Tin Cup Cafe — Restaurant in Texas

It's not much to look at, and if you aren't paying attention you'll go right past it. Do yourself a favor and turn around, go back and find this place! We were driving through TX on our way to Alabama and had stayed the night in Ft. Stockton. Once we got on the road we started looking for a place to stop for lunch and this was about the only place nearby without backtracking. But the reviews looked good so we decided to give it a shot. We walked in wearing our masks, looking every bit the couple from California. The place was full (it's not really big inside, so full is a relative term) of guys who didn't look like that at all. They were all ranch hands or something similar. They were all wearing their work clothes & boots, while I was wearing shorts and flip-flops! Though in my defense, I was also driving an F-150. It reminded me of the Pace picante sauce commercials from the '90s ("NEW YORK CITY???....... get a rope") Because for a second the place fell silent when we walked in. But the patrons were all regulars and couldn't have been nicer or more fond of the place. The lady who owns the cafe, as well as the motel where it's located, couldn't have been more gracious and friendly (her name has completely escaped me). Her young daughter-in-law was actually the first person we ran into on our way in, and she couldn't have been nicer. The free chips and salsa were excellent. She told us she just gets the chips from Sam's Club and heats them up in some oil, but the salsa is fresh and handmade by her. And it was delicious. The burgers may be the best my wife and I ever ate. Mine was wrapped in a tortilla, just the way I like it, and I added some of the homemade salsa to it. The beef was fresh and full of flavor. The fries were thick and crispy. And the people couldn't have been nicer. If I could give it 6 stars, I would. You won't regret this stop. I don't have any pictures of any of it, unfortunately, so the couple I posted are just a few miles away. The proprietor was nice enough to give us an alternate route back to the freeway that took us over the bridge and through some nice rolling hills. I just thought the weed...

I cannot say enough good things about this friendly helpful owner! If there is only one guardian angel in this world the owner there is it! We were traveling Eastbound on Highway 10 & east of Fort Stockton there's only one gas station for 100 Mi when we passed Fort Stockton and I had roughly 90 mi in range I didn't think it was a big deal because there looked to be 2 populated towns along Highway 10 before we would run out of gas. I was wrong there was only one Chevron gas station about 10 miles west of Sheffield Texas. As we pulled into Sheffield we had about 10 miles left in our tank. We realized that more than half the town was shut down, boarded up and all the gas stations were closed. The owner of Tin Cup Cafe made a couple of phone calls and found a close friend of hers who drove over, pumped 5 gallons of gasoline into our vehicle and didn't expect a thing. I bought him his next four dinners at the Tin Cup and then gave the owner a little bit of money and a small tip for making her phone call. Without her we would have been at the mercy of whatever tow service or road service we might have been able to find on the internet. After their kindness, we easily had enough gas to drive to Ozona for a fill up. I have never met a person for the first time in my life who was so...

This little cafe was such a delight for us on a long road trip from Long Beach, CA to Katy, TX. Cheryl and Madera couldn't have been kinder or more hospitable. 💗

My grilled chicken sandwich with cheese was delicious! 😋 My friend ordered a BLT and tater tots. She said they were yummy, too.

They served seasoned chips and some hot salsa while we waited for our food. 🤤

We had two large, senior dogs traveling with us. Cheryl offered to let us bring them inside. That was such a nice treat, as the dogs were wanting a break from the car. So we brought them in and they hung out under the table while we ate.

Madera's two young boys were hanging out with her while she was hard at work. They were both so darn sweet and well-behaved. They were fascinated with the dogs and super gentle with petting them.

We never would've found The Tin Cup Cafe without GPS, but we were sure glad we did. The food was so good and the service was even better. I HIGHLY recommend making a stop here on your way through...