Three words: comfort. food. coma. Unconvinced? Here, three more words: better. than. Hoover's. Are you listening yet? I have to say I'm surprised Café 290 doesn't have more reviews, considering that both times I've been here the joint was busier than a Furr's next to the Geriatric Chateau on Easter. Expect that on weekends service will probably stink, because the trio of harried waitresses can't possibly keep up with a whole restaurant between the three of them. You're going to have to flag them down for refills or napkins or what-have-you, but please remember it's not their fault--it's management's. And the food is worth it, anyway. Because in all honesty, Café 290 is home of the best breakfast I've ever had in Austin. Forget Kerbey Lane, Magnolia, or Dan's. This place is the biscuits and gravy mecca--to create real perfection, just crumble two sausage patties on top of your steamin'-hot-drowned-biscuit-goodness and give it a shake of Tabasco. Their hashbrowns and eggs aren't anything to sneeze at, either. Order the Big Country breakfast. You will thank me. Your waistline will not. Check out the pictures I uploaded--the Big Country breakfast is TWO WHOLE PLATES of food. From the dinner menu I've had Chuck's Cheesy Chicken and the chicken-fried NY strip. Chuck's Cheesy Chicken is what I like to call "gross good"--an amazingly unhealthy dish that is sinfully delicious (and will likely leave you feeling pretty gross, since you inevitably overeat). Fried chicken, smothered in queso and topped with bacon, tomatoes, and green onions? Sign me up. Throw some delicious fried okra and loaded mashed potatoes on the side, and you can bet I'm unbuttoning my pants before this meal is over. The chicken-fried NY strip is about as good as chicken-fried beef gets, but it's still pounded thin in the traditional way and cooked through. Does anyone else think that there *must* be a better method? I'm not very serious about many things in life, but meat and fried grub are serious bid'ness, folks. I'm considering buying some nice NY strips, searing them to "rare-ness," blotting them meticulously, and SUBSEQUENTLY battering and chicken-frying. I will be sure to let Yelp know the outcome of this experiment as soon as it goes down. Whoops, I've gone tangential again. In conclusion: Café 290 is worth the drive to Manor, especially if you live on the east side of town or relatively close to 2222/290 East. Tell them the pants-unbuttoner sent you. read more

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Tip toeing through the tulips to the city of Manor for lunch every there months or so just to have lunch with a friend who lives there. We always go to the 290 Café because it has my kind of meat and tater food, just good old plain American food. Jeepers I forgot my camera again. They have a daily special Monday thru Friday sometimes I get it and sometimes I order form the menu. I like the chicken and dumplings on Mondays and the meatloaf on Fridays. I have also tried the chicken fried steak. As for sides I have tried the mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, French fries, salad, and cabbage. I like them all. There is an extensive menu for lunch and dinner, they also serve breakfast. I am sad to say I have never had breakfast here. The restaurant is old and has been around awhile and the locals love it. The inside has tables and booths and the wear is showing on the floor and tables. It is clean and the staff has always been very good and the food has always arrived in a short period of time and hot. I will admit sometimes it is better than others but most of the time good. The cost of the food seems fair to me. As for desert I have never had any here. So overall I like it. So I seem to be eating a lot of plain good American style food lately. This is a place for blue collar and pickup drivers not so much for Yuppies that drive BMWs and Cadillac's. Although if you dress in jeans and a cowboy shirt and hat you may like it anyway. Would I go back? Yes I will to have lunch with my friend, I am also planning to go for breakfast and I will take the wife sometime soon I hope. read more

Cafe 290 Manor - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Manor, Texas

I had the "Ultimate" chicken fried steak. The description said it was "chicken fried NY strip steak." If it was NY strip, I couldn't tell. The steak inside all the batter was between 1/8-1/4" thick. It was good, but not any better than any other plain chicken fried steak I've had. It was pricey for what I got. My sides were loaded mashed potatoes and green beans. The green beans were very good. The potatoes tasted like they came out of a box. My partner had a burger and onion rings. She said the burger tasted like a frozen patty. We both liked the onion rings. I wanted pie for dessert. The waitress talked both of us into the peach cobbler. It was very pricey for a little cup and tasted like the stuff you get at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Neither of us ate more than a few bites of it. Our waitress was nice but flakey. Service was very slow and we had to get another waitress to refill our drinks. Our waitress seemed to be lost and wandering around aimlessly. Overall, don't think we will go back. read more

Cafe 290 Manor - "Ultimate" Chicken Fried Steak - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Manor, Texas

I would totally recommend this place! Fabulous home cooking food Valerie our waitress was Perfect.... read more

Cafe 290 Manor - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Manor, Texas

My new place for weekend breakfasts! Came in for a quick bite before the start of a road-trip and boy, were we pleasantly surprised. We were warmly greeted by our hostess and before our bums even hit the booth he asked if we would like fresh coffee. Yes please! When the coffee came, it was hot and strong. My husband ordered the Cafe 290 breakfast which included 2 eggs, your choice of meat, potatoes or grits and french toast or biscuits. He chose ham, potatoes and french toast. Smart man! I went with the biscuits and sausage gravy. Everything was served in abundance and tasted fresh. The eggs were real and the biscuits were warm like they'd just left the oven. My husband's french toast was fluffy and had the perfect amount of sweet, but not too sweet. He's still talking about that french toast. Bazingaaaaa! All for about $16 bucks, we came, we left and we will be back again next Saturday. read more

Cafe 290 Manor - Biscuits and sausage gravy, plus the Cafe 290 breakfast platter. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Manor, Texas

We just had our last experience here. We always knew that food takes forever, so we plan around that. But after waiting the standard forever wait, we watched half our food be served to the table next to us. Then the waitress came back to the table and picked the food up after realizing they served it to the wrong table. Cannot know for certain, but it sure looked like they were plotting to bring us that plate with the rest of our order. Either way we did not have another 40 minutes to burn waiting on another plate, even if they were not going to do what it sure looked like they were about to do before I pulled the plug on the entire situation. read more

I moved to Manor 8 years ago and this was one of the few good places to eat. With the town expanding and more dine-in restaurants being opened, I kind of forgot about this little Austin-famous restaurant. I'll be returning very soon. read more

Breakfast ok. Food was cold and not hot at all. Waitress never came back to our table but was attending to or their customers. Keep going find somewhere else to eat breakfast. read more

Not the best experience ever! I waited for about 5 minutes without even being acknowledged/ greeted. The server came to get my soda order only to come back and say later, " sorry I forgot" I asked specifically for no jalapeño in my food and i get a bunch. Server never came back to refill my drink. I didn't finish my food because it was spicy. No I didn't send it back I just scraped them off. My meal was ruined. read more

I really wanted to like this place more than I did. My family visited on Sunday afternoon and the food was mediocre. We ordered the 290 queso, which wasn't bad, but it also wasn't anything special. I then ordered the 290 club sandwich and my family ordered 3 different salads. The presentation of the salads were beautiful, but sadly the taste did not live up to the look. The ingredients all seemed very cheap and the grilled chicken on the salad had little flavor. I had half of my club sandwich the next day for lunch and it was surprisingly better than the first day. Although the food was ok, I don't think I'd go back if I had the option. Our waitress was very kind though! read more

I've only been here twice and I won't be returning. My recent $9 fried chicken lunch special was basically a kid's meal with one tiny fried chicken thigh, 1/2 cup of green beans, and scoop of potatoes..I wanted to say something at the time, but honestly didn't know what to say. My friend ordered a regular $8 meal from the menu and got a big plate of food, with enough for leftovers.. I love comfort food and small diners, but this place left feeling ripped off. read more

Waste of time & money. We decided to split the chicken fried steak since it "looked" like a good place for that. It was awful. Super thin, super dry, more breading than meat, the meat was tough. The rolls and cornbread were the best part. We were so let down by the meal that we thought we would try dessert. Another waste of money! The chocolate pie was so gross. They even ruined pecan pie! I asked her if they were both sugar free? She said they weren't. I told her the flavor was not good. She said she's heard it before. She brought the check. We left and decided it was a place we would not return to. I don't often write reviews but I do not want others to waste their time and money. read more

Dirty windows, filthy bathrooms that reeked of urine and old booths held together with duct tape. The chicken inside the chicken burrito was burnt ruining the whole burrito. The chicken fried steak had an okay breaking but it was so over cooked breading went everywhere when I cut it. The food is one star but our server was really nice so I bumped it up because of her. read more

Food is good but the waitress with hair down to her waist needs to quit playing with her hair if she's going to be serving food.

I had a burger and chili cheese fries the first time and everything was delicious. The next time my food wasn't all that good and then I got breakfast from there which was pretty bad. I will go back but I'm definitely sticking to the burger and chili cheese fries. I think it's just hit or miss but everyone has been super friendly! read more

I have been coming to the 290 cafe for years but it's been a while since we stopped in for their home cooking Two orders were wrong and I was charged extra for cheese on a cheeseburger The frozen burger was so well cooked the burger was black and burnt under the cheese. read more

This place is very hit or missed.... We go out here occasionally. The food is good compared to similar places. The servers.....not so friendly nor welcoming. The times that we've gone, we sat there waiting a good 15-20mins, and when they finally decided to attend us it's with a snobby attitude. Here and there one will be nice but it rare... I don't recommend dinner but the breakfast is good! We love the French toast! read more

This place is the worst food and has the nerve to up charge for any and all additions without notice me and my husband and mother are here 3 meals 2 drinks and dessert was over 80.00 it was ridiculous !!! First time I didn't leave a tip due to food quality! Service and price HORRIBLE read more

First thing...clean your restaurant! Floors are filthy, as my shoes were sticking to the floor. Chairs are grungy and need to be cleaned. Now the food, I will say we stopped after the peak breakfast time, so the bacon was tough as leather. I am sure it was great several hours ago. Same can be said about the hash browns, they were warm and tough as well. The eggs and toast were good. As I said, probably would have been better earlier in the day. Proportions were good and I left full, that's about it. read more

Not a good restaurant, the food is greasy and Have No taste, the environment is dull read more

I've wanted to stop several times and finally did. We arrived when there was hardly anyone there. 1:30pm on Saturday. It took 20 minutes for anyone to come acknowledge us. Remember there is maybe 5 tables occupied in the entire restaurant. We order breakfast. I ordered the biscuits and sausage gravy. When it arrived you could tell it had been sitting awhile because the gravy had settled on the biscuits. It was so bland. No seasoning whatsoever. What a disappointment. I love diner/cafes and this one really didn't impress. read more

Food was pretty good. Customer service was amazing. Our waitress was super sweet. Downside to this place is the price. Pretty pricey for what you get. read more

Cafe 290 Manor - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Manor, Texas

Okay everyone, so the Original Cafe 290 changed hands last year. I miss the old food, prices and management. Most of the wait staff are the same, which is good. They raised most prices by $2-3. They even have real steak priced over $20. OWNERS: THIS IS NOT AUSTIN. The food is not as good as it used to be, the quality has gone down. I noticed once they made a chicken fried steak look big by making the batter huge but the steak was 5 ounces or less. Not cool guys. I used to go there for the pies at least, last time, the coconut was dried out but the German Chocolate cake was good. I only get breakfast, pies, or chicken and dumplings when I go there. Please bring back the quality. read more

Poor service and mediocre food not a good value for the price! I wasn't very happy with the food the service wasn't terrible but could've been better. read more

I was staying in the area for COTA and got a recommendation from a local to try Cafe290 and I was not disappointed. Menu was everything from comfort food to burgers and Mex. I decided on the pulled pork tacos and they were pretty darn good. Mike was quick to refill drinks and it was a good experience. read more

We've lived in Manor for 8 years now. About once a year we decide to give Cafe 290 another shot and keep getting disappointed with their food, prices and service. I've honestly only gone for breakfast so maybe we need to go another time of the day? But I'm afraid it'll still be too expensive for the portions and quality of food. It's convenient if it's near home but now that Manor is growing, I'd suggest going elsewhere. read more

Went to 290 Restraunt today. New waitress , very nice lady named Sonia. Ordered a ground steak dinner with steam beans and salad. It was very tasty with light cream gravy. Would order it again. read more

Great burgers.. Not great for the price service was mediocre at best. Needs a remodel. But over all great queso and burgers.

Didn't enjoy. Had great hype, but food was not tasty. Won't come back. Service was cheerful.

I remember this Cafe to be one of the best in the Austin area, but for sure the best in Manor. I picked up my daughter at the Airport and told her I was going to take her to a great breakfast cafe. We arrived at 9 AM and were quickly seated. This is where "quickly" ended. There were maybe 10 people dining at this time, with plenty of Waite staff. Still took our waitress 10 minutes to take our beverage drinks. Took another 10 minutes to bring us our coffee and water. She took our order and took about 15 minutes to get our simple orders. We have been in the cafe 35 minutes and still have not taken a bite. The waitress of course bought my daughter a wrong order. I was totally embarrassed when my daughter asked me, "Dad, is this one of the best cafe's in the area?" Should have gone to iHOP. This place will never see me here again!!! read more

Food was cold, menu items are printed incorrectly. The 290 shows that you get all the meat, then the waitress asks which of them you would like. I said, this describes that I get all of them. She said yea, we need to get that fixed. Ha! It's also wrong on the website then... See photos for what I'm talking about. read more

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I grew up in Manor and I have been going to Cafe 290 for 20 years. It's nostalgic and that's nice. The food specials are generally a good deal. It's Cafe food. Nothing too fancy and a robust selection of fried food. Recently I went in to buy a Pie for my family. It was mid afternoon, so not a rush time at all for the Cafe. They had a whole pie, so I asked the server at the counter to box it up for me. She said she had to ask permission. Permission? She returned to tell me her manager would "allow" me to buy the pie, but I had to pay the "per slice" cost and not the "whole pie" cost. This raised an issue with me. I was told that by purchasing the whole pie, I was depriving the Cafe of revenue they could make by selling the pie by the slice. Seriously? Why the "whole pie" price then? I was told THAT was for people that called ahead and reserved a pie. Certainly a disconnect there. My issue was the general condescending attitude of the manager. How dare I even ask why I was being charged MORE for a pie than what was advertised? All in all, it was a minor issue and I have been back since then, but it left a bad taste (har, har) in my mouth. read more

Good burgers. I love the buttered grilled bun. Yums! I had the bacon bleu burger. It comes stacked with lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles, mayo and mustard. It was a little lacking on the bleu cheese, but was still a tasty burger. I'm not a huge fan of the bear battered onion rings, they were a bit too greasy for me. My dining companion had the green BLT which has avocado and fried green tomato on it. She loved it. She also said the rye bread it came on was really tasty. Service was quick and friendly. read more

Cafe 290 takes me back in time to 1950s American diners. Their waitresses are friendly and talk to you as if you've known each other for years. My coworkers and I came out here quite often in 2005 and usually got the daily lunch special which was served fast and hot. It was also cheap for Austin standards, costing around $6. Typical entrees would be chicken pot pie, King Ranch chicken, chicken fried steak, etc... If I'm out in Manor, Cafe 290 is where I'll dine. It's easy to spot off 290. The parking lot is huge and somewhat unorganized. There used to be a lot of big pickup trucks. read more

This was my first visit to the 290 cafe. I ordered the Fiesta omelet and coffee. I kid you not, my first bite of this dish was like fourth of july and all my Birthdays all at once. I have never tasted an omelet this good, ever, period. The coffee was great, beans and potatoes as sides great too, but this omelet was so good I am taking my father-in-law on Sunday to do it all over again. Oh, service was classic Texas friendly. See Y'all there in the morning read more

This place boast organic fresh food. NOT true!!!! The water isn't even filtered water taste like straight out the sink. Sausage frozen, bacon hard and reheated, biscuit? Yeah don't know what that was I didn't even eat it. Waitress would have got more than a $2 tip if she would have remembered to bring me my to go drink. But she was to busy gossiping with the other waitress. I'm sure this place only gets business because it's on a busy hwy because their food sucked read more

I'm so glad we stopped here for breakfast/brunch! It's like a not so hidden gem. No frills or thrills about the building or decor, just good old fashion fantastic food. We ordered everything and ate most of it, will stop here again read more

I pass this restaurant every weekend driving to Austin. I've always been curious and so when my boyfriend and I were headed out of Austin together, I thought it would be perfect time to stop in. I'm so glad we did. Very friendly, prompt staff. It was lunch time and they have daily specials, but I stuck with a "green BLT" from the menu and Shawn ordered the half order of the chicken fried steak. OMG. Who knew you could meld together so many green things on a BLT and it would be delicious? It had fried green tomatoes, avocado, swiss cheese, and the normal BLT additions. Fat sandwich with tons of flavor. Served with four gigantic onion rings with super fluffy batter. The chicken fried steak was still huge for the lunch portion. You pick two sides of your choice and what type of gravy. It was good. The crust was fluffy like the onion rings but still your typical chicken fried steak batter. Seasoned well. The green beans Shawn ordered mimicked that of a collard green tasted with the way they were cooked. Spicy, bacony, stewy. GOOD. We are too far to come to this place on the regular, but if we are ever headed back to my part of town together, we will definitely stop in. read more

Glad to find a decent breakfast spot in Manor, as the stars denote this place was "A-OK". We came by for breakfast around 11am on a Sunday. It was crowded, but not over crowded, and we were seated right away. I had pancakes and asked for plain scrambled eggs also ($1/egg) and the bf had the traditional breakfast as well as a bowl of granola. My pancakes were okay, but they tasted like they were made from a boxed mix (not scratch), my eggs were better. The bf enjoyed his eggs and ham, and raved about his granola which he said was the highlight. He stopped eating the grits after one bite, and said the biscuit was just 'okay'. I tried the biscuit and will concur, not bad, just a bit heavy. Overall, I'd probably come here again, A-ok indeed. read more

You owe it to yourself to stop in here for great food at a great price. I recommend "The Burger" with crispy sweet potato fries and my husband recommends the "290 Cuba" sandwich with onion rings. The food is delicious and we're so happy to have this amazing restaurant so close to home (we're Briarcreek residents). The service was excellent and the owner Jack made us feel so welcome! Also the food was plated with style and the flavors of the food was on POINT, five-stars definitely. read more