Closure News
Popular burger bar on Fort Worth's west side closes Memorial Day weekend
Fort Worth has lost a popular burger joint: The Dive Burger Bar, a West side restaurant that specialized in burgers, beer, and frozen cocktails closed over the Memorial Day holiday.
"We had a tough year last year and it was hard to recover," says owner Robbie Turman. "On top of that, I'm now having a hard time finding employees. We had a great run but I feel like it's time to let it go."
Turman owns two other nearby businesses, The Bucket Bar, located next door to The Dive, and Oscar's Pub on Camp Bowie Blvd. Turman says he's hoping to continue his burger legacy by doing burger nights at Oscar's.
"We know people loved the burgers, so that's one idea we have," he says.
Originally called The Dive Oyster Bar, the restaurant opened in 2016 with a fun beach theme, taking over the pindot-size space on Alta Mere Drive once occupied by acclaimed Mexican restaurant Salsa Fuego. While the dining room was small, there was also an outdoor deck and patio area.
Initially, The Dive specialized in seafood. Leading the kitchen was executive chef Josh Rangel, a former sous-chef at Waters, Jon Bonnell's popular seafood restaurant.
The Dive's grilled oysters, crawfish boils, and po' boy sandwiches were often upstaged by a non-seafood dish: a chargrilled burger.
Over time, the burger became so popular that, in 2019, Turman tweaked the restaurant's menu and concept, relaunching the restaurant as The Dive Burger Bar. A half-dozen new burgers were added to the menu, along with wings, salads, and unique frozen cocktails, like frozen Smirnoff and orange juice and frozen Jim Beam.
The Dive's closure comes on the heels of the loss of another popular burger spot: Ben's Triple B, owned by local chef Ben Merritt. It closed last week.
