Ben’s Triple B, 3020 E Rosedale St, FW. 682-385-9262. 10am-9pm daily. All major credit cards accepted.
Ben Merritt, owner and head chef at Fixture Kitchen & Social Lounge, has brought his love of biscuits, burgers, and brews to the Texas Wesleyan University scene — a definite forward push for Rosedale Avenue’s renaissance. Ben’s Triple B isn’t just a college kid’s dream pig-out joint. There’s real skill in the kitchen here.
Ben’s caters to the college crowd, with team sports jerseys on the wall, student-friendly prices, and a full bar, including local craft beers on tap from Rahr, Martin House, Cowtown, Wild Acre, and Panther Island –– bonus points for the Galaga and toy claw game in the back, although who the hell carries quarters anymore? Only a few tables were filled on the weekday evening some friends and I visited, though it was two weeks after the graduation. The chairs on the big back patio were all locked up, but the space will no doubt be hopping once football season rolls around.
Ben’s fully loaded fries were piled high to tailgate perfection with chili, green onions, sour cream, and jalapeños — plus queso and shredded cheese. Hand-cut fries maintained their structural integrity beneath the hillock of toppings. The sweet potato fries impressed my guests and me, and the tater tots were tater tots — but prepared crispy and served hot.
Biscuits are the first of the three Bs, and the menu offers a wide array of variations of the Southern classic, from basic (biscuit with gravy) to dirty (biscuit with chicken-fried steak, queso, and chili con carne). You can also build your own.
With maple-glazed fried chicken, thick bacon, and melted maple butter, the Sweet Chick sandwich called to mind chicken and waffles — ideal for people who like to dip their bacon in maple syrup.
Crusty-crisp outside and juicy inside, the fried chicken stole the show on the Buffalo Chicken biscuit, too. Tangy red buffalo sauce dripped from the meat, with lettuce and tomato above to cool down the heat. The Money biscuit offered a choice of sausage or mushroom gravy to accompany its toppings of chicken-fried steak, egg, and bacon. Alas, we chose poorly on the mushrooms.
With such hefty sandwich components, the biscuits needed to be brawny, too — bigger, denser, and sturdier. You can’t put steak and chili on a puny little breakfast biscuit. But these biscuits seemed to go overboard into the hard and dry territory, crumbling into dust and sucking all the moisture out of my mouth. I’ve always liked the crusty biscuits at Fixture. To be fair, the only person at the table of six who liked the biscuits was also the only one who was college-aged, which is Ben’s target market.
The rest of us all agreed that the biscuit sandwiches would have been much better on Ben’s hamburger buns, which were absolutely wonderful (made by Pearl Snap Kolaches). Browned to a buttery crisp on the flattop, the soft buns cradled the copious fillings, adding a tiny touch of sweetness. Pico de gallo spilled over the sides of the Queso burger, a gooey mess that disappeared quickly into our greedy maws. The Vaquero burger upped the ante with chorizo, grilled onions, pepper jack cheese, and jalapeños. My sweet tooth sang for the Cowtown BBQ burger, a simpler affair topped with cheddar and bacon.
Deep-fried biscuit balls coated with cinnamon sugar and caramel sauce arrived next with whipped cream and State Fair swagger. Popping them into my mouth transported me to a midway with carnival games. Or perhaps that was just Galaga’s lasers behind me. The other desserts failed. She’s My Cherry Pie split a biscuit and shoved a scoop of vanilla ice cream inside with some canned cherry pie filling. The Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake filled another biscuit (sigh) with fresh strawberries, chocolate pudding, and whipped cream. They’re the kinds of desserts you’d make if a surprise dinner guests arrived and you needed to throw something together quick or, perhaps, if you were in college.
Although Ben’s is a counter-service restaurant, the cashier kept checking on our table to clear plates and ask if we needed anything else. Her amazing service and the cooks’ quick food delivery kept everyone happy — and we left only a few biscuit halves behind.
Ben’s Triple B
Buffalo chicken biscuit $6.95
Money biscuit $8.95
Queso burger $6.25
Cowtown burger $6.25
Fully loaded fries $8
