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This Fort Worth area restaurant also caters to the hungry

This Fort Worth area restaurant also caters to the hungry

Nearly Famous Burgers and Hot Dogs is closer to fame than ever before.

Six months after reporters began telling the story of a small Arlington burger stand and its generous gifts to those in need, customers have donated more than 5,000 prepaid meals to those who can’t afford them.

Nearly Famous is an above-average burger and hot dog stand in a city full of good burgers.

But as a community effort, it’s a five-star hit.

Here’s how it works: Customers order a burger or a hot dog and then have the choice of paying for two. The other is saved for someone who can’t pay.

Loaded fries with chili, bacon, jalapenos, cheese and chipotle aioli and a spicy Nathan's hot dog with the same toppings, May 21, 2024, at Nearly Famous Burgers & Hot Dogs in Arlington.Loaded fries with chili, bacon, jalapenos, cheese and chipotle aioli and a spicy Nathan's hot dog with the same toppings, May 21, 2024, at Nearly Famous Burgers & Hot Dogs in Arlington.

Loaded fries with chili, bacon, jalapenos, cheese and chipotle aioli and a spicy Nathan’s hot dog with the same toppings, May 21, 2024, at Nearly Famous Burgers & Hot Dogs in Arlington.

Fully paid receipts are posted on the door for the next person in need to pick up, in keeping with the “pay it forward” principle.

Owner Jeremy Lowe said the donations have fed “people from local churches, single mothers and even teachers in need” at the small restaurant in a former grocery and barbecue shop, 2502 Little Road.

“You wouldn’t believe how many people are struggling to make ends meet,” Lowe said.

“And more and more people are coming by and saying, ‘I want to buy someone a meal.'”

On a recent weekday afternoon, 25 meals were waiting to be picked up, and an Arlington restaurant owner paid $300 for a single bill.

He would like to see more customers and families in need from Fort Worth.

“People come to me from all over, but I want to make sure people in Fort Worth know about it, too,” he said.

Jeremy Lowe in front of the wall where prepaid burgers are distributed free of charge to those in need, at Nearly Famous Burgers and Hot Dogs in Arlington, May 21, 2024.Jeremy Lowe in front of the wall where prepaid burgers are distributed free of charge to those in need, at Nearly Famous Burgers and Hot Dogs in Arlington, May 21, 2024.

Jeremy Lowe in front of the wall where prepaid burgers are distributed free of charge to those in need, at Nearly Famous Burgers and Hot Dogs in Arlington, May 21, 2024.

The restaurant is located just 2 miles south of Spur 303 – in Fort Worth that’s East Rosedale Street – between Spur 303 and Interstate 20.

The location is a former Jackson’s Grocery & Grill, a 50-year-old Arlington tradition. Most recently it has been a barbecue and burger restaurant.

The menu offers a wide selection of old-school burgers, plant-based burgers, chicken sandwiches and New York’s famous Nathan’s hot dogs.

The best-seller is the bacon-mushroom Swiss burger ($9.39), Lowe said. Nathan’s dogs include a chili cheese dog with homemade chili, a Chicago dog, a kraut dog and a spicy dog ​​with jalapenos, bacon and chipotle sauce.

Yes, Nearly Famous has hash browns and onion rings.

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For Lowe, it’s the continuation of a life of dedication. For years, he has fed homeless veterans around Fort Worth’s shelters on East Lancaster Avenue near downtown.

He and his father, Kevin, operated Famous Franks & Burgers drive-thru locations in northeast Tarrant County for 15 years.

They opened their first Nearly Famous five years ago in a kiosk on Arkansas Lane and then moved to Little Road two years ago.

The restaurant is adding a drive-thru window, Jeremy Lowe said.

He hopes to open a second location in east Fort Worth that will offer gift meals.

The owners of Nearly Famous come from a famous restaurant family. A grandfather, Webb Lowe, was an executive at McDonald’s and president of the original Bonanza Steakhouse chain.

Nearly Famous is open daily for lunch and dinner. 682-252-4016almost famous Burger.com.

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