4 Best Restaurants in West Texas and the Panhandle, Texas

Reviews Updated by

Andrew Collins

Due to a mix of geographic isolation and Hispanic heritage, the food is a redolent, sumptuous mix of north Mexican cooking and Southern home cooking, giving area dishes a very rich, heavy and spicy character. Sometimes the menus are in Spanish.

Tex-Mex, Mexican, and Southern cooking are what this region does best. In general, steer away from East Asian; stick with items like country-fried steaks, barbecue, and Mexican dishes like burritos, asado (a tangy dish, often pork, cooked in oil and ground-up chiles), chiles rellenos (raw green chiles that are stuffed with meat, cheeses, and spices and then baked; can be hot or mild), and barbacoa (slow-cooked beef seasoned with tangy marinade). (Note that some barbacoa is actually from the head of the cow [called barbacoa de cabeza].)

Aster Marfa

$ Fodor's Choice

The hearty fare, potent coffee, and fresh-squeezed juices served in this small patio café across from the Presidio County Courthouse will help you fuel up for a day of hiking or art-touring. Good bets include the Bernese rösti potato pancakes with ham, Gruyère, and eggs, while the vegan Swiss Müsli with coconut yogurt is a bit on the lighter side. There are also house-made bagels and an array of decadent baked pastries and sweets.

The Bean Cafe

This homey, modest roadside café is a good bet for sustenance before visiting Big Bend Ranch State Park. Open daily for breakfast and lunch, the Bean serves up hearty stick-to-your-ribs fare, such as machaca (spicy dried beef) omelets, Reuben sandwiches, and salads topped with crispy-fried chicken.

LaVenture

$$$

The urbane restaurant just off the lobby at Marfa's design-driven Hotel Saint George wouldn't feel out of place in Austin or Brooklyn, its softly illuminated brick walls hung with bold contemporary local art. The seasonal, market-inspired cuisine, from lighter wood-fired pizzas and cheese-charcuterie boards to more substantial plates of grass-fed bone-in rib eye and pappardelle pasta with garlic-fennel sausage, is accompanied by a well-curated wine list and first-rate cocktails. Earlier in the day, drop in for Belgian waffles, Cuban sandwiches, and other tasty breakfast and lunch fare. A few feet away, Bar Saint George offers a simpler menu and serves food and drinks later into the evening.

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Starlight Theatre

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.

West Texas and the Panhandle

West Texas and the Panhandle

Reviews Updated by

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