Westland Hospitality co-founder Gigi Howell says she was 10 when her dad explained that Margie, the founder and namesake of Margie’s Italian Gardens, was not her grandmother, nor was Howell Italian. She thought everyone had three grandmothers.
Her parents met as teenagers working at Margie’s, and the family frequented the restaurant throughout Howell’s childhood. The restaurant smelled like garlic as soon as you pulled up, and everybody knew and loved Margie, whose ability to make guests feel comfortable was the draw for many, Howell says.
It’s a value Howell’s maternal grandmother, Allie Mae, emphasized, too.
“She used to say, the best quality you can have is to make people feel comfortable,” she says.
Over the years, Howell had mentors who both shaped her hospitality and allowed it to shine, like Ed Lowe, the owner of Celebration Restaurant, and Reata’s Tod Lewis, then the Director of Operations, who made Howell the Guest Services Manager.
Howell says Lewis told her, “Your job is to make happy people happier and mad people happy.”
She still enjoys being on the floor talking to guests, and the same enthusiasm for caring about customers is something WH looks for in hiring.
“I can’t teach you to have a heart,” Bourke Harvey, WH co-founder, says. “If you’ve got that, come and work with us.”
Harvey, also a Fort Worth native, spent decades owning and operating Jason’s Deli franchises outside Texas and created Curly’s Frozen Custard on Camp Bowie Boulevard 23 years ago. He and Howell have a shared love for the city and have always talked about opening a restaurant here.
JD’s Hamburgers was their first venture in 2022 in Westland, a small neighborhood west of I-820 along Camp Bowie and next door to Margie’s.
During buildout, Howell’s former Reata coworker, Juan Rodriguez, would sometimes stop in on his way to work to check on their progress. At the time, he and his wife, Pagie Rodriguez, were running a renowned catering company they’d founded, Magdalena’s.
Harvey says he would drive Rodriguez around to explain their vision for additional concepts and their values, and one day, Rodriguez said he wanted to be a part of what they were doing.
Magdalena’s joined the WH family along with Pulido’s Kitchen and Cantina. It’s already a North Texas chain and is the only concept WH plans to scale. Everything else is intended to be one of a kind, like GoPop’s Fish House, a unique concept in the Westland pipeline.
GoPop is what Harvey’s grandkids call him, a name he picked because he’s always on the go.
Names should have meaning and a connection, Harvey says, and GoPop’s follows a trend. JD was Gigi’s grandad, and Magdalena’s is an homage to Rodriguez’s grandmother.
Harvey and Howell have expanded their initial partnership to 13 people and plan to create a path to ownership for all staff, Harvey says. Being a partner gives a person radiance, he says.
“I have 17 restaurants. You’re probably not going to see Bourke Harvey. You’re probably not going to see Gigi Howell,” Harvey says. “So it’s really important whether we’re there or not that you get the experience of warmth.”
When people compliment her catering, Howell says, “The truth is it’s a team effort. We have such a strong, wonderful team.”
She remains in awe of the mother-daughter team that started Margie’s, too.
Margie was 19 when she emigrated from Italy with her mother. When they opened their own restaurant, a few years later, in 1953, the women spoke little English and had no credit at purveyors, Howell says, which meant daily trips to buy ingredients.
Although Margie is gone, Howell remains a regular, sometimes eating there for lunch and dinner in one day. “When we opened JDs, Margie’s son [Doyle Walters] came by and said, ‘Margie would be so proud of you,’” Howell says. When WH reopened Margie’s in 2023, Walters and his wife were the first couple through the doors.
Find the recipe for Tomato Tartlets here.