Mary's is a great local stop! I've only been there a couple times and I've only ever had the chicken fried steak and chocolate pie but both are REALLY GOOD and very big! The service was great and they give you real metal utensils (no floppy plastic-ware) and they have generous size cups and free refills! If you're in the area, don't miss Mary's! read more

Greatness! What a Texas cafe should be. When you see a chicken fried steak and enchiladas combo on the menu, you have arrived where you need to be. We arrived at 730pm on a Saturday night. The cafe was in an overflow situation. After a bit of a wait for a table a long wait for the food; we were rewarded with chicken fried steak and enchiladas that tasted like grandmas, if your grandma was of German/Mexican heritage. The article on the wall stated such of Mary. It also said the food is cooked to order and in particular the Cfs was cooked in a cast iron skillet just like my grandma and mother still use. Everybody brings out leftovers. I just heated them up for Sunday lunch. Stuffed again. Your lucky Strawn, Texas. The rest of us will have to have deep fried cfs when not at Marys....not the same! read more

Ive eaten here many times over the years. The food is great, and one of the best CFS's youll find anywhere. Ive always overlooked the $25 an hour flop house motel conditions the restaurant is in because of the food quality, but I get that some people cant. To each their own. That being said, the service here is horrible, and has been steadily going downhill the last couple of years like a manual shift trans am with a broken parking brake and drunken, naked Randy Travis is at the wheel. We arrived on Sunday well before the after church crowds or even typical lunch crowds would be there. 45 minutes later, we'd only been served a glass of water and thats it. We ordered food as soon as we sat down too, so its not like we strolled in for a Sunday brunch buffet with nowhere else to be. Finding our waitress was like a where's waldo poster - you know she is here but damned if we've seen her yet. Keep looking! We HAD to be in Abilene at a certain time, and had allowed more than enough time we thought to stop here, but apparently receiving two CFS plates inside of an hour is the new challenge here. Ended up leaving without even telling our waitress because all we had was water, and STILL couldn't find her or our lunch. Hate to say it but Im really not interested in going out of my way for Mary's any longer. It just isnt that special and I can get horrible service inside of 10 minutes at pretty much any place along I20 between Aledo and Abilene, so why wait an hour or more for it here? read more

Nope. Being from Tx I cannot recommend Mary's chicken fried steak. Ya gotta do better than powdered cream gravy. Not a place I'd ever have to go again read more

Mary's Cafe is waaay out in the country at Strawn, Texas 1 hour and 15 minutes from our house in west Fort Worth but easily worth the drive for the Best Chicken fried Steak in Texas. I mean numero uno in Texas. We met the owner, Mary, this visit. She is short in stature but an energizer bunny who is constantly in productive motion, cooking food to perfection (or supervising its preparation ) while also busing tables and directing the servers. As our custom is, when possible, we met my brother and his family for early dinner at 4:00. Fortunately we beat the rush as we had 16 of us. Then came the food....glorious food. As an appetizer I ordered a plate of calf fries lightly breaded and fried to golden tender perfection....with a bowl of cream gravy for dipping. They were the best I have ever had outside my Uncle Weldon's ranch on round up day. There are 3 choices of portion sizes to order CFS at Mary's : small, medium (plate size) or large ( twice the size of medium) I ordered the "small" without embarrassment because it came with a loaded baked potato that was probably over a pound in weight, and a salad. Their fried okra is to die for also. The menu says there is a full page of Mexican food possibilities which my brother says are excellent also. I doubt I will ever live long enough to sample any of that fare when I would have to not order CFS. O well. Did I mention that my order came with a soup bowl filled with cream gravy that will put your grandmother's to shame? Dip a slice of your Texas Toast in it and give it a try. Seriously dangerously good. Oh, my wife had grilled quail kabobs and was very happy. She also loves Mary's chicken livers. So many choices .......but #1 CFS. read more

Mary's Cafe - Some of my calf fries mysteriously disappeared before I could take a photo. - American Near Me - Strawn, Texas

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The service was terrible and we could not get our food so we left . They kept taking food to people who came in after us and ordered after us . One party that came in when we did was finished eating when we left . Also this jerk started smoking and our waitress took him a ash tray . That was the last straw . You can't get your food and have to smell that crap . So if you like piss poor service and want to smell cigarette smoke this is your place . Wallace Taylor Alvarado , Texas read more

Great service and great food. Huge portions. No wonder this place is legendary! We will definitely be back!

Great place, true home cooking. Huge portions. Super cold beer. Love it burgers are huge. Everything we have tried is awesome.

So we stopped by the famous Mary's cafe on the way to DFW. The reviews had my mouth watering. I was excited to try the Best CFS in Texas. That is a huge title and made me hanger for it even more. The place is very casual. Seat yourself. The waitstaff was sufficient. No frills but cordial. The CFS was different as many other reviews have mentioned NOT the traditional Texas CFS. So I was not surprised when I didn't see the inch thick deep fried crispy batter of a traditional CFS. It was more of a schnitzel. It was crispy and not greasy at all. The flavor was good and unique as were the mashed potatoes and gravy. If you are looking for the traditional CFS don't go here. If you are willing to try something good but different I certainly recommend. The small was $11.50 which I guess is an ok price, it wasn't an awe factor when brought out so if you are looking for that go with the medium Or large. I think they have taken advantage of the publicity and created a quaint stop to talk about. Now they did have a sign that said there was a $2 charge to share plates. I was a little confused by it but I guess the bus boy got tired of washing so many dishes? Anyway give it a try if you are near. read more

Mary's Cafe - Double okra. - American Near Me - Strawn, Texas

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Finally got to eat at the famous Mary's Cafe and found it to be highly overrated. My wife and I both had the Chicken Fried Steak & Enchilada Plate. I will say that we got enough food for five people. The fries were limp and the salad consisted of shredded lettuce with a few small pieces of tomatoes. The bowl of white gravy was okay and the bowl of red beans was tasty. The main plate was a decent size chicken fried steak that was strangely breaded. It was very thin but it was tender and tasted okay. The two cheese enchiladas that came with it were terrible. We had to use a knife to cut them and they were chewy like bubble gum and hard to swallow. We left those on our plates and took about half of our steaks with us. My cat liked the chopped up steak better than I did. Don't think we will stop here again. read more

Mary's was a great way to kick off our vacation to West Texas / Big Bend ! We could hardly wait to wrap our lips around Mary's Famous Chicken Fried Steak again! We rolled in around 11:30 am & were quickly seated.....our friendly & bubbly waitress said, "what y'all drinkin' this afternoon?" .....hubby & I both opted for the Iced Tea instead of that HUGE "Bubba Mug" of Ice Cold Beer, since we had some miles & tracks to make. Ahhh....that CFS with cream gravy is so worth the wait! The Ginormous plate of hand cut fires is still intimidating....but, they're oh so good! Mary's fed us & we were good-to-go as we headed out for Far West Texas! 'Till we meet again.....Thanks Mary ! ! ! : - ) read more

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Texas Country Reporter says best CFS in Texas. It's in my top 2. We always stop here on the way to Dallas. The small is enough to fill me up, and yes, it is very good. Give them a try. read more

Mary's Cafe - Oh yah! - American Near Me - Strawn, Texas

After standing inside the front door, waiting to be seated for 15 minutes, asked the cashier for assistance and she left and went into the kitchen and did not return. Waited another 10 minutes, and then left. It was early Sunday evening so needless to say, won't be going back, ever. read more

We drove in to Strawn just for Mary's. Apparently, from the looks of the town, Mary IS the town of Strawn. The staff was great and that usually sets the tone of the the experience for me. We opted for Shiner and the "small" CFS order. The order comes with CFS served on two pieces of bread, a BOWL of white gravy, a small side salad of iceberg lettuce, with the options of smashed potatoes or french fries. They have a smoking room option, but lucky for us, no one smoked during our visit. It's definitely worth the visit to see what the talk is all about. Be aware of the police while driving into the town. read more

Mary's Cafe - American Near Me - Strawn, Texas

Simply the best chicken fried chicken I've ever had. This place is extraordinary. It is as TEXAS as it gets. Huge portions, excellent seasonings, and the sweetest and most on-top-of-it servers in the area. Also, I love French fries more than anything under the sun and these are the real deal. Classic, double fried, natural cut fries. The best I've had in years. I'm telling you, Mary's is a must! read more

Mary's Cafe - Amazing Chicken Fried Chicken w/ cream gravy!! - American Near Me - Strawn, Texas

I visited Mary's about 2 years ago. Heard lots about them being famous for huge portions of Chicken Fried Steaks, and it being some good chit. With my best friend visiting from Southern California, and a self described "Chicken Fried Steak Connoisseur", we took the 40 minute drive from Graham to Strawn. Arriving, this place isn't all that impressive from the outside. Looks like you're at the wrong place, but once inside, you see action going on. Several rooms packed with tables, people, and more importantly FOOD...and not just little child's plate portions, but heaping Texas-sized portions! Again, although we went for the CFS, I'm more of a grilled steak man myself, and since it was all-you-can-eat steak night, I went with the T-bones. My wife ordered a medium CFS and my buddy also ordered the medium. Keep in mind he's no wimpy little Richard Simmons body match by no means - this guy at the time went about 6', 300lbs and an appetite of an NFL linebacker. Well he didn't disappoint as he ate his entire CFS (I'm guessing it had a 16" diameter - no lie!), and half of my wife's! My poor wife was hurting 1/4 the way through her CFS, and struggled to get to the halfway point. Meanwhile my T-bones were as tender as any I've ever had, and the server was very good in getting me my 2nd and 3rd steaks, despite the packed house. This is definitely a place to bring friends and family, but I'd recommend not eating the entire morning. Very affordable, and parking wasn't bad. Toothpicks provided (much needed) upon exiting. read more

If you like your Chicken Fried steak thin, lightly battered and pan fried, this is the place. Been here twice now, about a year apart, and it's still good. Cream gravy is well peppered. Fries are good, chunky mashed potatoes are better. The also make huge burgers: lots of meat, not a lot of bun kind of huge. They have a large menu, so there is plenty to choose from for everyone in your party. This is a small town diner, so the service is genuinely friendly but quirky. And yes, they have pie, but I've been too stuffed to try so far. Well worth the drive. read more

Mary's Cafe - Large order of CFS - American Near Me - Strawn, Texas

Mary's was recommended on Top 10 list of Chicken Fried Steak on several sites. Took a little road trip to Strawn to check it out. You have a choice of 3 portions of CFS. My friend and I got small each. Still probably could have shared it. Also came with side, salad, bowl of gravy and Texas toast. I had hand cut fries with my lunch. The steak had great flavor but not crispy enough for my taste, salad was just shredded lettuce and tomatoes, Gravy and fries were great! Service was good and friendly. read more

Like most of the reviews .. the wait was just too long. We went after lunch rush hour and wait was still excessive. Some people got served first even though we've been sitting down for almost half hour waiting for someone to take our order. We are about to head out when the waitress finally decided to take our order. Food came little bit faster that the taking the order part . Food wise it was ok not worth waiting though! read more

For starters, it is the 4th of July so I thought maybe the staff would be a bit reduced. Drove 76 miles to Strawn for the much-touted food at Mary's Cafe. After a bit of a wait, maybe five minutes, we were told where to sit. After fifteen minutes or so another group seated at our communal table. Waitress comes up after a considerable wait and wanted to take the order of the couple seated after us. I piped up and offered to order. I guess that that was our second mistake. After another 20 minutes or so, the folks seated after received their order. Another 15 minutes and still no food. Ok, fine. We were about to leave and just pay for our soft drinks when our orders finally arrived, Husband received his chicken fried steak, salad and baked potato. Tubes of sour cream, fake bacon bits, sad looking grated cheese and little containers of margerine. Nothing to write home about but it looked edible. I had ordered a chicken salad. Well, it was indeed huge, but apparently the kitchen just didn't feel like chopping veggies today. A pile of limp, browned bagged lettuce, a quartered tomato, thickly sliced green pepper on top of the lettuce, finished with huge onion rings. Sorry, but I'm not doing the kitchen's work. Lettuce was limp, not fresh. Couldn't eat it. I asked for a to-go box as the 'salad' was otherwise impossible to begin to eat. Nasty. I just gave up. Husband said his steak was ok, not the best he's had. Waitress never returned to provide a refill of drinks or ask about our meal. Husband ate his meal, left half the baked potato as it was not done, and he, too refused to eat the salad that his meal came with. Brown lettuce is not particularly appetizing, Now, I am no miss-priss and realized that this was a little diner in a little town so my expectations were not all that high to begin with but boy, what a sad experience. We were wondering why so much food was left on the table nearby after the group left. It was probably as sad as what we ordered. With the pitiable service and unappetizing food, we will not be returning, Heck, the tee shirts they had for sale (and I was going to purchase one) looked better than the meal. The cashier did take the salad off our ticket, I'll give them that. And beware the flies. I've never eaten at a place with so many buzzing around inside. read more

Put it this way; if I had to chose between Mary's chicken fried steak and the best steak au poivre (filet of course)? There is a very good chance I would pick the chicken fried steak they serve here. Yup, a very very good chance actually. The mountain of delicious golden fries and tub of slap your mother in the face good gravy seal the deal. Go. Please. Go find out for yourself. Btw the service was excellent. read more

The restaurant relies on its past reputation. Service is average at best. Server acted like she was doing me a favor by waiting on us. The food is good, but not great. The helpings are large, but so are the prices. They still stay busy because the eating options in the area are very limited. They compete against the Smokestack, which is not good and a bar/restaurant nearby, which is not good. Their only real competition is New York Hill, which has them beat badly on quality and pricing. We only go to NY Hill and never even consider going to Mary's anymore. read more

Very very disappointing! Service was bad and food was worse! Will NEVER be back! It was recommended by others I know but it was a bad experience for myself and my wife! I've been in the food business in the past for several years and my own Grandmother own several restaurants. I know what good food and service should be and this was NOT it! read more

The supposed Best Chicken Fried Steak, just took a turn for the worse. Not only did it look bad, the price has gone out the roof. I thought chicken fried steak was supposed to be a golden brown? Ours was a dark, almost black looking piece of who knows what? Priced higher here than most anywhere!!! read more

Always a good stop. On the way hone from the west Texas patch it's a must stop. Friendly service, & great food. Best part is no mask. That's a must if I'm going to spend my money there. We will be back next trip. read more

no rating. The food was horrible. Got the chicken fried and enchiladas. The chicken fried steak was not good. The mashed potatoes looked grey and the gravy was not good. The enchiladas looked like it was over microwaved and burnt looking. The cafe looks dirty and the floor filthy. Never again. read more

CFS not worth the drive But the beans/cornbread are! Coating on CFS soggy (medium barely fits on plate). Fries hand cut, rings hand battered. Mary burger 2" thick 1#, well seasoned but overdone and they added mustard... Service perfect! read more

Mary's Cafe - American Near Me - Strawn, Texas

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You know that Alan Jackson song, Gone Country? That's how I felt when I walked in, I haven't seen that many cowboy hats since my trip to Western Wear store. Hahhaa, jk I never seen a more friendly bunch though, everyone was chatting and welcoming us. It was a hoot (Am I doing it right?) Ok, enough about the friendly locals, how about the food. One suggestion, when they ask you what size you want your beer and Chicken Fried Steak? Say medium. I ordered large and I'm still eating them right now. Their CFS is a bit different from the CFS in San Antonio, it has less bread crumbs, but it is very tasty. Their burger which is the size of a coffee mug, and no, I didn't order large, it is very delicious. And the price? VERY affordable, my large CFS is about $17, that's a meal for 3. read more

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I've heard about Mary's for years and on our way back to DFW after a weekend in West Texas we decided to stop. It's a "seat yourself" kind of restaurant which meant it took the servers a minute to find us. They were quick on taking our order and getting it placed. We split the large CFS and bought a small pizza from the kid's menu for our son. Soon after arriving our son started fussing. We had been in the car all day and he had just woke from a nap. He was asking to eat and I guess our waitress heard because she became an absolute life saver and brought us freshly fried French fries and dropped them at the table for our toddler free of charge. The CFS was good and easily split between my husband and I. We really loved the potatoes but the best thing was the gravy. It was delicious. Our waitress offered to cut the salad that is offered with the meal and bring extra potatoes instead but we opted for the salad. Don't do that. Get the potatoes. They charge 2.00 for an extra plate. I was completely fine with that. The pizza was not worth it. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't good either. Our toddler decided he would rather enjoy the CFS and FF. Our water glasses were never empty, which is a huge deal for my husband. All together, we enjoyed the meal and the atmosphere. We did not encounter rude staff (just busy staff) or patrons. It was friendly and obviously the town attraction/hang out spot. The only thing that I really was confused about was the lack of booster seats or high chairs. We were never offered one and we couldn't find one in the two rooms we could see. To be fair, I didn't ask for one either. Bottom line, stop here if you're on I-20 and hungry but don't drive 2 hours just to eat here. read more

It was TERRIBLE and I brought an out of state houseguest. Since they insisted on treating I was,in the awkward position of not wanting. to complain about the bottom of the list of the last dozen CFS I have eaten. It wa health code violation in the toilet, verrry dangerous. Both men and women spew water on your backside. Ugggh. Crap service and dinnerware. 2 years ago was much better. Dunno but there are too many great CFS for that. Thurber NYHILL EVEN JONES CAFE in Mineral Wells. Gravy like glue. Behead the cook !!! Four top in PASSAGEWAY between dining rooms by wait station. Awfully embarrassing. read more

Best chicken fried steak and gravy, homemade salsa and friendly service. Worth the drive, no matter where you're coming from! They do great takeout, so we had ourselves an Easter picnic in social isolation. They had Easter treats for the kids, and mine walked away with two whole Easter baskets. We've been fans for years, and we hope everyone supports this iconic Texas spot - they're doing their best to take care of all of us! read more

Mary's Cafe - Easter treats from Mary. At New Year's it's black-eyed peas. Sometimes it's cake for fun. Show Mary's Cafe some Texas-sized love! - American Near Me - Strawn, Texas

Food was excellent but the service was horrible. The waitress took forever to take our order. Lost her ticket/order book. Didn't bring my fries with my order so I reminded her and still never received them until we got the ticket to leave and I reminded her AGAIN! While we were eating she never once came to check on us. Drinks remained empty because she never checked up on us. read more

wow! and not in a good way... ordered a child's hamburger and fries + tea. when I checked out the cashier said I owed $29.79!!! ridiculous!! what a rip off. hamburger was smaller than a jr. burger at Whataburger and not nearly as good. very disappointed after all the hype I heard about this cafe. will not be returning. read more

As a family of 5, it is rare that we get everyone together to go on our usual outings. We have been working through the bucket list of Texas' must visit restaurants/cafes. We planned this dinner around my husband's birthday and made the 1 hour and 25 minute drive to Strawn to try out this local iconic cafe. To say that I was disappointed is an understatement. We arrived between 8:15-8:30 pm on a Thursday evening. There were about 10 or so vehicles in the parking lot, but we were hopeful that we had missed the dinner rush. When we entered, people just stared at us, and we thought that we had entered the wrong door or something. We asked if we were to seat ourselves, and the nice young man said yes but showed us a table we could sit comfortably. We waited for about 5 minutes, which is very close to our rule that if we are not noticed within 7 minutes of arriving then we leave. However, traveling over an hour to eat specifically here for a bday celebration, we weren't leaving. After almost 10 minutes, we have a waitress who takes our drink orders. We get gigantic plastic cups with ice and canned sodas. Then, "poof", she's gone. Twelve more minutes pass, and we finally get her back to take our orders. We get appetizers, as it is now nearing 9 pm, and we are starving. We order our meals, too. Two trips to the bathroom, several games played on our phones, google searches about Strawn v Gordon football games, and another soda or three later, we get our appetizers....that was about 25 minutes. By 9:38 pm, we finally have our food. That is over an hour to take our order and bring it to us, while three other tables have been seated and served. We started to really feel like "outsiders" and that our business wasn't needed or very welcomed. The most attention that we got was as it was nearing 10 pm, so I figured that they wanted to close up shop....then we got the bill. I knew that it was going to be pricey just based on the menu pricing, but $1.75 per can of soda was ridiculous...we literally drank $12 worth of soda and didn't even know it was happening...I would suggest trying it, because the food isn't bad. It's just not the greatest in the world, and with the level of service and stink eyes that we got being there, I would never go back. In a small town, visitors are either welcomed with red carpets or treated like lepers....we were the lepers last night. I hate that my children felt out of place and unwelcomed, but we had a blast driving out there and home as a family and that's what matters in the end. I hope that other people that visit are not made to feel this way, and I hate leaving any type of negative review, but they really need to do a better job of treating the customers like they matter when we are spending $120 for dinner before tip....next time, we will just hit the hibachi place in our own home town! read more

Ok, be hungry, very hungry and expect leftovers at this great cafe, it's loud and the food is prepared fresh just for you , so expect a wait, but worth it' read more

Mary's Cafe - This is the small steak with enchiladas, fries and beans, Texas toast and salad - American Near Me - Strawn, Texas

Nice humble place out in the middle of no where. The staff was friendly and attentive. The price was great. HUGE portions great chicken fried steaks. read more

We've been eating at Mary's for about 30 years. The food is always great. We stopped by last weekend. Our order was taken promptly but it took an hour to get our food. It was very aggravating. When the waitress brought it to the table, she said Mary was cooking for the firefighters working the Dempsey fire. I am the kind of person who likes to have my expectations managed. If I had been told, up front, that they were feeding the firefighters first, then us, it would have make my wait much easier since we were under a time constraint that day. So maybe that is an option for the wait staff to tell people it will be a while before the food is ready. And as always the food was GREAT! read more

I hate to say it cause I was so pumped to try this place based on what I'd heard. We drove from our deer lease near Llano all the way up here. The quality of the meat was mediocre, the crust wasn't much and the gravy was completely bland. Even the sides kinda sucked. I live a locally owned place and hate to leave this review but dangit, blahhh all the way around, at best. read more

Nothing extraordinary here. Had chicken fried steak. Average at best, steak was cold but gravy which took 5 min more to get to table was hot

Wonderful food! Huge portions and Good staff. Definitely worth the drive. Very nice place. We will return with friends. read more