Locally owned chain draws inspiration from Southlake

Since 2005, Kincaid's Hamburgers in Southlake has provided its customers with everything they have come to expect from a restaurant known for its family-friendly environment.

When hungry patrons walk in, they will quickly notice picnic tables covered in the restaurant's signature red-and-white plaid table cloths and the "Kincaid Green" paint.

The Southlake restaurant was the second restaurant to open in the family-owned chain, and its success gave the owners confidence to build four more establishments. Replicating the original restaurant's environment and product was not easy, but it was a chance the family was willing to take — and it started with the Kincaid's in Southlake.

"It will be the restaurant's seventh year this May," said owner Ronald Gentry, who lives in Colleyville. "This store will always have a special place for us because we had the courage to step out and open up another one and now we have six stores."

Charles Kincaid's Grocery and Market was established Sept. 5, 1946, in Fort Worth. The grocery store had a full-service meat market, which is where O.R. Gentry, Ronald's father, worked as meat cutter.

Gentry's father purchased Kincaid's in 1967 and began cooking hamburgers on one small, used grill that he reportedly bought for $25.

"My dad was the guy who spent 45 years in the original store, so he got all this going," he said.

Gentry's father warned him that if he didn't take ownership of the restaurant, he would close shop.

"That was a creepy thought," he said, "so I took it over."

Once Gentry began approaching retirement, he knew it would take more than one store to support him, his wife and their two sons, who where both about to graduate from college. The idea of opening another store was a scary thought.

"It was hard to do," he said. "We were really concerned if we couldn't replicate the food and the feel that we would lose some customers or not attract any new ones."

But replicate they did, and the customers — new and old — showed up. The menu includes burgers, chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, sides and shakes. And outside of the company's first restaurant in Fort Worth, the Southlake restaurant is now the company's No. 1 restaurant, recording the highest volume of sales.

Christin Bower and her co-worker Tiffany Sherwood are regulars the Southlake Kincaid's. They said the restaurant's openness is a one reason they love eating there.

"It's that and the fact that we always feel welcome here," Bower said. "The staff is always smiling and you just don't get that anywhere else."

The good food and friendly environment is what Gentry said is the key to a successful Kincaid's.

"Our customers in Southlake are great and their core values are very much in line with what Kincaid's stands for," Gentry said. "I think it's the old part of our business people still appreciate."

Six area locations:

Arlington Highlands Center, 3900 Arlington Highlands Blvd., Ste. 113, Arlington, 817-466-4211

Fort Worth - Alliance, 3124 Texas Sage Trail, Fort Worth, 817-750-3200

Fort Worth - Camp Bowie, 4901 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, 817-732-2881

Fort Worth - Hulen, 4825 Overton Ridge Blvd., Fort Worth, 817-370-6400

Southlake, 100 N. Kimball Ave., Southlake, 817-416-2573

Weatherford, 220 Adams Drive, Weatherford, 817-594-7773

Kincaid's Hamburgers

100 N. Kimball Ave., Southlake, 817-416-2573, www.kincaidshamburgers.com