Turkey Leg Hut from Houston Descended on Fort Worth and Mania Ensued

On Saturday driving along Interstate 30, west toward Fort Worth, there was a line of cars stretching half a mile along the feeder road, reminiscent of food pantry lines from last year. Puffs of smoke billowed into the sky near a red tent in a parking lot. Turkey Leg Hut from Houston was doing a pop-up at Potter’s House in Fort Worth. This is the first visit to North Texas from the purveyor of stuffed, covered and smothered turkey legs.

According to social media posts, you had to really want a turkey leg: Four hours before they had even opened Friday, their social media team estimated there were 3,000 people in line. By Friday evening, the wait was more than 12 hours.

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, Ca'Drian Carol posted the following to The Turkey Leg Hut's Facebook page:

"I waited 13hrs!! Could not get out of line to leave. Arrived at 11am and left at 1245am. Never again. They ran out of food right after me and told hundreds of people to try again. They still couldn’t leave right away because it was so many cars. Vehicles got towed from dead batteries, car issues, and cars running out of gas from the lines. I came alone and couldn’t go to the bathroom or eat for the entire 13hrs. A home girl asked for a ticket proving she waited 13hrs so she could come back today or tomorrow and skip the line they said no and to get there early. Everyone was asking for the owners and they had left supposedly. NOT OK"

Others also reported that once in the line there was no way out, so they were stuck. To rub salt in that wound, Turkey Leg Hut ran out of food around 3 a.m. and those who were in the line were told to try again tomorrow. As mentioned above, when asked for vouchers for their 12-plus hours of service they’d already put in, organizers were not able to accommodate that request.

On Saturday they switched things to walk-up only, but still people had to drive to get there, resulting in the same line of cars. According to Turkey Leg Hut’s Instagram page, the line for Saturday was stacked along the I-30 feeder road seven hours before opening. Those in line on Saturday reported things were going smoother with only a four- to five-hour wait.

Fans of the spot quickly organized and conquered: On Saturday afternoon, one order was for 49 legs and the tab was $1,191. So, shortly after they limited orders to six turkey legs per customer.

The Turkey Leg Hut got its start in the parking lot at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 2016. A couple of years later, owners Lynn and Nakia Price opened a brick-and-mortar place in the Third Ward, where Lynn grew up. The response to their turkey legs has been like a Saturn booster rocket, and long lines on the weekend are common.

The most popular menu items are the stuffed turkey legs, which is a smoked turkey leg smothered in Alfredo sauce, shrimp and Parmesan, dirty rice or cajun crawfish mac and cheese.

Turkey Leg Hut on Almeda Road in Houston is open every day but Monday. They're packed on the weekends, but Tuesday through Thursday isn't too bad. It takes 3 hours and 22 minutes to drive there from downtown Dallas.

The Turkey Leg Hut truck will head out to Atlanta and Alabama next.