Furr’s Family Dining

I just heard this Furr’s closed down. Does anybody know why? I thought it was pretty good!

Well, let me sum it up quickly — that was pretty horrific.
When I moved here, I was immediately a little put off just the names of Luby’s and Furr’s. Luby’s I just immediately thought of, well, Lube. I don’t want Lube with or around my meal, thanks. Then I tried Luby’s in Waco and it was actually pretty good. Luby’s kind of rocks.
Now Furr’s I always just associated with fur. That’s right, fur. I have four animals so I really do understand the evils of fur in your food. I have enough of that at home, so why would I go out for that pleasure?
Well, today, I took the plunge, fur or no fur. We had missed lunch and the hubby wanted to do some serious belly filling.
This is a cafeteria, no mistake. I tried some fried chicken. It was ghastly and I immediately felt sorry for the chicken that died for me. Pretty sure it was factory-​farmed and had a life filled with misery. I could taste it’s misery. A little thin sliced roast beef sitting in gravy — it was tough and strange-​tasting. There were hamburger patties I did not try. I did try some Tilapia in some kind of pineapple sauce. It wasn’t horrible, but it was super greasy, even though it was not breaded and fried and when it sat on the plate, a reddish greasepool formed.
As for the veggies, at least there were a few choices, although I am sure that they were all either frozen or canned. All of them were cooked to the consistency appropriate for someone who had forgotten their dentures. They had spinach, corn, green beans, broccoli, cauliflour and some fried stuff. I did have some green salad that was pretty good. Although the server seemed surprised I wanted it. Fresh greens. yay.
We then opted for dessert and tried some pie. The lemon meringue was actually very good. The coconut cream was too sweet and you could taste the sugar crystals. The chocolate pie was sort of icky. Custard pie was ok.
After trying so much stuff, I felt like I had basically eaten some of the worst food I had ever eaten. The closest thing I could compare it to would be frozen dinners I was given as a child. The fried chicken tasted like it came right out of one of those Banquet 3 compartment aluminum dealios. Ick.
But the lemon pie was good and the young people who acted as waiters were just incredibly nice and helpful. Also, I have to say that the price is very good. I think it is 6.99 for all you can eat — which is good for someone on a limited budget. It serves its purpose.
So the nice waiters/​waitresses and the pie saved Furs from one-​stardom. (There was no fur, btw!)
But in general, it was pretty nasty.

Growing up in my home town, I used to go to a similar place with my grandparents about twice a month. They used to go every day.
When I’m feeling nostalgic about my past and want to think about my grandparents, I hit up Furr’s. In my opinion, I think its better than Luby’s but its a personal preference.
There are some things I really like here, and things you couldn’t pay me to try.
I love: the broccoli raisin salad, fried chicken, mashed potatoes with cream gravy
I don’t know what they put in that broccoli salad, but its addicting. I had never had it before I moved to Texas, and that stuff is great. Sweet, salty, sour, tangy all in one bite. They serve it only on Thursdays during the week and on the weekend (Sunday I think). Go on Thursdays.
I am from Kentucky and believe or not actually met the Colonel once when I was a wee thing. One of my favorite restaurants is Claudia Sander’s which was the place he started after he sold off the KFC chain and I was there once when he was and well… everyone is nice to a three year old wanting to say hi. Okay, back to the chicken. I have tried a bunch of it here and also all over… the fried chicken here holds its own as some of the best in the city when it is fresh. I’ve even taken my dad here when he’s in town visiting and he agrees, the fried chicken is quite good when its hot.
The mashed potatoes aren’t anything special, but the cream gravy usually has the right amount of white pepper in it to give it that extra zing that makes me want to lick my plate.
The not so great:
Most of the veggies here look like something you got in high school in the cafeteria. None of them are horrible, but none of them are all that good either. The sweet potatoes are incredibly sweet, and the turnip greens are overcooked.
The desserts:
I have tried many of them and they are your standard cafeteria fare. The banana pudding is a weird hot meringue that defies description. It’s not bad, but you have to try it to believe it.
I kept running across the Millionaire’s pie (apparently a Furr’s speciality) in regional cookbooks so I wanted to try the real thing. My first bite was «this is strange» but it has a sweet, creamy, slightly gritty texture that I couldn’t stop eating and before I knew it, it was gone. I think its going to go into the weird foods I’ll eat but not always own up to file.
Now, the truly bizarre:
I hit Furr’s up today for lunch after thinking about it for 2 months. When I came in about 1 on a Thursday, they had a live singer??? He was in a cowboy hat and James Dean-​sque gear playing a guitar singing a version of Bridge over Troubled Waters that was simultaneously country, folk, and gave Stairway to Heaven a run for the longest song that would never end. I swear, he played Bridge over Troubled Waters while sporatically singing to it for 15 minutes.
So… don’t go for the entertainment unless you like gawking at screaming kids, elderly couples, and people stuffing themselves silly on artery clogging food… or apparently guitar country folk singers.
Go for the broccoli salad, fried chicken, and cream gravy. But don’t yell at me if you try the fish on a steam table and find it funky.

Today in a desperate attempt to balance out the low star rating; Rooster and I ventured into Furr’s for lunch. My personal history with this place dates back to those High School days when you could pile on a few calories after a basketball game. I’ve kinda given up on this type of dining experience over the years looking for more refinement and flavor.
I’m immediately throwing out the following accolades like trendy, hip, refined, French technique, and elegant. I’ll be replacing them with phrases like comfort food, cheap dining, and amazingly live music? Our recent lunch visit featured a guy singing some country staples.
I sampled the fried fish and chopped steak; while Rooster dined on mac and cheese and corn. The mashed potatoes, rolls, and fruit salad were just as I remembered. Can your Furr’s fare really taste better when listening to Pancho and Lefty and Amarillo by Morning? For this visit, with the glow of the blue hairs surrounding our table it made a difference.
I pondered thoughts of this being the next Antone’s or Armadillo World Headquarters. I choked back some tears thinking that just maybe they could book Billy Ray Cyrus or Bob Schneider. I realized my delusions just in time to grab a piece of strawberry pie before paying my $ 9.50 tab and continuing my daily errands. Three stars for my friends at the South Austin Furr’s even though I’ll never see the Beastie Boys there.

this place is pretty awful. upon walking through the front doors, you notice that it smells almost exactly like a poorly ventilated high school locker room.
the green beans and corn both tasted like they’d been steamed with sweat from a gym sock. the enchilada was weird and tasted like it was a week-​old leftover. the lemon merengue pie tasted like carmel and corn syrup. the mashed potatoes and jalapeño corn bread were decent enough, but the bad far outweighed the good.
also, as the cartoon character and manchild babycakes would say: it made my poop sick.

We decided to go here because of a coupon I found in the mail. I haven’t been to a buffet in a while, and we pass it all the time, so I figured I’d try it out.
I ate cheese enchiladas, fried okra, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and a salad. I’m all for cafeteria food, but this wasn’t even as good as cafeteria food. I remember being young and getting all excited because we were having corn dogs or whatever in the cafeteria, knowing that it wasn’t very good for me, but willing to eat it anyway. This was nothing like that. Everything tasted like a microwave dinner nuked with an old sock. It was super bland, and even salt couldn’t salvage most of it. The best thing about the place was the bread.
Maybe I’m being a snob because I didn’t grow up in Texas, but this is the worst food I’ve had since I moved to Austin. The staff was nice, so I guess that’s good, but totally not worth the money.
Also gave me bad poopies.

Warning: run on sentence. Sometimes I have this morbid desire to try places that I know probably won’t be good and they usually aren’t because I somehow think I am missing out on some Texas tradion having not grown up here and not being exposed to the land of caffeteria buffets. I’m gonna give it 2 stars because the baked fish I had was less dry then what I had a Luby’s and because my son liked the mashed pototoes which I think came out of a box. Something about this place is depressing.

Yesterday was the first time I have been back since they adopted the all-​you-​can-​eat format. They haven’t converted completely from the old cafeteria model in that you still fetch a tray and slide it down the rails with real people serving you food. If you want more, the waitstaff go and fetch it for you. How bizarre?
I thought the liver and onions was quite good and had green beans, mashed potatoes, and spinach to complete my traditional meat and three veggie plate (they have this available as a takeout option). I had them fetch me a piece of fried chicken later which was really very good.
Definitely a yummo bargain in my book…

I’ve been daring myself to try out Furr’s since we moved to Austin. I have a fascination with restaurants that are named after something that you’d never want to find in your food.
I thought it might turn out to be like a Denny’s… something along that line. You know, a great place for eggs and bacon.
I was wrong.
The inside of this establishment is actually larger than the outside. I don’t know how they did that, but I thought it was a great trick (hence the TWO stars)!
We were surprised to find that Furr’s was a buffet. I LOVE a buffet! However, this buffet had things like liver and onions and brussel sprouts that were the color of E.T. when he was found in the river.
The food did not look fresh and the people in line looked more like a group from a hospital cafeteria. Foreshadowing? Didn’t want to find out. We didn’t look too long, and we didn’t stay to eat. Aw, heck. Is it fair that I review a place that I didn’t actually eat at? Usually I wouldn’t do such a thing. Today, however, I will make the exception.

Shut up, snobs! Furr’s is pretty friggin’ good. My little daughter loves to go there. She actually won something from the crane machine!
The food is plentiful and fresh. Lots of tasty salads and freshly cooked veggies. Good sweet tea. A mighty fine place to pig out.
Very fun place to people watch. Freaks tend to congregate at cafeterias. Am I a freak? Mayhap so.