In A City Of Less Than 600 This Texas Cafe Is Serving Legendary Chicken-Fried Steak

Mary's Cafe has been serving customers in the small town of Strawn, Texas, since 1986. Inside the cafe's kitchen, owner Mary Tretter stands before a flattop grill, holding a ladle of melted butter and a metal spatula. Strawn sits north of Interstate 20, between Fort Worth and Abilene, and is home to 540 residents. At Mary's Cafe, Tretter is in the kitchen every day, cooking the homestyle food that keeps hungry folks returning. The cafe's most popular dish is a hearty portion of tender, chicken-fried steak drenched in country gravy. The steak is a local legend, praised for its portion size, flavor, and crunch. Mary's Cafe may have small-town surroundings, but it has been called one of the best hole-in-the-wall restaurants in Texas. 

The chicken fried superstar is a ¾-pound spread of tenderized cubed steak. You can order smaller portion sizes, like the medium CFS, which is a more modest ½-pound of breaded beef cutlet. The components of Tretter's spice blend and breading are well-guarded, but those secrets are consistently browned to perfection and adorned in melted butter. Tretter told the Texas Country Reporter that she always serves the steak on its own plate with nothing covering it so customers "can see what they are getting." It might also be because nothing else will fit. Creamy gravy is served on the side, leaving the option to dip, dunk, or smother up to the diners. 

If the chicken-fried steak at Mary's Cafe isn't what's calling, perhaps a two-pound cheeseburger is more your style. Yes, 2 pounds of ground beef make up the patty, which is dressed with burger toppings that fans can't live without: cheese, onion, lettuce, and tomato. Patrons who aren't in the mood for beef at all may gravitate toward another one of the eatery's classic Texan plates. Mary's enchiladas come with a choice of cheese, chicken, or beef, and are served with rice and beans.

Mary Tretter might be keeping her chicken-fried seasoning recipe under wraps, but you can emulate her famous dish by implementing the basics of a good chicken fry. Start by pounding cube steak cutlets until they are about ½ an inch thick. Dredge the tenderized cuts in seasoned flour, followed by buttermilk batter, then coat them in flour again. For the style of crust served at Mary's Cafe, using a flattop grill is key, but a griddle or flat-bottom frying pan works, too. Heat up just enough oil to get a sizzle on the edges of the steak, but not so much that you deep fry it, if using a pan. No chicken-fried plate at Mary's Cafe is complete without a side of Tretter's gravy, so don't forget to whip up some creamy country white gravy for your homemade version of Strawn's signature steak.