Ron Gentry, who built Kincaid’s Hamburgers into a regional favorite, dies at 72
Ron Gentry, leader of a family that bought legacy hamburger favorite Kincaid’s from his father 30 years ago and built it into a regional company, died suddenly Thursday. He was 72.
As Gentry and his wife, Lynn, often told the story, they bought the nationally ranked burger grill and grocery after O.R. Gentry, the butcher and meat market manager, demanded: “Either you take Kincaid’s, or I’m shutting it down.”
Since then, the family has expanded from the flagship location at 4901 Camp Bowie Blvd. to five stores in Fort Worth, Arlington and Southlake. All remain open under family leadership.
Gentry, a Cleburne product, and his wife took over a business that the older Gentry had bought in 1968 from founder and grocer Charles Kincaid.
It was Ron Gentry who added picnic tables and chairs to the regionally famous grocery store and grill. Until then, Kincaid’s patrons dined standing up, spreading their burgers across shelves and countertops.
The older Gentry had started grinding leftover beef and grilling burgers in 1964. The burgers were named one of America’s two best in the 1970s by LIFE Magazine (along with Cassell’s in Los Angeles) and again in a 1982 food writers’ poll (along with Perry’s in San Francisco).
In the mid-1970s, when both Texas Monthly and the Star-Telegram launched the first best-burger polls, Kincaid’s came out on top. Texas Monthly rated it the states best in 1976. On the day in 1977 when the Star-Telegram ranked Kincaid’s No. 1, the store sold 3,300 burgers.
Memorial Service: 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021, in the chapel of Christ Chapel Bible Church, 3701 Birchman Avenue, Fort Worth, Texas 76107, with a reception to follow.
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 11:27 AM.
