FAQs: "Where's a good place to eat?"

We get asked this question a lot. Probably as much as "How do we get to Blue Bell from here?"

Since we are the Chamber-CVB, we promote hundreds of businesses and can not be partial to one over the other. What that means is, we don't play favorites. We give unbiased information about all businesses based on the visitor's desire. So when someone asks, "Where should we go for lunch?" or "What's the best restaurant in town?" we counter with our favorite question, "What are you hungry for?"

To help people navigate the many dining options we have, a particular food type or location helps narrow it down. Most people who end up downtown at lunchtime want to eat downtown, and we have a variety of great options to fill their stomachs.

Brenham Grill in
Downtown Brenham

If you want a LIGHT LUNCH of salad, sandwiches, wraps, and soup, go to Funky Art Cafe or Must Be Heaven. Funky Art Cafe is the unique, eclectic, creative side of food, whereas Must Be Heaven is much more traditional and a good place for kids. FAC is open Mon-Fri 11-2 and sat 11-3. MBH is open Mon-Sat 8-5 and Sun 11-3.

If you want a VARIETY, go to Brenham Grill. Inside Ant Street Inn, the ambience is nice and the portions are large for a fair price. Brenham Grill features a large menu of American, Mexican, and Italian favorites. Brenham Grill is open for lunch and dinner during the week, but is closed between 2 and 5:30 and all day Wednesday. They also serve breakfast on the weekends.

Want PIZZA? Go to Yumm! Sweets & Eats. Pizza, calzones and sandwiches, plus the Sweets side has candy of all kinds and times in your life. Remember candy cigarettes? Yeah, they have 'em. Even Italian gelato, and of course Blue Bell! Open Mon-Sat 11-9.

How about AMERICAN favorites like burgers, steak and chicken? Ernie's and BT Longhorn can hook you up. Ernie's has daily lunch specials and is open Mon-Sat 11-2 and serves brunch on Sundays. BT is open every day of the week from 11-8, 9, or 10.

We have plenty of Mexican food!

Smitty's Cafe & Bakery just opened up a second location in downtown Brenham. Serving a large menu of SOUTHERN STYLE foods, Smitty's is open downtown daily from 7am-9pm with different areas of the restaurant/bar open, and at their primary location on North Park St from 11-2.

Looking for a BUFFET? The Cannery Kitchen is a good choice. Just east of the main downtown area, they serve a small buffet of daily choices. Usually a couple of meats, veggies, salad, and dessert will round out your plate. This is a good option for groups - plenty of seating, plenty of parking, and good country-cookin' for those who like tasty simple food. The Cannery is open daily 11-2.

Southern Flyer Diner is all
about the oldies.

For a slower pace, more of a fine dining experience where you can still dress casually, go another block or two east of downtown to Volare for delicious ITALIAN food. The Italian chef and owner serves lunch and dinner including daily specials and even a lunch buffet. Open Tues-Sat 11-2 and 5-9.

That covers our downtown area, but if you none of that fancies you, fear not! Just drive a short distance and you'll have plenty of other options.

Lookin' for BBQ? Nathan's BBQ (originally Big Daddy's BBQ) located along Hwy 290 at the Blinn College/FM 389 exit, serves all your BBQ favorites including daily lunch specials like beef tips, pork chops, fried chicken and even Cajun food on Fridays. Open daily 11-8 or 9.

Plenty of BBQ too!

Also Chappell Hill Bakery & Deli has delicious BBQ, even if the name doesn't indicate it. :-)  BBQ, burgers, jerky, homemade breads, pies, kolaches, canned goods, dried sausage, Blue Bell - the list goes on! Open daily 6 or 7am-8pm. Located in the big orange building on Hwy 290 at the light in Chappell Hill, there's plenty of food, seating, and parking for any group of any size.

Another great find for BBQ is R-Place in Washington. Right next to Washington-on-the-Brazos, if you find yourself out there Fri-Sun, stop by for some BBQ or even a special Saturday night dinner that features pork, steak, chicken and seafood. Open Fri-Sun only.

Speaking of SEAFOOD, we have two great options in Brenham - Sealand Seafood & Steak and Texas Seafood & Steakhouse. Both are open daily 11-8, 9, or 10.

Steak, seafood, chicken...
We've got you covered.

K-Bob's Steakhouse is a great place to get AMERICAN & COUNTRY favorites. The big salad wagon offers all-you-can-eat soup and salad all day long. Open daily 11-9 and serves a breakfast buffet on Sat & Sun from 7-10:30am.

American favorites can also be found amongst poodle skirts and oldies music on the jukebox at the Southern Flyer Diner at the Brenham Airport. Fun atmosphere and real Blue Bell ice cream milk shakes rounds out this little gem. Open daily 11-3.

We have a number of MEXICAN food restaurants, all serving hearty portions of mild and spicy favorites - Los Cabos, Mariachi's, and Cielito Lindo are just a few of the 8 restaurants and 3 taco shops that we have.

And for the GERMAN in you, The Burton Cafe in downtown Burton serves German favorites Thurs-Sat 8-8 and Sun 8-3.

FINE DINING can be found at Brazos Belle in Burton which serves gourmet French cuisine. Open Fri & Sat 5:30-8:30pm and Sun 11:30-1:30, accepts cash or check only.

5-star dining at Inn at Dos Brisas

And for a true 5-star experience, go to Inn at Dos Brisas. Nestled among Washington County's rolling hills, this is the only Forbes 5-Star restaurant in Texas where cuisine is made from ingredients cultivated on their acres of organic farmland and orchards. Open daily 12-2pm and 6-8pm and for Sunday brunch 11-2. Reservations are required.


So many options, so little time! These are just SOME of the dining options in our area - we have a complete list of dining on our website. When you come to town, stop by the Visitor Center and pick up a Dining Guide from us. And when you come looking for a suggestion, be prepared to answer, "What kind of food would you like?" :-)

What's your favorite place to eat when you're in Brenham and Washington County? Leave us a comment - your favorites make great suggestions for others!

See you soon!

Jenny Mills
Visitor Center & Website Manager
Brenham/Washington County Chamber-CVB