How loud is too loud at brunch? Fort Worth restaurant dishes pancakes to a dance beat

Bud Kennedy
·2 min read

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“Boozy brunch” is more boozy than ever at a thumping new breakfast cafe with the glitz and bass beat of a dance club.

Weekend brunch at Hash Kitchen, new at 3240 Tracewood Way, is like eating pancakes inside a video game at 9 a.m.

It’s as loud as any restaurant you’ve ever seen. At least, before sundown.

And are those giant disco balls in the dining room?

Thank goodness: There’s a patio.

Hash Kitchen in Fort Worth, a Phoenix-based “boozy brunch” restaurant, offers a “build your own” bloody mary bar, shown Feb. 21, 2019.
Hash Kitchen in Fort Worth, a Phoenix-based “boozy brunch” restaurant, offers a “build your own” bloody mary bar, shown Feb. 21, 2019.

If peace and quiet is what you prefer in the morning, the patio is a getaway from the hubbub around Heritage Trace Parkway and the neighboring H-E-B grocery.

But if you need liquor, Hash Kitchen includes a full bar and a build-your-own bloody mary buffet.

It’s from the same Utah-based company as Mo’ Bettahs, a Hawaiian barbecue restaurant with a Mansfield location, and Swig, a beverage chain.

Hash Kitchen in Fort Worth, seen May 11, 2024, is a Phoenix-based restaurant with a bar and “boozy brunch.”
Hash Kitchen in Fort Worth, seen May 11, 2024, is a Phoenix-based restaurant with a bar and “boozy brunch.”

Second-generation Phoenix chef Joey Maggiore launched Hash Kitchen and other restaurants. Arizona has seven locations, with more coming in Houston, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and San Antonio.

His bio calls him the “concept king.” A promo for his Food Network appearance said he hopes to be the “BBQ king.” His cookbook is titled “Brunch King.”

He is certainly the Instagram King.

Phoenix-based Hash Kitchen’s Fort Worth location, seen May 11. 2024. It has both the decor and thumping bass of a dance club.
Phoenix-based Hash Kitchen’s Fort Worth location, seen May 11. 2024. It has both the decor and thumping bass of a dance club.

Hash Kitchen’s dishes and drinks are eye-popping, both for size and show.

The most flashy item is “banana split” French toast with a caramelized banana, strawberries and cream (in a waffle cone, no less).

Avocado toast is made on the same thick, dark brioche with pork and fried eggs.

Pancakes come in specialties such as chocolate-peanut butter or pineapple upside-down.

The “banana split” French toast at Hash Kitchen, shown on the patio May 11, 2024.
The “banana split” French toast at Hash Kitchen, shown on the patio May 11, 2024.

Chilaquiles rojos or verdes come with fried eggs and optional chicken or carnitas.

And of course, there’s birria, either with hash browns and eggs, on chilaquiles or on bao buns.

There’s also a $16 bacon-chorizo burrito.

The menu is full of scrambles, frittatas, hashes and Benedicts, like West Coast breakfast cafes.

But Hash Kitchen also serves above-average scratch biscuits.

Maggiore’s company also will open an Italian pasta-and-meatballs shop next door called the Sicilian Butcher.

Hash Kitchen opens at 7 a.m. daily, serving breakfast and lunch; 682-238-5679, hashkitchen.com.