Goodsens was going to be my choice. I once made the mistake of ordering the "large" size. Between that and the huge rolls they serve I think I almost died. Left half my mashed potatoes and passed on dessert (banana pudding... yum!). Trust me, the small is plenty big enough. Mel's Country Cafe in Tomball is also good but kinda overrated locally, so there is a wait that to be honest, I'd rather just have Goodsen's and no wait. Wunsche Brothers in Spring used to be as good... keep hearing it will reopen. Used to get the CFS and beer bread there. Heck, we used to go there just to take out the bread. Used to like the Wrangler's CFS in Navasota but it turned into a Mexican restaurant.
I never tried there CFS but that reminds me Cowtown is supposed to be good as well. What brings you to Navasota?
I live outside of Montgomery... used to ride with a bunch of people that knew just about every small restaurant in the area. Used to hit it for dinner on occasion when riding back from Austin and took the family there one time before going to Santa's Wonderland near College Station. When my daughter used to live in Austin we'd pass through Navasota often too. My wife's into antiques so went to Navasota a few weeks ago. Typical Texas town.
As I've gotten older, I've learned my lesson in that I have to control the cfs/gravy ratio or else I'm gonna have a serious case of bubble guts.
Yes!! Goodsens in Tomball. I think there was also place called the View or something similar but Tomball had 2 places known for the CFS and then they had the Rib Tickler for BBQ. The Cracker Barrell at one time had good CFS, but last time I tried it was 60/40 ration of meat and breading. It's so disappointing to cut into empty breading.
Goodson's is not what it used to be (WAY back in the day), but is still a solid Chicken Fried Steak. I'd say its as good as it was 10 years ago. I actually prefer their Chicken Fried Chicken better, myself. If you're in College Station, drive out to Snook: Sodolak's Original Country Inn From their Facebook: SODOLAK’S will be open on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday’s from 11:00 am- 6:00 pm starting April 16th for CURBSIDE orders only. We will be serving everything except T-bones. Please give us a call at 979-272-6002. We appreciate your business.
I was on a trip back from somewhere and while in Arkansas went to a Cracker Barrel out of ignorance of my surroundings because I was starving and because people told me I should try it one day. I'm not usually a fan of those places, but decided to try it for the first time. It tasted surprisingly good, but I also encountered the "surprise! meat!" situation you mention. lol. I don't know if it was because I was starving or not, but like I said, it tasted pretty good. You won't encounter that at Mary's in Strawn, though : Spoiler
The garnish on that Chicken Fried Steak makes me only hope their is mash potatoes underneath and I think I spot a second piece of Texas Toast. Yum! where's the gravy?
He only has 2 hands, man. I can't remember, but I believe the gravy is on the side by default. Potatoes are separate. The lady below chose fries.... booo.... Spoiler
No, I don't work for them... I just love small town restaurants. I wasn't a fan of their potatoes from what I recall, but this was years ago :
As either one of my late grandmothers would have said, oh my lord! I can almost taste that chicken fried steak. Mary knows how to cook it. Both my grandmothers had diners during the 1920's and into the 1930's and would have laughed if someone suggested deep frying a chicken fried steak. Granny on my Dad's side had a diner by the ship channel and made a killing, at least as much as you could back then, serving up breakfast and lunch. She made the best smothered steak I've ever had. You could cut it with a fork. My grandparents on Mom's side of the family had a diner a block from the Ford Plant in Houston on Harrisburg. They were doing great business there until the plant closed in 1932 because of the Depression. There's a photo of my mother when she was about 5 years old standing on the counter, both my grandparents wearing aprons and Grandpa with a big grin on his face. The menu is on the wall behind them. Wish I had it handy. Maybe I'll find it and post what was on it sometime in the future. When this damn Plague ends, I'm going to make a road trip to Mary's. I can make it part of seeing my kid in Dallas. Damn, I'm hungry.
Here is the real question....brown gravy or cream gravy? For my entire life I thought cream. The older I get I go cream for CFC and brown for CFS if available. All comes down to my mood. I like both.
As I've gotten older, I've come to the conclusion that "if it tastes good, it tastes good". I prefer country/white gravy over the brown stuff usually, though. There are people that say "country/white gravy only goes on chicken fried steak" and "brown gravy only goes on country fried steak". There's also the pan-fried vs. the deep-fried steak. Like I said, I'll eat both if they taste good.
As someone who grew up in Magnolia, and has family in that general area, I'm digging the NW Houston references. I've got family in Magnolia, Montgomery, Tomball, and Navasota. My brother used to play baseball with the son of people who used to own Goodson's, been to Mel's many a time. By the way, Ted Johnson's (former Patriot and local radio host) parents used to own Rib Tickler.
some places will hide their undersized patty with a huge breading, you probably know what i'm talking about. You cut into a few bites but dont see any meat under the breading until you get to the center of the CFS.... drive me nuts. That's how these stingy places make their profit.
