Best Chicken Fried Steak

About 30 minutes south of Houston, right off I-45, is the small, coastal town of Kemah, part of the grouping of towns called Bay Area Houston.  Kemah is known for its bustling boardwalk, nestled along Clear Creek Channel which opens up into Galveston Bay.  The area is a charming Gulf Coast destination that gets millions of visitors each year.

Back in earlier days, Kemah used to be a rustic shrimping port on Galveston Bay where you could buy some fresh shrimp and a beer and sit by the dock on an afternoon to watch the boats come in.  During the 90s, a developer built the boardwalk and brought in amusement rides, restaurants, shops and carnival games and turned it into a tourist attraction.  I do have to admit, it is somewhat "touristy", but to me, that's not a bad thing.  On a recent sunny day in early February, I was one of those tourists enjoying a stroll along the Kemah Boardwalk.

The Kemah boardwalk is essentially an amusement park featuring some great rides, such as The Boardwalk Bullet, a 96' wooden roller coaster.  It reaches speeds of 51 mph and gets so close to the water's edge, it feels like it will fling you into the bay! You'll also find midway games, theme shops and souvenir stores.  There are plenty of restaurants along the boardwalk, and most have seats overlooking the water.  All of the restaurants are good and of course, they all offer plenty of seafood dishes.  You won't get a fresher catch anywhere else.  In addition to the rides and midway games, there are often events or festivals going on at the Boardwalk.  Check the Kemah Boardwalk website for up-to-date information.

I started my afternoon in Kemah with lunch at the Aquarium Restaurant.  This restaurant offers many attractions beyond its good food - they feature a 50,000-gallon, floor-to-ceiling aquarium housing more than 100 species of tropical fish and sharks, and Stingray Reef, where you can touch and feed live stingrays. They've also added a Rainforest themed exhibit with piranhas, snakes, scorpions, tarantulas.  Under the blue glow of the huge aquarium, I enjoyed a New Orleans Po-Boy with shrimp which was really fresh and tasty.   If you don't feel like a sit-down lunch, another great option is to check out the food vendors along the boardwalk.  You'll find the expected carnival type fare along with some unique items worth trying.  Just "graze" your way through and sample a few items from different carts.

After lunch, I thought about going on the Bullet, but decided that wasn't best done right after a big meal, so instead, I meandered along the boardwalk, enjoying the relaxing sight of boats floating slowly by.  I checked out some of the shops, which are what you'd typically expect to find in a touristy area - souvenirs, Kemah T-shirts, beach wear.

There's no entry fee for the boardwalk, but the rides cost $4-5 each.  If you think you will be going on several rides, your best bet is to get an all-day pass.  The cost is $20, but with a little pre-planning, you can sometimes get discount coupons.  In fact, right now in February, there's a Wintertime Blues promotion on the Kemah Boardwalk website which offers an all-day pass at $5 when you buy one at regular price. During other times of the year, check the Houston Chronicle for discounts coupons or search online.

Still in the neighborhood at dinner time?  You can certainly try one of the other many restaurants along the boardwalk, but what I'd recommend is walking a few blocks over to Highway 146 and eating at T-Bone Tom's, a down-home, family style restaurant where the food is really good and really plentiful.  You can get seafood here, but when a place has "T-Bone" in the title, your best bet is usually the meat and that's for sure true here.  I started with an appetizer of "Armadillo Eggs", which aren’t eggs and they're not from armadillos, either. These are large jalapeños, stuffed with brisket and deep fried.  Served with a creamy dipping sauce, they are really fantastic.  I could have made a whole dinner of these, but I also had to try their ribeye steak.  This was 14 ounces of choice, tender beef, bathed in some sort of magic marinade with a pineapple tang to it.  It was truly a memorable dinner. (we covered T-Bone Tom's a few years back during our quest for the best chicken-fried steak.  Read about it here.)

Overall, Kemah is the perfect family getaway. It's a paradise for children and a romantic date for couples.  There’s lots to do during the cooler months and it’s a great destination during the warm months when the water activities and refreshing Gulf breezes keep you cool.  Make a day of it!

>> more travel information about Kemah 

It’s a new year, a leap year. A whole new 366 days to explore the adventure to be found on Texas back roads, on Main Street, and in the heart of Texans who make this the greatest state in the Union.

On my calendar for this year are blogging and photo trips to new craft breweries such as the Karbach Brewing Company in Houston, and established wineries from Bernhardt in Plantersville to the Fairhaven Vineyards in Hawkins.

Minor League baseball will be played for the first time in Sugar Land when the Skeeters take to the diamond at Constellation Field this spring. I plan to be there to cover the action. 

I’ll be heading over to Grand Saline to check out the reptilian action at the East Texas Gators & Wildlife Park, paying my respects at painted churches, and continuing the search for the best catfish kitchen in the state. So much to see, so much report . . .

In 2011 Texas highways led me to some mighty fine food, new friends, little known historical spots, and quirky attractions. Quality time spent with retired railroad man Bobby Jack Middleton in Hearne and Frank the hobo in Tomball was unexpected. The thick chocolate malt that I found at The Diner in Corsicana brought back childhood memories, while hearing first person accounts of the ghosts of Galveston, San Antonio and on The Lex in Corpus Christi was chilling.    

Coming face-to-face with “Old Sparky”, the infamous electric chair at Huntsville’s Texas Prison Museum, was thoughtful provoking, and visiting the graves of men who fought for the Texas military during the American Civil War was humbling.

I loved touring the Tee Pee Motel in Wharton with its rows of cone-shaped lodges, a throwback to the day when the family summer vacation was made in a station wagon and Route 66 was more than just a tune on the AM radio.

Sampling Dr Pepper made from the original sugar laced recipe in Dublin was sweet . . . pun intended. The Sterling McCall Cadillac Museum in Warrenton was a nice surprise and exploring the historic Fulton Mansion near Rockport was really cool for a fan of architectural design.

Then there were the churches, big and small. The stained glass at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Round Top was “heavenly”, and the tiny Saint Martin’s Catholic Church on Highway 237 was so . . . small.

The mom-and-pop restaurants that I visited in 2011 were no less than awesome. The T-bone steak at San Antonio’s Josephine Street Café easily went head-to-head with the fried shrimp at the Laguna Reef in Flour Bluff. Barbecue at Holders in Dobbin was just as good as the original “pig sandwich” at the Pig Stand on Broadway in the Alamo City. And, the burger at the Chicken Oil Company in Bryan is still at the top of my list . . . well, at least for now.

My Texas getaways were seriously good in 2011. Maybe this year you’ll hit the road to create your own Lone Star adventures and meet a character or two.  I certainly plan to keep on pick-up truckin’ across the state on my own as a Texas trekker. It’s just too much fun not to!

Listen . . . the open road is calling. Can you hear it?  

Just north of Houston is the community of Spring. Once a thriving hub of railroad traffic, Spring played host to those who rode the rails as well as those who laid them.

Today the little village is known as Old Town Spring and its oak lined streets are laced with quaint shops, tea rooms and themed venues featuring the best in live Texas style music.

After more than 100 years, Wunsche Bros. Cafe & Saloon, one of my favorite eateries in southeast Texas, still sits along side the railroad tracks in Spring serving up chicken fried steak, juicy burgers, sauerkraut balls and the coldest beer around. But the beer isn't the only reason that Wunsche Bros. is known as the most "spirited" spot in town. It has more to do with the resident ghost that wanders the hard wood floors late at night after the music done and the two-steppers have headed home.

Charlie, the resident specter of Wunsche Bros., is thought to be the ghost of Charlie Wunsche, son of the town's founder. Along with his brothers Dell and Willie, Charlie built the two story Wunsche Bros. Hotel & Saloon in 1902 and apparently upon his death decided to never check out.

Whenever remodeling or construction is being done on the old landmark you can count on Charlie making his presence known. Coffee machines will start and stop on their own, nozzles for the soft drink dispensers will mysteriously disappear only to reappear weeks later, unlocked doors will not open as if being held by someone on the other side, chairs rattle and move about, and strange shadows move along the old hallway upstairs. "Without a doubt, it definitely gets weird around here sometimes," Roxanne joked.

No sooner had she spoken than a chilling wind swept around her and the man seated at the table vanished before her eyes.

Roxanne thinks that she may have seen Charlie herself one night after closing. "Our whole staff believes that Charlie watches out for us," she said. "I had locked up late one night and was walking to my car parked in the dark behind the cafe, when I had this strong urge to look back over my shoulder at the building. That's something that I never do. But, when I looked up at where the liquor room used to be on the second floor I saw a shadowy figure of a man staring out the window at me." Though not frightening the event was unnerving Roxanne said.

All of Wunsche Bros.' staff have a special respect for Charlie. After all he did build the place more than 100 years ago, and they certainly don't want to offend him.

"Charlie is friendly. He watches over us and that's just how we want to keep it," Roxanne said with a grin.








Michael Baxter is the Texas Travelin' Man

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• Small (Plowman): $8.29 (5 ounces)
• Medium (Hired Hand): $9.99 (8 ounces)
• Large (Rancher, The Saddle Blanket): $11.49 (10 ounces)
• They all come with:  2 sides and a visit to the salad bar
• Poboy: $5.79 (2 ½ ounces)
• Kids portion (fries, drink and a sweet treat): $4.29 (2 ½ ounces)
• Note: They also have the Chicken Fried Stek as past of their combo plates (5 ounces)

I’m still searching for Texas’ best Chicken Fried Steak and I reached out to the Strack Farm Restaurant in hopes I would find an udderly great one. It didn’t happen.

Here are the Ingredients

The restaurant had the perfect look, the perfect price, but when it showed up it had the wrong look.

As you can see by the picture, it had practically no breading on it. It looked like it was dusted in flower and deep fried. You have two options at Strack. Large portion for $9.49 or the lunch portion (which is what I had and is ½ the size) for $6.49. They use a round steak that is so thin that it has no bite and is dry.

It comes with French fries or mashed potatoes, the vegetable of the day and Texas toast. I had the mashed potatoes which were excellent and the corn which was ok. The so called Texas toast was more like Oklahoma toast. Not as big as Texas toast should be. The gravy was thick but had no taste.

Who is that mapped man? It's the Texas Travelin' Man.

The staff each had their own idea of what the Chicken Fried Steak consisted of. The waitress said the small was 6 oz and they use round beef. The hostess said the small was 8 oz and the large was 10 oz, and they use top round. Either way it just doesn’t work.

Here’s the details. The meat was dry and a little chewy. No gristle.  The batter was very flaky,  crisp and lightly seasoned. It was so flaky, it didn’t hold onto the steak. There was no grease on the bottom. The big bowl of thick white gravy was good, but just not seasoned enough. The mashed potatoes were the worst I’ve had to date; little seasoning, dry and lumpy. The green beans were just okay. They were way overcooked, but most of the green beans I’ve had were overcooked.

The small Chicken Fried Steak is $8.49 and the large is $9.79. It comes with 2 sides.  They also have a CFS sandwich @ $6.99

Attention Tomball Residents: If you want a great Chicken Fried Steak, go to Mel’s in Tomball. It’s twice as good.

Who is that mapped man? It's the Texas Travelin' Man.


 

This is the classic looking place where you would expect to find a great Chicken Fried Steak. What’s even more special about T Bone Tom’s is you will find a mixed bag of wonderful menu items. They have seafood, BBQ and unique appetizers that will have you coming back for more.

One of their own creations is the Armadillo eggs. These are big pickled jalapeno peppers that are stuffed with their homemade brisket and their homemade bbq sauce covered in a seasoned flour coating and deep fried. You get 4 to an order with a side of ranch dressing. They also make their own polish style smoked sausage  and serve it sliced with their bbq sauce.

Now,  the reason for my visit. Their Chicken Fried Steak. They have 4 options to choose from. The Chicken Fried Steak sandwich with steak fries for $6.99 (they say it’s the best in the world), a small Chicken Fried Steak with a choice of 2 sides for $9.99 (Monday is the special of the day for $7.49),  a large Chicken Fried Steak for $13.99 and a kids Chicken Fried Steak fingers with curly fries for $5.49 (I wish someone would serve Moe or Larry fries just once).

 
They use top round steak at T Bone Tom’s and tenderize it to the point of  being fork tender. The portion size is 7 oz which is just perfect. They season the flour, coat the steak a few times then drop it in the hot oil. The result is one of the best Chicken Fried Steaks to date. The crispy coating  was perfectly seasoned and the meat was thin, juicy and tender with no gristle.  I lifted the Chicken Fried Steak to sop up the grease puddle, but there was none.

You have several choices of sides and to keep things consistent I went with mashed potatoes and green beans. Yes, the white gravy was on the side.  The mashed potatoes were excellent. They were a little more seasoned than I would have liked, but there were none left on my plate. The green beans tasted like they were just picked from the garden, and served. The constant with most of the green beans I’ve had with my Chicken Fried Steak is bacon. The bacon here was cooked  properly. The white gravy was perfectly seasoned and it had  great consistency.

As you may have noticed in my other posts, I do like a good smoky brisket and theirs looked and smelled great. I took a pound home with some of their bbq sauce and it didn’t disappoint. Smoky and tender.
 

Who is that mapped man? It's the Texas Travelin' Man.