Thai restaurant, bars reopen after Fort Worth explosion

FORT WORTH

A small burger grill and Thai cafe will reopen Jan. 16 along with an ice cream-coffee shop, and four nearby bars have already reopened after the devastating Jan. 8 explosion that shut down businesses around the Sandman Signature Hotel.

J’s Burgers N’ More, a popular 35-year downtown stop for inexpensive burgers, breakfasts and Thai lunches, was undamaged. But businesses around the hotel could not open all week in what fire marshals called a dangerous “hot zone” around the apparent gas explosion.

At least 21 people were injured, one critically, in the blast that wrecked the basement and first two floors of the Sandman, in the 104-year-old W.T. Waggoner Building, 810 Houston St.

J’s Burgers N’ More owner Dee Chirabandhu met with gas company workers Friday, she said. Her restaurant, 905 Throckmorton St., was undamaged.

La’Creamian, a premium ice cream-coffee shop at 215 W. Eighth St., also will reopen Jan. 16 after restocking, owner Lisa Jackson said.

La’Creamian’s only damage was an out-of-place ceiling tile, Jackson said. But the 8-month-old shop lost its entire inventory of premium ice creams such as rum raisin or butterscotch and had to make new batches.

Four bars already reopened, according to social media:

▪ Thompson’s Bookstore, 900 Houston St., reopened Friday. Some repairs remain to boarded windows.

▪ Winchester Tavern, downstairs at 903 Throckmorton St., resumed business Friday.

▪ The Archibald Bar, 902 Houston St., reopened.

▪ Basic Bar, 904 Houston St., reopened Thursday.

This story was originally published January 13, 2024, 5:30 AM.