Celebrity Chef Tim Love’s New Concert Venue Is Opening In Fort Worth — Your First Look at Tannahill’s

Fort Worth Chef Tim Love is known for his string of restaurant and catering successes. Love even added hotelier to his resume with the opening of Hotel Otto last year. That’s a container hotel situated near the levy behind Love’s Gemelle Restaurant. Now, Love’s new live music venue called Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall is set to open this Friday, October 7th in the Fort Worth Stockyards.

The new concert venue, restaurant and private event space can be found in the historic Horse and Mule Barns of the Stockyards’ Mule Alley redevelopment. (PaperCity Fort Worth first wrote about the plans for Tannahill’s last Febuary.)

The first act to take to the venue’s brand new stage and put Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall state-of-the-art audio and lighting through its paces will be Friday’s opening band Love & Chaos. They will be followed by the main act — Austin’s bluesy rock group Arc Angels.

Fort Worth already has large scale concerts covered with Dickies Arena. Every big music name seemingly has made a stop in Fort Worth in recent years. In Paul McCartney’s case, it was his only concert in the entire state of Texas. Cowtown’s more intimate live music scene is also thriving at places like Magnolia Motor Lounge, Lola’s Saloon and The Post at River East. But what about attracting those mid-range acts and a mid-sized venue?

That’s the void that Tannahill’s plans to fill. It brings a modern loungy space built to hold up to 1,000 concertgoers.

Love, who named this new music mecca in honor of his son, has cemented his Stockyards’ presence over the past 22 years. He now has the original Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, White Elephant Saloon, Love Shack, Atico and two newly opened  Mule Alley additions in Paloma Suerte and Caterina’s, his intimate Italian restaurant, which is situated just across the alley from Tannahill’s.

Now, Love tells PaperCity more in this exclusive interview:

PaperCity: As a restauranteur, caterer and now hotelier with Hotel Otto, culinary and hospitality is in your blood. What drew you into the entertainment arena with this new showcase music hall?

Tim Love: I have always dreamed of having a venue that fuses my love of live music and food.

Over the years, I have cultivated a relationship with Live Nation, and we partnered on this venture to bring the Fort Worth community the concert venue that it is missing. One with a variety of high quality acts across multiple musical genres in an intimate and elevated setting.

PC: Why is Fort Worth itching for more live music?

Love: I’ve spent over 20 years building businesses in the Stockyards and am so proud of how it has grown into a thriving center of commerce and culture. The people of Fort Worth love live music and I wanted to create a venue with a diverse lineup to attract music fans from across the city and beyond to come to the Stockyards.

The Mule Alley Redevelopment is the ideal location for this kind of 1,000-cap music venue and Live Nation is best in class. We’re super excited that we’ve already been able to bring live acts to Fort Worth that might have gone to Dallas or Austin instead.

PC: I know you’ve been increasingly involved in the design at your recent openings (Gemelle, Atico and Caterina’s). Describe Tannahill’s space and its design. What is the vibe you were going for?

Love: When I opened up Lonesome Dove 22 years ago, we actually couldn’t afford a designer — and we built the space ourselves. That’s been a theme over the years. Architects and designers play a key role in helping us make spaces that are incredible, but we bring a lot of creative direction and overall vision.

With Gemelle, Atico and Caterina’s, we’ve contributed more from a design perspective because we have a clearer understanding of how the spaces should look and feel.

At Tannahill’s, I wanted to create a world class venue that would make bands eager to play this venue in this city. In order to do that, we preserved the beautiful historic bones of this old mule barn for many generations to come. Our guiding philosophy is to focus on creating the best guest experience and a welcoming home for touring musicians.

It feels like you’re in the Stockyards but now it’s with amazing sound, light, sight lines and diverse food and drink offerings.

PC: Tell me about the tavern part of the equation. What’s on the menu?

Tannahill’s will feature a rich tavern-style menu with dishes like grilled oysters, crawfish fritters, smoked cauliflower, fried bologna sandwiches, wild boar sloppy Joes and steak frites.

Your First Look at Tannahill’s

Tim Love is a regular at music festivals like Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo. He also holds the title of official chef for Austin City Limits. So adding a music venue of his own is not that far of a stretch.

Of course, Love knows food and drinks even better. And Tannahill’s signature cocktails will be unveiled at the opening concert Friday night.

Most tickets at Tannahill’s are open seating and standing room-only with pre-event dining and concert concessions. Love also has added three 20 person VIP suites upstairs on the mezzanine, featuring a separate lounge area and a private bar ― all with views of the main stage. He stands ready to provide premium food and beverage packages, and can even arrange platinum packages including lodging for concertgoers with the means.

When not hosting top music acts Tannahill’s will pull a full Clark Kent move.  The 26,000-square-foot space, designed by Studio 11 Design, will be transformed into an event venue. With the ability to plate multi-course menus for up to 500 people. Think weddings, family reunions and other social and corporate functions.

Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall is finally here. Get ready to rock.