{"id":889934,"date":"2026-06-24T17:44:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T17:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/889934\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T17:44:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T17:44:35","slug":"westland-hospitality-takes-on-fort-worth-botanic-garden-cafe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/889934\/","title":{"rendered":"Westland Hospitality takes on Fort Worth Botanic Garden cafe"},"content":{"rendered":"

A restaurant redo is unfurling at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden: Fort Worth-based Westland Hospitality is taking over the garden’s longtime cafe and transforming it into a new concept called Flora House<\/strong>, set to open this fall after an extensive renovation, according to a release.<\/p>\n

The transition expands Westland Hospitality’s growing footprint in Fort Worth, coming on the heels of its recent acquisition<\/a> of the historic Roy Pope Grocery (which is currently closed for a transformation into a restaurant).<\/p>\n

The garden’s current Rock Springs Cafe<\/a> will close June 30 to begin renovations, a FWBG spokesperson says, so it will not be available to summer visitors viewing the buzzy<\/a> exhibit “Sean Kenney’s Nature POP! Made with LEGO Bricks,”<\/a> on through September 7.<\/p>\n

An exact opening date for Flora House has not yet been announced, but it’s expected to debut in fall 2026.<\/p>\n

Rock Springs Cafe has been at the FWBG since 2019<\/a>, when Denton resident Erik Sjolander took over the former Gardens, which had been the on-site restaurant for 23 years but left the space in December 2018 and moved to a country club near Burleson.<\/p>\n

The new partnership may not come as too much of a surprise, as Westland Hospitality served as the food provider<\/a> for the Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s popular Christmas in the Garden event in 2025. Visitors had their pick of cuisine from some of Westland’s most popular concepts: meatballs from Margie’s Italian Gardens, tacos from Magdalena’s, frozen hot cocoa custard from Curly’s Frozen Custard, and more.<\/p>\n

\"Flora A salad from the menu.Photo courtesy of Westland Hospitality<\/p>\n

Guests of Flora House can expect a menu centered on fresh, garden-inspired fare, including wraps, sandwiches, small plates, dips, and charcuterie boards. The restaurant will also feature an in-house bread program, house-made desserts, and a variety of options for diners with different dietary preferences, a Westland spokesperson says.<\/p>\n

Renderings show it will have a covered patio in front.<\/p>\n

Chef and Westland Hospitality partner Juan Rodriguez will oversee the culinary program, and his wife and tenured restaurateur Paige Rodriguez will oversee event operations and guest experience.<\/p>\n

“As we continue to grow, our mission has always remained the same; our family has always believed that food brings people together,” Rodriguez says in the release. “Rooted in the traditions passed down by my Abuela, we still live by her favorite saying: ‘Full Bellies, Happy Hearts.'”<\/p>\n

In addition to the restaurant, Westland Hospitality has been named the Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s exclusive catering partner for weddings, galas, corporate events, and other private gatherings held on the grounds.<\/p>\n

Westland Hospitality’s portfolio includes Margie’s Italian Gardens, Pulido’s Kitchen & Cantina, JD’s Hamburgers, Curly’s Frozen Custard, Magdalena’s Catering & Events, Westland Gardens, and Westland Bar Co.<\/p>\n

\"Flora Rendering of the interior of Flora House.Rendering courtesy of Fort Worth Botanic Garden<\/p>\n

Their chefs know what they’re doing. Rodriguez, longtime acclaimed chef at Fort Worth restaurants such as Reata and Magdalena’s, is a former Chef of the Year winner in the CultureMap Tastemaker Awards. West chef Levi Gardner was just named Rising Star Chef of the Year<\/a> at the 2026 Tastemaker Awards.<\/p>\n

Flora House will occupy the garden’s existing restaurant space, steps from some of the FWBG’s most popular and scenic attractions, including the Japanese Garden and the Rose Garden.<\/p>\n

Guests who want to dine at Flora House will still need to purchase admission to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden<\/a>, a spokeswoman confirms.<\/p>\n

“Westland Hospitality brings an extraordinary level of passion, creativity, and community spirit to everything they do,” said Fort Worth Botanic Garden president and CEO Patrick Newman in a statement. “We are thrilled to welcome them to the Garden and confident that Flora House will quickly become one of Fort Worth’s most beloved dining experiences. Their expertise in events and catering will also elevate every occasion held on our grounds, ensuring that every guest, whether joining us for a casual meal or a milestone celebration, is met with truly exceptional hospitality.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A restaurant redo is unfurling at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden: Fort Worth-based Westland Hospitality is taking over…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":889935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,7371,77732,7372,20157,10084,15959,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,75180],"class_list":["post-889934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-america","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-botanic-garden","tag-fortworth","tag-garden","tag-openings","tag-renovation","tag-texas","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-westland-hospitality"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116806330967118423","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=889934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/889935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=889934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=889934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=889934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}