Tim Love celebrates 25 years of Lonesome Dove in Fort Worth

Fort Worth city government proclaimed June 9, 2025, as Lonesome Dove Bistro Day as Tim Love’s Lonesome Dove Western Bistro marked 25 years in the Historic Stockyards. The recognition came as Love appeared on CBS Saturday Morning, revisiting the bold flavors that helped move Fort Worth beyond its cowboy stereotype.

Love opened Lonesome Dove in 2000, when the Stockyards were rougher and less developed than they are now. He built the restaurant around an urban Western, or bold Western, menu that leaned into steaks, seafood, wild game, and ingredients tied to the American West, giving Fort Worth a distinct high-end identity rooted in regional cooking.

The restaurant drew attention early and often. Lonesome Dove received a 4.5-star review from The Dallas Morning News and a Zagat rating of 28, described as the highest in Texas. Those honors helped establish Love as a chef with reach beyond North Texas and gave the city a culinary flagship at a moment when its dining scene was still finding its footing.

The influence spread beyond one dining room. Local coverage credited Love with helping revitalize the Stockyards, where restaurants, visitors, and new investment followed the arrival of Lonesome Dove. Love later expanded into multiple Fort Worth-area concepts, building a broader restaurant group that reflected the same Western sensibility while widening the city’s restaurant map.

Love’s profile climbed with national television and industry recognition. He earned James Beard attention and won Food Network competitions, including Iron Chef, which gave Fort Worth a chef whose name carried well beyond Texas. Twenty-five years after Lonesome Dove first opened its doors, the restaurant stands as a marker of how one restaurateur helped turn a regional city into a national dining destination.