There’s a new burger coming soon in far west Fort Worth, and a ‘Rattler’ beer too
The old ranching community of Westland is getting a new grill and bar.
Maybe that doesn’t sound like news. But any new restaurant is big news for Westland, and particularly JD’s Hamburgers.
Cafe 203 general manager Gigi Howell and friends will serve 44 Farms beef burgers on sweet-sourdough buns, a Martin House “Westland Rattler” brew and desserts with Curly’s Frozen Custard.
The address is 9901 Camp Bowie Blvd. West. It’s the neighborhood’s most ambitious new restaurant since — well, maybe since 1953, when Margie’s Italian opened on what was then a transcontinental highway to California.
The construction of Interstate 30 eventually turned Westland into a dusty crossroad with a few old motels, taverns and a rock shop between Western Hills and Aledo.
But the new Walsh neighborhood and other developments have brought new families to the ranchland where Howell’s grandfather, truck drive J.D. Jimeson, grew up.
We argue a lot in Fort Worth about exactly “Where the West Begins.”
But I could make the case that it starts in Westland, where the city lights dim and traffic crosses a state “ranch road.”
Howell is taking over the old Knotty Pine Tavern, a roadhouse bar built in 1961.
“This is where my family built their own homes by hand, where people lived and worked and ranched their whole lives — this is where we caught crawdads in Mary’s Creek,” she said.
JD’s will serve specialty burgers and classic family desserts such as banana pudding, blackberry cobbler and chocolate pie.
“There’s a lot of opportunity out here,” she said. “There’s just not a lot of places to eat between Fort Worth and Walsh.”
The neighborhood has been begging for more burgers ever since the closing of long-ago favorite Pop’s on Benbrook Highway, although Fuego Burger also has a strong following in the same space.
Nearby Chubby’s also recently remodeled. Later this year, a new Fred’s Texas Cafe will open at 7101 Camp Bowie Blvd. West.
Howell’s burger ideas come from her 20 years at Reata and 203 Cafe, where she’ll remain as daytime general manager.
There’s another big burger name involved: business partner Bourke Harvey, also a partner in burger favorite Rogers Roundhouse.
Workers remodeling the Knotty Pine found a surprise: a rattlesnake.
So JD’s will have its own “rattler” beer.
The old tavern’s knotty pine paneling will be painted, she said.
According to Star-Telegram archives, the corner was originally home to a restaurant named the Sundown Drive-In. It was briefly a diner named the A1 Coffee Pot before becoming the Knotty Pine, which had a series of owners.
Westland is ready to boom, Howell said.
“I think Westland is ready for so many things,” she said. “It needs a barber shop. It needs a little convenience store. I just think this area can be so successful.”
Work is just beginning on the new restaurant, to open later in 2022; instagram.com/jdshamburgers.
This story was originally published January 5, 2022 at 5:45 AM.
