Shaken by blast, a Fort Worth restaurant owner returns with $5-$8 burgers, Thai lunches

Bud Kennedy
·2 min read

J’s Burgers N’ More has been downtown Fort Worth’s Thai and Chinese lunch favorite for 35 years, so it was tough to go a week without it.

The short-order breakfast and lunch grill at 905 Throckmorton St. reopened Tuesday to a chorus of “We missed you” after a week off.

A few customers knew co-owner Dee “Jeab” Chirabandhu’s incredible story, She was tallying receipts Jan. 8 in the restaurant, 905 Throckmorton St., when she was rocked by the devastating gas explosion that blasted out two floors of the Sandman Signature hotel next door.

She looked out a scene of dust, smoke and a bloodied man sitting on the sidewalk nearby as emergency workers arrived.

After police secured her building and parking garage in case of more gas leaks, she walked alone to Central Station nearby.

“But I’ve never taken a train,” she said. “I did not know which train to catch or where to buy a ticket.”

Basil chicken, right, and yellow Thai curry at J’s Burgers N’ More in downtown Fort Worth.
Basil chicken, right, and yellow Thai curry at J’s Burgers N’ More in downtown Fort Worth.

So as chaos reigned downtown, she took a taxi home to Euless. It cost her $75.

J’s Burgers N’ More lost a week’s business, but she hopes the restaurant can make it up from the booming business in downtown Fort Worth.

Half her customers come for cheeseburgers, half for Asian dishes such as combination teriyaki fried rice or Thai ginger chicken.

“Downtown is very busy,” Chirabandhu said at the end of Tuesday’s lunch run.

J’s draws patrons from government buildings, office towers and sometimes from the nearby convention center.

Dee Chirabandhu has owned J’s Burgers N’ More, a short-order breakfast and lunch cafe with Thai and Chinese food, for 31 years along her husband, cook Pinai Tawanron.
Dee Chirabandhu has owned J’s Burgers N’ More, a short-order breakfast and lunch cafe with Thai and Chinese food, for 31 years along her husband, cook Pinai Tawanron.

It’s everybody’s go-to for breakfast or lunch under $8, whether it’s a spicy chicken sandwich, orange chicken or Thai basil beef.

“We have customers who come here every day,” Chirabandhu said. “Some used to bring their children — now they’re in college.”

J’s Burgers N’ More originally opened in an 11-seat stand on Houston Street. Chirabandhu and her husband, cook Pinai Tawanron, bought it from Julie (the “J”) Tunprasert’s family in 1992 and eventually moved to the full-size space on Throckmorton.

When J’s opened, Texans were way more interested in burgers than Chinese or Thai food, which could barely be found here outside east Fort Worth or Haltom City.

Chirabandhu said: “I would ask people, ‘Do you like Chinese food? Well, Thai food has more flavor.”

But this is still Fort Worth. The No. 1 order is still a burger, starring at $4.75 or $8.50 as a combo.

J’s Burgers N’ More is open weekdays for breakfast and lunch until 3 p.m. It’s easiest to go early or after about 1:30 p.m.; 817-332-5609. js-burgers.com

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