker at a Texas Restaurant Association meeting about the city’s growth is what got him thinking seriously about Fort Worth in the first place. Clearfork, with its mix of shopping, offices and restaurants, turned out to be the fit.
No menu has been released for the new location, but Montero has mentioned a few likely candidates, including the lychee martini that’s a favorite in Dallas, along with nigiri, skewers, bao buns and that chicken sandwich. Fresh seafood deliveries are planned six days a week.
Hai is known for the training it puts into every opening, and the company plans to bring in a group of experienced staff from its other restaurants to get the Fort Worth team ready before the doors open.
Until then, Fort Worth diners can make the drive to the original at 2817 Maple Ave. in Dallas, or head to Plano, where Uchiko recently started serving lunch.
Uchibā Fort Worth is planned for 5185 Marathon Ave. at The Shops at Clearfork, with an opening expected in late 2027. Follow Hai Hospitality for updates as the project moves along.
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