Cafe's, Grills, & Places to Chill (part IV) "Ranch Hand Cafe" - Cleveland, TX

 Okay everybody. As you all know, we like to go to local “non-chain” restaurants in whatever area we are in at the time. We were given a recommendation to go to a restaurant in Cleveland, TX called the “Ranch Hand Cafe” and we were told that they had the very best chicken fried steak. We were also told that they had ginormous and delicious onion rings. So of course, we had to go check it out.

Now, the Ranch Hand is located at 24626 TX-321, Cleveland, TX 77327 and they are op
en 7 days a week. My wife and I decided to go for dinner and when we pulled up it honestly looked like an old run-down mom & pop restaurant, (those are usually the VERY BEST places to eat). It is an old red building with a tin roof, and it is actually very quaint and inviting. If you are facing the front of the building from the road, be sure and look out for the odd mannequin montage in the yard of the home to the right.

When we arrived, we were immediately welcomed by the hostess at the front desk. The place was a little busy, but we only had to wait about 5-10 minutes for a table. Which was fine by us because it gave us an opportunity to start looking around at the huge collection of signs on the walls. These signs were all different sizes and they all offered little snippets of “old country wisdom” such as “Shut The Gate Sugar”, and “Life is Too Short to Dance with Ugly Men”.

We were finally seated by our server; she was a pleasant and cute young girl named Amy. She was extremely courteous and efficient. We asked her about the items we had been told about and if the rumors were true about them being amazing. She of course confirmed. We decided that we wanted to start with some appetizers, so we ordered a ½ order of fried pickles, a ½ order of fried green tomato’s, and a full order of Fried Onion Rings. For our entrée we decided that since we ordered so many appetizers, we would share a full portion of “chicken fried chicken” with mashed potato’s & gravy, and green beans.

Y’all, when I say that the Ranch Hand Café knocked it out of the park, I mean it was like Babe Ruth’s famous “called shot” in game 3 of the 1932 world series. The meal that we had was definitely fit for a “Country King”. It was ALL ABSOLUTELY PHENOMINAL!!! Amy was very attentive and made sure that our drinks were full, she regularly stopped by our table to ask how everything was and see if we needed anything and she recommended the homemade Banana Pudding for dessert. (We took that to go and ate it at home later – delicious)

When Amy brought our bill, I was even more pleasantly surprised. Our meal did not cost near as much as I expected. If you find yourself in Cleveland, TX for whatever reason and you are thinking to yourself, “Man, I wish I could find a good place to eat some good ole down home country cookin”, then I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the “Ranch Hand Café”. Ask for Amy and tell her I sent you!!! I promise that you will NOT BE disappointed.

Until Next Time… Stay Safe and God Bless You All!!!