The Fred’s Texas Cafe is closing on Currie Street in Fort Worth, after 43 years in business. Fans of Fred’s famous burgers and beer can visit the original restaurant until Dec. 31, 2021.
Fred’s original owners, JD and Gari Chandler, are selling the building, and its current operators have plans to relocate the restaurant 7 miles away, to Camp Bowie West Boulevard, in West Fort Worth. The new Fred’s is expected to open in spring 2022.
The news comes after another Fred’s closed in 2020. The burger joint, which was in a neighborhood close to Texas Christian University, did not survive the pandemic.
Another Fred’s, at 2730 Western Center in North Fort Worth, will remain open.
Quincy Wallace, co-owner and operating partner, said, “The decision to move Fred’s is a hard one, but [it’s] the right one if we want to keep making great food for great people.”
“I’m gonna miss going into that building every day, like a lot of our loyal regulars.”
Wallace started as the manager of the original Fred’s in 2004, when the original owners retired and their son Terry Chandler stepped in. Wallace and Terry Chandler became business partners in 2011 and have operated it ever since.
Terry Chandler is a chuck wagon cook known as the Outlaw Chef; he has appeared on the Food Network show Outrageous Food.
The new Fred’s in West Fort Worth will be bigger, with a dedicated parking lot. It will also have a temperature-controlled, covered patio. The 1950s pickup truck parked outside of the original will be moved to the Camp Bowie restaurant.
The original Fred’s restaurant opened in 1978 but has been a series of diners and cafes since at least the 1940s. The building will be for sale within the next year, said a spokeswoman.
The original Fred’s Texas Cafe will remain at 915 Currie St., Fort Worth, until Dec. 31, 2021. In 2022, the co-owners plan to open a new restaurant at 7101 Camp Bowie West Boulevard, Fort Worth. The Fred’s Texas Cafe at 2730 Western Center, Fort Worth, will remain open.
