The Loop

Unofficial Guide: Old and new burgers in Fort Worth

May 22, 2014

__Make Mine a Double__Old doesn't always equate to good when you're trying to figure out where to eat in a new city, but it's a good place to start. Kincaid's Grocery Market has been serving burgers in Fort Worth since 1945--plenty long enough to get replaced by whatever the 1970s equivalent of a trendy hipster gastro pub would have been.

Visiting the original location of Camp Bowie Blvd. is like signing up to be an extra in the original Back to the Future movie--the one where busboy Goldie Wilson decides he eventually wants to be mayor. They still make the half-pound burgers the way they did in the Roosevelt administration--hand-made prime Angus beef, ground that morning on the premises, with fresh tomatoes and pickles and a slice of American cheese. Order the Cowtown-Style cheeseburger fully loaded with grilled onions and jalapeños, add an order of fried okra and cool it down at the end with a strawberry shake. There's a reason Elvis Presley was always trying to recapture his youth.

__Choices, Choices__Nostalgia is wonderful, but so is seeing the future. The Rodeo Goat hangs it hat (non-ironically, since this is Texas) on modern interpretations the folks at Kincaid's would consider beef heresy. The Caca Oaxaca is a patty made out of beef and chorizo, covered in avocado, pico de gallo, queso fresco and tabasco mayo. It's capped with a fried egg and served on a house-made bun. You're going to want to pair it with cheese fries and one of the 60 beers available at what they call the "Icehouse/Patio Bar."