Kay’s Cafe

Fantastic little café. Really good quality, local-​sourced ingredients. I had the meatloaf with mashed potatoes, gravy, and roasted okra. It reminded me of my mom’s home cooked meals on the farm in Kansas. REALLY reasonably priced considering the quality of food you’re getting. Kay and her waitress Elissa were just as nice as could be too. We’ll be back for many more visits.

She has prepared many special requests dinners for my elderly parents & my parents absolutely love the food! Meatloaf is one of their favorites & they have eaten her food on many occasions. I love the pot roast, yet anything you get is absolutely delicious! Yum, yum!

I thought the food was okay. We stopped in for lunch and they were out of about half the menu, so we didn’t get to order what we wanted.

If you’re driving on 71 between Bastrop and Smithville on your way from Austin/​San Marcos-​Houston, give Kay’s Café a try!
I was in the mood for a light lunch with fresh veggies… and a killer dessert to offset all that healthiness =) Kay’s Café fit the bill perfectly. The store itself is in a non-​descript gray corrugated metal building shared with 2 other businesses. You’ll have to enter in their exact address into a Maps App on your phone to find this place; it’s not actually in Bastrop but perhaps 4 – 5 miles out past Bastrop down 71 toward Smithville. Parking is plentiful. Enter the building and to your immediate left is a colorful sign and door indicating Kay’s Café. The café itself is small, fitting maybe 10 tables and every wall is decked out with all sorts of knick knacks and CoCa Cola décor.
Their menu is filled with mostly sandwiches, soups, and salads from $ 5-​$ 9. Their daily specials were about $ 8 – 10 and were more hefty offerings, including meatloaf, salmon cakes, italian chicken breast, and potato skins. For my main, I ordered the «Elissa» sandwich, a sandwich with Greek salad fillings, including turkey, kalamata olives, feta cheese, spinach, and tomatoes. It was super tasty and I liked the non-​traditional take; the only thing I didn’t like was that it had turkey lunch meat rather than fresh turkey breast. I ordered it with a tossed house side salad which wasn’t anything special. I also sampled my husband’s meatloaf and mashed potatoes — the meat loaf was a little on the dry side but had really good flavor and the mashed potatoes were a bit too creamy/​grainy for my taste. For dessert we had the blackberry cobbler a la mode… it was divine! It wasn’t a traditional cobbler but more of a thick cake drenched in blackberry sauce and chunks of blackberry. Best part of the meal!
The service was friendly and polite; our food took a while to come out but we were in and out in an hour. It was a nice relaxing break from the road and had that great small-​town vibe that put us at ease! Would return if I was passing by.

Best home cooking in Central Texas! Pot roast, mashed potatoes and Italian green beans are my favorite.

Kay’s is a little gem, tucked away in an unassuming aluminum building between Bastrop and Smithville. As you walk inside, you will be greeted by the delicious smells of really good home cooking. The décor is bright, cheery, and whimsical– sure to give your mood a lift and your eye plenty to enjoy while you eat.
This is all an aside from the main attraction of Kay’s — the amazing food. The «permanent» menu features sandwiches, soups, and salads. The sandwich bread is always soft and fresh, and the veggies are top notch, never soggy, sad, or old.
The main attraction is really the rotating menu of specials, which changes slightly from day to day. If you want to know what they are serving, just give them a call at 237-​kays and ask for the specials. Frequently, main items to be found include beef pot roast, pecan crusted tilapia, meatloaf, king ranch casserole, meatballs and rice, roasted chicken breast, chopped steak, and a pasta dish of one kind or another. Most dishes with beef include their brown gravy, which is incredible! You can ask to have some on your mashed potatoes, too.
The side dishes also rotate by day, season, and what can be sourced locally (yay!). They may include: mashed potatoes (the best I’ve ever had that I didn’t make myself, seriously), green beans with bacon, baby tomato and cucumber salad, sweet corn, broccoli with lemon butter, local asparagus with lemon butter (when it’s in season), avocado and black eyed pea salad (a personal favorite!), local new potatoes with herb butter, sautéed squash, carrot raisin salad, and tossed salad. Usually the side list for the day will have 5 or 6 items, about 3 hot and 3 cold.
They have also started serving hamburgers and hot dogs on Thursdays or Fridays (I think it’s Thursday but I’m not certain). I had a really hard time convincing myself away from a hearty lunch of pot roast and mashed potatoes, but one day I went for the «Oozie Burger», where the cheese is inside the patty. I was NOT disappointed! The meat is fresh and juicy, and the patties are hand formed. You could easily go to a steak house or a specialty burger place and still not get a better burger, and you would end up paying much more. I’ve been impressed with every meal that I’ve had from Kay’s, but the burger was really over the top. I can’t wait to have another one!
Everything you will find at Kay’s is made from scratch, which becomes very apparent with your first bite. On many occasions, I have been there for lunch and overheard people who have come in for the first time or are just passing through remarking how «it’s just like mom used to make». Some of these patrons were old-​timers and country folk, so you know that’s a real compliment.
In the event that you don’t have time to come in and sit down to eat, you can call for the specials, place an order, and pick it up. Just remember to save your containers, as they are sturdy and reusable so you can bring them back next time you want something to go.
The only thing I can’t speak to personally is the desserts, for one very good reason: I have never, ever, had room. One day I will go with the intent to only order desserts. I have seen a variety of pies, chocolate brownie type goodies, lemon bars, and other delightful looking treats.
Next time you have a rumble in your tummy and want some good home cookin’ just head over to Kay’s!

Sometimes, there’s genius in doing something simple really well. Kay’s Café, ensconced in a corrugated steel exterior, is a charming café, where you feel like the staff are family and the food is made with love. I especially enjoy how fresh all the veggies are in the salads; in fact, because of that, I can’t even comment on all the other wonderful offerings.

My husband and I had been meaning to try this place ever since we noticed it out on 71 between Bastrop and Smithville. We had actually tried to go on a recent Sunday, but saw on the door that hours are 11 – 7 Monday-​Saturday, so had to turn back. But tonight was our lucky night.
We arrived shortly after 6:30. We walked up to the counter and saw a wipe-​board with two specials (smothered pork chops and broiled tilapia) and several sides listed, and thought that that was the entire menu, so looked at each other for awhile trying to decide whether we wanted to stay. Then an employee noticed us and handed us menus, which basically consisted of sandwiches and salads. My husband decided on the pork chops, and chose cucumber salad and avocado black-​eyed pea salad (weirdo!). I played it safe and ordered a club sandwich. I decided to get a bag of doritos to go with it (75 cents!). To drink, my husband had a lemonade (from a pitcher, he said it was okay), and I had a can of diet coke. Our total for all of this was only $ 17.
Our food took a few minutes to come out … I was very hungry so I ended up eating my doritos during that time. Another couple came in while we were eating, and the two employees were happy to serve them even though it was less than 15 minutes before closing.
Our food was brought out and we concentrated on eating it. My husband’s pork chop was very flavorful and tender, and he enjoyed his salads (even though he said the cucumber salad wasn’t like my grandma makes). My club sandwich was cut in half rather than fourths (weird!) and was accompanied by the saddest little pickle spear sliver ever. But at least they got it right when I asked for no lettuce (there were still tomatoes on the sandwich, and they were wonderfully ripe). I cut it in fourths myself and got some extra mayo to put on it because I’m gross. The other thing that one might find gross is that the bacon was cold. I’d figured we were waiting for the bacon to be fried, but no, it was clearly out of the refrigerator. It was thick, good-​quality bacon, so it was definitely still edible, but I’m sure cold bacon is a turn-​off for some.
We didn’t try desserts, will have to do that next time (maybe I’ll skip the doritos). The other couple had ordered the «apple fritter bread pudding,» and boy did it look good.