Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
One word sums up the fare available in the park: casual. You can wear shorts and sneakers to the one park restaurant, which has American-style fare. North of the park, Alpine and Marfa have the biggest selection, while Terlingua, just outside the west park entrance, has a few eateries.
When the sun sets, this intimate, fireplace-warmed indoor-outdoor restaurant is the best place to eat and socialize in Marathon. The innovative menu, featuring fresh produce from the Gage Hotel Garden across the railroad tracks, changes with the season but maintains a Southwestern flair. Entrées sizzle with prime steaks, cornmeal-fried-oyster nachos, and stuffed Texas quail. After dinner you can belly up to the bar at the White Buffalo, where people-watching is always a kick.
A favorite of many West Texans spending the day in Alpine, Reata ("rope" in Spanish) feels both welcoming and upscale, with big, wooden tables and a pleasant rancher/cowboy vibe. It's a "howdy"-type place with prompt, down-home service and a menu that emphasizes creative Southwestern and Tex-Mex fare, such as tortilla soup, calf fries with cream gravy, and beef tamales with pecan mash, plus generously portioned steaks from a legendary ranch in the nearby Davis Mountains. There's a long, fabulous dessert list.
The star attraction here, whether you dine inside or on the gracious patio, is the signature view through three walls of windows that bring the craggy Chisos Mountains to your table. They serve decent, tried-and-true American food, with a few Mexican specialties; the staff is friendly and efficient. The huevos rancheros are among the better morning options, while at lunch and dinner, you'll do well with the black-bean or beef burgers, chicken-fried steak, or mango-spinach salad. Each table has an informational booklet about the Big Bend region. Arrive around sunset to catch the fading rust-color rays through the Window rock formation at the opposite end of the basin.
For some of the tastiest breakfast fare close to the park, try this funky down-home spot in Terlingua ghost town, which makes everything from scratch, including the flour tortillas used for hearty breakfast burritos. The coffee is the best in town, and the desserts are homemade. At lunch, consider the house-made meat loaf sandwich.
Set in a sleekly industrial warehouse-style building on the east edge of downtown Marfa, Pizza Foundation appeals to families with its casual atmosphere and the quality thin-crust pizza the native Rhode Island owners turn out. They close for the evening when they run out of pizza, so you call ahead before you go.
This convivial restaurant-saloon with live-music is ground zero for all the ghosts and other characters of Terlingua. The menu includes plenty of local flavor, such as Terlingua chili and chicken-fried wild boar with Terlingua gold beer gravy. The Starlight is next door to the Terlingua Trading Post, where locals, some of whom look like prospectors from the Old West, sit on the shaded porch, tell stories, drink beer, and play one of the house guitars lying around.
Please try a broader search, or expore these popular suggestions:
There are no results for {{ strDestName}} Restaurants in the searched map area with the above filters. Please try a different area on the map, or broaden your search with these popular suggestions:
Sign up for Travel Tips & News
Thank you for your interest!
