Burger shack spreads the Love

The Love Shack is going to Dallas.

And chef Tim Love's hamburger stand now has a dining room in Fort Worth.

The Love Shack opened last year as a Stockyards take-out window. But right away, tourists and locals asked where to sit.

Now, the answer is: next door in the White Elephant Saloon. The saloon opens daily and serves the entire Shack menu.

The Shack burger gets taste-tested next month, when Love enters a burger contest at the South Beach, Fla., Wine & Food Festival.

We get to test it daily, 11:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m., at 110 E. Exchange Ave., just east of North Main Street; phone 817-740-8812, www.shakeyourloveshack.com.

Also, a new glass-house Love Shack will open this year in Dallas' Victory Park.

And Love's original Lonesome Dove Western Bistro will expand by midsummer, adding a special chef's menu at a new, intimate dining room next door named Paloma Lita.

"After eight years, it's time to make more progress," Love said. "We're keeping the things everybody loves, just updating it all."

Lonesome Dove is now open Mondays through Saturdays for dinner and Tuesdays through Saturdays for lunch -- a bargain. It's at 2406 N. Main St., phone 817-740-8810; www.lonesomedovebistro.com.

I've seen "celebrity chef" events before. But never one where the audience gave the chefs a standing ovation.

That's what happened Monday in Grapevine, where chefs helped raise money for the SafeHaven women's shelter.

Best dish: chef Todd Phillips' grilled sea bass from JR's Steakhouse in Colleyville, although it was close between that and the grilled salmon from The Grotto in Highland Village.

The tickets sold out months ago. If you want to go next year, I'd ask SafeHaven now.

New in Dallas: Cafe R&D is the next generation of Houston's, serving a contemporary diner menu in a classy space at 8300 Preston Center Plaza; open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily, phone 214-890-7900.

New in Fort Worth: Chadra Mezza Grill finally made its much-awaited debut at 1622 Park Place, serving dinner, a Friday-night buffet and a limited lunch menu; 817-9-CHADRA.

And the enduring Ol' South Pancake House has cleaned and repolished its dining room to match Fort Worth's new no-smoking rules. Same big breakfasts; 1509 S. University Drive, 817-336-0311, www.fwculture.com/ol'south.htm.