The founders of Heim Barbecue in Fort Worth plan to open One Trick Pony, a martini bar and pizza restaurant, a few blocks from where they started their first business.
A decade ago, Travis and Emma Heim smoked brisket from a food truck just south of Interstate 30, in Fort Worth’s Southside neighborhood. The Heims grew their business into a permanent restaurant, now with three locations in Fort Worth and Dallas. They stepped away from daily operations in 2024 while they focused on their two little girls, ages 2 and 4.
One Trick Pony brings the Heim family back into restaurants — and back to the Southside neighborhood. Travis Heim’s roots here are decades deep, as his grandmother grew up in a house on Hattie Street nearby.
The menu at One Trick Pony is focused on Chicago tavern-style pizzas, which are thin crust and cut into square pieces. Heim is eager to make family-friendly food minus the long cook times typical in barbecue.
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Heim laughs. “It doesn’t take 16 hours to cook a pizza, which is nice.”
During his so-called retirement, the Heims talked about opening a burger joint. They settled upon another “fun and playful” idea, he said.
“Martinis and pizza: What more could you want?”
One Trick Pony will sell Chicago tavern-style pizzas, which have a thin, blistered crust. (Travis Heim)
And does the name One Trick Pony imply that this barbecue family is ready to prove itself beyond the smoker, I asked?
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’d get bored and do pizzas at the barbecue place. Or at the house.” Now, he’s trying it full-time.
As a dad of two, he said the restaurant will be accessible to kids. He plans to add cheese sticks and chicken strips to the menu.
Beyond thin-crust pizzas, One Trick Pony will also sell a New York-style pie.
The restaurant space, formerly Hot Box Biscuit Club, is a nearly 100-year-old building with exposed brick and steel beams. From the semicircle window in front, Heim can look out on a neighborhood he loves and see more of the city.
“Especially at night,” he said, “you can see all of the downtown Fort Worth skyline.”
One Trick Pony is at 313 S. Main St., Fort Worth. Expected to open in fall 2025, at first, for dinner and late-night drinks only.
Anna Butler contributed to this story.