A new deli and gourmet takeout shop near TCU rolls with a ’61 Chevy Corvair pickup
The little Fort Worth takeout shop has gone big.
Lettuce Cook, a tiny gourmet counter with a faithful following, has opened a large new deli cafe and takeaway shop near TCU.
If you’ve gone to the original Lettuce Cook in the River District, you know it’s quirky but beloved for casseroles and reheatable family meals.
The new Lettuce Cook, 3522 Blue Bonnet Circle, is a 75-seat restaurant open six days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with a refrigerator case filled with chicken spaghetti, salmon or halibut specials and an array of soups and sides.
Natalie and Todd Brown took the leap to take over a former German restaurant.
They rearranged as a fast-casual deli with morning coffee and breakfast omelets or burritos along with about 14 sandwiches and 14 salads for lunch and dinner.
The eye-catcher is a 1961 Chevrolet Corvair pickup, parked smack in the middle of the dining room and ready to serve buffets in the truck bed whenever help-yourself service returns.
“We love the TCU area, and we already had so many clients who were coming to the River District,” Todd Brown said, referring to the first Lettuce Cook, 5101 White Settlement Road.
That shop is more of a market and takeout shop.
The new Cook is an all-day dining choice.
It has TVs for family game-watching, local wine and beers.
And it still has the takeout case.
“This is what’s made us take off,” he said.
“People are in a hurry. They want to just get something out of the case. They’re tired of cooking. And they’re tired of spending money at the grocery store. .... This is easy.”
The takeout shop includes a dedicated self-service checkout for fast, touchless service. Or call in an order and they’ll meet you with it out the back door.
Last week the cooler was filled with Hatch chile mac-and-cheese ($2.89), honey-glazed carrots ($3.99), red-wine mushrooms ($3.99) and regular, Cobb or Caesar salads.
The chicken or salmon takeout dinners sell for about $13-$16.
Anything in the case can be heated to dine in the restaurant, or pick sandwiches like the Cuban, a turkey sandwich with Durkees sauce, a “Davy Croquette” salmon croquette with dill aioli or a “Funkytown Classic” with brisket and whiskey-maple sauce, among others.
The sandwiches and salads sell for about $10 each.
There’s also traditional salads with tuna salad and pimiento and an “off-the-wall-Dorf” with apple and blue cheese.
It’s open weekdays and Saturdays from 7 am. until midevening, with late hours planned on future weekends; 817-924-2665. lettucecookgourmet.com.
This story was originally published October 12, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
