One of Fort Worth’s and Texas’ oldest barbecue restaurants has a new top-10 owner

Bud Kennedy
·2 min read

State-ranked Panther City BBQ has bought 93-year-old Bailey’s Bar-B-Que in downtown Fort Worth, bringing new Texas flavors to a stand that was long the oldest barbecue restaurant in Texas owned by the original family.

Descendants of founders J.T. and Tommie Bailey ran the tiny, red cinderblock barbecue stand from May 17, 1931 to May 2021, then sold it to Tim Turner.

Panther City, owned by co-founders Chris Magallanes and Ernest Morales, stepped up to buy Bailey’s, 826 Taylor St., “to carry the torch for a part of Fort Worth barbecue history,” the restaurant announced on social media.

Panther City will be “embracing the old as well as introducing the new,” the post read, promising more details.

Bailey’s Bar-B-Que as it looked Sept. 14, 2006.
Bailey’s Bar-B-Que as it looked Sept. 14, 2006.

The Bailey’s location in the southwest quadrant of downtown serves mainly visitors and workers in federal offices and courts and in the nearby Burnett Plaza and Fort Worth Club towers. The Fort Worth Convention Center is only a five-block walk.

The stand. originally a metal shed now wedged between an office and a parking garage, seats only a handful of customers in a few chairs that replaced school desks around the wall. Many customers stand at a counter.

Bailey’s serves traditional old-school brisket, ribs, sausage, ham, turkey and chicken, but also offers a distinctive spicy pulled pork that other restaurants don’t serve. It also serves giant baked potatoes.

As at many Fort Worth barbecue restaurants, Bailey’s brisket sandwiches usually come with pickles and both mustard and sauce., an old-time local tradition.

Tommie Bailey oversaw the restaurant while J.T served 14 months in the Navy Seabees. According to Texas Monthly, she was a sister of East Texas barbecue pioneer Bill Cain, who had opened a restaurant in 1918 in Mutt and Jeff, Texas, near Winnsboro.

Bailey’s thrived when West Seventh Street was lined with the city’s three largest banks, three movie theaters, office towers and the Star-Telegram building and pressroom.

An old-fashioned sliced brisket sandwich at Bailey’s Bar-B-Que Sept. 14, 2006.
An old-fashioned sliced brisket sandwich at Bailey’s Bar-B-Que Sept. 14, 2006.

Panther City BBQ, listed among Texas Monthly magazine’s state top 10, started in 2014 as a caterer and then opened a food truck in South Main Village after craft barbecue pioneer Heim moved to a larger location.

Panther City quickly added a patio, then took over a former bar next door at 201 E. Pennsylvania Ave., also listed on some maps as 201 E. Hattie St.

More recently. the restaurant has added dinner service.

Bailey’s Bar-B-Que founder J. T. Bailey, shown in World War II as a ship’s cook third class, “is back from 14 months’ service in the Aleutians with the Seabees,” the Star-Telegram reported Feb. 7, 1944. His wife, Tommie Bailey, ran the restaurant.
Bailey’s Bar-B-Que founder J. T. Bailey, shown in World War II as a ship’s cook third class, “is back from 14 months’ service in the Aleutians with the Seabees,” the Star-Telegram reported Feb. 7, 1944. His wife, Tommie Bailey, ran the restaurant.
A 1932 Star-Telegram poem tells readers, “Barbecue is Bailey’s treat.”
A 1932 Star-Telegram poem tells readers, “Barbecue is Bailey’s treat.”