Leon Bridges’ Ultimate Guide to Fort Worth, Texas
His favorite spots to eat, shop, & catch live music.
Whether it’s in the form of a sonic twang or a cowboy hat, Leon Bridges’ Texas roots make up a significant portion of his dynamic as a star (queue Texas Sun). This is no accident. Despite his Grammy-winning accolades, the musician has yet to renounce his residence in his home town of Fort Worth. Amidst the pandemic, Bridges went from touching down for two to three days at a time between whirlwind tour schedules to an extended period of time to just be.
“It's my place of refuge,” he says of his home base. “I think if I were to move anywhere else, it'd be easy to kind of get lost in the sauce, for lack of better words. Fort Worth is where I grew up. My family's here, my friends are here. Man, it's just something to come back to and be disconnected from the industry.”
Fort Worth is not only where he grew up but also the birthplace of his cultivated sense of style, in reference to both music and fashion. His reverence for his artistic predecessors has yet to dull as he matures, citing artists like Ornette Coleman, King Curtis, Cornell Dupree, and Townes Van Zandt as influences. Today, in addition to working with fashion powerhouses à la Gucci, Bridges still shops at local vintage stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and has his boots custom made in the neighborhood, as well. He eats at restaurants down the street from his house and still frequents nearby venues for live music. We asked Bridges to recount all his favorite spots for us in the Dallas/Fort Worth area below. Fair warning, we think we might have cemented a spot for our next trip.
Where He Shops:
“When I'm home, there's one place that I pretty much get everything from. It's a dual record and vintage shop. It's this place called Doc's Records. They've always had some really nice curated vintage. It's more focused on like '70s kind of stuff so there is an abundance of denim and rad boots.”
“There's another place called Dolly Python's in Dallas. That was always my go-to.”
Where He Eats:
“This place has awesome sushi and ramen and they are very low-key. I also like their aesthetic—big windows so it's very sunny and I love all of the colorful paper lanterns. I don’t eat out a lot because I like to hire my chef friends to grill and barbecue at my house but I go here a lot.”
“They have a really cool cigar lounge. I met the owner's son because he owns a cool guitar shop in Dallas. Go here for legit food and massive margaritas.”
“I tour aggressively so sometimes I can't deal with cooking. I just wanted to be honest! Not everyday is a gourmet, five star sort of day, you know?”
Where He Goes to See Live Music:
“This is a new music venue in the DFW area and I hope people support it because it's rad.”
“Right in the heart of the Cultural District. Lots of big artists as well as local and up-and-coming artists perform here. People roll over with their dogs and the dance floor is always packed.”
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