Goodson's Cafe — Restaurant in Tomball

Edit: Update - on 01/17/24 we gave them a second chance, and yep, it was just as bad and even worse.. there were living insects crawling in my wife's salad. See photo. We threw out all of our food, nobody ate anything, and went somewhere else to eat that evening.

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Original review: Lived in Tomball my entire life. Have visited Goodson's many times over the last couple decades. Last night might have been the last time we visit. Something has changed, maybe the management? Or the cooks.. one of the other. To start, we were sat at a tiny, wobbly table, as a party of 3 and barely had room for all 3 of our drinks plus an appetizer even though there were 2 open booths right next to us. 5 minutes later a couple of two were sat at the larger booth. Why not sit the larger party at the larger table? We ordered drinks, and it took nearly 10 minutes to get them. The host and wait staff did not bring us utensils, so we had to walk to the front to get our own. We ordered Fried Mushrooms to start, and the serving was about half what it usually was. Portion was definitely smaller. As far as flavor, these fried mushrooms were the best part of our visit. We ordered the Chicken Fried Steak, a Ribeye steak, and a mac n cheese burger. When our food was delivered, she sat down a bowl of Gravy and mentioned they were out of rolls. This would have been nice to know before ordering the meal as it is one reason I order the Chicken Fried Steak. The Chicken Fried Steak has been one of my favorites for many many years and is usually the only thing I ever order at Goodson's. The meal last night was bland, had no flavor, as if it was just meat and breading, and nothing else. No seasoning, no spice, nothing at all. Just plain. I usually use the rolls to make a chicken fried steak sandwich. Shame they were out of rolls and did not mention it. The ribeye had no flavor either, was rubbery, and semi-cold. The person who ordered that could not finish it as it was just not enjoyable. The shrimp that came with the ribeye were cold even though they were supposed to be sautéed fresh off the grill. The Mac n Cheese Burger that my son had was pretty large and might have been the only thing made decently. The waitress only came back once while we were eating to ask us if we wanted a refill on our drinks, did not inquire about our meal, or anything else. Usually they come back to ask how the food is, and if we are enjoying it. She seemed to be pre-occupied, talking to other staff or sitting at a table with another diner. Overall, the experience was disappointing, and not like the Goodson's we have known for many many years. We paid $70 after tip, and it was definitely not a...

The service early on a Friday evening was quick and friendly, with no delay in seating or serving. Kylie was our server; the drinks and food came very rapidly, my beer was served cold in the bottle, and coffee was also served immediately. I was surprised at how quickly the food was served, but disappointed in the quality. I had the ribeye, mentioned on the specials board in the waiting area. I asked for two carbs, mac ‘n’ cheese and a loaded baked potato. The mac tasted very premade, with none of the qualities of homemade. No brown cheesy crust, no baked-together goodness, just yellow cheese sauce on small pasta. The baked potato was fine, but not very hot. The bacon bits tasted and looked like they came from a packet, not like anyone was frying actual meat. The ribeye was thin and stringy, with a lot of fat and tough fibers, but they did cook it close to medium rare, which is quite a task with such a thin cut. The gravy and rolls in a basket also appeared to be just something shipped in and heated, maybe canned gravy? My companion had the meatloaf, which she said tasted like it had spaghetti sauce on top. The beans looked canned as well, and there was a scoop of ordinary mashed potatoes. We ordered banana pudding to go, but I’d pass next time. It seems to be mostly whipped cream and not really the creamy thick dish with bananas and wafers I was hoping for. On the whole, all seemed very old-fashioned and plain, with none of the local color and style we’d hoped for. Maybe it’s a good place to take the grandparents; we did see a large percentage of older folks who seemed happy with their choice. The religious bent to the decor was echoed in the wishes for a ‘blessed day’ we were offered by...

My first visit to Goodson's. One of my mother in law's favorite places, so she brought us to try it out. The overall service was spot on; a warm greeting when we came through the door, and super friendly warrior staff. Food was great!!! (With the tiniest exception for the beans they called charro beans; they tasted exactly like ranch style beans. I mentioned it, and the waitress kindly brought me a replacement.) Hubz tried the Roast Beef Potato, which he said was delicious, and mother in law had her usual, Chicken Fried Chicken. It almost covered the whole plate! 😃😃 As for me, I had to try that Chicken Fried Steak, even though I really wanted the Shrimp Alfredo 😉😊😉 I live in the town called Crockett, and almost every cafe in the surrounding area has a chicken fried steak, and I've tried them all 😉 This is indeed a good chicken fried steak, won't deny that at all, but not the best in Texas, HeeHee! 😚 Reminded me of Elf congratulating the coffee shop for having The Best Cup of Coffee in the World!! 😁😁😁😉😉🤭🤭🥰 One day, you'll have to go try the chicken fried steaks at Cattleman's Country Cafe and The Chuck Wagon Grill in Crockett. Those are Damn Good!! 😄😄 And these Yeast Rolls, OMG, so delicious! Could only eat half of one cuz they were massive and pretty dense, but nonetheless very tasty. Here are the photos of everything we tried. Plus we took home a Chocolate Meringue Pie, (yes, the whole pie!), and that my friends, was the best part!! Yummity Yum Yum!!So much like my grandmother's and totally took me back to childhood, so Thank you for that!! I'll be back to try that Shrimp Alfredo and Chicken Parmesan 😊😊😊 Thank you for an awesome 1st...