Fred's Texas Cafe - A WayMoreHomemade Review

I don’t watch a whole lot on Food Network these days, but I do have a few shows that I like to see every now and then. One of them is hosted by this guy with crazy hair and his sunglasses on backwards. The show is “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.”

Maybe its my upbringing as the daughter of a police officer and being exposed all my life to these types of places, but I have a real soft spot in my heart for the divey hole-in-the-wall looking restaurants that do great food. Not necessarily healthy, but great. And usually pretty cheap.

Which is why police officers love them.

But I digress.

I was watching the show the other day and noticed that they were at a place in Fort Worth called Fred’s Texas Café.

“Hmmm. I’ve never heard of it. We will have to check it out,” I thought to myself.

Well, on Saturday we got our chance. The kids were spending the night at Nanny’s house and we tried to take advantage of the beautiful weather and went for a walk in the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens. We then went for a Blizzard at the Dairy Queen down the street (since it is the closest one to our house – oh the HORROR). We then continued the calorie fest at Fred’s.




Fred’s is located near the cultural district of Fort Worth on Currie Street just south of West 7th, not far from the old Montgomery Ward building. This is an area of town that has been in the midst of some major revitalization over the last 4-5 years. I’m not sure how long Fred’s has been there, but they are perfectly positioned to really keep and gain a lot of business in the coming years.

We drove up and the street was lined with cars on both sides. That’s always a good sign.

A couple of things to note as you arrive. There are two dining areas. To dine at a table inside, you need to sign yourself in on the clipboard just inside the front door. If you would prefer to dine on the patio outside, just walk on through the gate and keep your eyes peeled for a spot. It’s every man for himself out there.



Seriously, we hear that folks are usually pretty friendly and will make room for you. However, we didn’t realize this until we had already been there for a while. We would have loved to have dined outside this beautiful fall evening. There was live music that was tolerable and a festive atmosphere. However, we got the chance at some seats at the bar as some people that Mike knew from his old job in Dallas were leaving, so we took them.

Our seats were at the end of the bar and we ended up being able to see straight into the kitchen. It was fascinating to watch these guys work. The action never stopped. They took out a ball of ground beef and hand shaped each and every burger fresh before putting it on the griddle. And the girls behind the bar made each margarita individually… no margarita machine in sight. Now, that the Way More Homemade way. And that’s the way we like it.



When you order you need to know a few things as well. Most of the menu is burgers and fries. However, they do have specials. I think they were listed on a chalk board, but just know that you can ask about them.

And specifically, you need to know that you can ask about the Rib-eye steak with chipotle butter. It is a 16 ounce steak served with fries and a salad. Mike and I ordered one and split it and it was more than enough for the two of us. We ordered it cooked medium and for my taste, it was over cooked and more like well done. However, it was still tender and the chipotle butter added a nice kick to it. For my man, it was perfect.

We also ordered our fries with cheese. They. Were. Yum.



One of their signature dishes is Quail and Eggs which they serve only for their Sunday brunch.

Many people who read this here blog have kids and may be asking, “Is it an okay place to take my kids?” I would say mostly yes. The only issue might be the wait. On the patio with its “seat yourself when you find a spot” policy, the wait time is really uncertain. If you go planning to sit on the patio with your kids, I’d say you might want to get there on the early side of the evening. If you want to sit inside, just know that the number of booths is really limited.

We got there in the 6:45 pm time range and finally ate at about 8:15 between waiting for a spot to sit, ordering, and waiting for our food. This is probably not the place for you if your children tend on the impatient side when it comes to eating at a certain time.

Overall we had an excellent experience, great service and my man can’t wait to go back and try a burger.

Have you been to Fred’s? What was your experience?

Disclaimer: I was in no way compensated for this "review" if that's what you want to call it. We paid for our dinner out of our own empty pockets.