The Vibe
“If you see a faded sign by the side of the road that says 15 miles to the….Love Shack!” Sorry I couldn’t resist. OK, so I went to the Love Shack in the Stockyards. Celebrity chef Tim Love’s (you qualify as a celebrity chef if you beat Chef Morimoto on Iron Chef) burger joint sits practically next to his Lonesome Dove restaurant.
Tim Love has taken full advantage of his fortunate surname and cheekily sprinkled it throughout the menu of the Love Shack. The faux ramshackle, open air stand sends burger and bacon scented breezes to everyone walking by on Exchange Avenue. That, along with the promise of “Beer to Go” make this a popular stop in the Stockyards.
The chipper counter staff wear shirts that proclaim “Do it Dirty”. After placing your order at the counter you can mosey on down to listen to some live music at picnic benches in front of the stage. If you’ve had enough beer you can even dance. After all, “dancin’ and a lovin’ at the Love Shack” is what it’s all about right?
If you’re not into dancin’ you can head to the upper deck of The Love Shack. This gives you a great view onto all the action overlooking Exchange. Most of the view involves lawyers…er um guys on motorcycles, some tourists, and a few drunken cowboys. If you go any higher all you’ll find is a “Tin Roof, rusted!”, alright I’ve got it all out of my system now.
The Food
This being a “shack” the menu choices are limited. You’ve got burgers, hot dogs, and brats on the menu. Beverage options include home made root beer, fresh lemonade, sun tea, beer and wine. They also feature a different flavor of shake every day. Once they call your name your food is handed to you in a greasy paper sack.
Burger options come in two sizes: the single and double. The Boom Boom burger (portobello mushroom burger) is the vegetarian option. I was eager to try to the single size Love Burger. My husband ordered the Dirty Love Burger that is topped off with bacon and a fried quail egg. The hamburgers are ground fresh daily and made up of a 50/50 combo of prime tenderloin and brisket so I had very high flavor expectations.
After unwrapping our burgers, my Love Burger looked small and sad (was there shrinkage??) next to my husbands’ Dirty Love Burger proudly topped high with bacon and quail egg. I ordered the Love Burger so I could focus on the flavor of the meat and not be dazzled by the bacon and quail egg which I thought would compete in flavors. As soon as I bit into my burger I didn’t get the expected choir of cowboy angels crooning to me as I entered burger heaven, instead I got an ear deafening drone of someone’s Harley taking off. The meat, though drool inducing in it’s crispy caramelized appearance, did not deliver the deep and hearty flavor I was looking for. The burger wasn’t bad, it just didn’t meet (pun intended) my hyped up expectations. The thin, grease soaked, Mrs. Baird’s bun complemented the burger and disintegrated easily with every bite.
The real star of my burger was the “Love Sauce”. This tasty, mayonnaise-y concoction dripped messily from my burger with every bite. What’s in that sauce? Curry or chipotle or something else – any guesses? The sauce really made the burger and I happily sopped up every drip with my somewhat crispy fries. The pickles were super crisp and I could’ve used about 5 more slices on my burger.
My husband’s Dirty Love Burger definitely emerged as the winner in this battle of the burgers. The bacon added a lovely deep smokey flavor and the quail egg gave it an interesting texture. The bacon really added the flavor that I felt was lacking in my burger. Both burgers were traditionally topped with just plain American cheese, lettuce, and tomato. Lone Star beer made the meal complete.
Service
The girl working the counter was funny, super friendly and perky and we didn’t have to wait too long for our burgers considering that a line was starting to form.
Overall
The burgers were good but not memorable, except for the love sauce. Next time I will either “Do it Dirty” and order the Dirty Love Burger or try the Hot Dog, can I just say thank goodness this is not called the Love Dog. If I happened to be in the Stockyards to see a show at Lola’s or The Longhorn I would definitely eat here for a quick and cheap meal. The food is a great value considering the quality of ingredients. The open air atmosphere will make you feel like you are hanging out in a very cool friend’s backyard and the live music is a great bonus.
Eat This
Yes. 3 out of 5 shack shimmying panthers, come on everybody “The Whole Shack Shimmies!”
I Eat This
The Dirty Love Burger, with extra love sauce and extra pickles
Open
Sunday – Monday 11AM to close
Tuesday – Thursday 11AM to 7PM
Friday – Saturday 11AM – 1AM
CASH ONLY – ATM on site
Burgers
$4.62 – $7.39
Hot Dogs
$2.31 – $4.85
The Love Shack
110 E. Exchange Avenue
Fort Worth
817-740-8812
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With as little as I go to the Stockyards (believe me, you don’t want me to get started on my rant about the missed opportunities with the Stockyards), I’ve never been to the Love Shack – had no idea they had a vegetarian option. I’ve heard mixed thoughts on the place.
The bikers in the Stockyards ruin a lot of enjoyment I might otherwise have possibly had. Sorry guys, but revving those engines doesn’t make you cool.
There are mixed reviews, seems that most newspaper and magazine reviewers love the joint and everyone else is slightly disappointed. For the price though, it’s not bad.
I agree the bikers and the deafening revving of the engines can get a bit ridiculous. I also rarely go the Stockyards, but there are a few shows at the Longhorn coming up that I might go see. There are pockets of authenticity within the Stockyards, I hear Pearl’s Saloon is more old school cowboy, but I haven’t been there myself to check it out.
josie
I appreciate your evaluation of Love Shack. I am sorry that you feel that the burger leaves you slightly disappointed. I feel that i produce one of the best burgers in the world, but i also know that it is not going to be one that pleases everybody. We took 5 months in producing the burger using different meat combinations along with multiple topping combinations. i wanted to produce a “shack style” burger, not a $45 restaurant burger. i wanted the place to be relaxed, approachable and very affordable while not compromising any quality of ingredients. i would love to buy you and your husband lunch and get your opinions in person. call my office at 8176249712 to set a time that is convienent for yall. thanks again for your visit to Love Shack!
Tim,
Just to be clear, I’m a fan of The Love Shack and I appreciate the
quality of ingredients that goes into the burgers. The fact that you
serve “Tim Love” style food at an affordable price is impressive. I
look forward to meeting you soon, thanks for the invitation!
josie,
i had the same exact response to my burger at kincaid’s.
finding a good burger is hard.
- snuffer’s is too salty
- fuddruckers is too much work (im lazy)
- love shack is too far and just got a neutral review.
we go to either red hot & blue (awesome! … but only sometimes) and the keg (more consistent, not as good).
later.
lets be honest Tim got his victory in Iron Stadium with a DISTINCT advantage in that the secret ingredient was peppers he cooks with daily for years while his competitor had to bite into the peppers raw to see what he was cooking with. Cooking with peppers is a also very non-Japanese. Plus if he took 1 more shot of Tuaca he wouldnt have finished his plating.
On the Shack –not a big fan –> burgers are decent but wasnt into the Love sauce at all. Prefer to eat at the Dove personally.
I work at the Love Shack. I was probably the one who waited on you because I am the only one who still has shirts that say “do it dirty!” on the back since we no longer sell those T shirts. I’m glad you enjoyed your visit and we hope to see you again soon!
If that was you, my hat’s off to ya! You were super chipper and spunky which is admirable late on a Friday, I imagine it gets pretty crazy late night. We will be back, can’t wait to try out the new location too!
I just plain love The Love Shack. Hands down my favorite place to eat i the Fort. And the Dirty Love Burger is by far the best burger I’ve ever had. Not to mention the fact that I can afford it! I can’t wait for the new location.
I went to the Love Shack in Fort Worth off 7th street Thursday morning around lunch time, and had a really bad experience. My table was with 5 other employees i have. We sat at the table for 20 min before we got our food. I had a young lady with glasses ask me if id like some tea or water as she was busting tables and bringing food out to other customers. Our food had arrived, and two of the burgers were not what we ordered, and our fries were cold. I told the young man that brought our food and he took the food off and walked by 5 min later … nothing… 10 min later nothing from him… the same young woman came by and asked if we had been waiting a while for our food, and i proceeded to tell her about what happened. She came back 4 min later with the correct order we asked for. I noticed the employees you have on board, two of them consistantly gag with each other, and decide to talk on thier cell phones more than pay attention to your customers. The young man and another young lady. Dont know thier names not trying to get them fired or in trouble but maybe you can see from an outsiders prospective, when your not there how “The Love Shack” is being run. The manager the whole time im assuming is the tall guy with the white shirt on with glasses, decided not to take action and ask how our visit was. I noticed the young lady that came to our table, she said her name was Cristy or Crystal maybe, works very hard and looks like shes takes pride in her job. I wanted to let you know that I decided I would come back from how she made us feel at “The Love Shack”. She was very helpful and welcoming. The food was great no complaint from us on the food, Then the service we recieved from the young lady finally made us feel comfortable. Overall we did enjoy it!
I highly recommend a Dirty, a portable table and table cloth and a Cats game.
I am soooo glad that the seventh street location is open. I understand running a diner can be a challenge…. I have always enjoyed the Love Shack and have found the staff to be freindly and helpful. I live nearby and enjoy Tims food a little to often….
Love Shack on 7th is going to be one of the best places in Fort Worth to hang out and enjoy good food and good music.
Nothing better than a Dirty Love Burger, longneck and the varoom of a big bike! Love Shake has it all! And for all you bike haters out there, you simply don’t own one. Too bad for you! And BTW revving up the engines doesn’t have to make a biker cool…they already are! Love Burgers, Longnecks and Big Loud Bikes! It just doesn’t get any better. Long live the Love Shack!
I have been wanting to try the Love Shack for awhile. I saw Tim Love at a Paula Deen event at Fair Park and he joined her on stage. We drove from Flower Mound so we could go to the Love Shack. Well, I didn’t even finish my Love Burger. My husband ate almost all of his Love Burger. Mine was raw hamburger meat. Luckily my kids ate a hot dog and chicken nuggets which they enjoyed. I will give it a 2nd chance. I plan on going back but I plan to tell them that I want it cooked well done, no pink.