Christmas Light Wonderland Campo Verde Gets Another Life

Good news for the Christmas fandom: Campo Verde, which shuttered early this year after more than four decades of business, has been purchased by an Arlington-based chef.

Bud Kennedy at The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Arlington chef Mouhssine "Moose" Benhamacht will remodel and reopen Campo Verde. Benhamacht has a long career as a chef, including stints in Napa Valley and Orlando, and will give the restaurant a really hard scrubbing and an "all-new Mexican food menu." He told Kennedy he's keeping the holiday theme, including the train that circles the top of the dining rooms.
Somewhere between Tex-Mex, Sonoran and bright orange, the food was as curious as the vertigo-inducing Christmas lights and part of the electric charm of the space. Smoking was still allowed at the bar. Estimates put the bulb count in the tens of thousands. Of particular notoriety was a neon orange "dip" served with chips doused in a house spice. Not awful nor good, this dip lived in its own orbit. We'd go for margaritas on occasion, and it was always quirky fun. Sort of reminded me of grandma's house.

Morroco-native Benhamacht came to Arlington originally to work at the Loews hotel near the sports stadiums, then opened the chic and popular Cafe Americana, which serves a mix of cuisines, including empanadas, yucca bravas, grilled lamb skewers and Spanish meatballs. (Go if you haven't.)

All this is to say that the kitchen at Campo Verde is going to be given a new life.

After a little digging into the Texas Comptroller's monthly mixed beverage report, which tracks booze spending at all restaurants and bars in Texas, Campo Verde has historically thrived in December when families make an annual pilgrimage. For the last six weeks of every year, the parking lot is overflowing with cars and people waiting to get in.

For this past December, the numbers are off (perhaps they're still wrapping up those receipts, since they definitely sold more than the reported $1,248 in alcohol). However, in October through December 2023, the restaurant went from $16,856 in liquor sales to $35,562 and then a whopping $107,704, respectively.

We're excited to see what happens here.