A new cocktail bar with a decidedly churchy twist is coming to Fort Worth's South Main Village, where pew seating, Renaissance art, and antique pendant lighting will set the mood for pool, darts, and classic drinks. Mea Culpa plans to open at 309 W. Daggett Ave., bringing a neo-gothic sanctuary theme to a corridor already buzzing with new restaurants, bars, and cafes.
Co-founders Konrad Hartman and Ethan Goettsch describe Mea Culpa as a cocktail-forward neighborhood bar, according to WhatNow, which first reported on the bar's plans. The pair say the space will use a sanctuary-inspired design without pretension, mixing classic and original cocktails with cold beer, pool tables, and darts to give regulars a place to unwind. Public filings cited by the outlet place the address at 309 W. Daggett Ave., and the founders say Mea Culpa is committed to creating a space safe for all, welcoming people from all walks of life.
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation records confirm the state's architectural barrier registration for the address was filed in August, with an estimated construction start date the following month. That timeline lines up with the bar's own plans for a soft opening in late September and a public opening in early October.
Bartenders With Local Pedigree
Goettsch isn't new to Fort Worth's cocktail scene. He won the People's Choice Award at the 8th Annual Craft Cocktail Competition in October 2024 for his “Sweater Weather” cocktail while working as a bartender at Clay Pigeon Food & Drink, per 360West. Hartman brings his own resume to the bar, having served as resident whiskey expert and bartender at Thompson's Bookstore Speakeasy in addition to work in spirit sales, according to the Daily Meal.
The founders say South Main's active nightlife, dense residential population, and walkability made it the right fit for their concept. That description matches the neighborhood's rapid transformation this year, as Mea Culpa lands inside a freshly built mixed-use project rather than a converted storefront.
A Building Built for Foot Traffic
Mea Culpa will occupy the ground floor of The Lincoln, a newly completed 2026 mixed-use residential development at 309 W. Daggett Ave. featuring custom cabinetry and interior details crafted by the same design team behind nearby wine bar The Holly, according to Apartments.com listings for the property. The building's upper floors bring new residents directly above the bar, a built-in customer base for a neighborhood spot.
The same address is shaping up as a food-and-drink cluster of its own. LanCarte Commercial Real Estate executed a 10-year lease in May for a 1,299-square-foot suite in the building to bring in Hiro's Kitchen, a 15-seat sushi counter Hoodline covered in an earlier look at the omakase newcomer. Scratch bakery Sunrise Scones also relocated to 309 W. Daggett Ave. in June, according to a Facebook announcement, giving the block a daytime draw ahead of Mea Culpa's evening crowd.
Part of a Broader South Main Boom
Mea Culpa's arrival fits a pattern Hoodline has tracked across the neighborhood this summer, with six new hospitality openings counted within a walkable four-block stretch bounded by West Magnolia Avenue and South Main Street. That wave of activity is unfolding alongside significant public investment: the City of Fort Worth allocated $2.5 million for Near Southside Round 6 capital improvements this year to upgrade water, sewer, and street paving along corridors including Galveston Avenue and South Houston Street near West Daggett Avenue.
Much of the district's momentum traces back further. South Main Village was established as a City of Fort Worth Urban Village and Tax Increment Financing district in the late 1990s, using public-private partnership funds to convert historic industrial blocks into a walkable commercial center. More recently, redevelopment along South Main has been anchored by JPS Health Network's $1.5 billion hospital campus expansion, which broke ground on a new main tower directly along the street.
Whether Mea Culpa's neo-gothic pews and pool tables become a fixture of that growing corridor remains to be seen, but the founders are betting on South Main's momentum to carry them through their late-September soft opening and into an early-October public debut.
