Cotton Patch Cafe — Restaurant in Texas

Husband and I went to Cotton Patch in Tyler, Texas on July 31, 2023 at approximately 1:40 pm. No one available to seat us… finally someone looked over from the kitchen and said to sit anywhere. Only 4 tables were occupied…. saw at least 7 or 8 employees there. A girl came to our table and said that she was sorry that there was no silverware available because it was ALL in the dishwasher. Then a boy came after 10 minutes to take our drink order… I ordered sweet tea…. He brought me unsweetened tea…. I told him about that and he didn’t offer to replace it and just took our order. ( I just put sugar in my tea) I ordered the chicken fried steak which normally comes with garlic mashed potatoes which I don’t like so I asked if I could have fries instead. He said NO! Corporate does NOT allow that! I tried to say I never heard of that and he again said it’s corporate policy. Ok….fine. My husband order the flounder platter. The boy “ waiter” brings rolls about 10 minutes later.. with butter pats…. I said we don’t have any silverware! He said “ sorry… it’s all in the dishwasher “. ( this is now at least a half hour after we seated ourselves). Do we smeared the butter on the rolls. They bring my husband’s meal out after awhile… still no silverware… so he eats it with his fingers. After ten more minutes they bring my meal and finally silverware!! I immediately see liquid blood surrounding the chicken fried steak on the dish. By now the waiter boy had left our table. I cut into the steak and it’s completely red and raw!! I try to flag down our server but he’s back in the kitchen so two other servers come and ask me what I wanted. I show them the undercooked chicken fried steak. They ask if I want chicken fried chicken instead. I tell them no… I wasn’t going to take a chance on that being undercooked. So I order a cheeseburger well done with UNSEASONED fries. By now, my husband is just sitting there waiting for me to get something to eat. About 2:50 pm they bring me my cheeseburger and SEASONED FRIES!!! And both the burger and fries are barely warm. I brought it to the server’s attention and he said they were backed up in the kitchen… ( by now we were the only ones in the restaurant). I asked for the check and we paid it and left.. Sorry Cotton Patch!!! This was a Huge fail…….. If there was room for a zero star review I would have clicked on that. Totally...

So I've been enjoying Cotton Patch for decades anytime I visited friends near Lufkin/Nacogdoches area and have waited years for them to get into Houston. Still 25 minutes from me but I don't care because it's worth it for me to sneak over there. Drag the Mrs and my friends each time as well.

So here we go I guess. Skillet Cornbread alone is worth the trip as they were slapping each others hands for the last bite, so I just ordered another and solved that dilemma. The Chicken Fried Steak is my go to but I've been forcing myself into trying other items and have been quite happy with that decision.

Yesterday barrage of entrees was the Chicken Fried Steak and Chicken for the others and the Turkey for myself with the mashed potatoes and baked squash. Green beans were shared among us all as two had it and I was the only one that thought ahead and got the squash.

The C.F.S., the Turkey and the Chop are all fantastic and the C.F.C. certainly sounded good based on their noises as they ate. The veggies are strangely my favorite part and I'm a huge carnivore. The skin on mashed potatoes were not usually my thing but they are excellent and reminiscent of The Black Eyed Pea if you were familiar with that old classic.

The green beans are certainly great as they aren't overly limp like so many places serve them. My absolute favorite though is the baked squash, I just love the stuff and devour it. Sometimes I need to order an extra because I ate it all but still have a half an entree left for lunch the following day.

Staff is very attentive and courteous as we have had several different servers and all have been excellent. Wait times very, peak hours are busy expect to wait a few minutes at least for a small table, off peak looks dead at times but still great food and service making me drive over regardless of time of day.

I won't speak to the desserts because I simply never have room these days. The Peach Cobbler was my go to back then.

I sincerely hope they keep expanding so I can have an ever closer location but if not I'll keep happily going to this one a little ways away.

If you haven't yet and you enjoy comfort food just...

After hearing how good the food was and it was a MUST try.. Yes food is great and some great must try items.. This was my third encounter and gave them benifit of the doubt..

To start 2nd visit waiter was MIA, took my glass for tea and after asking multiple times finally brought my refill towards the end of me finishing my meal. I had ordered chicken fried chicken and was missing 2 sides (recieved after meal). Never recieved my salad but was charged for it and questioned because he was sure he brought it (nope he didnt). Had to ask another server and got a bit of hesitation cause we weren't part of her tables. Had to wait on waiter who kept forgetting everything. Left unhappy..

3rd visit, Gave them benifit of doubt cause sometimes it might have been a weird day last time. Seated and asked regular service Q and A. Ordered app of green tomatoes and the ones we received were burned. Sent back and were told they were going to remake, cool. Food finally came and still waiting on refills and tomatoes. Get refills from another waiter and our waiter finally shows up and tells us how busy he is and apologized. Mainly saw him at computer or behind counter just standing or talking. Finally us as well as table next to us complaining, he finally shows up and takes plates. Then proceeds to tell us the green tomatoes will be coming soon...? The first batch too 5 minutes and a remake is taking over 30 minutes? We cancel the tomatoes and ask for funnel fries (also great) and they arrive hot. Missing the marshmallow dip, and we ask about the dip. He told us yea it does come with dip and walks away. By the time he comes back... The funnel fries were cold.. We ask for box and ticket.. The ticket took less than a minute to get of course.. Then realized that we are being charged for green tomatoes that we never got. Manager took of receipt and we explained our experience.. Not looking for a free meal but could you like take off cold fries and m.i.a green tomatoes? Was not happy with service and couple of tables around us weren't either.. I doubt that I will return or suggest this place to anyone.. Sorry but this was just...