The Love Shack-Denton

KRAM1 · April 9, 2011

So, the bride and I drive by the Love Shack last evening and see that it is, indeed open for business in Denton. Today we decide to go back and give it a try. After getting home from refereeing three games and getting cleaned up we head down to the Love Shack. get there about 2:15pm on Saturday afternoon. There is a short wait for a table (the place is not all that big), so we grab a couple of beers ($3.00/each), and in about 10 minutes we are shown to our table. A guy is playing the guitar and singing so it is not a quiet place, but the vibe in the place is great. Really nice interior and a nice (but smallish patio). The inside can be open like a patio as it is enclosed by two large garage type doors. One was open so it was pretty much an open air palce...pretty cool. So, i order the Love burger (without the quail egg) but all the trimmings otherwise. The bride gets the fish sandwich and we share a large order of what they call fries...very interesting fries...thing and crispy. I was afraid after seeing them on other tables that they would be more like potato chips...nope...in fact very tasty. The burgers are cooked medium...that's the way you get 'em like it or not. I usually like medium rare, but I have to say the burger was great as cooked. Very good beef with a great flavor...the "Love Sauce" and the pickles are different and very good. The bride liked her fish sandwich very much and I grabbed a bite of the fish...grilled nicely...great flavor. Didn't ask what kind of fish, but a white and mild fish (probably talapia or something similar). We had a beer each on the lunch tab (already paid for the beers while waiting on the table), the Love burger with bacon, the fish sandwich and a large order of fries to share...total tab including tip was $26.76! Not bad at all for a very nice late lunch...neat place, good music (even tipped the guy playing...he really was that good).

Neat thing was that Tim Love was in the kitchen doing some cooking and teaching i would imagine, so I asked our waiter to see if he would sign our ticket receipt for us...he did...it says "Eat, Drink and Live Well! Tim Love 2011"...pretty nice of him as the place was busy and he was obviously still in the training mode with a very new staff. I have to say that while the service was not "lightening speed", we were very happy about that as we got to relax, enjoy our beers and listen to some good music. We both thought that, for a new place still in the training mode, everyone did a great job.

So, give it a try and see what you think. We will definitely retun...on Tuesdays...or was it Thursdays...you can get 5 Pabst Blue Ribbon beers for $5.00...or Schlitz...but Schlitz is pretty much a skunky beer in my opinion. Now Pabst, that's a classic...heck for a $1.00 a beer I pretty much don't care! Ha!

There you have it...straight from the brand new Denton's very own "Love Shack".

On my next visit i will ask if they will join the Mean green Club!

NT03 · April 9, 2011

Thanks for the heads up

Did you happen to see if the Mellow Mushroom was open / about to open ? I believe it's located right next to the Love Shack

SUMG · April 9, 2011

So, the bride and I drive by the Love Shack last evening and see that it is, indeed open for business in Denton. Today we decide to go back and give it a try. After getting home from refereeing three games and getting cleaned up we head down to the Love Shack. get there about 2:15pm on Saturday afternoon. There is a short wait for a table (the place is not all that big), so we grab a couple of beers ($3.00/each), and in about 10 minutes we are shown to our table. A guy is playing the guitar and singing so it is not a quiet place, but the vibe in the place is great. Really nice interior and a nice (but smallish patio). The inside can be open like a patio as it is enclosed by two large garage type doors. One was open so it was pretty much an open air palce...pretty cool. So, i order the Love burger (without the quail egg) but all the trimmings otherwise. The bride gets the fish sandwich and we share a large order of what they call fries...very interesting fries...thing and crispy. I was afraid after seeing them on other tables that they would be more like potato chips...nope...in fact very tasty. The burgers are cooked medium...that's the way you get 'em like it or not. I usually like medium rare, but I have to say the burger was great as cooked. Very good beef with a great flavor...the "Love Sauce" and the pickles are different and very good. The bride liked her fish sandwich very much and I grabbed a bite of the fish...grilled nicely...great flavor. Didn't ask what kind of fish, but a white and mild fish (probably talapia or something similar). We had a beer each on the lunch tab (already paid for the beers while waiting on the table), the Love burger with bacon, the fish sandwich and a large order of fries to share...total tab including tip was $26.76! Not bad at all for a very nice late lunch...neat place, good music (even tipped the guy playing...he really was that good).

Neat thing was that Tim Love was in the kitchen doing some cooking and teaching i would imagine, so I asked our waiter to see if he would sign our ticket receipt for us...he did...it says "Eat, Drink and Live Well! Tim Love 2011"...pretty nice of him as the place was busy and he was obviously still in the training mode with a very new staff. I have to say that while the service was not "lightening speed", we were very happy about that as we got to relax, enjoy our beers and listen to some good music. We both thought that, for a new place still in the training mode, everyone did a great job.

So, give it a try and see what you think. We will definitely retun...on Tuesdays...or was it Thursdays...you can get 5 Pabst Blue Ribbon beers for $5.00...or Schlitz...but Schlitz is pretty much a skunky beer in my opinion. Now Pabst, that's a classic...heck for a $1.00 a beer I pretty much don't care! Ha!

There you have it...straight from the brand new Denton's very own "Love Shack".

On my next visit i will ask if they will join the Mean green Club!

Thanks for that info, Mark. Green Dozer told me today (at the scrimmage) that it had opened. But I really appreciate your indepth review. I think I'll eat there before the Green-White Game.

oldguystudent · April 9, 2011

Quail eggs are quite tasty. You really should try them next time.

drex · April 10, 2011

Im assuming that Tim Love is the same guy who owned/owns the 'Lonesome Dove' in the stockyard area of Ft. Worth. I did the signs for the Lonesome Dove a few years back...really good guy. Where is the Love Shack located?

SUMG · April 10, 2011

Im assuming that Tim Love is the same guy who owned/owns the 'Lonesome Dove' in the stockyard area of Ft. Worth. I did the signs for the Lonesome Dove a few years back...really good guy. Where is the Love Shack located?

http://www.loveburgershack.com/D3home.asp

KRAM1 · April 10, 2011

Thanks for the heads up

Did you happen to see if the Mellow Mushroom was open / about to open ? I believe it's located right next to the Love Shack

No, sorry...did not notice. I wish i had been a bit more observant.

KRAM1 · April 10, 2011

Quail eggs are quite tasty. You really should try them next time.

No way to the quail egg thing...I hate fried eggs of any variety...but, I saw several folks with that burger and a guy told me as we were walking in and he was walking out that it was GREAT! So, go for it if you like fried eggs...not so much for me.

UNTLifer · April 10, 2011

I'll just wait a few more weeks for In-N-Out Burger.

Franchised burger over hand made? Well, to each his own.

oldguystudent · April 11, 2011

I'll just wait a few more weeks for In-N-Out Burger.

Dude, I await with salivating anticipation at the opening of In-N-Out. I will make that drive, and I will order 750 double-doubles. Oh yes. I will.

But comparing In-N-Out to a place like this isn't right. Have you looked at Love Shack's menu? It's a different plane of burger, man.

oldguystudent · April 11, 2011

Franchised burger over hand made? Well, to each his own.

I fairly rebutted the comparison between In-N-Out and Love Shack. But for the record, In-N-Out processes their hamburger meat daily and ships daily to each store. The patties are never frozen (In-N-Out stores famously don't even have freezers). I eagerly await my first double-double in several years. However, I also plan on checking out Love Shack in the immediate future. The two aren't comparable to me. Sometimes you want the best order in Spanish only Mexican food in town. Other times you want Chipotle. Doesn't make either one wrong.

UNTLifer · April 12, 2011

I just don't get the fascination with In-N-Out Burger. I tried the one in Las Vegas, and while the burgers weren't bad, they weren't something I'd go out of my way to find. Can someone enlighten me?

Green P1 · April 12, 2011

I just don't get the fascination with In-N-Out Burger. I tried the one in Las Vegas, and while the burgers weren't bad, they weren't something I'd go out of my way to find. Can someone enlighten me?

That's just the way burgers go. I've never understood the fascination with Denton County hamburgers but some swear by them.

oldguystudent · April 12, 2011

I just don't get the fascination with In-N-Out Burger. I tried the one in Las Vegas, and while the burgers weren't bad, they weren't something I'd go out of my way to find. Can someone enlighten me?

I can only chalk it up to it being about where you grew up. I feel the same about Whataburger as you do about In-N-Out. They're good burgers. Great customer service. I like them. But if I were to leave the great state of TX, I wouldn't particularly miss them. Why? I didn't eat them when I was growing up. I hung out in high school with my friends eating double-doubles with my friends. There's a deep emotional connection to that.

For an extreme example, go try Chico's Tacos in El Paso. Those things are the most disgusting fare in the known universe, but citizens of El Paso, who otherwise have access to the greatest Mexican food in the United States, swear by them. Why? That's what they grew up with as cheap comfort food with their childhood friends.

Now that some would choose to use such things as provincial fighting words, I find that odd. I consistently see both sides of this argument get pretty heated. I suppose for some reason, we use fast food to project deeper regional differences on each other. So it goes.

April 12, 2011

I suppose for some reason, we use fast food to project deeper regional differences on each other. So it goes.

A couple weeks ago I told my Cali-transplant friends that as soon as everyone in Dallas is talking about IN-N-OUT, it will lose its appeal and be just another place. They disagreed, calling on some magical burger feeling that I couldn't possibly understand. However, I told them Dallasites have experienced this with all burger places: Carl's Jr (when I was a kid), Steak and Shake, Krystals, etc. They all lost their regional magic when everyone could get them at their pleasure. I even pulled the Whataburger card on them. So it goes..

These same friends claim to hate all the Tacos in Dallas and go one to talk about "rolled tacos." Six solid years I have been hearing about "rolled tacos"... Then I see on Facebook a picture of a trip back to Cali and eating a rolled taco. It is just a taquito. Taquitos are everywhere around this fair city. Yet to them it wasn't the same without it being named "rolled taco". Same goes for the "blended margarita" versus "frozen margarita" -- even though they come from the same machine. I win that argument though, since the frozen margarita machine was invented in Dallas, so we get to name it whatever the hell we want. As soon as they actually use real blenders, they can call it a blended margarita.

But I digress.

Green Lantern · April 12, 2011

That's just the way burgers go. I've never understood the fascination with Denton County hamburgers but some swear by them.

On board with your assesment of Denton County Hamburger.

BTW...Love Shack's burgers are really good. Also, try their fried cheese appetizer.

ColoradoEagle · April 12, 2011

These same friends claim to hate all the Tacos in Dallas

They're from California, home of awful Mexican food.

Green Dozer · April 12, 2011

Thanks for the heads up

Did you happen to see if the Mellow Mushroom was open / about to open ? I believe it's located right next to the Love Shack

Mellow Mushroom is not open. They maybe re-thinking (my opinion only) as Hot Box went out, and Gino's who took it over looks as though it is closing. But, I hope the Mellow Mushroom does open!

UNTLifer · April 12, 2011

I can only chalk it up to it being about where you grew up. I feel the same about Whataburger as you do about In-N-Out. They're good burgers. Great customer service. I like them. But if I were to leave the great state of TX, I wouldn't particularly miss them. Why? I didn't eat them when I was growing up. I hung out in high school with my friends eating double-doubles with my friends. There's a deep emotional connection to that.

For an extreme example, go try Chico's Tacos in El Paso. Those things are the most disgusting fare in the known universe, but citizens of El Paso, who otherwise have access to the greatest Mexican food in the United States, swear by them. Why? That's what they grew up with as cheap comfort food with their childhood friends.

Now that some would choose to use such things as provincial fighting words, I find that odd. I consistently see both sides of this argument get pretty heated. I suppose for some reason, we use fast food to project deeper regional differences on each other. So it goes.

That's a great point that I hadn't thought of. I always go to Denton Co. when I come to town. Why, because that is where we went for lunch in high school a couple of times a week. Now you are making me miss Tom and Joe's, Whit's Cafe and the old Charcoal Broiler.

UNTLifer · April 12, 2011

They're from California

Fixed.

oldguystudent · April 13, 2011

Went for lunch today. Had the dirty love combo complete with quail egg. Nine bucks. It was amazing. Best burger I've had in a long, long time. In fact, I can think of no retail burger I've ever had that's anything like it.

Green Dozer · April 13, 2011

Went for lunch today. Had the dirty love combo complete with quail egg. Nine bucks. It was amazing. Best burger I've had in a long, long time. In fact, I can think of no retail burger I've ever had that's anything like it.

Sweetwater has good burgers!

KRAM1 · April 13, 2011

Sweetwater has good burgers!

Agree...my bride and I can often be found on Friday's with a burger and a pitcher of good cold beer in our favorite Sweetwater booth.

Believe it or not Jimmy (one of Sweetwater's owners) does a great catering job. Also cooks up a mean Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner for those who do not want to cook. You order and set a time to pick it up...we have done this several times...always great! Sweetwater is a great local place. Thanks for mentioning it, Dozer!