Will CVS replace Ojos Locos in downtown Fort Worth?

February 3,2017

By Sandra Baker

A CVS pharmacy appears headed for a prime location in downtown Fort Worth at the corner of Fifth and Houston streets. Just one problem: Ojos Locos Sports Cantina, the current tenant, has no plans of moving.

Fossil Creek Land Partners, headed by managing partner Farukh Aslam, which owns the building at 515 Houston St., is listed on a permit filed by CVS’s architecture firm for a required state review of plans to build the drugstore. Construction, estimated at a little more than $1 million, is expected to begin March 1 and be completed by July, according to the filing.

But the owner of Ojos Locos, a chain of Latin-themed sports bars that features scantily clad waitresses and whose name translates to Crazy Eyes in Spanish, told us recently that the cantina has no immediate plans of moving.

“Over the past six years, the downtown Fort Worth location of Ojos Locos has been a great one for us,” Rich Hicks, CEO of Reach Restaurant Group, said in a statement. “We have no plans to leave at this time.”

Ojos Locos, which has eight Texas locations, opened in downtown Fort Worth in January 2011, right before the Super Bowl was played in Arlington.

“Our lease is effective through 2025,” Hicks said. “Until we hear from our landlord further, we will continue business as usual.”

Asked about the situation, Aslam said only: “They are in their space, and they have a lease.”

The state review filing was made by Hurst-based Genesis Design Group. The firm has designed 15 new stores for CVS and completed 15 conversions of Eckerd locations when the retailer acquired the drug store chain, according to its website.

The group on Jan. 5 also filed for a commercial remodeling permit with the city, but that hasn’t been issued, according to the city’s website.

Several postings on a local architecture forum started talk of CVS coming to downtown Fort Worth. Ojos Locos’ owner acknowledged the chatter, but reiterated: “Yes, we have heard the rumors, however, we have no plans to leave our downtown Fort Worth location at this time.”