Kitchen Tales — Restaurant in Conroe

I was in the Conroe area and decided to try this restaurant. It was in an unassuming strip mall with a casual atmosphere.

I ordered the chicken fried steak ($13 with 2 sides) with mashed potatoes and a garden salad. First off, the garden salad I received looked fabulous, full of fresh greens and baby lettuces with finely chopped tomatoes and carrots on top. What you would expect from a fine dining restaurant, but here? I must say that I did not care for the ranch dressing served as I thought it tasted like diet ranch to me. Unfortunately, I poured the dressing on top before I tasted it. After a few bites, I asked the waiter for a new salad. He wasn't sure what to do, but he took the salad and brought me a new one. This time, he brought it out with a thousand island dressing. It tasted homemade with a slight kick to it and was a big hit to me. You may wonder why I am making such a big deal about the salad and dressing, but this salad was awesome and unexpected.

My chicken fried steak was good sized, crisp and properly seasoned with a good portion of gravy and it did not disappoint. I really liked that it was not pounded too flat to make it look bigger as the meat to breading ratio was just spit on for me as it was on the meatier side. Delicious! The mashed potatoes were nice and fluffy as well.

My brother ordered the fried combo seafood platter (15.95 with 2 sides). There were two catfish pieces and about 5 or 6 good sized shrimp. The catfish was crispy with moderate breading and the white flaky flesh tasted fresh, except it had the distinctive, catfish flavor. My wife loved it and said it tasted fresh, but I apparently have been spoiled by all of the restaurants serving "swai" as catfish which does not have the this "catfish" flavor. I also tried one of the shrimp, and it was perfect with the homemade red sauce and the tarter sauce. I also took a few shoestring fries which were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The only problem was that I found them a bit too salty. (Don't worry, I traded some of my large, chicken fried steak so my brother did not leave hungry)

Overall, I think they had a good selection of beer on tap and I saw several tables had wine, but I did not see the wine list. I ordered Blue Moon on tap, and it was served with the classic orange slice (kudos). The dessert selection ($5-7 range) looked good from pecan cobbler to a ginger crusted cheese cake, but I did not order (maybe because I ate my brother's food) but I will next time.

This place is not fancy, but it looked like everything was running smooth, and I would highly recommend this gem of...

After reading a few reviews we went to eat here excited about the lunch we were about to have.. Unfortunately, we ended up being disappointed with our choice.

The place is nice and the waitress that served us was great as well. 5 stars there for sure.

Food: We had the mozzarella sticks to start with and they were pretty good. Kinda hard to mess those up but they were good. I couldn't taste the oil at all like at other places which had me excited about the main course. I order the Chicken fried chicken with mashed potatoes and corn. All 3 of the items were under seasons in my opinion, average. My wife had the pork chops which reminded us of a take of Perry's pork chops with a sweet sauce. I had a bit of it and even though I thought it was good, again I felt it was a bit bland.

Now, the reason I give this place a below average score.. I have to disclose that we came in around 2:40 pm, so I know they where short staffed. But, when we came in there was one other couple there. We placed our orders and about 10 mins later couple came in, about 5 min later a 2nd couple came in and about another 5 mins later 3 other serves came in. I don't know how many ppl they had in the kitchen but about another 25 mins later, the 2nd couple got there food served (I guess they ordered something simple) then another 5 mins later, 2 of the serves that got there had food served to them. 4 dishes came out before ours came to our table.. 50 mins had passed and we still had no food. The waitress came over a few times to apologize which confirmed that they were taking a long time. I was a waiter back in college so I told her I understood, however you can't have 4 dishes come out before others ordered way before those, even if they were for employees or take take a little extra time to cook. It took them over an hour to get our food out to us. I honestly had already lost my apetite by then and wanted to leave but we had already waited so long and read the reviews, we wanted to try the food. And then to ultimately feel completely disappointed. I went to the rest room and when I got back I found a fly in my drink. Which just killed it for me. I ate about half of my meal and just asked for the check. The waitress knew we weren't having a good time at all and expressed simpathy which is why I give this place 2 stars, but honestly it should have been a 1 star review. We won't be going back. And I suggest that if you want confort food, go to Eden Cafe on 1488.. way...

Short story: This is a frustrating review for me to write, because to sum it up our food was just a shade above room temperature BUT even so it was still delicious.

Long story: We went for breakfast yesterday and there was only one other table sat in the place. It was about 8:30 to 9 am.

Food: Coffee was kind of weak but full disclosure I like my coffee strong, like put hair on your chest strong. So if you don't like jet fuel coffee then the coffee was good.

Filled biscuits with chicken strips, scrambled eggs, queso gravy and country potatoes - the whole meal was about room temperature but with just a hint of warmth. And I really wanted to be upset about that, but I'm telling you that it was so good I could not bring myself to complain. The queso gravy was like crack, a little tang, a little salt, creamy, cheesey, not spicy (I don't like picante just for the sake of picante). It was kind of like Velveeta dip but more concentrated. The biscuits soft, fluffy, not doughy or crumbly. Scrambled eggs were soft and fluffy. The chicken was perfectly seasoned with a crispy panko like crust.

My husband ordered the deep fried mashed potatoes, with poached eggs and country potatoes. He told me his was also basically cold but it was good.

Service: Was OK. I'm not a fan of being pressed for a drink order the second my bottom hits the seat, although being a former waitress I understand why some wait staff will ask immediately for a drink order to show they are being attentive. My preference would be for them to ask if I know what I'd like to drink or if a need a moment. Also the food took a really long time and that would be okay IF it were piping hot when we received it. Instead, the food being cold indicates that the waiter either did not pick it up when it was ready or the kitchen didn't time its preparation right. Either way with only two tables of customers in the place this should not have been an issue.

Atmosphere: It's a cute strip mall Cafe style place. Open concept, I love the earthy tones and I like that they utilize the windows, instead of trying to hide or...