Day Trips
The Koffee Kup Family Restaurant built its reputation the old-fashioned way – by serving good, basic comfort food
By Gerald E. McLeod, Fri., May 7, 2010
The Koffee Kup Family Restaurant in Hico built a reputation the old-fashioned way – by serving good, basic comfort food. While factory-made ingredients might be good enough for some, the diner's chefs go the extra step and hand-make such menu items as the french fries, hamburger patties, buns, and yeast rolls.
The packed parking lot around mealtime gives testament to the cafe's popularity. On weekends, motorcycles and Sunday drivers fill the restaurant's booths. In 2008, Texas Monthly magazine named the Koffee Kup one of the best small-town cafes in the state, and then returned in 2009 to add it to the list of best hamburgers. Several other food-and-travel magazines have honored the eatery on their pages. All of the praise is well-earned.
If there is any argument about the Koffee Kup, it is whether the signature specialty burgers or the meringue pies are the best items on the menu. I can only say that they both are great.
The eight kinds of signature burgers come with a patty so thick that the waitress asks how you want it cooked. The imperfect shape of the slab of ground beef reveals the cook's personal attention to your meal. All is laid open-faced on a handmade bun that would be heaven with just a slice of cheese. Add a heaping portion of hand-cut steak fries with that burger, and you've got the equivalent of two meals on the plate in front of you.
Of course, the diner has added more than just burgers to its menu over the last 40 years. The rib eye steaks are just as great as the burgers, and there also are enchiladas and low-carb selections. This may be a meat lovers' paradise, but the menu makes an effort to accommodate those on dietary restrictions.
The mealtime dilemma starts when you walk in the door. Should you save room for pie, go straight for the pie, or eat all of your meal and take the pie to go?
From the homemade doughnuts with the morning coffee to the meringue-topped afterdinner pies, the cafe's bakery excels. It would be enough for most eateries to make excellent dinner rolls and buns, but the Koffee Kup is also famous for its pies. There are more than a dozen kinds of pie on the menu, plus another three or four daily specials. When the Allen family says of their restaurant, "Once you've tried us, you will be back," it's no hollow advertising slogan. It's not a brag if it's true.
The Koffee Kup Family Restaurant is in Hico at the intersection of Highways 281 and 6. The cafe is open from 6am to 9:30pm every day except Christmas and Christmas Eve. Don't forget to look over the awesome salt and pepper shaker collection on the dining-room wall. View the menu at www.koffeekupfamilyrestaurant.com and call in a to-go order at 254/796-4839.
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