The Find: Fork in the Road, an off-the-radar place you need to know about

<em>As I ate my way through the menus of three off-the-radar restaurants recently, it became clear why I waited for a table or service at all three. Despite their bare bones appearance and low brow locations, each attracts a loyal crowd and an army of regular customers. These are not fancy places. They don’t take reservations. The interior lighting is the same as you’d find in a laundromat. And the music? Whatever the cooks want it to be.

Because you can’t eat fancy every day, we’re profiling three places that won’t make you empty your wallet or valet your car. We told you about Dicks’ Succulent Chicken yesterday. Here’s the second find, Fork in the Road.

fork in the road’s manchego burger

fork in the road’s entrance

fork in the road’s mac and cheese

At Fork in the Road, every seat at every one of the restaurant’s nine tables was occupied when I arrived for dinner at 7:30 one recent evening. The chalkboard menu offered a couple of salads, an excellent hummus plate, and mussels in a simple jalapeño-spiked broth. But the crowd was having none of it. Instead, it was a half-dozen varieties of $7 and $8 burgers that seemed to keep the chef, Josh Hopkins, a Star Canyon and Green Room alum, especially busy in the kitchen.  Or it could have been the skin-on french fries, cooked twice so they’re crispy and tender, or maybe the $7 “crackaroni,” a three-cheese elbow mac and cheese affair drizzled with truffle oil.  

One way or the other, Fork in the Road is the kind of neighborhood joint you’d want if you  lived in this neighborhood. Go early if you want a seat. Extra points: It’s BYOB. 1821 S. Fielder Road, Arlington; 817-459-3675.