My Neck Of The Woods. Lucy’s On The Square in Celina, Texas

I didn’t intend to do another restaurant post so quickly; I know you think that all I do is eat — and you are right. At least I didn’t show you the picture of me wolfing down the fried green tomatoes you see above. It wasn’t flattering to me or the tomatoes!

I had to do a restaurant post, because last week, Jehara and Faith posted about places to eat healthy meals! The restaurants they listed are wonderful (go read for yourselves), but as a fifth-generation Texan, I felt it was my duty to tell you where you can get fried food!

To a Texan, “vegetarian” just “ain’t natural.” Fried green tomatoes and chicken fried steak, however, are natural. You can find excellent examples of those at Lucy’s on the Square in Celina, Texas — population 5,264. Saa-lute! Sorry. I watched too much “Hee Haw” as a youngster.

To be honest, I read about Lucy’s on the Square (127 N. Ohio; Celina, Texas; 972-382-1212) in the Texas Monthly Magazine. It’s not quite “the Bible” of traveling in Texas (that would be Texas Highways Magazine), but they sometimes have some interesting places to visit.

Back in December, they listed their “Top 40″ Small Town Cafes. Since Lucy’s was the closest to us, we decided to check it out for ourselves and see if the editor’s knew what they were talking about.

They did.

The restaurant is not named for the owner, or for a cook. It’s named for that steer that sits up on a balcony in the dining room. Is it just me, or does that steer seem to have a disgruntled look on its face? Could it be because I was eating beef, or do you think it’s because it is a former boy with a girl’s name?

I don’t know. But, I’ll tell you what I do know: The chicken fried steak with cream gravy, the fried okra, and the fried green tomatoes melted in my mouth. They were delicious, and just thinking about them, I’m having to wipe drool off the keyboard. I’ll spare you a picture of that, too.

The waitresses were “on their toes” and kept my glass of “sweetea,” served in a Mason jar, filled at all times. While waiting for our food, I sneaked a peek around the corner into the kitchen, because I’m nosy that way. They didn’t seem too angry.

And, they gave me my “just desserts.”

If you get there before I do, save me some of that pie!

View Larger Map

****
This is one of a series of posts I am doing on Saturdays called “My Neck Of The Woods.” My neck of the woods is pretty big, because I consider that it encompasses all of The Lone Star State! Each Saturday, I will post about something in my area, or in my state, that a tourist passing through here might not know to find.

I invite y’all to join me in that. As bloggers, we are in a unique position to get our opinions out on the internet for all the world to see. I think it would be fantastic to have a whole list of resources from around the country (or for that matter, the world!). If we post, we could add links to other bloggers who are posting about their own home towns. Soon, nobody will need those guide books, because they will have us!

Three things I’ll ask of you, if you decide to post:

1. Talk about something that you have visited, so you can give a first-hand review of it for the readers. A favorite local restaurant, a unique store, a festival, a small town museums, a local bed and breakfast inn, family friendly parks, hiking trails, and anything else you think qualifies as something that would interest you as a traveler, and hope it might interest someone else.
2. Title it “My Neck Of The Woods [+ the name of the attraction or the town],” and tag it with “travel” and your state, so people could track them all on the internet.
3. Come back to my own posting for that Saturday to let me know, so we can share links.

I’ll list the posts (of people who tell me they’ve written) here:

• You are first

Other posts you might enjoy:

1. My Neck Of The Woods. Villa’s in Irving, Texas.
2. Royer’s Cafe in Round Top, Texas. My Neck of the Woods.
3. My Neck Of The Woods. Weston Gardens in Fort Worth, Texas
4. St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Lindsay, Texas. My Neck Of The Woods
5. Gilberto’s Restaurant in Fairfield, Texas. It’s Worth The Stop.

Tagged as: My Neck Of The Woods, restaurant, Texas Travel