The Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival returns to Main Street each spring, and if you’ve been, you already know the energy that downtown Fort Worth carries during it. What you may not know: some of the best Italian food in the metro sits south of where you were standing.
Fort Worth’s Downtown Energy, One Direction Removed
Downtown Fort Worth draws residents from every corner of the metro. Bass Performance Hall, Sundance Square, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and the Cultural District just west on Camp Bowie — these are the anchors of a city center that punches well above its population. For Southwest Fort Worth and Wedgwood families, the drive in is almost always worth it for a proper Fort Worth day out.
The problem is the drive back. After four hours at a festival or a two-hour evening show, you’re hungry and the energy for finding a parking spot near a downtown restaurant has mostly expired. The answer is to plan around that: enjoy downtown for what it is, and let Southwest Fort Worth handle the dinner.
What Festival Visitors Know About Appetites
The Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival returns downtown each spring — typically several days of juried artists, live music on multiple stages, and food vendors keeping pace with a steady crowd of visitors. Festival food is excellent for energy management. It is not a satisfying sit-down dinner. After spending hours on your feet in the spring heat with a funnel cake for lunch, you want air conditioning, a real table, something that actually sticks to the ribs, and a cold glass of something from a bar.
That’s the gap Joe’s Pizza Italian Cuisine & Bar fills. Not competing with downtown’s restaurant scene — it’s a different category entirely. It’s the restaurant at the end of a good downtown day.
Plan ahead: call (817) 945-1765 from the festival or before you leave downtown and your order will be ready when you arrive at Gran Via St. No wait, no drive circling — just dinner.
The Drive South Is Easier Than You Think
From downtown Fort Worth, 5440 Gran Via St in the Wedgwood neighborhood is a straightforward run south: take I-35W south to the Altamesa/Risinger area, then a short stretch east on local roads. Travel time depends on traffic — check your preferred map app before you go, especially on a busy festival weekend. Free parking is in the lot. No meters, no garage, no valet.
The restaurant stays open until 9:00 PM Sunday through Thursday and 9:30 PM on Friday and Saturday, which makes a full downtown evening — festival, show, gallery walk — with dinner after a workable plan. If you prefer not to drive at all, Joe’s Pizza Italian Cuisine & Bar delivers via DoorDash, UberEats, GrubHub, and Slice, so the food can meet you at home after the commute.
The Menu That Replaces Festival Food, by Group Size
The full Italian menu covers exactly what festival food cannot — the right order depends on how many people made the trip south with you:
On Your Own or With One Other Person
New York-style pizza by the slice or whole pie, hand-tossed to order — the real thing, not a thick-crust mall version.
A Small Group
Pasta dishes made with scratch sauces — baked lasagna, spaghetti Bolognese, fettuccine Alfredo, ziti, cannelloni — or the signature dinner specials: the Italian Sampler ($18.00) puts chicken, lasagna, cannelloni, and ravioli in pepper cream sauce on one plate, and the Chicken Luigi ($22.00) — stuffed chicken with shrimp, spinach, and crab in vodka pink cream sauce — is what regulars point first-time guests toward. The full bar carries beer, wine, and cocktails.
A Larger Group Planning a Post-Event Dinner
Joe’s Pizza Italian Cuisine & Bar accommodates tables of 8 and larger with advance notice. Private event and party hosting is available. Catering trays work for off-site gatherings if the group is spreading out across Airbnbs or hotels. Check the coupons page for current takeout deals before you order.