GastroGnome - The Love Shack
by Pete WannSince we moved to Fort Worth a year ago, I’ve tried to share my experiences of getting to know the city and what it offers, culturally, politically, and gastronomically. Despite my best intentions, however, there’s one area that I’ve tended to ignore, The Stockyards.
I don’t know for sure WHY I haven’t spent any time there. Maybe it’s that I expected it to be all kitschy and touristy (it kind of is), or maybe it’s my fervent desire to move Fort Worth beyond the “cowpokes and slowpokes” stereotype. No matter what the cause of my neglect, that’s not the right way to truly embrace a city. Cities are like people, they have aspects you truly love (Magnolia Ave., the thriving arts scene), and things that you tolerate because the other things are so cool (cowboy culture, Camp Bowie). For me, The Stockyards isn’t going to be a destination where I’ll be spending a lot of time anytime soon. The rhinestone (or real) cowboy thing isn’t my scene. I’m not saying that it shouldn’t be ANYONE’S scene, just that it’s not for me.
Anyway, enough rambling. Let’s take a look at one of the newer joints on Exchange St., The Love Shack. (Warning: annoying automatic (probably unlicensed) use of “Love Shack” by the B-52’s upon page load.)
The Love Shack is next to The White Elephant Saloon and behind (effectively) Lonesome Dove, Tim Love’s seminal western bistro. The Love Shack is apparently set up in where the old beer garden for the White Elephant was. Jenna and I both really liked the layout of the place. It was cool with all the different levels and the really attractive melding of modern touches with the rustic wood and exposed exterior brick of the buildings it sits between. There is no roof AT ALL on the joint, you basically come in the front, place your food order at the tiny bar, then wait for your name to be called. The menu is ultra-simple, too, just burgers, hot dogs, fries and onion rings, with a few varieties of each, along with a daily milkshake special (this Sunday’s is Chocolate Mint). It’s cash only, but if you forgot to bring it, there’s a convenient ATM less than 10 feet from the bar.
I’ll say it again, I was REALLY impressed with the looks of the place. It was the kind of place where a kickin’ band would really make for a fun crowd, if there weren’t a bunch of tables in the middle of the floor.
The view from one of the many terraces.
Jenna wants to make sure that everyone knows that she’s wearing one of my t-shirts, which is why she looks so huge. 
The most famous thing on the menu is the “Dirty Love Burger,” which is essentially a hamburger with lettuce, tomato, pickles, “love sauce,” bacon, American cheese, and a fried quail egg. Here’s a picture of mine (1/4 of the way through it):
The burger tasted pretty good. I don’t know if I’d go so far to proclaim it “the most perfect burger on the planet,” like the Star-Telegram did. I didn’t even notice the quail egg because the love sauce was so overpowering. The ground beef is made from tenderloin and brisket, and was excellent, but I honestly had a hard time really enjoying the burger because it was SO GREASY… How greasy? Here’s a picture of the wrapper the burger came in: (yes, those are puddles of grease, and this was taken AFTER I finished the burger, so some had seeped through and dried up)
I also got an order of the “crazy good onion rings”, which while pretty good, I don’t know if they qualified as “crazy good.” I prefer my o-rings to be able to stand on their own, and again these were so greasy that there wasn’t any crispness to them at all, just onion flavor, seasoning, and whatever oil they’re cooked in. Again, the obligatory greasy paper shot, of the LESS greasy side of the bag I dumped the rings into:
So, I guess the crux of the food part of this review is that while everything tasted pretty good, I was REALLY put off by how greasy everything was. The grease factor really overpowered everything else. Combine that with the fact that there wasn’t a decent (or even local) beer available to be had, and I don’t see myself going back to The Love Shack anytime soon. Not to mention that this is where they store their bottled beer:
Yep, right behind my table, open to the elements. No cooler, no nothing. But at least it’s convenient for the kitchen help when they need to get a case of beer for the bar and a case of buns for the cooks, ’cause they’re right next to each other:
Take a look at the reviews on Yelp for a couple more opinions on the place. I probably would have given it 2 stars, and those only for the quality of the environment. There are definitely better burger joints in Fort Worth.
Actually, it’s kind of funny, but when Jenna and I were deciding where to go for lunch after helping Bernie at The Rahr Brewery, we debated between Dutch’s and The Love Shack. Ultimately we obviously decided on The Love Shack, as you can see. Saturday night when I got to my bi-weekly poker game and told my friends that I’d been up to The Love Shack, EVERY ONE OF THEM (all of whom have fine dining experience and have run restaurants themselves in the past) said “You should have gone to Dutch’s,” without me having said that we had even considered it as an option. I guess that’s probably testimony enough.
Tags: dutch's, Gastrognome, the love shack, the stockyards, tim love
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