A favorite Fort Worth cafe gets a mural by Leon Bridges’ artist. New $8.99 dinners, too
Some old cafes remodel to look more modern.
But the owners of West Side Cafe in Fort Worth decided to make the 1990s chicken-fried steak cafe and all-day diner look older.
A new mural of an old-time coffee pot is the work of Fort Worth artist Matt Cliff, who has designed artwork for Fort Worth musicians Leon Bridges and Pat Green.
He’ll add signs around the roof advertising “Hot Coffee,” “Burgers” and “Chicken-Fried Steak,” making the cafe look more retro than its home in a 50-year-old strip shopping center at 7950 Camp Bowie Blvd. West near Cherry Lane.
To thank the cafe’s customers, many of them west side retirees, West Side also has rolled back the already-low prices.
A special senior menu for customers age 55 and up offers a choice of eight different lunch or dinner platters for $8.99.
There’s also a $5.99 breakfast special for seniors.
It’s the exact opposite strategy from that of other Fort Worth restaurants, where remodeling included an updated decor and higher prices.
With a lunch counter, stools and a giant display case of fresh rolls, West Side Cafe has always looked like an old-time small-town cafe.
It is consistently Fort Worth’s top-ranked restaurant for plate lunches or dinner platters with a choice of 14 vegetables.
It also has been a showcase restaurant for Texas Chicken-Fried Steak Day, observed every Oct. 26.
“We want to bring back the nostalgia. That’s what people come and bring their kids for,” Sue Mitchell said. She manages the cafe for the family of late founder Tracey Sanford.
The cafe opened in 1996 without much remodeling in a space that had been home to two other home-cooking cafes. When it was originally built in 1972, it was an early Pizza Inn restaurant.
“We’re way past time to spruce things up,” Mitchell said.
West Side Cafe’s owners hope to capture some of the new business coming from Walsh Ranch or Parker County for restaurants such as the new Fred’s Texas Cafe and other restaurants coming to Camp Bowie West.
“Lots of good things are happening out here,” Mitchell said.
“Anytime somebody over here is doing good business, people come in to check out more places to eat.”
West Side’s busy breakfast and lunch crowds have shifted later, to mid-morning and early afternoon, partially because customers are hoping to beat the line, she said.
As always, the best time to beat the crowd is at night, particularly on a weeknight.
Cliff, designer of Bridges’ “Panther City” concert tour backdrop, is also a manager. He created a new “walking coffee pot” character.
West Side Cafe is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.
