For a lot of restaurants, establishing a theme means quirky staff uniforms or décor. Not for the Beacon Café & Country Store. This two-year-old North Fort Worth breakfast and lunch eatery gets its unique charm from its location: right next to Hicks Airfield.
There’s not much to the place. The Beacon is just a small freestanding building filled with a mishmash of booths and tables. There are also picnic tables out front. The country store is hard to spot. Despite the original plan to stock a portion of the building with goods and produce, the success of the food motivated the owners to offer only select goodies — nuts from Vending Nut Company as well as fresh fruits, vegetables, and chocolates — at the front desk. The parking lot is huge, accommodating both cars and airplanes, and the conversations tend to be lively and about flying. And food.
The Beacon Breakfast — two each of pancakes, eggs, and sausage patties (or bacon) — came out piping hot. The hand-formed patties were crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Their not-so-subtle but welcome kick came from ample red pepper flakes and ground pepper. The eggs, sunny-side up, had been cooked to perfection.
The real stars of this plate, though, were the pancakes. The big, pillowy flapjacks reached the edge of nirvana with the application of butter and hot maple syrup. When I added pecans, the crunchiness put the plate over the top.
The café also offers a breakfast buffet that includes waffles, pancakes, biscuits, fresh fruit, and several types of omelets.
Lunch options range from chef specialties like “The World’s Best Reuben Sandwich” to more traditional favorites like cheeseburgers, salads, club sandwiches, and lots of other dishes in between. One specialty is a must-try. The aptly named Chuck Norris does share at least one thing in common with the famed martial artist — it kicks some serious butt.
This two-hander featured toasted, buttered slices of wheat bread filled with tomato slices, a thinly sliced avocado, thick leaves of iceberg lettuce, a half-pound (!) of hickory bacon, and a smothering of tangy mayonnaise. The buttery goodness of the avocado and the salty crunch of the bacon were magical together. Simple? Yes, but you could taste the love.
Optional sides include fries, hash browns, and a salad boasting a scrumptious homemade vinaigrette and hearty pan-fried croutons.
The Beacon isn’t reinventing breakfast or lunch, but the food is excellent and the staff good-natured and willing to please. The chef made the rounds, checking in with diners, and servers poured to-go coffee refills. A safety measure, for sure: Who wants to fly with under-caffeinated pilots?
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The Beacon Café & Country Store
171 Aviator Dr, FW. 817-439-1041. 7am-2pm Tue-Sat. All major credit cards accepted.
Beacon Breakfast ……………… $8.98
Coffee ……………………………… $1.59
The Chuck Norris w/avocado $9.98
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Gene and Christie are EXCEPTIONAL egg cooks! In addition, the burgers come on GRILLED/BUTTERED buns which just put the whole sandwich over the top.
You can find me there 2 maybe 3 times every weekend!
We’re open on Sundays too!!! lol 🙂
I think the price listed for the Beacon Breakfast is the price for the buffet. I think the Beacon Breakfast is a wee bit cheaper. But seriously, you simply can’t go wrong with either option. Or the burger. I go with a junior cheeseburger and fries and it’s HUGE at 1/3 lb and only $5.99. I can’t get there enough, and I go 1-2 times/week. And it’s a 25 minute commute one-way.
looking at the photos of the Beacon food is making me hungry…i am stuck in meetings here in England and they bring us subway every day 🙁 cant wait to get back for some good Beacon food!!
We are so pleased to have them! What a great addition they are to the field! The only thing I’d like to add is don’t forget when you come to visit, this is an active airfield. Obey the signs and watch out for airplanes. They have the right of way at all times!
As a pilot and a Hicks Airfield hangar/airplane owner I really appreciate having a restaurant that serves such good food on the field. I also really like to see non-aviators at the restaurant. Every day but Monday from 7 to 2 is kind of a mini open house for the airfield that allows us pilots to share our passion for flying with people that may otherwise never be introduced to general aviation. Maybe some will get the flying bug and join us but everyone surely leaves with a better understanding of light airplane as well as a full stomach.
For non-aviators, if you choose to visit the Beacon, and I hope you do, please be cautious of the airplane traffic on the ground and in the air. The airplanes can’t back up to allow you to pass and are supposed to taxi down the center of the taxiways, which double as roads, and the airplanes are typically wider than the taxiways. Please pull off the taxiway to the side away from the runway to allow airplanes to pass and please don’t drive or park on the grass between the taxiway and runway. It needs to remain clear for safety reasons.