More than burgers at JD’s in west Fort Worth: chicken, pies and plenty of jalapenos
Once an old ranching town, then a suburban neighborhood, Westland is now a dining phenomenon.
Where rattlesnakes and jackrabbits once lived, JD’s Hamburgers and Dayne’s Texas Barbecue are both drawing waiting lines for new restaurants.
JD’s is the newest, joining Dayne’s to serve two of the city’s best hamburgers across the 9900 block of Camp Bowie Boulevard West, 1½ miles west of Loop 820.
In its first days JD’s is showing that it’s more than a burger-and-beer grill.
Sure, the big draw is the menu of burgers with toppings such as Hatch chile queso or Parker County peach pico de gallo, all on sweet-sourdough buns.
But JD’s also serves salads and a satisfying grilled chicken sandwich with caramelized onions, tomato and “secret sauce” ($12.99 with fries, or $13.99 with onion rings or okra spears).
On weekends, there’s a brunch menu with an inspired breakfast sausage-jack cheese quesadilla with jalapeno honey ($6.99), along with a sausage-egg-and-cheese sandwich and bacon-egg-and-cheese sliders on FunkyTown Donuts.
The extensive dessert menu includes chocolate pie or Texas chocolate sheet cake with Henry’s ice cream, along with other cobblers, pies and cornbread cookies with buttermilk ice cream and honey.
On a recent Sunday, more than 20 people were in line waiting for Dayne’s to open and more than 10 people were across Camp Bowie West, an old divided federal highway, poised to get into JD’s.
Opening JD’s “has been insane, and fun, and rewarding,” partner Gigi Howell said on a recent Eats Beat podcast.
She grew up spending summers in the Westland area in pastures and crawdad fishing in Mary’s Creek.
“Everybody knew each other,” she said.
“We went in when the lights came on.”
She’s been with Reata downtown for 20 years and still helps run the Micallef family’s 203 Café lunchroom, 215 Commerce St. above Starbucks.
She teamed up with Bourke Harvey of Westland Gardens for the new concept. He’s also involved in the very good Rogers Roundhouse burger bar-and-grill off South University Drive.
They peeled back the walls of an 60-year-old roadhouse tavern one block west of Ranch Road 2871 named the Knotty Pine, later the Last Call. Then they remodeled it and added a patio in the back.
JD’s is open weeknights, all day Saturday and on Sunday for brunch and lunch; no phone yet, but find it at jdshamburgers.com or facebook.com/jdshamburgers.
(If you haven’t gone to state-ranked Dayne’s Craft Barbecue yet, it’s open for lunch Fridays through Sundays. Burgers are served on Fridays and Sundays but not Saturdays for now; 817-913-0986, daynescraftbarbecue.com)
