came in here because h3 at the corner of main and exchange would not seat me until 11:00. it was 10:55. not willing to wait i shuffled over to the star cafe on the other side of main, on the other side of exchange street. entered and discovered a much more relaxed restaurant indeed! wooden tables and chairs covered with plastic tablecloths, this is just the place you expect in the stockyards area.
there are not a lot of items on their menu, but there needn't be. it has all the texas staples, burgers, chicken fried chicken, chicken fried steak, chili... you name it, they probably will have it. as long as you think texan!
i went with the chicken fried steak, which came with fries and a side. i decided on a small side salad with bleu cheese dressing. in less than ten minutes, my fine server brought me my lunch. the chicken fried steak was a goodlunchsize portion, nothing extreme by texas standards, but decent. they did get a little carried away with the gravy, but if you like that sort of thing, you've come to the right place. it was knife tender and had good flavor. a small roll came with the lunch. it was soft and small but nothing to brag about. the green side salad came prior to the main meal and it was welcomed. simple lettuce and tomatoes, the highlight was the bleu cheese dressing. the server said that it was not homemade and that they get it from ben e. keith food service. i tell you that bleu cheese dressing was fantastic. it was loaded with mega chunks of bleu cheese. it is not often that you find that kind of thick dressing. they were very generous with their portion, even to the point of asking me if i wanted more. the fries were all right. they were served sizzling hot, but were not crisp. iced tea was my drink of choice and it was pretty good. plenty of refills.
service was quite good, friendly and knowledgeable. i liked star cafe. i would not call it outstanding food, but the food i had hit-the-spot. it is in the midst of the stockyards area of fort worth, so when you are finished, you can soak up the local color, do some shopping and just have a great time.