June Naylor
Adam Fritzel, 22, of Fort Worth and a student at Tarrant County College, won free Freebird's burritos for a year.
If you don't know about the whole Freebirds Fanatic scene, you've been missing out. I hadn't witnessed it first-hand until Thursday night, when I went to the preview of the new Freebirds World Burrito shop that opened today at Alliance Town Center.
There, I met one Adam Fritzel, 22, of Fort Worth and a student at Tarrant County College. Adam decided to be among the first 25 Freebirds Fanatics to line up for this store's opening, because those lucky few would win free burritos for a year. So Adam showed up on Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m. and was first in line. He got a Freebirds shirt with the number 1 on back, proving his numero uno status. His roommate, Matt Kleypas, a UNT student, came along and took the No. 2 spot.
Those 25 people camped overnight and hung out all day Thursday. They'd been well-fed by Freebirds, eating nachos, burritos and "killer" quesadillas, according to Adam. Corporate chef Steve Byrne was making the gang breakfast Friday morning, along with all the other handmade goodies for which Freebirds is known. When the 25 campers learned rain would be in Thursday night's forecast, they found a solution - sleeping in a big school bus, brought to Freebirds by a pal of Adam's.
Adam fell in love with Freebirds' when he lived in Austin and says he'll always be a loyal customer. But as for free burritos for a year, he's donating them to a charity that feeds the hungry. For its part, Freebirds at Alliance is collecting non-perishable goods to donate to the Tarrant Area Food Bank.
Find the new Freebirds at 9501 Sage Meadow Trail, found on Heritage Trace Parkway at Interstate 35. 817-750-1331.