Cartwright's Ranch House — Restaurant in Denton

I'm sad that I didn't get pictures of the food, it did look good, but the lack of options for dietary restrictions, and lack of concern for making sure anyone who has these restrictions is safe makes it difficult for us to come back.

The atmosphere is that of an old vintage chowdown like the ones we all grew up with, it's clean and inviting. The waitress was great, and the coffee was as well, it was the highlight of our visit. Our waitress was attentive and very good, I wish that they were a bit more understanding of the menu when you go to order after you tell them about the sensitivities...but again, old school place.....this is probably just not gonna happen.

My daughter and wife have sensitivity to gluten and food dyes, so we have to order a certain way, and they have no real options on the menu to actually know what you're getting. So we went with common options that in most cases won't have either in them.

My daughter and son split the chilaquiles, as the pancakes and toast are not an option, but corn tortillas are generally gluten free. Unfortunately, here they are multicolored which means they have food dyes. We didn't notice this initially because we thought they were tomatoes since they were red and mixed into the food, Cartwright's offered to split the plate in the kitchen so that it wouldn't have to be done at the table, this was very kind and we appreciate it.... But it also means that we aren't going to notice because the plate isn't in front of us. So both of them ate a majority of it before we figured it out.

We both got an omelette, it was stuffed and looked tasty. It wasn't until I was about halfway through where I figured out it wasn't just eggs in the mixture, they use pancake batter, similar to IHOP to make it easier to cut and look more appealing. That may be fine for a majority of folks, but pancake batter is a no-no for us... So not only did it take me out of ketosis, it made my wife have hives and itch all day.

Overall, I don't like that I spent 70 bucks to feed my family (5) and felt so unsatisfied. The place is cool, but the owners and managers seem to be mostly concerned with profit margin and volume instead of pure, fresh ingredients and accommodating anyone who is not part of the "normal" American diet.

That's totally fine, they have a right to do so, just wanna make sure I leave this review so that others who may see the rating understand that while it's a solid establishment, it's not for everyone. If you have no restrictions and love a good biscuit and gravy, this...

Someone get me a wheelbarrow! Gonna need to wheel my butt out of here after I eat all this dang food!!!

This is truly Texas cooking. Parker house rolls, real mashed potatoes and gravy. Fried okra done right, and NOT REHEATED IN THE MICROWAVE! Lol. Ok so here is the skinny on this joint.

When I say truly Texas they serve beer in a bottle for $3 at lunch and dinner. They have a good and fresh louissianne sweet tea. Small cubed ice. (Think Sonic Ice). They serve dishes like chicken fried chicken and chicken fried steak. They are covered with white Texas country gravy (peppered) and the customer is given a choice of two sides. My hubby chose Mac and cheese and green beans, while I went for the fried okra and mashed taters.

Hubby loved the chicken fried chicken. The batter is a Texas flour favorite. Very simple but done to perfection. He said it was cooked just right. Not too rubbery, and not dripping with soggy and mess.

My chicken fried steak was done right. Pure Texas old country style. The steak is pounded flat then battered and fried. It was done exactly as it should be.

The only downside to this place is the bathrooms as they are a little gross, and I wasn’t a fan of the tablecloths. This is old school country Texas eating, so don’t expect black tie. It is cowboy boots and jeans. Lol. Maybe a Budweiser too. In total we spent around $60 for dinner for three adults with tax and tip included.

You are going to see a picture of the fried pickles and I didn’t really like them. I LOVE pickles, but this mix was tasting overly salty and bitter to me. I think next time I would get the fried onions. We caught a few of those in the pickle basket and those were yummy. I think the pickles they are using are not the best. I am looking at you, Best Maid. Maybe if they change their pickles I would try it again. I didn’t take off any stars because it didn’t really change my experience. It was still fun, unique and I loved the home cooking. Their sweet tea brought me back to old school family reunion days from times long gone. I would five out of five...

I REALLY wanted to like this place. It’s downtown Denton, nice view of the courthouse and courtyard with huge windows. What’s not to love? Well, that about sums it up.

Nice decor, rustic, laid back. Very “Dentonesc”. But that’s it.

As soon as you walk in the tables are basically on top of you, where nobody is there to greet you and you just have to weed through them to seat yourself.

We were handed our menus and drink orders taken and then our waitress disappears. I guess maybe she thought we needed an abnormal amount of time to read the menu.

Ordered a burger, soup salad combo and, of course, the “crown jewel”, a chicken fried steak.

Maybe 6 tables in the whole place at 6:30 for dinner. I’m about to tell you why.

The sandwiches were good. Chicken salad and turkey club. Two great staples and that might be all they are standing on.

Burger meat so thin and bland. Bun was falling apart so you tell it had seen fresher days.

Well let’s get to the good part… Well, maybe the “not good” part. The chicken fried steak. YIKES. No flavor whatsoever. No seasoning, the steak was tough and the breading; I could barely cut it with a steak knife it was so rubbery. Ordered mashed potatoes and Mac and cheese. The Mac and cheese is usually the disappointment but that turns out to be the only edible thing on the plate. The mashed potatoes were typical, just add water” and of course, there never enough added, I actually had a 1/4 stick of butter that my potatoes were sitting on top of, cool idea if the potatoes were actually hot.

Then they change over $3 for a soda. Wow. That’s a bit much but I could see why. Before I took even three drinks of my Dr Pepper, the waitress had already brought me a new one.

This one hurt my heart because I could see this place with such potential not being in business in...