First Look: Fatburger at Two In the Mornin’

Texas recently got another famous California resident: Fatburger. This longstanding West Coast burger joint opened its first Texas location in North Richland Hills in 2020 and another opened Arlington in October just north of Globe Life Field that is regularly packed.

Lovie Yancy founded Fatburger in 1947. At first, it was called Mr. Fatburger, but after Yancy split from her partner, she dropped the “Mr.” They’ve expanded worldwide and have more than 100 locations now.

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The North Richland Hills location has a big open kitchen where at least six people were working grills and fryers with a few more front-end staff. Everyone was attentive and friendly. The place is bright and clean. Customers order at the counter and food is brought out to tables when it’s ready. 

The burgers are made with freshly ground “100% pure lean beef.” The original burger is one-third pound of beef. The original comes with mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, relish and mustard. The original burger by itself is $6.69, the meal is $12.48.

They offer several variations on their burgers: a turkey burger, a skinny burger (no bun, two patties), a veggie burger and an Impossible burger.

One element that sticks out is the bun. It’s a dense “sponge-dough bun” and has a lot more heft than your typical burger bun. It’s also the same dough process that another Cali burger chain, In-N-Out, uses.

Fatburger has several beers on draft, including local options like Dallas Blonde, plus margaritas.

Overall, the burgers are good and will cure a burger and fries craving. They’re seasoned with just salt and pepper so palates that are used to spicer foods might seek out something that has a little kick. The 1000 Island burger is great. If you’re not crazy about bread, the skinny burger is good, but be aware it’s a lot of meat.

Patties are seared on a hot griddle and come out like misshapen homemade burgers with a good but not messy amount of grease, or “juice.”

Fatburger has three options for fries: crinkle-cut sweet potato fries, thin-cut skinny fries and thick fat fries. But, skip all those and get the flakey wonderful onion rings.

They have a pretty strong vegan game here. In addition to the Impossible burgers, there are vegan chicken nuggets and milkshakes.

Some locations, including the two Fatburgers in Texas, also have a Buffalo’s Express. The website explains that the co-branded restaurants allow for both restaurants to operate in the “same size footprint as a single fast-casual restaurant.”

1807 N. Collins St. (Arlington) and 6039 Precinct Line Road (North Richland Hills), 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday – Sunday