Fred's Texas Cafe - Camp Bowie West — Restaurant in Fort Worth

Alphabet date led us to Fred's Texas Cafe for the letter "F" and came highly recommended! Very well-known for plenty of good items, especially the burgers, sandwiches and chicken fried steak. Today, we tried: Fried pickles, Smoked Bologna sandwich, The Whistlestop Burger and The Spicy Todo Jalepeno Burger.

STJ Burger 4.4/5 - this burger is made with fried jalepenos, bacon, jalepeno cream cheese, and homemade jalepeno jam on a cheddar jalepeno bun. By far my favorite burger of the 2 we tried. This would've been a lot higher rating if it did come with the cheddar bun (mine was regular) and if my beef patty was cooked to my liking (no offer). Still a pretty high rating, and the best part was the jam! Bun was buttered and toasted to perfection. Definitely a must try if you love all things spicy.

W Burger 3.7/5 - this burger comes with creamy pimento cheese spread, fried green tomato, fresh pico, Sriracha rémoulade and lettuce. Again, bun perfectly buttered and toasted. Again, rating would've been higher with a medium patty. Overall, the star ingredient was the combination of the rémoulade with the pimento cheese spread. Could use more pop of flavor to bring out every ingredient.

SB Sandwich 5/5! - Smoked Bologna seared in Fred's Badlands BBQ sauce, accompanied with bacon, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayo served on buttery Texas toast. This sandwich was near perfect! The smoke flavor on the Bologna stood out. Every ingredient complimented the next, down to the mayo and crispy, buttery toasted Texas toast. I will be back for this alone!

Fried pickles w/spicy ranch 4.7/5 - banger appetizer. The pickles were seasoned (can, clearly see the pepper flecks) and the spicy ranch was a perfect dip. Only complaint with this batch was the amount of grease that remained (maybe not drained long enough

Overall, an amazing experience with friendly and attentive staff. 4.5...

I wouldn't suggest eating here at all. Or at least, not this location. We work a mobile business on the weekends, so in-between appointments, we stopped for take-out. (Around 1600) Ordered an Outlaw Burger, a Double H (no tomato) & a Fred's Burger (dry). I don't know what burger I received, but it 100% wasn't the Outlaw, as there as no stuffed poblano pepper, no pico de gallo & no guacamole. I literally received: meat, cheese & lettuce. I don't know how the meat tasted as I had to trade my plate with my partner. Partner ordered the Double H w/no tomato due to allergy reasons. However, when we opened the box, there was definitely tomato hanging out between the lettuce & the patty. So, he couldn't eat it, even if we pulled the tomato off, or I would have had to stab him with an Epi & race to the ER. He ate my 3 ingredient burger & I ate his. Not sure if the chef was having a bad day or what, but his patty was cooked way passed medium. We're talking dry as the Sahara; luckily he didn't use the ranch for his fries & I used that to get some type of moisture. HOWEVER, ranch & eggs DO NOT mix so I 10/10 don't reccomend that to anyone. I tried calling in once we got the availability & I was gaslit by the person on the phone & was told it wasn't their problem and that I should have double checked before I left; therfore making it my fault. I spent $60 & change on 3 burgers with "loaded" fries. Which, by the way, y'all are supper stingy on. Three slices of jalapeño & a sliver of does not equate to loaded. That was a LOT of money to spend on an order that was 2/3 incorrect/un edible for the person who ordered. UNACCEPTABLE. I swear Whataburger has better customer service when they mess up. DO BETTER. I only rated 2 stars just b/c the fries were fine. I really wanted to like this place but I'm not sure if I would...

Service was terrible, and the food was WAY overpriced for what it was.

The Service:

When we first arrived, the manager (or whoever it was) had to flag down our waitress because we had been there for 10 minutes without even getting a menu.

I asked for no cheese on my burger, and yet when it arrived it was covered in cheese. Ok, fine. Not a big deal, I’ll just send it back and have it remade. That is… if I was able to flag down our waitress. She was almost completely ignoring our table, and spent most of her time standing around watching one of the TV’s and talking to coworkers. (It was not busy at ALL, we were practically the only ones there.)

Then when she finally made her way back to our table to check on us, I politely informed her that I ordered my burger without cheese. She had an attitude about it and seemed annoyed that I would dare send back an item that was incorrectly made.

After receiving the corrected order, our waitress again went back to watching TV and otherwise ignoring us.

I should also note that almost EVERY table in our surrounding area was not cleaned and still had old food and mess sitting on it. This remained the case for the entire time we were there. Not appealing to look at.

The food:

Was okay at best. The fried pickles were pretty good, but other than that it was lacking. The burgers were pretty bland and bread heavy. For $18 a burger + fries? No. I can get a better burger for half the price, AND have better service. Plus after leaving, both me and my partner have upset stomachs.

Overall will definitely not...