Tolbert's traces its chili back to Frank X. Tolbert, who wrote the book "A Bowl of Red" and founded the Terlingua Championship Chili Cook-Off in 1967. He opened the first Tolbert's in Dallas in 1976 with his son, Frank 2, and daughter Kathleen joined to help run it the following year. Kathleen and her husband, Paul Ryan, later chose a historic storefront on Grapevine's Main Street as the restaurant's new home in 2006, and the Ryan family has run it there ever since.
The signature Bowl of Red still follows the recipe Frank X. and his son developed, ordered alongside sides like the donkey tails. The space also functions as a live music venue, with bands playing the room on a regular calendar — regulars have been known to close the place down over a beer and a set.
The signature Bowl of Red still follows the recipe Frank X. and his son developed, ordered alongside sides like the donkey tails. The space also functions as a live music venue, with bands playing the room on a regular calendar — regulars have been known to close the place down over a beer and a set.