Lockwood Distilling to open gastropub in buzzy downtown Garland

A Dallas-Fort Worth distillery is brewing up a new location in buzzy downtown Garland: Lockwood Distilling Co., a small chain of distillery-pubs, will open in Garland's square at 532 Main St., taking over a space previously occupied by Infinity Arcade.

According to Lockwood Distilling founder Evan Batt, the location will open in late 2025.

At the same time they expand into Garland, they'll also be closing their location in Fort Worth, which they opened in 2021.

Husband-and-wife Evan and Sally Batt opened the first Lockwood in Richardson in 2019 as a first-of-its-kind community-driven epicurean destination bringing together gastro fare, paired with small-batch distilled spirits in its 100-gallon copper still: vodkas in various flavors side by side with tuna melts and muffaletta sandwiches.

Evan previously worked at beverage companies such as Desert Door Distillery, Glazer's, and Imperial Brands, while Sally had a passion for making connections, and they shared a love of food.

The concept proved to be a hit, and they subsequently expanded to McKinney as well as Fort Worth. McKinney remains open; Fort Worth is expected to close at the end of September.

According to Evan, the shift from Fort Worth to Garland comes after some courting by the Garland City Council, who worked with the distillery to get the deal into place.

That included changing local zoning laws — part of what he characterizes as an "aggressive" search to populate the square with businesses.

"We're federally permitted as a distillery, so it's not like a brewery with a state license," Batt says. "We have to be zoned as a distillery. That's where the big municipalities have trouble with us."

Those zoning issues are part of why Fort Worth didn't work as well, along with that location's lack of a kitchen or a private room for events. However, they would like to remain in Tarrant County — possibly with an expansion to the mid-cities — then try again in Cowtown if the right spot opens up.

They will not be distilling whiskey or vodka on site at the Garland location but otherwise, it will be much like the Richardson original with a taproom and a dining room serving the same menu of Southern food. The 5,000-square-foot space includes a kitchen and also has that valuable private room that can be reserved for events.

Garland is a scant eight miles and 20 minutes from Richardson, but Batt is confident there are enough potential customers to support both businesses especially with the growing East Dallas audience all the way down the Garland Road corridor, already accustomed to road-tripping to Garland for recent openings such as pizza spot Fortunate Son and more restaurants coming soon like Taco Y Vino.

"This gives up a window into that side of town, and I think it's going to help us expand our area of focus and our fans," Batt says.