Who hid the Clown? 40-year-old sign covered at old-time Fort Worth-area burger grill

A 12-foot giant clown was hidden by facade work on a side wall at Clown Burger, a huge surprise to faithful Haltom City customers and also to new Clown co-owner Willis Odell.

“I thought the people remodeling our building were going to leave it alone, but for some reason they painted over it,” Odell said after weekend crews covered the 40-year-old exterior sign painted on the burger grill at 5020 Stanley Keller Road.

The Clown’s landmark historic pole sign, a giant 65-year-old clown that originally stood on East Belknap Street, is untouched and remains in place at the driveway entrance on Haltom Road.

Crews remodeling the strip shopping center covered a new wall sign added in the mid-1980s when the Clown moved to a space on Stanley Keller Road 1 mile south of Loop 820.

Odell, an owner along with Renee Medford, said he’d like to replace the sign.

“I want to get one like it put back up,” he said. “Maybe we’ll just do it.”

Clown Burger is keeping the legacy of a retro hangout where thin-patty burgers, hot dogs and fries are still made “exactly the way they were in 1959.”

The midafternoon Saturday crowd was surprised to see the workers covering the sign.

The sign was just repainted five years ago after a city code enforcement complaint about maintenance.

The historic pole sign along the roadway awaits restoration.

Odell bought and reopened the restaurant in February after the Louthan family had operated it since 1959. The Clown is now open for lunch daily except Sundays and for dinner most of those nights, and always Thursdays through Saturdays.

Thin-patty double or triple cheeseburgers are back in style with younger diners who want more cheese and grill flavor, not a thick slab of beef.

Business has slowed since the remodeling began, Odell said.

The restaurant’s front signs are also covered or tough to see, and the center appears to be under repair.

“Some people think we’re closed, or they’re not sure whether they can come in,” he said.

Odell and Medford have updated the menu gently, adding steak fingers, steakhouse-style onion rings and crinkle fries along with the traditional 1959 thin fries.

Medford also have remodeled the interior, including a new floor for the main dining room. They will probably add the Clown’s first credit-card machine, Odell said.

The Clown opens at 11 a.m. for lunch; 817-782-9961, facebook.com/ClownBurger.