Bedford beer brewery Turning Point Beer is busting out a new kitchen, serving the trendy dish of the hour: smashburgers.
Called The Turning Point Kitchen, the food operation debuted in September under the direction of chef Justin Davis, co-founder of the Bedford-based Taco Bombs food truck.
The introductory menu includes a Wagyu smashburger, bone-in chicken wings in four flavors — Lemon Pepper, Garlic Parmesan, Classic Buffalo, and Honey Barbeque — plus hand-cut French fries, skin-on, fried in beef tallow, with a proprietary seasoning that features notes of smoky and sweet. They’ll be adding thin-crust pizza in the next few weeks.
Their brewery space does not have a kitchen, so they’re executing the food out of a trailer that’ll be parked out front. The addition of food to the menu is among a number of major changes the brewery has made that also includes a return to their original taproom.
“These changes are getting us back to our roots and adjusting our business as the craft beer market evolves,” says Turning Point brewer Mike Beck.
Turning Point is one of a handful of breweries in the mid-cities and the only craft brewery in the Hurst, Euless, Bedford (HEB) area. This gives Turning Point the distinction of being the closest craft brewery to the south end of Dallas-Fort Worth International airport (good information to remember the next time your flight gets canceled).
They’ve been a star in the DFW craft beer scene since they opened in 2018 — and yet might still be one of the best-kept-secrets in the mid-cities.
Founder and brewmaster Alex Knight was a homebrewer who cut his teeth in commercial brewing at Community Beer Co. in Dallas. He opened Turning Point with a focus on New England IPAs, a beer known for its hazy appearance and fruity flavor profile.
Over the years, the brewery expanded beyond IPAs and currently features a revolving tap wall of 14 beers, canned to-go beers, and new weekly releases such as the recent African Dream Pop, an appealing low-ABV 6.3 percent raspberry fruited sour.
“What started as a project for Hazy/New England IPAs has evolved into a quest for the highest quality of every beer style we execute,” Knight says.
They were initially located at 1307 Brown Trail, then expanded into a larger building that was vacant next door — but kept their original location for private events. Now they’ve returned to the original space.
Weathering the last few years has not been easy for anyone in the craft brew industry, which is experiencing a decline in production and consumer demand.
Turning Point’s fortunes will be helped greatly by some additions planned for nearby that include the imminent opening of a new pickleball place, ATP Pickleball, right next door to the brewery, as well as an outdoor food court that the city of Bedford has in the works.
“Since we opened in 2018, the beer industry has been a rollercoaster,” Beck says. “But we’re confident with the addition of Turning Point Kitchen and the makeover of our original taproom space, we’ll continue to create the beer our customers love while expanding our offerings with delicious food to keep them coming back.”