7 Must-Try Restaurants in Katy, Texas | Best Katy Restaurants

Wriiten By: Gail Clifford | November 17, 2021

When I lived in Houston for my medical residency training in the 1990s, Katy, Texas was known as a “cow town” west of Houston, best known to me as the location, on the portion of I-10 known as the “Katy Freeway,” for the Taste of Texas, an awesome steak restaurant my husband took me to for every celebration. Today, Katy is part of the bustling megalopolis that is Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States (always battling closely with Chicago).

Today, Katy, with a population just over 20,000 is considered an “old heritage town” and has a highly rated school system. It was only while researching for this article that I learned the heritage or etiology of the name. The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad was created in 1865, part of the Union Pacific Railroad’s mission from President Lincoln to connect the country. The Missouri Pacific Railroad, which ultimately merged with Union Pacific, served the Kansas to Texas route in the 1890s, and was commonly referred to “the K-T,” which quickly became “the Katy.” 

The 7 Best Restaurants in Katy

The Taste of Texas 

10505 Katy Freeway // +17139326901

Must-Try Restaurants in Katy, Texas

   Must-Try Restaurants in Katy, Texas

Lucky for me, The Taste of Texas restaurant is still going strong, now 40 years into existence. I visited just before Halloween and the Christmas decorations were up and parties had already started. Everything is bigger in Texas, after all.

It was so crowded, I was seated at the bar. The only challenge I had the entire visit was people reaching over and around me for drinks. I’d never experienced that before. The bartender and server who came to help him did a marvelous job keeping things running and, if you ever need salt during your visit (pepper is immediately available in a giant shaker to be twisted onto your salad), it’s hidden on a little shelf around the corner on the right side of the bar.

The menu remains a single large sheet, front and back, and you may want to look at the dessert tray first (just sayin’). After perusing the menu, I stuck with my lifelong favorite, their filet mignon with baked potato, to confirm it was still my favorite. You can take the salad bar, but I wasn’t a fan of open salad bars even before the pandemic, so was given the option of the house salad or a Caesar Salad.

I chose house and, because I don’t care for blue cheese dressing, was offered strawberry (which I accepted) or vinaigrette or … the bartender never did get to finish the other options.

While my order was placed, I walked around taking photographs, with permission. While the restaurant has grown, the basis is the same. I think I recognize the booth my husband liked best, up on the right with enough room for the baby seat and coats. They’ve added a butcher shop and store. And a large book that contains a lot of information about the history of the restaurant, its owners, suppliers, workers, and family. With their permission, I get to share some of that story with you now.

The Taste of Texas is a family business. Edd and Nina Hendee have always felt strongly about strengthening the Katy community and preparing employees for their future careers. They’ve built such a large following of loyal customers (like me, and President (HW) and Mrs. Bush) and their team that the Taste of Texas is now one of the largest independent restaurants in the county.

By their count, they serve more Certified Angus Beef© than any other independent restaurant in the world. And that’s without me eating here four or five times a year for the last 25 years! Like many Texans, they attribute their success as part of “God’s enduring faithfulness” and, I think, a great deal of hard work and perseverance on their own part.

I love the story of how they met. When I lived in Houston, the other best places to get steak, if you couldn’t get out to Taste of Texas, were The Stables and Steak & Ale. As best I can tell, neither of those are still in existence. But Edd and Nina were both teenagers when they started working at different Steak & Ales in Texas and met at a Steak & Ale restaurant in Richardson, where Nina, who loves to cook, was the first-ever female server in the company’s history and Edd, who was hired as a dishwasher (talk about a match made in heaven!), had been promoted to a manager, who traveled to locations to improve sales or management systems.

They say it was love at first sight; their first date was to buy potatoes for the Steak & Ale on Mother’s Day, and they got engaged in the parking lot. The restaurant business promotes such joy and love in these two, you can tell it in the cooking.

When their son, Edd K. was just two weeks old, they were transferred to Houston’s restaurant, and worked there until they were offered a transfer to Kansas City. With their deep roots and family in Texas, they ultimately declined, sought out a building in the area, and found the property in Town & Country Village.

They spent several months on the building, which had been damaged in a fire for the fourth restaurant it housed, and opened “on November 19, 1977, with a handful of employees and three customers (all relatives). That year, Jimmy Carter had been inaugurated as president, the first Star Wars movie was released, Microsoft was founded, the price of oil was $14.40 a barrel, a gallon of gas was about 65 cents, and Houston had a population of approximately 1.2 million residents.” What a great year.

While their original menu contained fairly typical Tex-Mex fare of the day, “burgers, chicken fried steaks, flaming drinks, and buckets of longneck beer,” they called the bar the “Lone Star Saloon” and it quickly became the meeting place for the neighborhood. 

Today, the menu contains “Just for Starters,” “steaks, Prime Rib & Lobster,” “Complete Your Meal,” “Side Orders,” “Texas Specialties,” “Salads,” “Soups,” and “Local Favorites.” When I go to a place I love, and have a standard order, as I do here with the petite filet and baked potato, I do like to try a “What else would I order?” game to see if I should try something new. And if I’m on a budget, financial or calorie, I’d have to make adjustments.

Here, the marinated steak skewers, grilled tenderloin medallions (which the lady next to me, celebrating a birthday with her husband, enjoyed tremendously), Texas Pecan Crusted Chicken (which the lady two down from me on the left nearly swooned over), Herb Marinated Grilled Chicken, Grilled Atlantic Salmon, Jumbo Grilled Shrimp, Jalapeno Stuffed Shrimp, or Grilled Vegetable Plate (perfect for my favorite daughter), just didn’t have a chance against my center-cut filet.

I agree with them completely that this Certified Angus Beef© is the most tender and delicious filet ever. They say it’s a center cut and perfectly lean. It’s served with bearnaise sauce (which I tried, but didn’t use otherwise; the meat is perfect with just a touch of added salt), and they can bacon wrap your filet should you wish. 

The bartender shared this with the couple next to me, “we age our steaks for two weeks past industry standard, so a minimum of 30 days on the small cut and 60 plus on the large. What this does is ensure you get the softest and juiciest and most tender cut of meat available.

My personal favorite is our Filet Oscar. You can do a 10-, 14- or petite six-ounce filet with the Oscar topping of crab meat, asparagus and hollandaise. If you’re a little greedy, like I am, a little grilled shrimp on top of that makes it even better, that’s up to you. Now, all of our steaks come with a trip to our salad bar and a side order, and then everything under Texas Specialties also comes with a trip to the salad bar. Take your time, any questions, just let me know.”

I was glad I hadn’t eaten breakfast with the busy-ness of my day. I was able to eat the entire six-ounce filet and a very stuffed baked potato (butter, sour cream, spring onions, and cheese) after what seemed essentially to be an entire head of iceberg lettuce, sliced in two, with bacon and a ring of a delicious vinaigrette to complete the plating.

My bartender recommends the Oscar Topping, but I knew there wouldn’t be room in my stomach for any more.

And if I hadn’t been set on my baked potato, I did have the option of Steak Fries, Sweet Potato Fries, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Texas Au Gratin Potatoes, Fresh Green Beans with Almonds and Bacon, Fresh Broccoli with Hollandaise, Baked Sweet Potato with Pecans, Sauteed Fresh Spinach, Fresh Asparagus with Hollandaise, Brussels Sprouts with Bacon Jam, Sauteed Fresh Mushrooms, or Megan’s Macaroni and Cheese.

That’s another advantage of walking around for a little bit, either after ordering, or before your appetizer and main meal. It gives you just a little more room in your stomach.

Despite the hovering bar crowd, I really enjoyed my meal. The ladies to my left noticed my DSLR camera and commented on how one of them had been a wedding photographer. She told me that she’d not been doing it this last year plus (during the pandemic) and we shared a few tips and tricks. She’d learned to do a pre-shoot of a bride and place a large portrait at the wedding. Clever. That way the groom still hadn’t seen the bride on the actual wedding day.

I shared a trick some of my photography pals had given me when I wasn’t feeling particularly motivated to photograph; choose a color and focus on getting photos of that for a day or a week. She had a gorgeous black and red dress on with a red bag, so it wasn’t hard to pick red for her. She thought that was a great idea. They were great to chat with around bites of our meals and made recommendations for more restaurants to try.

That’s the thing about Taste of Texas. You can go in solo or with family and friends or leave with new friends; there doesn’t seem to be any “alone” when you go there. That’s part of the legacy the Hendees have created. 

I tried to get out of there without dessert. I knew I was full. Anyone who ate that amount of food should be full. But when the bartender asked, with a wicked twinkle in his eye, about my interest in dessert, I told him I was full but that he should convince me.

He said, “Let me go get the dessert tray,” and I knew I was in trouble. The Houston area’s dessert trays are lethal to most anyone’s good intentions. It’s so hard to say no. But I was thinking of you, dear reader, and took one for the team.

Hold on, I’d better go get my breakfast. Writing this is making me hungry all over again. Be right back.

It’s a good thing my egg salad and spinach salad come in at a 200-calorie mark and are so filling. The bite of dessert from the take away, well; not so much.

I’ll let the waiter describe the dessert tray for us. I thought to turn my voice recorder on to give you the “like you were there” experience:

“We have New York-style cheesecake; you can have it topped with strawberry, raspberry, or caramel sauce. Right here is our brand-new carrot cake that’s very, very popular. Key lime pie is one of our owner’s favorites. Pumpkin cheesecake for the season. There’s our Crème Brule with fresh berries served with that. Baked greens with apple dumplings is a yum. A slice of heaven, did I already say that? (you did not) is a white and dark chocolate mousse wrapped in a velvety chocolate (that was close!).

The Snickers cheesecake, that’s my favorite, right there. A deep-dish pecan pie. This is our cinnamon slammer (in a fountain soda glass), cinnamon ice cream mixed with amaretto and crème de cocoa, sort of an adult-themed milk shake. And then I have a four-layer tall chocolate cake (not on the tray) that we have changed the recipe on and made it so moist that there is no way it can stand on its own. It just has to be laid down. It’s ridiculous.”

That’s awesome. And I almost made it out the door without, because I wasn’t hungry. But he did mention carry out, and I just couldn’t say no. He said he’d make it so it didn’t even tempt me (right away), and returned with it safely bundled in a large dinner size carry out container with white bag wrapped around it so you couldn’t even see it. Now that’s how you sell a $16 piece of cake. 

It was tough, taking that dessert bullet for you, dear reader, but I am glad I did.

When I opened it later, after I got home, I was shocked by the size. Nearly a foot long, with four deep layers and half a centimeter of deep chocolate icing, I think they mix a little coffee in with it; a couple of bites last a long time. I think he was right when he said I could eat it over three days.

So, when in Katy, be sure to go to Taste of Texas. And let me know which other dishes you tried, since I think I’ll be eating my petite filet and baked potato with every visit.

And make reservations if you’d like to sit in the restaurant. Especially at holiday times, Taste of Texas is usually booked solid. They do have a seating app if you want to download it directly to your phone.

And if you’re staying local, do stop at their store and pick up some steaks to grill at home. You’ll be glad you did.

For all the other restaurants on this list, I took advice from Katy locals. I bet there are even more for me to visit during my next trip and enjoyed all of these.