La Perla about to stop shining in downtown Fort Worth

April 11,2017

By Robert Philpot

La Perla, the Latin-influenced downtown Fort Worth restaurant that opened in 2015, announced Tuesday on Facebook that it will close after service on Saturday.

“We truly enjoyed serving the residents of and visitors to Downtown Fort Worth for the past two years,” a post from co-owner Andrew de la Torre says in part. “With the change, Immy and I will be able to focus our attention on other projects. We look forward to telling you more soon.”

“Immy” is co-owner Imran Khan, who also owns Fort Worth’s Lunch Box restaurants and Black Rooster Bakery. The two, along with Ramiro “Milo” Ramirez of Salsa Limon, co-founded La Perla, then officially La Perla Negra, in 2015.

La Perla is a small, cozy hangout with a good bar — it was always intended to be a bar first — and good food, but it’s south of Seventh Street, and although there are a few other restaurant/bars on its block, the bulk of the downtown dining scene is in Sundance Square, north of Seventh.

But as good as the food is, the restaurant has lacked consistency: During its two years in business, it underwent several changes, amping up the Latin fusion; starting vegetarian-friendly, becoming less vegetarian-friendly, then becoming vegetarian-friendly again; getting help from chefs Kevin Martinez (now back at Tokyo Cafe) and then Josh Rangel, formerly of The Dive Oyster Bar.

It offered a Sunday brunch, then it didn’t; it went through a period when it wasn’t open for lunch, then added lunch back, but will close with dinner-only hours. And, of course, it made the minor name change, but then regulars referred to it as “La Perla” even in the La Perla Negra days.

We’ll miss the small, street-friendly patio, the ceviches and the Dominicana, a monster sandwich (like a Cuban sandwich on steroids) consisting of asada, ham, swiss, caramelized onions and chipotle mayo. And we’re curious about what de la Torre and Khan have to tell us soon (in January, our Bed Kennedy reported that Khan has plans for a second location of Black Rooster Bakery near the original Lunch Box on Camp Bowie).

La Perla, at 910 Houston St., will open from 4 to 11 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and 4 p.m. till sellout on Friday and Saturday. “We would love to see all of our loyal customers for our final few days as we sell off our inventory and products,” de la Torre says on Facebook.