Royers Round Top Cafe

There's a sweet spot for menu items. You may disagree, but here's my train of thought on this: if a restaurant has just a handful of items, then they're probably quality because that's what they focus on. No filler for the peanut gallery. Just the heavy hitters.

Then you have the Cheescake Factory approach: club me over the head with 175 menu items and 17 burger varieties––all strangled and nuked in a microwave out back––until I go into shock from decision fatigue and pass out face-down in a plate of avocado egg rolls. Like succumbing to the call of the void.

There's a third option, though: specialize in one item and offer a king's feast worth of variety. This is the approach that Royers Round Top Cafe has taken with their well-known pies and I can confirm that they make one helluva pie. I had the lemon-blueberry myself and enjoyed looking at the various knicknacks adorning the walls while I refueled from the road trip. Formerly named just "Round Top Cafe," the establishment was taken over by the Royer family in 1987, who shepherded it into Texas-institution status over the years.

The cafe was featured on the Food Network at one point, so it definitely has local cred. There's also a wine list of more than 60 wines and contemporary bistro fare like a grilled pork tenderloin with peach and pepper glaze.

Just don't forget about the pies. You won't regret it.