Pendery’s Spice Store

Actually five-​and-​a-​half stars. I could spend $ 1000 here. It’s the only place I buy dried herbs and ground spices. Their spices are so much more flavourful than the trollop you get at the grocery store or even a farmer’s market. The Pendery’s house chili powder is all I will ever use until I’m dead of death. Some tell it that they are responsible for a «famous» FTW Tex-​Mex restaurant’s enchilada sauce flavour. Staff isn’t rude… they’re just straight-​forward. Don’t go in here clueless about food and get wonky when they don’t teach you how to cook.

Monosodium Glutamate? No thanks. Not realizing that 90% of their chile blends have MSG (it’s not indicated on the website anywhere), I ordered about $ 200 worth for gifts for Christmas. I sent them an email about it and never heard back!
Horrible customer service to boot.

Have been using their stuff since the 80’s and their spaghetti seasoning is my favorite! They have had their share problems finding good help at the counter sales but the new guy is awesome! Great insight on the community and on the internal selection of spices.
5 stars for sure.

Stopped here looking for real stone ground grits. The woman working behind the counter – who couldn’t even be bothered to look up from her cell phone – told me that they don’t carry things that you can generally find in a grocery store. If I were able to find real stone ground grits – not Quaker instant – in a grocery store I wouldn’t have stopped here. Obviously this place isn’t as «specialty» as they claim.

Excellent store to shop for spices however don’t forget to bring a little bit of burning sage just in case

Wow! I had no idea! And they’ve been in FTW since 1870! I recently moved back to FTW and never knew this store existed. I’ve been living in Dallas and going to Penzeys and I saw this place and thought it was a knock off. Now I see that Penzeys has NOTHING on this place. The only thing I like about Penzeys better is you can smell their spices. You pretty much need to know what you’re looking for at this place. But, the guy working here is passionate and very knowledgable and friendly. I’ll be back!

Fabulous store! We stopped by to pick up some Ancho chili powder and ended up with multiple types and blends. The gentleman who helped us was very knowledgeable and helpful. The parking lot is small but very convenient and free. I suspect we’ll be placing quite a few orders by mail in the future!

On June 13, 2014, I placed my first order with Pendery’s using a gift certificate I had received for a gift. I sent original certificates (made copies with copy of order form) and the order form that listed both e-​mail and telephone number on it for correspondence purposes. After placing a call (July 21^st) to Pendery’s on why I hadn’t I received my order, I found out that as a result of data inputting error where the inputter did not attached the gift certificates as payment, my order was never placed but being held. No one at Pendery’s contacted me to ask about payment. It wasn’t until my call that I found out what the problem was with my order. The woman helping me issued my order July 24, 2014 and I received it Monday, July 28, 2014. I was still charged for shipping, which I think was wrong because Pendery’s failed to inform me of their error or to provide adequate customer service. Hence, I will probably not use Pendery’s again.

If chili, chili powder, chili beans — or just Tex-​Mex cooking is your thing, then Pendery’s is the place. According to Pendery’s they are the ones who actually invented chili powder back in the day — for camp cooks in the cattle industry who needed a portable version of the local traditional flavor to take on the trail when moving cattle to market.
These days — they offer dozens of versions of the fine red powder, from different pepper varieties and a host of «blends», some made famous by competitors and winners of the big chili cook-​offs across the state/​region. All the people who work here know which chili powders and blends are sharp, mild, smoky, extra sweet, etc, so ask. They’re really helpful for matching their products to your preferences — and to your experiments.
They also have a wide variety of chili-​themed bits and pieces — jalapeño popper trays for your grill; chili-​printed fabric items like aprons and napkins; chili pepper earrings and party lights — you get the idea.
You can also find one of the widest varieties of dehydrated veggies around, plus cookbooks, cookware, and other kitcheny stuff.
But the chili powder is what you’re after… this is what Texas tastes like.

The Pendery’s «Original» is the best chili powder I’ve had, and I’ve been at this a while.
They also have a good pickling spice blend. I used it to pickle eggs, which turned out great.
Nice little store, with some interesting gift stuff. I’d give it five stars if all their spices and blends were available to sample, prior to purchase, in shaker bottles (like over at Penzey’s).

sadly I ordered spices I would need for an ICS chili cookoff with 6 days to get the items (live in virginia so ups ground takes 3 – 4 days) after 4 days I called them and they hadn’t even shipped it yet! so I’m now screwed. buyer beware: make sure you call ahead because apparently it takes 4 days to put stuff in a box there.

What a really cool store! I was inspired to find the location after seeing their goods at Central Market, and was happily rewarded.
Lately, as a bartender, I’ve been making a lot of bitters, and well, there’s a lot of stuff that goes into them that can be very difficult to locate. Unless you stop in at Pendery’s that is…
Everywhere throughout the store is just rack after rack of spices in different bag sizes for whatever your need may be. Assortments of spices, herbs, chili blends, dried fruits, pectins, and so on are organized by use and shelved with alike goods. I was able to quickly breeze through and fill out my extensive list with relative ease. Most importantly though, the costs weren’t outrageous as they be in specialty shops.
This is definitely on my radar the next time I need to stock up on goods for making bitters or just refilling the kitchen spice rack.

Absolutely the best in spices, hot sauces, and BBQ rubs. If not in stock, Victor is very helpful and can get anything in the catalog in Fort Worth the next day usually. Very close the Magnolia on 8^th Ave. in the hospital district. 100’s of herbs and spices in inventory.
Originally from Ft Worth since 1870, served the stagecoach lines back in the day.

I’ve been sent and come across lots of evidence that Pendery’s claim that their concept was stolen is likely untrue.
I’ve also since discovered that their signature chili powder contains anti-​caking agents like the big commerical cheap-​o spice companies.
For the customer service and spice quality issues, all my business has gone to Penzey’s!

Wow. I won’t be coming back to this retailer. While the selection of spices, herbs, etc is outstanding, the help behind the counter barely looked at me and had a netbook blaring some type of soap opera dropping f-​bombs and other profanities. I confused this retailer with the catalog folks asking about «prepackaged spice boxes like the catalog» He didn’t make any effort to correct me or even offer to help. Pathetic.

1 stars for customer service
5 stars for the quality/​quantity of items they carry
I’ve been shopping with Pendery’s for many, many years and can honestly say that this is the first time I’ve walked in and was completely ignored. I guess he was too busy listening to his Mexican music to be bothered. I walked up to the counter and stood there for a bit before asking for help. It was only then that he even acknowledged that I was in the store. No hello. No can I help you. Only «what do you need» after I asked. Rude. Simply rude. On the positive sidew… they carry just about any type of spice/​seasoning one could need.

I don’t get over to Pendery’s often enough, but since we had a company meeting in Fort Worth this week, I figured to go in and load up. We were out of some staples (coriander seed) and getting low on cloves, cinnamon, chipotle, etc. Also bought some Szechuan pepper — love that slightly lemony heat, and some pink peppercorns because they are pretty., Pine nuts too.
Oh dear Madame will not be thrilled when she sees the bill!
The place is great — all manner of dried peppers (ranging from piquin to arbol) and a very wide variety of both whole and ground spices. We generally buy the whole spices since they keep better that way — and grind as required

I was making a recipe that required a chili spice outside even Central Market’s capabilities. Pendery’s had exactly what I needed, along with quite a few things I didn’t need that came home with me too. The quality was excellent and was VERY reasonably priced for the quantity compared to inferior store bought brands.
I would also recommend coming here if you are looking for a unique gift for a foodie friend. They had a lot of options in local and regional cookbooks and other things besides spices.
The only reason I gave it four instead of five stars is that their hours make it a bit more difficult to just stop in, especially if you work during the day. That is usually the case with small businesses though. Just be sure to check the hours when you are heading over there. I always seem to want to go on Sundays or on weeknight evenings, when the grocery shopping gets done and that’s a no-​go here.
Their hours are:
Monday — Friday 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM
Saturday 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Love all their spices! I have started shopping more with Penzey’s recently only because I like their blends more. I also love that you can smell/​taste/​try everything.

For the freshest spices try Pendery’s in Ft. Worth. I have been using their chile powders, dried chilis and other spices for years. They are wonderful, and extremely fresh. Their ground cumin is moist, and very flavorful (when you bloom in a pan you can smell it all over the house). Their selection of chiles, and chile powders is the best of their spice lot. Their other spices are less expansive, but fresh. Some new Indian spices that are great! Prices are good, and they ship. I never cook Latin Food, Indian Food, or Thai without a Pendery’s spice.