For National Hamburger Day, try one of these three old Fort Worth favorites

On National Hamburger Day May 28, what better place to enjoy one than Cowtown?

Fast-food drive-thrus and chain restaurants are offering all kinds of freebies and deals, from Wendy’s 1-cent burger to the Austin-based Hopdoddy chain’s $15 burger-and-fries combo that includes a margarita.

But in Cowtown, there’s no reason to eat chain burgers.

Yes. we have newer favorites like JD’s Hamburgers, Rodeo Goat, Fuego Burger, M&O Station Grill and Tommy’s.

But our burger cravings began at a west side grocery.

Kincaid’s Hamburgers, a 60-year tradition at 4901 Camp Bowie Blvd. and four suburban locations, was named “Best Burger in America” in the 1960s and 1980s and was the topic of a book, “The Perfect Hamburger.”

Long before chefs made veggie “burgers” or added brie or truffles, the late Kincaid’s Grocery butcher O.R. Gentry was simply grinding fresh beef trimmings and making thick, hand-packed hamburgers the old Texas homestyle way — with lettuce, tomato, pickle, mustard and optional American cheese.

The rows of grocery shelves have given way to dining areas. But the store doesn’t look terribly different from the 1970s.

The toppings are the same. The tomatoes are juicy. (Tip: Ask for the bun to be toasted on the griddle.)

Dutch’s Hamburgers

Dutch’s Hamburgers wraps itself in so much TCU football history and lore that you forget it only opened in 2007.

The name is a tribute to late TCU coach Dutch Meyer, a national Hall of Famer known for telling teams to “fight ‘em till hell freezes over, then fight ‘em on the ice.”

Co-founder Louis Lambert’s father, Hal, played for Meyer’s Frogs. So Lambert made the burger grill feel like something out of the 1950s, although the burgers are definitely a newer style.

Dutch’s, 3009 S. University Drive, won the former Star-Telegram,com “Burger Battle” with newer burgers like the bacon-blue cheeseburger with chipotle mayo or the “vaquero” bacon-cheddar burger with fried onion and jalapeno strings.

The basic burger is a classic: fresh beef with shredded lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, mustard and mayo, with a choice of seven cheeses on a Hawaiian-style sweet sourdough bun.

Dutch’s is open for lunch and dinner daily; 817-927-5522, dutchshamburgers.com.

Fred’s Texas Cafe

First, of all, don’t ask for Fred.

If you go to either Fred’s Texas Cafe, at 7101 Camp Bowie Blvd. West or 2730 Western Center Blvd., and ask for Fred, the server will sorrowfully bow his or her head and say, “I’m sorry, but Fred has passed on.”

The restaurant has long outlived the family dog. Founders Gari and J.D. Chandler turned it over to son Terry in 1990, and what had been a ramshackle cafe since 1950 turned into — well, a ramshackle cafe with big burgers.

Fred’s has since changed owners and moved to outlying locations but still has spicy “diablo” and poblano burgers along with the restaurant’s signature “Fred Burger.”

Terry Chandler once described Fred’s as a “blue-collar greasy spoon with a lot of white-collar infiltrators.”

This story was originally published May 28, 2024 at 10:46 AM.

Bud Kennedy’s Eats Beat

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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Bud Kennedy is celebrating his 40th year writing about restaurants in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has written the “Eats Beat” dining column in print since 1985 and online since 1992 — that’s more than 3,000 columns about Texas cafes, barbecue, burgers and where to eat. Support my work with a digital subscription