“Where friends meet to eat” (Kincaid’s Hamburgers slogan)

“Where friends meet to eat” is the slogan at Kincaid’s Hamburgers (established in 1946) in Forth Worth, a place that’s often cited to serve some of the best hamburgers in America. The slogan has been used by other restaurants since the 1920s and 1930s.
 
The 1940s entertainment program Duffy’s Tavern had the slogan “Where the Elite Meet to Eat.”
   
   
GuideLive.com
(Published in The Dallas Morning News: 10.06.00)
Kincaid’s
4901 Camp Bowie Blvd
Fort Worth, TX 76107
Phone: 817-732-2881
 
By KIM HARWELL
HOMESTYLE APPEAL: It doesn’t get more folksy than this down-home burger spot, where the setting is modest, the people are friendly and the recent addition of an ATM was “a real big deal,’’ co-owner Lynn Gentry says. The long, airy room features picnic-table seating at the front and three long, tall counters for stand-up eating in the middle. In back are the open kitchen and a counter for placing your order. After you order, move to the register, tell the cashier what you’re having, pay up and wait for your name to be called.
 
PRESS BOX: Kincaid’s bills itself as the place “where friends meet to eat since 1946.’’ Not surprisingly, the joint has racked up a fair amount of press during the last 50 years, most of which can be found hanging on its pale-green walls. Many write-ups tout it as having “the best burgers in Fort Worth’’ or even Texas. That may be going too far, but rest assured, these are some tasty burgers.
 
Kincaid’s Hamburgers
Where friends meet to eat!
 
Charles Kincaid Grocery and Market was established in 1946.
 
O.R. Gentry, the meat cutter in Kincaid’s meat market, acquired the business and in 1966 began cooking hamburgers made from excess choice beef that was ground daily. Kincaid’s Hamburgers began with a small used grill and initially, 40 to 50 hamburgers were sold per day. Most of the customers were from the immediate neighborhood and Arlington Heights High School students began to come to the market for lunch. The students told their parents and friends how good the burgers were and the word began to spread throughout Fort Worth.
 
The business grew rapidly and the grocery store began to evolve from a market to a hamburger grill. Grocery items were replaced by counter-tops made from the stock shelves that had previously held bread, coffee, and cans of vegetables. Articles began to appear in the local press and local television stations even featured on-site news spots. Texas Monthly magazine chose Kincaid’s hamburger as the “best burger in Texas”. A national panel of food editors and food critics chose Kincaid’s hamburger as the “best burger in the USA”. Readers of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram have chosen Kincaid’s as the “best burger in Tarrant County” year after year.
 
3,300 hamburgers were served on the single largest day in Kincaid’s history. The hamburgers are handmade from 8 ounces of the very best U.S. Choice boneless chuck available.  The meat is ground fresh daily and everyday is virtually a sellout.
 
Roadfood: Kincaid’s (Fort Worth, TX)
Here is one of America’s great hamburger-eating experiences. It is a half a pound of beef, charred and well-seasoned, lean yet drippingly juicy, sandwiched between thick halves of a big warm bun that oozes a surfeit of condiments, onions, tomato slices, and shreds of lettuce. What an unholy mess it is, compounded by the fact that Kincaid’s accommodations are – how shall we say it? – less than deluxe.
     
In fact, it is the ambience of Kincaid’s that gives these hamburgers their extra pizzazz. Kincaid’s is not quite a normal restaurant. It started as a grocery store and is still configured that way.
 
27 November 1929, Capital Times (Madison, WI), pg. 6, col. 1 ad:
Dine at the
Lawrence Restaurant
622 State Street
“Where Friends Meet and Eat”
 
13 June 1930, Capital Times (Madison, WI), pg. 23, col. 6 ad:
Dine at the LORAINE
(Where Friends Meet and Eat)
HOTEL LORAINE
 
17 May 1932, Jefferson City (MO) Post-Tribune, pg. 7, col. 7 ad:
CREEDON’S
Jefferson City’s Favorite Restaurant
Where Friends Meet and Eat
 
9 September 1932, Chester (PA) Times, pg. 13, col. 3 ad:
Regent Bakery and Restaurant
803 EDGMONT AVENUE
“Where Friends Meet and Eat.”
 
15 December 1934, Gastonia (NC) Daily Gazette, pg. 3, col. 1 ad:
New York Cafe
“Where Friends Meet to Eat”
 
2 January 1937, Elyria (OH) Chronicle-Telegram, pg. 7, col. 1 ad:
East Ave. and Broad St.
SHADIX DINER
Where Friends Meet and Eat.
 
2 November 1937, Corpus Christi (TX) Times, pg. 6B, col. 7 ad:
MAYFLOWER CAFE
Serving French, Spanish and American Dishes
“WHERE FRIENDS MEET AND EAT”
Corner Taylor and Chaparral
“Oldest Cafe In the City”
 
13 February 1938, Valley Star-Monitor-Herald (Brownsville, TX), pg. 4, col. 2 ad:
THE STEAK HOUSE
“Where Friends Meet To Eat”
So. Main
McAllen
 
13 October 1946, Abilene (TX) Reporter-News, pg. 8, col. 1 ad:
“ABILENE’S LEADING RESTAURANT”
WHERE OLD FRIENDS MEET…AND EAT
MACK EPLEN’S
THE GRILL 1800 North 2nd
THE DRIVE-INN 3rd and Hickory
 
25 April 1949, Statesville (NC) Daily Record, pg. 8, col. 3 ad:
Parkway Cafe
“Where Friends Meet To Eat”
Harmony, N. C.
 
6 December 1949, Waterloo (Iowa) Daily Courier, pg. 18, col. 7 ad:
NEELY’S CUPBOARD
“Where friends meet to eat”
118 E. 5TH
 
10 May 1951, Kerrville (TX) Times, pg. 4, col. 5 ad:
“WHERE FRIENDS MEET TO EAT”
H & M
1701 Broadway
 
8 July 1951, Delta Democrat-Times (Greenville, MI), pg. 19, col. 1 ad:
CENTRAL CAFE
“Where friends meet to eat”
201 Central Avenue
 
22 August 1952, East Berlin (PA) News-Comet, pg. 5, col. 7 ad:
BRIGGS’S CORNER CAFETERIA
172 W. High Street
Carlisle, Pa.
Established 1928
“WHERE FRIENDS MEET TO EAT”