Jul 9, 2009
Lili's Owner Vance Martin To Open Cat City Grill On Magnolia
By: Kevin Buchanan
DFW.com is reporting that Vance Martin, of the foodie favorite Lili’s Bistro on Magnolia between Spiral Diner and Panther City Bicycles, will be opening a new restaurant, Cat City Grill, in the former Catholic Charities building at 5th Avenue & Magnolia currently being revamped by developer Fran McCarthy.
The menu will continue to evolve as the partners ready the space to open in late September or early October. Vance says the pricing will be similar to Lili’s: lunch entrees should be between $9 and $12, and most dinner entrees will be no more than $25. The food will be approachable but interesting.
“We want it to be creative and innovative without getting too far out there,” he says.
Steaks will be a focus – they plan to offer a filet, rib eye and flat iron and do some combos with scallops and shrimp – but Vance says they don’t want to bear that label.
“We feel like there’s a need for great steaks and seafood, but we don’t want to be branded a steakhouse,” he says. “We’ll start with a few and see if there’s a market for more.”
Cat City Grill will also offer a wide range of sandwiches, such as:
…a ham and cheese made famous in Pittsburgh, one of the signatures from a New York place like Katz’s, a Philly cheesesteak patterned after those at Pat’s or Geno’s, perhaps a muffaletta a la Central Grocery in New Orleans and even a bahn mi that’s always popular at Vietnamese cafes.
Cat City Grill will be about twice the size of Lili’s, with seating for between 80 and 90 inside and another 30 in a patio space.
The redevelopment of the Catholic Charities building has been ongoing for a little while now, with office tenants moving in upstairs. This is definitely the largest announcement for the building’s ground-floor retail space, though. Once opened, Cat City Grill will be open for lunch Monday through Friday and dinner Monday through Saturday.
This is awesome news! Hopefully they’ll have good vegetarian options like Lili’s.
I can’t wait! Vance is my favorite FW chef, and I’m thrilled about another great restaurant to go in right up the street!
we concur!!!! We love the Spiral D, but there’s nothing better than a little healthy competition. Bring it On!!!
to Vance: more fresh and straightforward fare, please. let rich, more architecture. We have the faith. you can do it.
More great news for the Near Southside and Magnolia!! We are seriously becoming (if we’re not already) THE PLACE to eat in Fort Worth. I will definitely support your venture Vance, good luck!!
Location, location, location. Helping to stretch Magnolia and bridge the gap between west and east. Also, this will be the “closest” restaurant to my house (not that everything on Magnolia isn’t w/in walking/biking distance).
Looking forward to it, Vance!
Now if we could only get The Usual opened up…
The above photo with the yard-sign out front brought back fond memories of that building. Looking forward to the opening, Vance.
I can’t wait. The Near Southside is evolving into a very nice urban neighborhood. If/when i move back to FW, this is exactly the kind of neighborhood i want to live in.
A welcome addition but don’t forget about us vegetarians please.