Any Texas county seat worth its chicken fried steak has one: a cafe on the square serving up Texas comforts like a fine pile of migas, a decent hamburger, or your basic eggs and bacon. Despite its rapid growth, San Marcos fortunately still has such a place called, appropriately enough, “Cafe on the Square” right across the street from the historic Hays County courthouse.
I fell in love with Cafe on the Square when, during my first visit, I was greeted with the three most beautiful words in the English language: Breakfast. All. Day. Since I generally don’t eat a traditional breakfast (and breakfast food is my fave food), having breakfast for lunch or dinner is a treat, so I partake of the Cafe when I have a hankering for a post-breakfast real breakfast.
Cafe on the Square has an unforced quaintishness about it: the furniture is tired, probably from the Flock of Seagulls-era, but the bones of the building are from a hundred years ago with a tall, stamped ceiling and a long-linear footprint with natural light at the end of the tunnel. The Cafe wouldn’t feel out of place in a county seat with a tenth of the population.
The plates at the Cafe are big, the service friendly, and the staples good enough to keep me coming back for more. The migas, the beans, the cheese, and the enchiladas have all been great and just what you’d hope for in a small-town Texas cafe.
Despite its proximity to Texas State University, student attendance, at least for lunch, is slim to none. And that’s sad. There’s history in this food and this place, as well as pride in Texas.
web&where: interwebs; 126 north LBJ drive, san marcos, texas; (512) 396-9999
what’s the deal? Texas cafe; sit down
overall: ** (food**; drink*; atmosphere**; service***; instagrammability**)
cost: $
our scale:
– meh [think twice]
* OK [it’ll get the job done]
** good [solid neighborhood joint]
*** damn good [we’ll definitely be back]
**** yippity-yikes that was amazeballs [fantastic; one of the best]
***** holy sh!t [transcendental; best of the best]
austin wanderlist 