‘Breakfast is No. 1’: This new Arlington cafe has everything from omelets to Reubens
In a city that loves breakfast and brunch, north Arlington has a new cafe to love.
The morning newcomer on North Collins Street has an old name: Lone Star Cafe.
It might sound like a chain, but it’s a small, independent breakfast and plate-lunch cafe in a city that strongly supports unique local restaurants.
Lone Star serves a giant menu with pancakes 10 ways, Belgian waffles, crepes and more than 30 different sandwiches, salads and burgers.
Co-founder “Phil” Doko ran popular Italian pasta bistros in several Texas suburbs including Keller, Lake Worth and Crowley.
“To me, breakfast is now the number one meal,” Doko said.
Families don’t go out as often for dinner. But we meet friends for breakfast or lunch. Then we come with the family on weekends for omelets or avocado toast.
“Here, we see people all week long,” Doko said. “In an Italian restaurant, you’d only see people once or twice a week.”
Arlington is already known for its love for old-time neighborhood breakfast-lunch cafes such as Oldwest Cafe, Pioneer Restaurant or Skillet N Grill.
Lone Star itself filled the space left by an iconic Arlington favorite when Al’s Hamburgers moved to Fielder Plaza.
That left the North Collins Street shopping center space vacant. (The official address is 1001 N.E. Green Oaks Blvd., 2 miles north of Interstate 30 and 3 miles north of AT&T Stadium.)
Now, the center is busy again with customers from the new Viridian neighborhood nearby and patrons driving from the entertainment district or from the Hurst-Euless area for salads, Reubens, chicken-and-waffles or a “pork on my fork” platter with bacon, ham and sausage.
Doko said he lives in Bedford and used to pass the old Al’s nearly every day.
When Al’s moved to a more central location at 1276 N. Fielder Road, Doko saw a chance.
“We try to give people a lot of variety,” he said. “When you get people together for breakfast or lunch, people don’t all want the same thing.”
Following a recent trend at breakfast-lunch cafes, Lone Star also serves breakfast and brunch all day until the 2:30 p.m. closing. (That way, diners who came because they heard about the pancakes don’t go away disappointed.)
Doko has run restaurants named Roma Italian and Tuscany Italian in local suburbs, including the very good Tuscany Italian Bistro in Lake Worth.
He’d like to open more Lone Stars and believes he can use the name, he said.
(A family member owns a Grapevine restaurant named Lone Star Cafe, but the restaurant has a different operator, he said.)
Lone Star is open for breakfast and lunch daily, closing at 2:30 p.m.;; 682-321-7999, lonestarcafe.org.
This story was originally published October 4, 2021 at 5:45 AM.
