Murphy's Steakhouse is my favorite restaurant in Central Texas. I have been a regular customer here since 2007 and wrote this web page in 2008. The evidence suggests that many other people feel the same way: on another recent visit, I had to park a block away and walk, which was followed by a half-hour wait before I could get a table. It was a Friday evening, and I should have come a little earlier. There were small children as well as elderly people here: this is obviously a great family restaurant. The food was terrific, as was the service and the atmosphere in the restaurant (see the photos below). When you visit the place, you feel like you are living in history. I asked for the Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken: I came prepared, having skipped lunch to make room for this, but still could not finish it. Yes, everything is big in Texas. When you come here, avoid modern four-letter words like "diet." It may lead to confusion: "Y'all from Austin?" There is no southern-fried "tofu" here. Another four-letter word to avoid is "city." Use only good words like "steak."
Updates:
Do not tell anyone at Murphy's that it is your birthday if you would like to have a quiet, peaceful dinner. I kept quiet about mine, and asked for a filet mignon. I should have asked for a glass of Merlot to compliment the filet. Live and learn. It was the first filet mignon I ever had that did not have bacon wrapped around it, though man can be deprived of bacon and survive, at least until breakfast. The filet was big, maybe twice the size of any filet mignon I had ever had before, and of the highest quality tenderloin, making this an exceptional value, certainly to be enjoyed again soon by this discerning carnivore on the next special occasion!
The next special occasion came quickly, and I had an epiphany! Why settle for chicken, when there is steak? Calling Murphy's to make a special request, I asked for Fettuccine Alfredo with filet mignon, which, they said, could be arranged. Forget chicken. This was an Epicurean feast. I asked for extra pepper on my filet, medium, and was sure to ask for a glass of Merlot this time. Just Perfect!
Murphy's grill is the ultimate destination for the consumate steak devotee. In addition to filet mignon, they serve rib eye steak, New York strip, and sirloin in several sizes: big, huge, and spectacular. You can add grilled onions to your steak, or grilled mushrooms. They also have catfish, shrimp, baked potatoes, pasta, and so on, but that was surely not the reason you came here.
To finish your steak dinner with some desert, may I suggest an ice cream cone at the Winchester Depot, a classy ice cream parlor in another old building that was once a saloon, next to the railroad tracks, and next to the pink house. Click here for hours.
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"A Brief History of the Building:
The building was built in 1913 by Mr. C.H. Schmidt. He came from Germany in 1890 and married Miss Anna Schulze in 1891, when they built their first store. Mr. Schmidt started as a shoemaker, and his wife baked cookies to sell in the store, along with sardines, sauerkraut in barrels, and bought produce and poultry from the local farmers and shipped them to Houston for resale. They eventually outgrew two buildings, before they established the present building, which allowed them to start purchasing sugar, flour, coffee, seed fertilizer, and grain that was delivered by the carloads by the trains.
Mr. Schmidt died in 1921, and Anna went into partnership with Mr. Monroe Harris. The store was managed by Mr. Melvin Pietsch beginning in 1960. Mr. Harris died in 1973, and his son, Mr. Calvin Henry Harris, took over. He named it the Harris General Merchandise Store. Since then, the building has changed hands several times and is now owned by Mr. Richard Orona and Mrs. Georgianna Fox, purchased from Prince "Boykie" and Sherry Murphy in January 2005. The building is largely in its original condition, such as the old tin ceiling, brick walls, and an intriguing mirrored bar."
"Murphy’s Steakhouse, located in Winchester, Texas, in the northwest portion of Fayette County near the intersection of FM roads 153 and 448, named for Winchester, Tennessee, on a line of the Southern Pacific Railroad. One of the first settlements in Fayette County, the area was first settled in 1827 by John Ingram, who received a grant nearby, on the Colorado River, still known as Ingram's Prairie. The town itself was settled in 1857 by John Gromme on lands originally granted to E. Campbell and J.F. Berry in 1831. A post office was established in 1866. By 1900, the town had eighteen businesses, which included a courthouse, two jails (white and black), a bank, two doctors, two drug stores, a hotel, two saloons, a liquor store, a gambling house, two cotton gins, four churches, which are still in existence, two public schools (white and black), a theater, an opera house, three meat markets, a gristmill, a lumber yard, a hardware store, and several merchandise stores. As a shipping point on the Waco Branch of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway, the community served a wide area of prosperous farms. Due to improved roads and the decline of coton farming, the number of businesses dropped to nine by 1950, and the population dropped to 220. By the 1980's the population was only fifty, and the settlement had four businesses. Most of the surrounding farmland has reverted to pasture for cattle, and additional revenues came from oil production. In 1990, Winchester still had a population of fifty."
If you are looking for an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, the Winchester Depot, between the railroad tracks and Murphy's Steakhouse, is my favorite destination to have desert after I have had my dinner at Murphy's. The Depot is the perfect place to bring the family to relax and enjoy some Blue Bell ice cream.
Ice cream parlor, sandwiches, shaved ice, coffee, antiques.
Also a convenience store with food items, candy, soft drinks, beer, cigarettes.
Dana Hall (979) 242-3354
Sunday, Monday: closed.
Tuesday - Saturday: 4pm. to 8pm.
Next to the pink house:
211 South Front Street,
Winchester, TX. 78945.
