Brandin Iron

Surprised (in a good way)  to see that this place already had a review!

Last weekend my husband and I drove from Bastrop to Tyler for a wedding, and Marquez was around the point where we became hungry, so we stopped at the Brandin' Iron.

I ordered the chicken strip basket (came with fries) and he ordered the "chicken fried fish sandwich" with beans and coleslaw.  Both of us had sweet tea to drink.  The tea was okay, not great.  Interestingly, the place appeared to have both fountain sodas and bottled/canned ones.  

Food was Sysco-type ... edible but that's about it.  The meats were clearly from frozen ... we'd been hoping for some good home cooking.  I was happy that my meal came with cream gravy (the menu didn't indicate this), and the gravy didn't have much taste, good or bad.  I asked for some barbecue sauce as well and was given a plastic bottle of generic KC Masterpiece type stuff.  It helped though.  My fries were okay, kinda like thin underdone fast-food fries (good thing I like them like that).  My husband felt the same way about his food.  

If this place was in Austin I'd only give it 2 stars, but in a town of under 300 people, where the only choices for dining out are probably this restaurant or prepackaged gas station sandwiches, it warrants 3 stars.  The Brandin Iron did the job for us on our trip, as we got full for a reasonable price, and weren't sick afterward or anything.  Perhaps other menu items involve fresh ingredients or other points of interest.

Large dining area, very popular with oilfield workers.  They serve all the Texas country standards such as burgers, chicken fried steak, fried chicken, fried catfish(on Fridays), and some steaks and fried shrimp. The burgers are OK, the chicken was too greasy for my taste. My favorite here is the fried catfish. I am not a big fan of fried catfish because it usually has a muddy taste, but it's only rarely that I get a muddy tasting piece here. Never tried a steak here.