New Alliance-area Burger Bar reminds us of another Burger Bar, but it stands on its own

First, there’s the logo: all lowercase, sans serif with soft curves. Then there’s the “Burger Bar” part of the name. Then there’s the bar area, with other parts of the restaurant wrapped around it.

We’re not the first to notice some similarities between Grub Burger Bar, based in Bryan and founded in 2012, and the more well-known Hopdoddy Burger Bar, based in Austin and founded in 2010.

Grub, which will open its first Fort Worth location Jan. 15 near Alliance Town Center, has had Dallas-area locations for a few years; an Eater Dallas item on the first Dallas one said, “Fans of Austin-born Hopdoddy ... will probably notice some similarities between the two burger franchises.” CultureMap Dallas: “The style at Grub is similar to Hopdoddy.”

They probably get tired of hearing that. So here’s a look at the far north Fort Worth location, which we visited during a special preview on Monday. We’ll try to limit the Hopdoddy comparisons.

The vibe: Upscale burger bar that’s sort of like that other upscale burger bar but not exactly like it. Order at the counter, get a tracking device, runner takes food out to you. Non-alcoholic drinks are self-serve. Props to Grub for allowing you to seat yourself, rather than assigning a table to you, as some other fast-casual places we could name have done recently.

The Alliance location has some nice art on the walls that could have been better identified, and a few other decorative touches that are selfie-friendly. Lots of windows, meaning lots of natural light; the rear of the restaurant overlooks Bluestem Park, which has a nice little walking/hiking trail that happens to be within easy ear- and eyeshot of I-35W, but you can tune out the freeway if you try hard enough.

Freeway-adjacency aside,the Alliance Grub has a back patio that is a strong candidate for one of the best new Tarrant patios of 2019: More spacious than you’d expect, nicely furnished, succulents on several tables, trails leading into the park. Grub Fort Worth’s opening week is going to be one of those classic North Texas rollercoaster weather weeks, but if you can catch one of the good days, try to grab a spot on the patio.

The preview was crowded and a little noisy, but not enough to interfere with conversation. Music appeared to be a mix of classic rock and relatively modern KXT-style stuff, although it was played low enough that we could only make out Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and the Lumineers’ “Hey Ho,” and that was only because we recognized the bass lines on both songs.

The food: Grub’s burgers, at least the “Bacon Love #9” I had at the preview, are a little bigger in circumference than a certain other upscale burger chain’s, and a little thicker as well. The Bacon Love had well-seasoned patty, not quite the requested medium but with hints of pink; crisp applewood-smoked bacon; American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes; and “Secret Sauce #9.” Tasty burger with a standard bun; made it about three-quarters of the way through before the thing fell apart and I started having to use a fork.

The burger was accompanied by the “Split Decision” ($3), which is your choice of two sides (skinny fries, waffle-cut sweet potato fries or onion rings). The sweet-potato fries were good and not as sweet as their menu name (“Sweets”) indicated; the onion rings were big, well-battered and crunchy, but didn’t have much onion flavor. Which, for some people, might be a plus. A self-serve sauce bar includes a jalapeño-ranch sauce, a chipotle kethcup, Mississippi “comeback” sauce, Dr Pepper BBQ sauce and honey mustard. Surprisingly, the honey mustard came off best, not as sweet and a little richer than most honey mustards. The comeback sauce’s Cajun flavors were good but could have been a little more pronounced.

The Grub burger menu features 10 beef burgers, from the traditional (“Front Porch”) to over-the-top-fusion (“Texas Luau,” topped with pulled pork, a grilled pineapple slice, grilled jalapeños, and teriyaki and BBQ sauce) to the challenging (“The Scorpion,” which features pepperjack, Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Sauce, grilled jalapeños and a pickled habanero — and if that’s too wimpy for you, you can get it “inferno style,” which comes with an ice-cream chaser, for an extra buck).

The three non-beef “burgers” include a turkey burger, a wild-caught salmon ... burger, and a veggie burger called the “Hippie Chickpea,” which my vegetarian wife had. The chickpea-based patty was a little mushy for her tastes, but she did appreciate the queso blanco that was among the toppings. She did, however, like the rather generous Brussel-sprouts side, which had a nice citrusy bite thanks to an ancho-lime vinaigrette and also had their share of queso blanco atop them.

Other sandwiches include a Cuban, a southern-fried chicken club and a chicken-breast/bacon/Swiss sandwich dubbed the “California” chicken sandwich (i.e., it has sprouts and avocado on it, too!). We are curious about the Harlem chicken tenders, which, according to the menu, were inspired by a recipe originating in Harlem. Burgers and sandwiches range from $6.65 for the basic Front Porch to $11 for the Cadillac Wagyu, which features a Wagyu beef-blend patty coked medium rare.

Grub does regular featured items: The current ones are a Monte Cristo sandwich and a Cocoa Puffs-brownie malt. I had the latter, which indeed tastes like Cocoa Puffs, and is festooned by actual Cocoa Puffs atop the whipped cream that tops the shake, with a brownie at the summit of it all. Yes, I felt sluggish all the rest of the afternoon. And it was worth it. Alcoholic “spiked” shakes are also available.

The verdict: The Fort Worth Grub is in an area that its crazy with restaurants, with Alliance Town Center east of I-35W and Presidio Junction on the west side. They include such burger joints as a nearby Mooyah Burger as well as a Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, a Kincaid’s and seemingly every fast-food burger joint you can think of (OK, maybe not every one), from McDonald’s to Whataburger to In-N-Out and more. The area did recently lose a Liberty Burger location (that was just replaced by a taco joint called Tacos Chilangos) as well as a Rock Wood-Fired Kitchen that had a few burgers on the menu.

And there’s more to come, including a Shell Shack that is expected to open next door to Grub in the next month or two. But with all that competition, Grub looks like it’s ready to play: The menu is varied enough, the bar stocked enough, the patio appealing enough and the shakes, spiked or not, imaginative enough to keep us coming back and trying new things.

Grub Burger Bar, 3101 Heritage Trace Parkway Suite 101, Fort Worth, 682-204-0111, www.grubburgerbar.com. Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday.