Texas
Why North Texas’ final Fireside Pies closed
Fireside Pies in Grapevine closes after dinner on Aug. 31, 2024. The Grapevine location was the last remaining restaurant in this series of pizza shops that had expanded over 20 years from Dallas’ Henderson Avenue to many parts of North Texas, including Plano, Fort Worth and Grapevine.
Owner Golden Tree Restaurants, which also operates Golden Chick, Jalapeno Tree and Texadelphia restaurants, said Fireside Pies never recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“While we worked tirelessly to maintain our standard of excellence and serve high-quality fare, foot traffic never rebounded to pre-pandemic levels,” reads a statement from the company.
Fireside Pies was founded in 2004 by Tristan Simon, one of the restaurateurs who reinvigorated Dallas’ Henderson Avenue with chef Nick Badovinus. The original Fireside had a tiny interior with a roaring hot pizza oven. The patio was spacious, save for the tree it was built around. People would line up outside, near the bustling Henderson Avenue, to wait for a table on busy evenings.
Golden Tree acquired Fireside in 2018. Mark Parmerlee, president of Richardson-based Golden Tree, said at the time he was “tickled to have it.”
Indeed, Fireside Pies was one of North Texas’ beloved pizza joints. It made our Best in DFW: Pizza list, and The Dallas Morning News wrote in 2012 that Fireside found “the secret to a perfect pie: crisp, chewy crusts, made-from-scratch sauces and quality ingredients from local purveyors.”
Fireside Pies made pizza seem sophisticated, which was rare in Dallas, another Dallas Morning News critic said in 2007.
The restaurant went through plenty of changes over the years, with restaurants opening and closing and menus getting overhauled. In late 2020, chef Stephan Pyles collaborated with the brand to add 10 new items to the menu, like smoked tomato gazpacho and shrimp ceviche. He was not a founder; he was hired some 16 years later as a consultant, to give the brand a jolt.
In the past few years, the restaurant locations slimmed even more. The original Fireside closed in late 2023.
A spokeswoman for Golden Tree confirmed that the Fireside Pies brand is not being sold.
It’s possible that the restaurant could reopen, but “we do not have any current plans to open in the near future,” the spokeswoman said.
“We want to thank the community for their support and loyalty over the past 6 years,” the company statement said. “The decision was made with a heavy heart and was based upon business needs and the state of our brand.”
Fireside Pies is at 1285 S. Main St., Grapevine. Its last day in business is Aug. 31, 2024.
For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on X at @sblaskovich.
Texas
Phoenix Merchant Partners and Texas Capital Alternative Asset Management Form Strategic Relationship
Phoenix Merchant Partners, an independent alternative asset manager, and Texas Capital Alternative Asset Management (TCAAM), a wholly owned subsidiary of Texas Capital Bancshares, formed a strategic relationship to provide customized capital solutions and direct lending to the core middle market across a diverse range of industries.
The relationship integrates the corporate and investment banking coverage network of Texas Capital with the structuring, underwriting and multi-cycle portfolio management expertise of Phoenix. Capitalizing on this powerful combination, Phoenix will launch its first vehicle, Spurstone Credit, in Q3/26. Structured as a perpetual-life, non-traded closed-end credit fund, Spurstone will be headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
Spurstone has already attracted interest from a group of anchor institutional investors. The vehicle’s investment mandate will focus primarily on delivering senior secured financing solutions to core middle-market businesses with annual revenues between $100 million and $1 billion that are currently underserved in private credit.
“As the only full-service financial services firm headquartered in Texas, we continuously look for ways to serve the needs of companies and their owners, both in Texas and in our industries of focus across the country. Working with Phoenix expands and accelerates our ability to offer proprietary private credit financing solutions to deserving clients. The Phoenix team shares our disciplined approach to asset structuring, capital preservation and portfolio management, as well as our passion for providing exceptional client service and delivering comprehensive solutions,” Daniel Hoverman, head of corporate and investment banking at Texas Capital and president of TCAAM, said.
The vehicle’s strategy is designed to address a critical structural liquidity gap for non-sponsored, family-owned and founder-led mid-market enterprises requiring flexible, non-dilutive senior capital to fund organic growth, strategic acquisitions and balance sheet optimizations.
“Proprietary origination remains the single biggest differentiator in the private credit landscape,” Art Mbanefo, founder and CEO of Phoenix, said. “Working with TCAAM unlocks unparalleled access to high-quality, founder-owned businesses across Texas and other economic centers like California, New York and Illinois. Together, we are bridging the liquidity gap for exceptional middle-market companies.”
Spurstone will be advised by a newly formed, Phoenix-sponsored registered investment adviser, Ryestone Advisors, which is currently applying for registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. TCAAM will be a minority economic investor in Spurstone’s investment adviser.
Texas
Texas man admits embezzling $3.2 million to pay student loans, fuel online gambling, prosecutors say
A Texas man who siphoned off millions from his employer to wipe out tens of thousands in student loan debt and bankroll extensive online gambling has pleaded guilty to federal embezzlement charges, prosecutors said.
Mitchell David Slentz, 34, of Kyle, pleaded guilty in federal court to embezzling more than $3.2 million from Austin Freight Systems, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
Financial oversight role detailed
Prosecutors said Slentz held broad responsibility for Austin Freight Systems’ finances, managing accounting operations, overseeing financial reports and internal controls, and handling vendor payment requests submitted to JPMorgan Chase.
Between October 2023 and March 2025, Slentz executed 147 fraudulent payments, diverting $3,277,937.35 into his personal accounts via interstate wire transfers. He used part of the stolen money to make two student loan payments — $25,000 and $33,887. He also gambled heavily on an online platform, depositing and winning more than $1 million, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Charges and court proceedings
Slentz was charged on May 14, appeared on June 8, and pleaded guilty Monday to wire fraud and engaging in monetary transactions with criminally derived proceeds.
A federal judge will determine Slentz’s sentence based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutory factors.
Investigation led by the FBI task force
The FBI Austin White Collar Crime Task Force handled the investigation.
CBS News Texas will provide updates as more information becomes available.
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