White Castle, the world’s first hamburger chain, has filed plans to build a new restaurant in southwest Fort Worth, Texas, marking its second location in the state.
The Ohio-based chain submitted a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation outlining its plans for the new site, which will form part of the Shops at Chisholm Trail Ranch.
Company officials plan to spend $2.1 million constructing a 2,764-square-foot restaurant within the 600-acre Chisholm Trail Ranch residential-retail development east of Benbrook Lake.
The restaurant will be located at 6013 Retail Way, near the intersection of Chisholm Trail Parkway and McPherson Boulevard in southwest Fort Worth.
Construction is scheduled to begin in January, with completion expected by April, giving the chain two active Texas sites within months of each other.
Before the Fort Worth build wraps up, White Castle is also preparing to open its first Texas restaurant near Grandscape Boulevard and Destination Drive in The Colony later this summer.
The company, which operates 335 restaurants nationwide, has been eyeing Texas as a significant growth market, conducting a broad statewide search to identify the right locations.
CEO, president and board chair Lisa Ingram explained the rationale behind the Texas push when the Denton County restaurant was first announced to reporters last year.
“There are lots of people from the Midwest. There are lots of people from the Northeast where they have grown up on slides and have moved to Texas and we want to be able to satisfy their crave here with a brand-new White Castle,” Ingram said.
White Castle, which launched in 1921, has expanded its menu offerings well beyond its iconic hamburger sliders as it looks to attract a broader customer base across new markets.
The Fort Worth development is part of a wider growth strategy that positions Texas as a key frontier for the chain as it seeks to extend its footprint beyond its traditional Midwest and Northeast strongholds.
With strong name recognition among transplants from those regions, the brand is betting that nostalgia and demand will drive strong early trade at both new Texas sites.