FORT WORTH, TEXAS—
Looking for a good home-cooked meal?You might want to try the Fort Worth City Hall cafeteria -- no joke.
Drew's Place Restaurant, a west side fixture since 1987, will be moving into City Hall in October after the city awarded the restaurant a contract to run its cafeteria.
The City Hall cafeteria has sat empty for the past year after the city cut funding to it last year in effort reduce expenses.
Under the contract, Drew's will serve breakfast and lunch through 2011 with an option to extend for three additional years. The city will not charge Drew's rent or utilities, officials said.
Owner Drew Thomas said the new location will serve the same menu featured at its main location at 5701 Curzon Avenue in Fort Worth.
But there will be a few differences, including cheaper prices.
"We'll be able to give them a little bit better prices down there," Thomas said. "With the economy the way it is, they'll be able to get a bargain and lunch. It'll be right there, convenient."
Customers who trotted into the restaurant on Wednesday were excited about the news.
Many said it would give them another reason to stop by City Hall.
"If you had your chance of getting a good, home-cooked meal from Drew's or going to a McDonald's, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that most people are going to want to go for the good home-cooked meal," Paul Tibbetts said.
Customers aren't the only ones excited.
Fort Worth officials are also patiently awaiting Drew's first day.
"I reckon that I'm going to be a regular," Mayor Mike Moncrief said. "It's convenient."
