the curse of the burger battles

I saw where Chop House in arlington closed. They joined Pop's burgers as two recent winners that got to big for their britches and had to close down. Do what got you there dudes!

It happens

Guess I'll have to hit up Burger Box or Neighborhood Grill. Both are pretty darn good.

a lot of iconic restaurants in Austin are closing because of rents or the land was sold outright.

The industry is changing, real estate, cost of construction, rents, etc are as high as they have ever been, labor is as high as it's ever been and still hard to find. There will be some fall as people search for models that work.the ROI that a person used to want, need for financing if they borrow is Alot harder to come by as public companies, PE firms, REITs have bid it down by saturating markets and bidding up real estate.

I've heard the average lifespan of a new restaurant is very short.

It damn sure can be, I'm still trying to figure out where all my money went down in west 7th lol

I don't think Fred's will last much longer down there. Nothing but prius drivers now. Bill Martin would roll over in his grave.

Lots of struggle down there. It's really not a fun time to be an owner. Alot of the little deals you see, small franchises etc the person has at best spent their life savings buying themself a job that they could have made more doing something else. And they are basically stuck cause they signed personal guarantees etc on leases and still cling to the dream I guess. If I was starting over as a kid right now I'd be a plumber I think. Lol

Becks Prime, an upscale fast food hamburger chain, closed near me

It never really did a good business and it was in a good location

Burger are a high food cost item, traditionally you needed a lot of volume to make it work, especially the fast food type price point. The problem now is high volume requires lots a people and people have gotten way expensive. Business models built on cheap labor are a big issue. If I showed you my payroll many of you would be shocked what these people are making and I would hire 5 people tomorrow and 5 more the next day. That's why your burger fries and coke at a drive thru are 11 bucks now.

Went with burger box. Legit.

Ate Becks on Forest and Preston a couple of weeks ago. I thought is was damn good.

Everyone keeps talking about this Burgerim Israeli burger place lately. It's like 15$ out the door for three sliders.

That was the first location they opened in the DFW area

For a drive through hard to beat a double/double at In & Out and they don't use flash frozen meats like some. Burger King close second for me. For a sit down I always choose Chili's.

In and out is garbage.

my top three in no particular order are

Tommy's (Fort Worth)
Fred's (Fort Worth)
Burger Xtreme (Arlington)

Where does Mooyah rate with all this burger battle discussion? I've always thought theirs is best there was. Especially their sweet potato fries, too!

It's all subjective Jay, I know a guy who think's Pancho's has the best Mexican food in the world.

The original owner, Kenny Mills, sold Chop House to somebody else (I think from Dallas) in early 2017 and it went downhill in a hurry.

its not subjective. There have been test done by the WEOT that says its inedible/garbage food.

Love a good double box burger 🍔

Mooyah is very solid. Big burger and fresh fries.

Mooyah is meh. You need to try Rusty Beagle on 407 in lewisville.

We ate at Fred's for the first time on Wednesday, And I don't drive a prius for sure, I bet the evening crowd does though.

We all voted Meh for this visit-

I expected more to be honest, $58.00 for three people, soft drinks, no beer, not again.

I wished we had went to burger box instead.

Which location? I'm a fan of Fred's North.

Washington Export Outreach Team (WEOT)?
Windsor-Essex Occasional Teachers?

we go to Fred's TCU. Always excellent.

Whataburger Eaters of Texas (WEOT)

I'm almost certain I've mentioned it before, but do yourselves a favor and try the Nooner at Liberty Burger if you ever find yourself near one.

It's so good that the last, parting bites become sort of a sad affair.

awful long way to go for a burger.

It was on Currie st JP-

Not this burger.

Ah yes, of course!
I'm surprised that did not show up in my google search.

Is that place in Rockwall that closes down after the meat runs out for the day still open?
How would that place compare to the favored burger list?

Fred's should be ok since they own the W. 7th property - they aren't saddled with the sky high rent the other restaurant/bars in that area are.

I also prefer the TCU Fred's because of the parking and crowds on W. 7th.

My top burgers

Fred's, TCU
Twisted Root, Arlington
Fuego Burger, FW
Dutch's, FW
J's Casa Burger in River Oaks for an old school fast food burger

Jaspers in Bluff Dale is pretty awesome. It's a different type of burger place. Stuff you can't easily make better at home like all other burger joints.

This place looks legit!
And the bathroom may rival that of T-mans-

I am not a fan of Boots Burgers. I think they are highly over-rated.

My guess would be that if it came to it, he could sell that property on 7th and never have to make another burger in his life.

Fred's is a Fort Worth thing like Joe Ts, Railhead and Smoke Pit. It wouldn't be the same without them.

If any of you all find yourself in the south Garland area you need to stop in at Don Burger!! It is my favorite new burger place. Nothing gourmet about them just a good burger!! If you go and don't like it PM me and I will send you your money spent. I have had about 5-6 ppl try it that have loved it. They are fairly new.

Boot's burger is still open and doing well, it's not far from the house.

They are good but I don't know how they would compare to the favored burger list. Who's list is it?

tommy's was around way before Fred showed up. nothing like getting your burger and a cold quart to go with.

Just tried it. It was terrible. I took my family and friends on your recommendation and they all hated it too.

Bill was just north of $300. I'd like gas expense too.

Yeah, he should clean his places up a little

I repeat, it's subjective. WEOT can't even spell hamburger much less do test of them. Besides, your bottom is soggy.

Texas disagrees with you and its more damp really.

Aggies disagree with you. We win.

Not really such a list. I probably could have picked a better way to ask it.

Chop House was never the same after Kenny moved from his original location.

My last 2 cents on Fred's - Terry Chandler has been offered a crazy, crazy amount of money for that place on W. 7th - He stays because it's been a family place since 1978 and he thinks he's an old visionary Chuck Wagon cowboy that can invent new culinary dishes. ?? He's a good guy, but I'll be shocked if he sells that place before he completely gives out

Yep.

Ate at a place on the courthouse square in Weatherford called Justice Burger about a year ago. Probably the best burger I've ever had. Was shut down the last time we were there.

Becks has a great burger but you have to try the chili cheese dog. It has two 1/4 lbs hot dogs split and grilled on an open fire on a hamburger bun with a big scoop chili and cheese top. A little messy but I like it better than
their burger and the fries are good too.

I would have went to skinnys down the street