Home Cooking in a Hometown

by Bryan Coonrod

In the small town of Bonham, a little drive about 70 miles northeast of Dallas sits Cappy’s Cafe. Like many small east Texas towns most all business lies around a courthouse on a downtown square and Bonham stays true with that formula, what makes Cappy’s stand out from the rest of those small towns is that they have been putting out an all you can eat home cooking buffet for almost 6 years now while any many competitors have came and gone.

This place has a lot of character, it’s really like being at your relatives from the country with no dishes matching and drinks served in mason jars. Locals are sure to find someone they know or related to on almost any visit. Now this is not a Golden Corral type buffet — it’s made from scratch by the mother and daughter team of Mandra Caplinger and Sandra Lawrence. With a rotating menu of local favorites such as homemade biscuits, chicken fried steak, fried chicken, meat loaf, hamburger steak and pork chops. Cappy’s will also occasionaly throw some unique items on the menu such as fried ribs, southwest chili & lime wraps, as well as some mouth watering desserts like hummingbird cake, chess pies and punch bowl cake.

The cafe also is now serving soups and sandwiches to-go so that the many local fishermen can grab a bite to enjoy at the lake. Luckily I have family in Bonham and get to eat there on a regular basis but my brothers and I always seem to find some excuse to make a quick drive up there especially when chicken fried steak is served. What makes this worth you making a drive? How about all this great food for $7.95.

While Cappy’s is only open Wed-Fri from 11am to 2pm it is an experience you must try, it also does a breakfast buffet on Saturdays and Sundays starting at 8am with lunch starting at noon. Locals all know to check out the chalkboard on the wall outside to see the menu for the week but they have now added a webpage and an email list so out of towners can see what they can look forward to when they make the trip. They are very involved in the community and believe in giving back. On their 5th year anniversary I attended they opened at 5pm and served food for free the entire evening and it was food I would have easily spent $30 on in Dallas.

A cafe like this is truly a part of small town Texas life that is really refreshing to see when you get so used to the hustle of the big city and you never know what you might see while you are there. On my last visit my brother and I spotted an older couple in a wooden car riding down the street that ended up parking at Cappy’s for lunch, when asked what the car was, the man replied” My answer to the gas prices” as it was electric powered and hand built by the man. It was quite a head turner and traffic stopper that just added to the charm of this small town destination for food.

Cappy’s Cafe
109 W. Sam Rayburn
Bonham, TX. 75418
903-583-5841