Downtown Fort Worth pop-up Anna's Table serves tacos and tasty bites
November 12,2024
See full CultureMap article by Raven Jordan here.
A pop-up is doing tasty small bites and Mexican eats in downtown Fort Worth: Called Anna’s Table, it's a combination caterer and pop-up that sets up shop every weekend at Basic Bar at 904 Houston St., next door to Son of a Baker Pizzeria.
The location is no coincidence: Anna's Table founder is Anna Villegas, sister of Joshua Villegas, who opened Son of a Baker earlier this year.
Her pop-up is open on Friday and Saturday nights with a rotating selection of tacos and small bites. A typical menu might include a Mini Iron Skillet Mac & Cheese, Jalapeño Poppers, Fried Chicken Skins, Mozz Blocks, and Tater Tots.
She frequently offers a 3-for-$15 deal so that customers can create a little mix-and-match meal with, say, a burger slider, fried mozzarella, and shrimp cocktail mini tostadas.
Anna is a longtime caterer and chef, who is mostly self-taught.
“I started out in my kitchen, realized I had a knack for cooking, and went to YouTube University to learn some of the skills,” she says.
Her pop-up has caught the attention of former NFL player and chef-owner of Not Just Q BBQ David Hawthorne, who introduced her to an idol: Aaron Sanchez from MasterChef.
"David FaceTimed him from my pop-up and Aaron answered," Anna says. "David introduced me as 'an up-and-coming chef in Fort Worth.' It was a really cool experience."
For her catering business, she schedules one or two events per month such as weddings and quinceañeras.
"I love having one thing to focus on for two weeks — I like to cook and come up with all the concepts," she says.
When she started her pop-up in 2023, she was helped by Joshua; she now returns the favor at Son of a Baker. While she is not slinging pies, she creates most of the sauces, such as a recent tzatziki yogurt sauce for a Greek pizza.
"I really look up to my brother,” Anna says. “He's doing the everyday in and outs of a business. And family is the backbone to everything we do."