Burgers, Onion Rings & A Shake @ The Love Shack

This past weekend I finally got to eat at Tim Love’s burger joint in Fort Worth and wash that filthy mini-sirloin burger taste out of my mouth. After visiting, I have a few requests. I want Fort Worth to be closer to my house. More specifically, I want Love Shack to be closer to my house. I want to eat at The Love Shack every day, but that’s currently impossible. It’s probably better for my health and wallet, but I can keep dreaming, right?

The Love Shack has everything going for it. A unique location: the Stockyards of Fort Worth. Beautiful architecture and ambiance: you dine in a large open space with three levels of patio, almost like a courtyard, but with with a stage and music on the weekends. Outstanding food: perfect burgers, onions rings, and a new flavor of shake every day, all of which I will continually go back for. What more could you want from a restaurant? This is the type of place you take your friends to when they visit from out of town, not because it’s fancy and elegant, but rather its unique and something your guests probably haven’t experienced.

Their burgers are a 50/50 mix of prime tenderloin and prime brisket that’s ground fresh daily and cooked to order. I opted for a single Love Burger and I was impressed with the size of it. I couldn’t imagine myself trying to scarf down a double, but for those who have the appetite and are up for the challenge, the option is there. It’s a standard burger: meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato and sauce, but there’s just something about it that makes it stand tall. Maybe it’s the ‘love sauce’ or special seasoning they put on the meat. It’s actually the closest match to an In-N-Out burger I’ve had since moving to Texas. It’s a bit bigger and more expensive, but for flavor and taste, it’s damn close. One of the best non-fancy burgers I’ve ever had. If you want to get fancy though, chef Tim Love will fry a quail egg on top, mix in some bacon, and call it a day.

We also opted for some onion rings and a shake. Each day the flavor changes and on Saturdays it’s Raspberry. It was a nice shake, Blue Bell icecream mixed up with some flavor and milk in a cup. The fact that it’s $3.23 for the large, makes it even better. The onion ‘rings’ were more like ‘strings’, but don’t let that mislead you. They were delicious and I opted to stack a few on my burger which turned out to be a great decision. I’d also go for the ranch dressing to dip those onion strings in; they just aren’t the same with out it.

The Love Shack is really a great experience. My only word of advice is to watch your trash. If it’s a windy day and you are sitting on one of the upper levels that overlook the main court, your wrappers might just end up on someone else’s head or lap. It happened to us twice!

So next time you find yourself in Fort Worth, head on over. Make sure it’s a nice cool evening, sit out under the open sky, enjoy some fine burgers, have a drink, bring some friends and relax. If you’re lucky enough to get a seat at one of the tables on the second floor balcony you can even do a little people watching as the bikers and cowboys mosey up and down the brick-lined streets of the Fort Worth Stockyards.

Love Burger: $4.62
Onion Rings: $3.00
Shake: $3.23

The Love Shack
110 E. Exchange | Fort Worth, TX 76164
(817) 740-8812

Tags: burgers, Fort Worth, Love Shack, Tim Love