local dining

Friday, August 4, 2000

Save room for pie at Taylor Café

By Glenn Dromgoole
Special to the Reporter-News

Let’s get right to the point: The hamburgers, chicken-fried steak, and onion rings at Taylor Café in Lawn are among the best you’ll find anywhere.

But even when you’re so stuffed you can’t eat another bite, you simply have to force yourself to top it off with a hefty slice of the café’s famous pie. Oh, but we’ll get back to that. First things first.

Taylor Café has been around for more than 30 years, most of that time in the Harold Taylor family. Now it’s owned by Abilenians Beth and Tom Rose. Beth worked at the café while attending Jim Ned High School. Her sister, Amy Windham of Oplin, manages it. So it’s still very much a family restaurant and quite worth the 30-minute drive from Abilene.

We were there on a Wednesday night when the house special is fried popcorn shrimp, and the place was busy at 7:30. Instead of the special, we opted for the café’s two most popular courses – burgers and chicken-fried steak, with a side order of onion rings.

The large steak ($6.50) would have been enough for both of us; in fact, we took about half of it home. Unlike some chicken-frieds, this one wasn’t buried under a thick layer of batter. It’s a quality, tender round steak cooked the way your grandmother might have done it – and one of the best I’ve eaten.

My dining partner chose the one-third pound burger ($2.30) and was quite pleased to see it served on a toasted bun. After sampling the burger, I have to say that it may well be the best in the county. And the “small” order of scrumptious onion rings ($1.75) was more than ample for two hungry people.

So there you have it: An agonizing choice between a great chicken-fried steak and a great burger, with a shared order of outstanding onion rings. How could it get any better than this?

Well, now we come to the pie. The coconut, chocolate, peanut butter, and pecan pies are baked fresh every day at the café. One serving of pie ($1.75) would have been enough — the helpings are huge — but in the interest of serious research, we tried both the coconut and the chocolate. Both were delicious. If I had to pick one over the other, I’d call it a tie and ask for a sudden-death playoff. Whole pies are available to go for $7.75.

If you’re not into burgers and chicken-fried steak, Taylor Café also offers nightly specials from 5 to 9 p.m. – including fajitas on Thursday, catfish on Friday, and Mexican food on Saturday. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day, the restaurant offers a lunch buffet for $5.59 daily and $5.89 on Sunday. And the breakfast menu is served any time of the day.

Dinner for the two of us, including pie, tea and tip, came to about $20.

Glenn Dromgoole is an Abilene author. For previous restaurant reviews and a complete directory of Abilene restaurants, visit www.bigcountrydining.com.

IF YOU GO ...

Taylor Café

Highway 84, Lawn

Taylor Café is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday. Lunch specials are served from 11-2 every day, and a different special is featured every night from 5-9. Breakfast is available all day.

To get to Lawn, take Highway 83-84 south from Abilene. When the highway divides into 83 and 84, keep left toward Coleman on 84. As you come into Lawn, you’ll see Taylor Café on the right.

You’ll need cash or checks. The restaurant doesn’t accept credit cards. For information, call 583-2525.