“Morale is at one and the same time the strongest and the most delicate of growths. It withstands shocks, even disasters of the battlefield, but can be destroyed utterly by favoritism, neglect, or injustice.” –Dwight Eisenhower
Ike knew a thing or two about managing morale. While the average working stiff these days is concerned with splashing through the water fountain, not the beaches of Normandy, morale remains crucial to any organization — especially in the otherwise florescent sterility of the average office environment. I've found the single easiest place to boost not just your morale but that of other like-minded officemates is at lunch.
Below is a list of some of my favorite morale-boosting lunch joints in Fort Worth. Please note more well-known places like Heim or Reata or Bonnell’s aren’t listed below, because duh: you should know them already. In the opinion of this moderately overweight author who is under the close care of a doctor concerned about elevated triglycerides (the Latin word for “delicious”), the following are the top 10 ways to boost your morale over your lunch hour(s):
Drew's Place
Drew's will get your morale soaring like a whole flock of eagles. A hole in the wall off of Camp Bowie and Horne, Drew’s draws a confidence-inspiring mix of locals, uniformed NAS personnel, and blue-collar types who evidently are already pros at boosting food morale. The service is always exuberantly cheerful and nearly as good as the eats. They like to see new faces.
The fried chicken is the worth the wait, though it may be rude to make your companions wait if you're on a tight schedule. The smothered chops descend directly from batter-fried pig heaven to your plate. Affordable option: order the midweek LeeAnn platter for $7.99, ask if the broccoli-rice casserole is available, and pair it with another side of your choice from the menu. If you order Texas toast instead of cornbread be prepared for personal judgment (though not from me).
Tip from a professional: Don't be a hero. Forego the offer of a second (or third) chop and then end the meal with a slice of sweet potato pie. Drew’s is where you go when you need the affirmation of boundless enthusiasm and physical sensation of a large, greasy, delicious rock in your tum-tum.
Secret Garden Tea Room
Park at the Montgomery Street Antique Mall, enter what feels like a Narnia portal and wind your way through a land of tchotchkes, knickknacks, gewgaws, doodads, and other junks and treasures comprising the antique mall, and eventually you find an open space with tables that seems to resemble a restaurant. (The plastic covering the tables is a dead giveaway; if it is not covered in plastic, it is probably for sale.)
The vibe is that of an antique mall, but you can get a lovely little sampler plate of soup, quiche, salad, fruit, and a muffin that is satisfying without being overly filling. The apricot-mango tea tastes like tea and isn’t overpoweringly sweet.
Visit the Secret Garden on days when you want to absolutely destroy an afternoon. The lunch is typically served quickly, but you'll want to get lost among the antiques, which will keep you occupied for hours.
Kimbell Art Museum (and Buffet Restaurant)
The Kimbell Art Museum Buffet Restaurant is like a classy Golden Corral. Actually, that’s unfair to both parties: The building was purpose-designed and is literally a piece of modern art, while Golden Corral won’t limit you to just one run through the buffet. But both are full of old people, albeit of wildly varying socioeconomic strata.
Even calling this place a “buffet” is a bit of a misnomer. They mean it in the strictest sense, that you are served by a person from a buffet counter. Otherwise the contents of the Kimbell’s cookbook are famous, and for good reason. This is the only place where I’ve enjoyed chilled soup.
Line up, choose one of three sizes of plate, and then fill 'er up. Typical offerings are one of two soups; one of a few choices of salad; choice of a half sandwich and/or slice of quiche; crackers and other accoutrements; and if you’re lucky, the dessert that day will be the Mandarin orange cake. An assortment of teas and oddly compelling square ice cubes round off the experience.
Parking is free. Do it in the underground garage by the Renzo Pavilion and take the short stroll across the lawn to the Kahn Building. Grab lunch here with your grandparents' best friends, then feel free to walk off the orange cake and enculturate yourself a bit at one of the art exhibits.
Kimbell lunches are for days when morale is feeling classy and you really want to red-line it.
Italy
If you’re willing to drive to the far reaches of 820 (or “out of town,” as a legendary former colleague used to call it), Italy provides beastly portions of rich, filling, and cheap Italian food that can cure even the lowest pangs of morale-deficient hunger.
Their pizza gets a lot of attention, but ask the waiter what he likes that day and just go with it. I ended up with some kind of spicy sausage dish that was so abundant I took half home and had it for dinner. Since I already eat for two on a normal day, it was basically four meals of tasty pasta for around 10 bucks.
Speaking of taking it home, while Italy does do takeout, it really is more fun to visit their mostly abandoned shopping center (with the colorful Southern Classic Daiquiri Factory; Geaux Tigers) and enjoy the classic Italian vibe inside. Go to Italy for days when you want to kill some time driving around and won’t mind a carb-rich food coma blacking out your afternoon.
Mariposa's
Don’t go here. Don’t order the queso. Don’t stuff yourself with the enormous tamales. Don’t order the mini enchilada sampler, which is just enough to fill you up without making you hate life. Don’t order the Cuban rice. Don’t order the grilled vegetables, which are so good I actually voluntarily order vegetables. Don’t buy their cookies. Don’t enjoy the atmosphere that is as homemade as the food.
Don’t go here, because then it will become harder to get a table, and right now the only knock on Mariposa’s is sometimes the service is slow, though never unfriendly.
Mariposa’s lunches are for days when morale is critically low but you still have time to stretch that hour into 90 minutes or so.
Billy's Oak Acres BarBQ
Look, it's always Heim time (duh), but they're not the only game in town. If you take a quick jaunt up 820 to this little gem nestled off of Las Vegas Trail, you will feel like you traveled to an old smokehouse in the country — because you did — yet you’ll still be back in the office before the boss asks for the next TPS report.
While Billy’s has a great barbecue “feel,” fortunately the food backs it up. People like to eat the brisket. I like to eat the pork products. Get it by the pound if you’re with friends. The platter presentation is glorious and gives you the sweats just from looking at it. Their dessert game is especially strong. Leave room for it.
This is a good place to take out of towners (Dallasites); to get a good chunk of smoked meat (and smoke-scented clothing) without waiting in line at Heim; or to eat until you’re blessed with not just a food baby, but food twins. This is a day-before-a-three-day-weekend kind of lunch.
Meli's Taqueria
Don’t take a date here. Actually, probably don't take anyone here: it's hot outside and they only have like two picnic tables for seating to go with their scenic view of Vickery Ave. and the railyard. This is a to-go joint. Meli's doesn't look like much from the outside, but it will amaze your tastebuds.
If you need a quick lunch, Meli’s offers tacos, tortas, gorditas, and burritos, all in a fantastical variety of meat flavors. I have no idea what half of them mean — and it’s likely I don’t want to — but be it cow or pig or chicken, it’s all good. The barbacoa is transcendent. Their hot sauces aren’t for wimps. Start small, with just a few drops, and work your way up. Otherwise, food coma may be the least of your gastric health concerns.
And they’re open early. Make office friends by showing up with Meli’s breakfast tacos. When they ask where the tacos came from, reply “Meli’s” and observe their quizzical looks, like dogs trying to understand spoken words.
Meli’s is for a rushed day when you still need to go outside. You can eat all three meals in a day here and not be ashamed.
Shinjuku Station
Classier and almost-as-delicious alternative to Tokyo Café. TC gets all the love for good reason, but Shinjuku has a more upscale atmosphere — its small dining room feels intimate without being overly romantic — with some uncommon and superbly presented offerings.
The stir-fried edamame is just spicy enough to get the sinuses working without being overpowering, and is not optional as an appetizer. The a la carte tempura shouldn’t be missed, and you can get a healthy serving of them as part of the BYOB (build-your-own-bento) that has plenty of options. Strangely enough for a Japanese restaurant, you can probably skip the sushi rolls, though the hamachi zest is good and nigiri is typically excellent. If the Big Apple roll is available, give it a try.
Shinjuku lunches are good for taking the boss out, or a day when you wore a nice shirt and feel pretty good about yourself.
BONUS: It’s also a sneaky-good dinner/date spot, but come prepared: You will wait even with a reservation. Grab a powerful old fashioned from the bar and get ready to break the ice early. The steamed mussels are divine; if the waiter doesn’t offer some rice to pair with it, ask for a small bowl and then layer rice with the mussels and their sake-yuzu butter sauce.
Smokeys BBQ
Smokeys is in approximately the middle of nowhere on E. Lancaster Avenue, and it makes a great lunch stop because it is on E. Lancaster Avenue. (Go during the daytime.) The drive is not scenic, and frankly neither is the location, but you will survive because the food is prettier than a newborn baby. And even smells better.
Get an Eli plate with ribs and turkey (Thursdays and Fridays only), or treat yourself to the full sampler and get into some pulled pork. The homemade buns bring it all together — literally. Put any of the meats (and sides) between the buns. You like sides? The apostrophe in the Smokeys name is missing, but there’s nothing left out of the buffet-style beans, potato salad, sundries, etc. Load up on pickles and as much sauce as your buns can handle.
The people here are as nice as the neighborhood is not; missing out on dining in diminishes the experience. This lunch is for days when you are hating a vendor or maybe a boss, but not yourself or another coworker.
Little Lilly Sushi
I started to put one of the Haltom City pho joints (My Lan) here, but the truth is that unlike Italy, those are technically not in Fort Worth. And more relevantly, while they provide hearty fare they aren’t necessarily a morale boosting environment. Little Lilly is.
Tucked into a shopping center on Camp Bowie just west of Bryant Irvin, you can and probably have driven by Little Lilly a hundred times without noticing it. Don’t make that mistake 101 times.. It's a small place with a casual environment and top-end sushi.
The dining room can get crowded, but there’s also a larger room in the back for a bigger group. The octopus lollipops are better than they sound. Eat the hamachi zest roll; then eat any roll that looks good to you, because it will be. Try some of the quail eggs or other non-roll items, because the quality and freshness of the offerings may illuminate you. Or maybe you just feel brave at noon on a weekday.
This is a lunch spot for a business thing.
Swiss Pastry Shop
All hail Chef Hans. The second-generation proprietor and food visionary recently lost his dinner chef to the Kimbell, but the Swiss still pairs outrageously affordable food along with an entertaining crowd of laid-back regulars who might be even older than the Kimbell’s. (Though the Alp-y wall murals here are better than a Van Gogh exhibit.)
I won’t distract you with talk of breakfast or even the variety of pastries, pies, cakes, cookies, the iconic Black Forest Cake, or myriad other baked goods that made the Swiss famous. (You have Hans' Instagram for that.) I will note that all meals should be followed with at least one slice of the chocolate mousse pie, which is the best chocolate pie in the world. That is a literal and not hyperbolic statement. I bend a knee and offer up my sword like Rufio. Hans is the Pan of chocolate pie.
The Swiss’ pastrami is top-notch and their burgers meaty and massive, but the secret weapon here is the salad plate. It’s like six bucks and features a scoop of a meat salad, a side (a salty potato salad, or some avocado or cottage cheese if you find being healthy is a morale booster), plus some slices of pickles and tomatoes and a carrot cake sandwich. The carrot cake sandwich is made of carrots, so it’s basically a vegetable and doesn’t count as dessert. (That’s what the pie is for.)
The salad plate tastes like something your grandma would’ve served you in the early afternoon after you came inside from running around in the yard. It tastes like reading a Calvin and Hobbes book. The Swiss is where you go for the days when you feel like being around some old timers or are feeling nostalgic.