Hungry Horse Restaurant and Catering — Restaurant in Boerne

From the outside this restaurant looks like a large, family friendly restaurant. I wasn't sure what to expect, as I was an out of state visitor, and had yet to eat in any physical establishment in Texas whatsoever...

Upon walking into the restaurant, I realized that it was more casual than I first thought. It's a large, open room. There is no ambiance, and it's the quintessential small town diner. The kind of place where the booths are torn up and the table is perpetually sticky.

You seat yourself, and then go to the counter to place your order. You pay at that time, get your drinks, silverware, etc, and return to your table. Then they call out your name when your food is ready, and you collect your tray.

Easy enough, and nothing that I haven't experienced many times before.

However, there are no menus on the tables, and the only menu they do have, is a large board at the very top of the wall, which was opposite from our booth, across the room. The menu was too far away, and the letters too small for me to read it. The placement of this menu board was so high that the ceiling fans were in the way, causing half of the menu to be continually blocked off.

Again, I understand this sort of situation... I'm from a very rural area, and this restaurant seemed to be an exact replica of the type of place my family and I would eat at when I was a kid... That all being said, if I can't read the giant menu, I KNOW their other customers can't... Because my friends and I were definitely the youngest people in there, by a long ways.

I finally realized that they had a menu tacked up on a bulletin board next to the cash register where you place your order, so I was able to use that one.

But that was a vain hope, because being able to read the menu did not help much at all! Ha ha ha ha ha

Perhaps it's the difference between Texas and the Midwest/North/Minnesota, etc, but their menu seemed to be nonsensical.

The chicken strips were "chicken fried chicken tenders"... Does that mean that they are double battered, and double friend? And what the heck is a "pony size"? What is a jumbo? A mumbo? (That really was on the menu, no joke).

I finally gave up, after asking questions and just not getting it... I ordered a mushroom and swiss burger with "fries", and mozzarella sticks for the table.

The burger was delicious!!! Better than I would have expected from here, and many other places! It was cooked to perfection, and the balance of mushrooms, onion, and cheese was just right. It was a large burger, this restaurant's "normal" size of burger is 8 oz of meat, which I now realize is too much for me in one sitting 😆

Apparently the "pony" size is a little smaller, which is what I should have gotten!

It made an excellent lunch the next day as well. The mozzarella sticks were really good! They were big, (not small ones), and the 1/2 order would have been plenty. The portions are definitely generous here. My friend ordered a chicken fried steak, and said he had two separate streaks on his plate.

The "fries" that come with are not fries, but a sort of homemade chip. They weren't good at all, they were soggy and mushy. They were too thick and were just a slice of potato that had been fried.

But other than that, and the people not wearing masks (I don't know if TX and this county has mandates or not, but they should mask up anyways, because it's rude and selfish not too), it was good food.

One thing I did notice was as soon as we left, my throat hurt from the grease in the air. I know that feeling, and I know that it is from the grease...(I used to work in a bar that served fried foods, and I know that feeling well.) I feel for all the workers, as it seems that there isn't adequate ventilation.

I'd recommend this place for a bite to eat, but I'd take it to go. Avoid the people, the grease, and stay safe ☺️ Delicious food, giant portions,...

You order at the front desk, get your own food, and clean after yourself. If you need bbq sauce or other, you must get up, and we did several times. They were gracious to give it to us, but after leaving a 15% for the gentlemen cooks, that’s the least we expected. The man who took our order didn’t seem happy at all. He seemed frustrated to take our order even when the restaurant was still an hour from closing and empty. There was just a couple aside from us. Anyhow, I understand that this may very well just be his personality. He still took our order as we wanted, but it would have been nice to be welcoming! A smile or cheery person would have helped them move to a three. The food was edible. We all ate our food. The price was fair, too, and the servings are nice. You will not be short changed when it comes to serving size. However, all plates had one thing in common: They had no salt. When we realized the sides on our plate were bland, the okra, mash potatoes, green beans, etc, had zero salt, we realized they must serve a bigger elderly population or a white population. Possibly or not! One thing for sure is living in South Texas makes it very difficult to not want flavor! It reminded me when I went to a Memorial Day Picnic with our church, and we have a lot of elderly white families who cook the same way. My kids had a hard time enjoying the food. No offense! They are healthier for it. If you like food cooked this way, this is a great place for you! It’s standard American food you will love. However, what makes it difficult is that we are not used to this. My base always has butter or oil, garlic, pepper, salt, and other spices of choice. Again, if this is not an issue for you, and you grew up eating saltless food as a standard, you’ll love it. I had their liver and onions, and my plate was amazingly filled with taste! It was the okra and green beans that were clean, devoid of flavor. My son and daughter said their steak was good, but their sides, mash potatoes, okra, green beans, were bland. The mac had flavor because of the cheese. Anyhow, we ate all our food regardless, and we enjoyed it in spite of the lack of flavor. Their bran muffins were very good because I’ve always loved bran muffins, and they were kind in giving me some honey I requested. I would return someday. Maybe I’ll remember to ask them to season my sides with pepper and salt when they are cooking my food, and who knows,...

We were in Boerne visiting family and they recommended this restaurant highly. It did not disappoint. Portion size is huge. You have a choice of large, regular, or "pony" size for your entrees. I opted for the vegetable plate (regular size) with a salad and I was shocked at how much food I received. Many times at cafes, they will serve one spoonful servings in those small melamine bowls, but that's not the case at Hungry Horse! The salad was a full size green salad and the vegetable portions were more than generous. I could have easily had two meals from this one plate. Some other reviews have complained about no seasoning, but I enjoyed the fact that the food was not over salted or laden in bacon grease. The fried okra was fresh and crispy, mashed potatoes were definitely homemade, the sliced carrots were great, and I did enjoy the mac and cheese which was homemade. I also liked the lightly sweetened muffin which seemed to be a zucchini muffin? It was not overpoweringly sweet, which was a nice surprise. My daughter had green beans and I was glad to see that they were not canned nor were they soaked in bacon grease. Had I known this, I would have ordered the green beans, which are definitely not canned, but instead look like they are either fresh or frozen and then cooked/steamed. Daughter also ordered the chicken fried steak which she said was excellent. Other members of our party had the grilled chicken and the cheeseburgers. Everyone enjoyed the meal and especially the onion rings, which are hand cut and battered.

We would definitely come back to this restaurant. It reminds me of an old school Southern buffet, minus the actual buffet if that...