Arlington, Texas: Burger restaurant provides meals for community

Nearly Famous Burgers and Hotdogs is making a big name for itself by pulling together community resources to feed families in need.

arlington, Texas — Nearly Famous Burgers and Hot Dogs operates like many other family businesses in Arlington, but with a deliciously generous twist. 

Every day, you can enjoy the burgers, wings, hot dogs and all the trimmings available on the menu. What sets Nearly Famous apart is that their food is available to anyone, those who can afford to pay and those who can’t.

For years, the owner of Nearly Famous, Jeremy Lowe, would feed the homeless on New Years Day in Fort Worth. In 2023, he got and email that read, “Hey look, I see you doing everything for the homeless. Can we do something for the community?’”

From that email, the pay-it-forward wall was born.

“I went to the register, rang up $1,000 worth of receipts and I put them on the wall,” Lowe said. “It’s just tough times right now so it caught on like wildfire.”

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It also caught the attention of Elizabeth Nieves, a mom of five. 

“I had no way of buying food. I had nothing. So I didn’t know where else to turn,” she said, tears falling as she remembers that challenging time. “I was lost. I was praying. I didn’t know what to do. I felt like I had failed because I couldn’t feed my family. I start getting emotional… it was hard. It was really hard.”

The day she showed up at Nearly Famous, Lowe and his team fed her entire family. Nieves says it was about more than just food, nodding, “God put him in my way for a reason.”

Long time customers like Beverly Edwards have supported the program. 

“We’ve been here, actually been here, a couple of times where families have come in and taken advantage of it," Edwards said. "In your heart, knowing you were just a teeny tiny part of that makes it priceless,” Edwards smiled.

If you’re in need of a hot meal, Nearly Famous wants you to know all you have to do is, “grab a ticket, hand it to the cashier," Lowe said. "No words need to be spoken. Turn it in, we’re going to make that food. All we need to know is it for here or to go?”

Nieves has come back and purchased meals for the pay-it-forward wall since. Lowe said that since starting the program in November 2023, Nearly Famous has served 200-300 meals per month, thanks to the generosity of their community.

If you'd like to support the pay it forward wall at Nearly Famous, visit the restaurant 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. any day Monday through Sunday, or reach out via their Facebook page.

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