1836 Texas Kitchen — Restaurant in Tyler

Ate here for the first time for my sisters birthday, and was thoroughly unimpressed. The crawfish queso was the best part of the meal and the only reason im not giving a 1 star.

I intially wanted a burger but my wife was ordering one so instead i ordered chicken and waffles and was just going to try her burger.

The chicken itself wasnt terrible nor the waffle, but the “bacon gravy” if you can actually claim thats what it is lacked any flavor of bacon or gravy. It was even worse texturally as it resembled just reheated bacon grease with no milk gravy mixed with it at all.

But before i get into the headache we went through with my wifes food, when we were seated we were not given any silverware my dad was sitting staring at his food waiting for a server to walk back by so we could finally ask for some. The table was falling apart and the slightest touch would make the table tip so we had to use all the napkins we were provided with (which by the way took just as long to get as the silverware) and balance it ourselves. And worst of all i didnt even notice till the end of our meal that my cup was never properly washed as the outside had some kind of crusty material stuck to it, i asked for a refill hoping to get a new cup with it just for her to return with the same cup refilled not cleaned.

Now for the most annoying part of our whole meal, my wifes food. She ordered the lonestar burger with pimento cheese on the side, no where on the menu does it specify how the burger is cooked, so she assumed like most placed medium well-well done. She ate her fries first because our son was being fussy and after she finished her fries i cut her burger in half for her to make it easier to eat while holding him when she cut it open it was rare/medium rare. So we asked our waitress to have the patty redone to well done for her. Waitress came back about 5 minutes later with her corrected burger set down the plate and ran to another table, Before we noticed they gave her the wrong burger. This burger had pimento cheese on it with no onion rings and no fried green tomatoes. Finally we waved down the waitress again to let her know her burger was wrong. After waiting another 5 minutes her burger comes out, correct this time, but by this point we have all finished eating our “meals” if you could call them that. So we just put it in a box and took it to go.

Terrible first impression, will not...

Okay, I love good food. I appreciate good "looking" food. What I REALLY love is when the picture matches the taste. I was disappointed. I purchased the cast iron enchiladas with chicken and egg in top (picture #1). I hate to say it, but my son and I both chose this plate and were sorely dissatisfied. No taste. Not the chicken, not the sauce (which I still have yet to identify). Even the egg had no taste and was overcooked (see the brown edges? The yoke was nearly cooked when it seems it should have been runny).

My wife enjoyed the beef tacos (picture #2).

My son's girlfriend had the Lonestar Burger (picture #3), with homemade pimento cheese (which I am NOT a fan of, but really DID like theirs - a redeeming quality).

The service was very slow for the amount of people, a little disturbing, but we were not in a hurry.

Appetizer (sorry, no picture, I was in a hurry to eat - was the "fried green tomatoes" VERY good! Well flavored with the pimento cheese on top. They come (6) six to a plate, so plan accordingly.

Last redeeming quality - the chips and salsa were very good. Just could have been a little more forthcoming with both. The rice and beans were "okay."

Summary: I like full-flavored food. Because both my son and I were dissatisfied (and he is far more flexible than I am), and, because the service was slow, chips were meager, and service was not the best, I only give them a three (3).

I have never been there before and have heard good things from others (literally while sitting there, friends were on the phone telling us what to buy - but their recommendations were not on the menu), all that to say, I will give them another chance.

Nice environment. Oh - if you don't like semi-sharing male/female...

Although 1836 Texas Kitchen has been in town for a while, my wife and I finally decided to give it a try today for lunch around 1 PM. The atmosphere was relaxed with light foot traffic, making for a comfortable dining experience.

We wanted to start our meal off right and went with the crawfish queso as an appetizer. Honestly, it may have been the star of the meal! The queso was amazing and set the tone for what was to come.

Our server (I wish I could remember his name!) was excellent and made solid recommendations. He suggested the Cast Iron Enchiladas, Dobbs Steak Fries with Chimichurri, and any of their tacos. Though we didn’t try the tacos this time, we decided to split the other two dishes to get a full experience.

The Cast Iron Enchiladas were like a chicken lasagna enchilada, topped with a sunny-side-up egg, served with rice and beans. While I wasn’t a huge fan of the dish after the egg was gone, my wife really enjoyed it, describing it as flavorful and unique.

Next, we tried the Dobbs Steak Fries. This dish featured house-marinated skirt steak grilled to perfection, served with fries, chimichurri, and queso. My wife found the steak a bit too smoky, bordering on burnt, but really loved the fries and chimichurri combo. Personally, I enjoyed the smoky flavor of the steak, and the whole dish left me stuffed and satisfied. Even as a big eater, I couldn’t finish it all!

Overall, 1836 Texas Kitchen delivered a solid meal with great service. We’ll definitely be back, and next time, we’ll be sure to...