Our son has been here a couple of times and thought the chicken fried steak was awesome...as he never has tried one elsewhere....well we went and it was soggy and not close to any we've ever had. We waited for way too long as they were crowded on a Sunday however not worth the wait. Daughter got the 2 pound burger which was overcooked....and not tasty at all. Tea tasted old... read more

Mary's Cafe - 2 pound burger and sweat tea - American Near Me - Strawn, Texas

The waitress was slow, didn't come around for refills drinks, and didn't acknowledge us to let us know if there was a problem... everyone came in after us ... were already have there food an eating, more like they were racist, bias it cause were brown, we wouldn't treated any people like this place did, until we let other waitress know, she came over.... i wouldn't recommend this place at all. The wait time is over 40 minutes after u have an order read more

We came out from Fort Worth for a little day trip after reading about this place online. The food was plentiful but not the best. The chicken fried steak was ok, but definitely not the best I have ever had. The wait staff was pleasant and helpful, but they seemed like they were a little overwhelmed. There was a sign by the front door stating that they were understaffed because they couldn't get enough staff. The restaurant is a little disjointed. They have added on to the original building and though I appreciated the air conditioning, it was cold. I don't usually get cold easily. It was also loud. Overall, it was a good experience, but not worth a second trip. Also, it is expensive compared to what I was expecting. $19 for a small CFS is a little high. read more

Used to drive 90 miles one way for their CFS. It has slowly gone downhill to the point that won't stop if I'm driving past. First the gravy seemed to suffer first. It tasted like a mix instead of freshly made. Probably Pioneer Mix which isn't bad. Next time the breading was thicker than the steak (which was as thick as deli cut meat). Decided that surely it couldn't be that bad THREE times in a row....well it was and service was horrible as well. What once was one of the best CFS in Texas isn't any better than a chicken sandwich from Sonic. Surprised they are still in business. Go to Babe's in Roanoke for better, still not as good as they once were either. Save your gas and don't get gas. Gave two stars simply out of courtesy. read more

67 years old and finally made it to Mary's.. One more thing off the bucket list. I had the "Medium" Chicken Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes. Wife and Daughter had Loaded Potatoes and teen aged Granddaughter had Chicken Strips with Fries........ Everything was exactly as advertised! Fantastic, Friendly service.....Large helpings and a simple, small time feel inside. As a native Texan, I'm embarrassed I haven't been to Mary's sooner, but it will not be the last! Just want to add that I did look at a lot of the poor reviews and can hardly believe some are legit. 1. We also stopped by on a Sunday. About 3:00. It was not crowded nor noisy. 2. Service was fine. One girl handled drinks and the waitress handled the order. Took no more than 5 min. 3. The salad is a small bowl of lettuce with a spoonful of tomatoes. 4. Mashed potatoes do have a tint to them but that is due to way they are prepared and they are delicious 5. My wife can make a better CFS also but so what? We go out so she doesn't have to cook. 6. If there are folks saying they got small portions, we'll the review is not legit. 7. And, if folks are coming from DFW, Austin or any other city and expecting this to be Morton's, Ruth Chris or Del Frisco's..... just don't come! It's a small town cafe whether it's famous or not. Get over yourself.... Enjoy the perfect imperfections! read more

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If you like chicken fried steak, with taters and okra then go no further than Mary's Cafe in Strawn, Texas. Meat is so tender you do not need a knife and unless you're Paul Bunyan do not order anything larger than medium or you'll never walk again or have a heart attack on the spot! Seriously this is the best CFS in Texas by far. Friendly staff, no frills just good eats are on the fare. If your brave think about desert but better yet plan for another visit. read more

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We were in Texas visiting friends and relatives. Everyone said we had to eat at Mary's. We were not disappointed. All of us got the chicken fried steak and loved it. read more

[review by native Texan] Best COUNTRY (Hell...It's NOT Chicken!) FRIED Steak. Steak crust DOES NOT Texas standards, needs to look, taste like a TEXAS! FRIED CHICKEN Crust! (Only positive) Portion size HUGE! Brown Gravy on mashed potatoes a TRAVESTY! Rest of meal (salad, Iced Tea) ok. Here in Texas older relative's restaurant served REAL Chicken Fried Steak for many years, they would laugh seeing this BS, think of it as being very Un-Texan. This steak does meet way-dumbed down "Country" Fried standards east and north of Texas (including God forbid) ...Yankee ones. Laughable 'Re-Elect ABBOTT FOR GOVERNOR" sign outside, supporting Republican Conformist Communism...it's as bad, laughable as fake "best in Texas' Country (Chicken) Fried I ate. read more

It's expensive. Prices on menu are not what the prices are right now. A small chicken fry steak with French fries and what they call a salad (lettuce and carrots ) was $26.00. A medium chicken fry was almost $31.00. We shared so there was an addition $2 charge. We got 2 teas. Not bad at $2 each. Cheese enchilada to go with rice and beans $17.00. 3 plates. $81.00. Plus tip. Almost $100 for 3 plates. read more

Out for Saturday drive! We made plans to take the hour trip from Granbury to Strawn to try out Mary's world famous Chicken Fried steak. It was WELL WORTH the drive. All and make reservations.... also, if you k ow what you want, call ahead and place your order as it's a wait for your food. But again, the food was worth it! It is difficult to hear- for their older guests they could add some tiles to the ceiling or something as it was impossible to visit with my dad due to the noise level. Over all: great place... yummy chicken fry ... and a nice drive. read more

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Great home cooking had small order of the gizzards the first time to much to eat but very good then the burger was awesome. My friends had the chicken fried steak and was larger than the plate and cook to perfection. read more

Friendly staff, great food, and fair prices...what more could you want?!! The chicken fried steak perfectly seasoned and is so tender you can cut it with a fork. The mashed potatoes are REAL POTATOES, not made from that weird powdered stuff. They are soft and flavorful and are begging to be covered in some of Mary's delicious gravy! Put on your stretchy pants, get in your truck and head to Strawn for a great meal! read more

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Like a lot of other people, we were told that we had to try this place. So we did and now I wanna slap the person who suggested it. No one staff member had a mask on. The place was packed and no social distancing enforced. It took almost 2 hours to order, eat and pay. So be sure you have plenty of time. On to the food. Of the nine people in our party not one person was impressed. Yes the portions are huge but so are the prices. We had the CFS and is was bland at best. Fries were good but cold and nothing else really stood out. Won't be back. This place is WAY over hyped. read more

Mary's Cafe - a plate of fried chicken and mashed potatoes - American Near Me - Strawn, Texas

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Without a doubt, the best chicken fried steak in Texas. ...not to mention the biggest! Friendly staff, reasonable prices, and great food! What a perfect combination! read more

I would give her a 5 but it is good fantastic good but not the greatest chicken fry Gravy big bowl Serving size more than I could eat Basic salad which if your headed for chicken fry it is just a side item The service was quick as we arrived about 1 pm Family atmosphere with some cowboy clad fellers talking to us during our meal I am tempted to move it to a 5 but there are better chicken frys out in this big steak I will be back as it is worthy of the road trip read more

I just love this place! Mary's is literally the Home of the World Famous Chicken Fried Steak! I don't know how your momma did it... and we don't care... until she's been written up by literally everyone who writes professionally about Chicken Fry's... this is the undisputed winner! Guess what? It takes a while to cook a pound of beef! Press it into a ball, and it's gonna have some differences in seasoning! Guess what' else... it's HUGE! Deal with it, or don't order it! It's a fav... ask em to squish it, and tell em you're from the city! Sit down... take some time... your order will be here quick enough! Talk to the waitress, or your neighbors. Put your phone down! Enjoy this experience! 5 STARS for being Legend---ary! read more

My husband has to eat here as often as I'll let him. It's good old fashioned southern home cooking.

Incredible food, good staff, long waits and very busy. Can feel rushed to get in and out for people waiting.

Love Mary's Great food, service. Don't get to go as much as I would like too but really look forward on my next visit. Hopefully it will be soon read more

This place doesn't deserve a star. 1. Waitstaff was terrible. Took forever for someone to take our drink order and then another 30 minutes to order food. 2. For appetizers we thought we'd try a couple of options. a: the stuffed cheddar jalapeños: so gross. It's shredded cheese on a sliced jalapeño and soggy crust. b: the loaded tater tots: the tater tots are out of a frozen bag. Ours were freezer burned. Half weren't even hot. Canned chili was plopped in the middle. c: the queso and salsa: now this takes the cake. The "queso" is that ballpark cheese out of a huge gallon bucket you buy at Sam's for high school football games. So nasty. The salsa.. is the reason for the one star. It was amazing. 3. We ordered the following for the table: a: the seafood platter: the fried stuff was all soggy and chewy; not to mention cold. b: the rest of the table got the chicken fried steak since it's what we were told we had to come here for. The batter... again, soggy. Now this is meant to be like grandma's southern fried chicken fried steak. D for effort since it was soggy and cold. The mashed potatoes were okay, but again cold. The gravy... it's tasted like someone took a packaged mix gravy and added some flower to it so it would look homemade. All-in-all, I heard about it. I went... I saw... I tasted.. and that's all for me. Not real sure why I believed all these city folk when they said how amazing this "home cooking" was. It's all canned or freezer food. read more

So never have eaten here till today . All I have heard is how great this place is and the chicken fried steak is so great . Wrong .... For one the noise in this place is so loud you can't enjoy your food and doesn't help when you have a big mouth wanting to be center of attention. Hell there was a table with 5 little kids that came in and you did not know they were there .I finally said enough out loud to where that guy heard me that he shut up ... The food is just average really , the steak is so thin and no flavor . Hell I make a better kick ass chicken fried steak than this .I ordered the small steak and about fell over when they bring this little steak out and I could have eaten 3 of them and I'm a small person . The salad was all wilted as well and the fries all greasy but what fries are not . You have to add salt and pepper to everything to get flavor. The staff is very friendly I will give them that and filled our drink glasses up all the time . I won't be back not worth the drive . read more

If you are from the city (whIch I am)this is different! Great food Huge portions country service. We love it! Make sure someone gets the chicken fried steak! read more

Today, I went to Mary's in Strawn TX with my boyfriend, but our experience was marred by uncomfortable stares and being served last, even though we ordered before others did. Sadly, it seems racism is alive and well in 2024. I couldn't even eat my food in peace, we got out to go plates and left IMMEDIATELY! read more

Much better!! Food came out hot & quick! Waitress was on top of things...I'll be back as always...didn't see the other waitress around so maybe she got the boot!!! read more

I drove over an hour to visit here for the renowned chicken fried steak lunch. You can tell things are made from scratch, as the cream gravy and mashed potatoes were really tasty. The CFS was okay,, not bad or stellar.. Overall, I enjoyed the food and service was good. Since they open at 11am, its more a lunch and not breakfast type place. You will not leave here hungry! read more

Mary's Cafe - The "medium" plate, should've got the smaller one. Way too much food here! - American Near Me - Strawn, Texas

Waited thirty minutes for some tea, still waiting for food while writing. Waiter came five minutes after seated. But it is worth the wait, Food 5/5 but -1 for the wait read more

It ain't what it was. Busy, expensive and s-l-o-w. The fame done got to them I suppose. They've got more rules posted on the walls than the IRS has agents. I'll pass on by. read more

What happened to Mary's????!!! I was bragging to friends about how great the chicken fried steaks and burgers are.... SDADLY the chicken fried steak came out in breaded or very little. Looked like flattened hamburgers maybe 6 inches round and 1 bowl of gravy for 4 cfs!...service was good and same great hometown atmosphere... gotta fix the CFS!!! A real disappointment! I'd consider other places before making a drive out to Mary's read more

Chicken fried steak or chicken. Biggest hamburger you've ever seen. Mary is usually in the kitchen working her tail Off. That helps the food more consistent read more

We walked in at 5:00 and several people were ahead of us. We put our name on the list. The hostess/waitress couldn't tell us how long the wait was. She acted like we were disturbing her by being there. About 5 minutes later another lady started yelling out names on the list and telling people to go to this room or that room but not telling us what table to sit at. There are a ton of flies around our table and even more flies dead on the window sill. There was also a cigarette butt on the floor. If we hadn't drove 1.5 hours to get here we would have left. Our waitress (Cindy I think) was extremely nice. She had a very large group (20+ people) plus us. Now we've been waiting for our dinner for an hour. My husband's large chicken fried steak came out first. Then my small chicken fried steak came out. Missing our French fries. They finally came out 5 minutes later. It's now 6:21 and we are still waiting on my husbands salad dressing. My chicken fried steak came out lukewarm, soggy and no flavor. The fries were barely warm and had no flavor. I got tired of battling to keep the flies off my food so I stopped eating it after 5 bites. We left at 6:55. I doubt we will make the drive just to come eat here again. If we are in the area we might consider stopping to give it another try. Oh, my husband never did get his salad dressing. read more

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Best chicken fried steak anywhere as far as I'm concerned look forward to it every time I'm in the area.

Amazing food... especially the Mexican food. Possibly the best enchiladas and chips and hot sauce I've eaten.

"Home of the World's Famous Chicken Fried Steak" Incredibly fast service. We called in our order on our way passing through town on a family road trip. Upon arrival, we were met with quick service. We ordered 3 entrées for 4 people and left with leftovers. Definitely an awesome Texas/Southern home cookin'! So good. I had the chicken strips which were crisp, juicy and tender. The corn on the cob was also great and buttery too. Overall, my family loved the sit-down restaurant and would be happy to visit again. To top it all off, my dad got to enjoy one of his favorite dishes: chicken fried steak. read more

Mary's Cafe - Chicken tenders, corn on the cob, baked potato, chicken fried steak - American Near Me - Strawn, Texas

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This is THE chicken friend steak to get in Texas. I've never had any better. You get plenty of food and it's all fantastic. We took a detour that added almost 2 hours to our drive home but it was well worth it. The bad reviews must be from people who give 5 stars to restaurants that serve frozen chicken friend steak with gravy made from a pouch who don't know what real food tastes like. read more

Hands down best chicken fried steak The crust was fried to perfection crisp and not one trace of Burnt taste to it and not think The steak was fresh off the cow read more

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

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For all this delicious, go to Marys. The Chicken livers are plentiful (get a small, it's all you and two other people will ever need) and the Chicken Fry is FABULOUS. Also, the apricot fried pie is yummy read more

Mary's Cafe - Chicken livers for days - American Near Me - Strawn, Texas

Talk about good food! It's fantastic. Stopped in after headed back home to Granbury from Abeline. First time visit. Ordered the medium chicken fried steak. Medium? It was as big as the huge plate it was on and piled high with crispy french fries. Wow! I am a big eater and I had leftovers. We plan on coming back soon even though it's an hour drive. Well worth the time. read more

We came for a late lunch on a Friday afternoon. We arrived at 1, and had to wait about 20 minutes to be seated, no big deal. Once seated we were offered drinks, but then the real wait began. We watched as other tables that came after us ordered and received food. It was evident that there was only ONE person taking orders and delivering food. We finally were able to order and then waited another 30 minutes for our food. We finished lunch at about 3 and got back into Ft. Worth about 4. The food itself was good. The baked potato and salad were nothing special, but the chicken fried steak was some of the best I've ever had. Even so, I don't know that it was worth the drive and the brutal wait. If your crave great chicken fried steak and have a ton of time to kill, go to Mary's. If not, tons of great chicken fried steaks in Fort Worth. read more

Great food and a friendly staff. This is a must try location if you are near Strawn Texas.

Had to wait 30 minutes when we ordered the quesadilla beef.Did not apologize for the wait or give a discount