Kincaid's Hamburgers
4901 Camp Bowie Blvd.
Fort Worth, Texas
Dude Factor: 9, or Roger Miller, on a scale of 1 (Mark David Chapman) to 10 (Townes Van Zandt)
It seems that every time someone does a survey of metroplex burgers (or a statewide survey, for that matter), the name "Kincaid's" seems to come up, either in the list itself or in an angry comment--"you mean to tell me Kincaid's didn't make the Top Ten?! Bullshit!" Of course, we said the same thing when Texas Monthly left both Angry Dog and Wingfield's off its Top 50 last year, so we felt we might find some kindred spirits if we eventually made it over to the Fort Worth institution.
We finally got our chance on Saturday when we decided to escape the Texas-OU brouhaha (sure, we're Longhorn alums, but we also hate traffic--that's why we live in Dallas) for a day in sunny Panther City. Pulling up to Kincaid's, we had a hard time finding a parking space--always a good sign. Once we made it in, we found the decor to be quite awesome, with a row of counters for stand-up dining and some long picnic tables laid out in front of the windows. The place seemed to be full of TCU students and white-haired alumni in purple golf shirts, but hey, at least we weren't in Highland Park, even though it felt like some bizarro world version of it.
We ordered a bacon cheeseburger and waited,
cursing the fact that we didn't notice the bottles of Rahr brew
on sale and ordered an iced tea instead. To be fair, the sweet tea was
pretty legit, but if you don't like your tea as sweet as cough
syrup, you might want to steer clear.
When the burger finally arrived, it was glorious, with a thick chuck
patty, gooey cheese and smoky bacon on a Mrs. Baird's bun--no fancy
brioche crap here. The patty was a little more well done than we
prefer, but, like the miraculous burgers at Wingfield's, somehow still
maintained moistness. Toward the end, it felt like something was
missing flavor-wise--a little more salt and pepper, maybe?--but
overall, it was one of the finer burgers in the metroplex, capturing
the homemade quality so rarely found in a modern restaurant burger. No
wonder the Fort Worth natives rave about it.
The crinkle cut fries weren't anything special, but they were perfectly
cooked and complemented the burger just fine. Next time we'll probably
go for the onion rings, however. Or maybe just two burgers.
Seeing as how Fort Worth is perfect for a day trip--we took in the
Lake Worth Monster Fest (eh) and the SouthSide ArtsGoggle
(awesome)--you owe it to yourself to head over and grab a little Kincaid's on the
way to the museum or the zoo or Bass Hall or wherever-it-is-you-people-like-to-go-when-you're-not-online-giving-us-shit-in-the-comments-section.
Just don't come back wearing
any of that purple crap.
