Elaine’s Table

What a find! My husband and I were the only ones there at 6 pm on a Friday. We were seated by the window overlooking the beautiful River. Our server, Natalie, was very sweet and gave us suggestions for dinner. My tortilla crusted basa fish was topped with a creamy sauce and pica de gallo. Oh my, it was full of crunchy deliciousness! Very fresh too. My husband had a big chicken fried steak that he really enjoyed. Our dinners were around $ 15 to $ 17 each and a glass of house pino Grigio was less than $ 5! We each had two vegetable sides, sugar snap peas and potato with a roll and butter. The prices were very reasonable compared to those in Austin or San Antonio. We took a slice of carrot cake to eat later because we were too full. This is a nice place for a romantic dinner. Overall, I have been very impressed with the quality of dinner I’ve had visiting this area of the Hill Country.

We were told to eat at Elaine’s Table while visiting Hunt, Texas.
Today, we decided to give it a try for lunch. There was one car in the parking lot, but that didn’t bother us since it is «off» season. I’m sure they have a lot of business in the summer!
We were greeted by a very nice woman (later we learned her name is Elaine!) and were seated at a table overlooking the Guadalupe River. Today’s special was meatloaf with a red pepper bisque soup. I’m not a huge fan of meatloaf, but my husband and I decided to give it a try. We received warm rolls to go with our soup. The rolls were smaller and dense, but very good. The soup had a great flavor! After the soup, we wondered if anything would come with the meatloaf, or if we were just getting a couple pieces with nothing else. To out pleasant surprise, there were at least four pieces of meatloaf with mashed potatoes and fresh fruit. The gravy was almost like a German cream gravy. Heavenly! I’ve honestly never tasted meatloaf like this! So good! We were not disappointed! We also had Elaine’s famous carrot cake and rum cake for dessert. Exquisite!
I cannot believe some of the negative reviews I read. Maybe they went in on an off night, but I am glad we made the decision to eat there anyway!
Give her restaurant a try! You will not be disappointed!

The food was absolutely fabulous. We had the corn tortilla encrusted trout and the special of the day, the yellow fin with holandaise sauce. For dessert crème brûlée and the chocolate pecan pie w/​ice cream. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Located out in Hunt, TX. I stumbled upon this little gem one afternoon while visiting the area. Cozy little place located on the river that features a great lunch menu. I ordered the following:
Carrot Soup (might not sound like much but this was stellar)
Mexican Egg Salad Sandwich on french bread (this was amazing)
Worth a stop if you’re in the area.

I“m sure that Elaine’s Table is banging in the summer. We visited on a cold, wet, winter Sunday and it was almost empty. The restaurant has a somewhat upscale atmosphere (tablecloths!), but being in Hunt, it must have seen its share of people in shorts and t-​shirts. On a summer weekend it’s hard to find someone in Hunt who isn’t wet.
We were warmly greeted at the door and shown to a table by windows overlooking the river. Our server was prompt and competent. There was (only) one other occupied table near us. Its occupants loudly discussed diseases and wheelchairs. So sorry to see them leave.
The warm yeast rolls were just fine. The menu looked good.
My wife had the tortilla-​crusted trout. She remarked that it was more fried than pan-​seared. She liked the trout, but peeled back the crust. She didn’t try the cilantro cream sauce or the cilantro slaw, because she’s not a fan of cilantro. Someone at Elaine’s apparently is.
I was snagged by the Sunday Fried Chicken dinner. What could be better? I noticed that it came with potato salad and slaw, which seemed an imperfect choice. The Chicken-​Fried Steak came with mashed potatoes and cream gravy, so I asked for that instead of the potato salad. No problem.
One of the two pieces of fried chicken turned out to be a thigh that was darkly fried, probably from having been fried, put in a warming pan, then quickly deep-​fried again before serving. It was dry and showed its age. The other piece of chicken was a boneless, skinless, thin slice of chicken breast that had been dredged in flour and fried. It was a lighter color than the thigh and differently prepared. While it tasted okay, and it was chicken, and it was fried, I don’t consider that to be fried chicken of the Sunday Fried Chicken Dinner sort. I don’t think that the chicken measured up to the standards of a ten-​buck lunch plate in a small-​town restaurant. For example, while I’m not a huge fan of the Blue Bonnet Café in Marble Falls (where you won’t find tablecloths or wine lists), it blows Elaine’s away for value.
The potatoes were thick and yellow – were they using golden spuds of some sort? I like mine white and fluffy. The cream gravy was also thick and yellow, more like a chicken gravy than a cream gravy. The slaw did not appear, but I did get two little cubes of watermelon and six red seedless grapes.
Overall, the food at Elaine’s Table is ordinary. You wouldn’t drive out of your way to eat there. It’s a candidate for a Cable TV restaurant makeover.

This restaurant needs an updated review. As one of two couples, we visited Elaine’s Table at 6:30 pm on a Friday evening. We were surprised to find ourselves as the only ones there until about 7:30 when seemingly more regular customers appeared. Throughout the evening the service was excellent but unobtrusive and the atmosphere pleasant with a lovely riverside view. The menu was small but all four agreed the food was fresh, well seasoned and served hot. The house wine was quite drinkable. For the price of the food, however we would have expected more interesting choices.

It’s been awhile since Elaine’s Table has received a review. Any restaurant that can survive in such a small town as Hunt for as long as Elaine’s gets a few stars for survival! It’s been there serving the community and visitors for 14 years! I’ve eaten at Elaine’s Table probably a dozen times in the past year… always at lunch. The service is personable… there are greetings at the door and the service is attentive. There is a nice habit of making you feel welcome. Specials are posted on the website. The luncheon menu has a good variety and I can vouch that the focacia sandwich will make you smile at your first taste. I don’t know what brand of coffee they serve, but it is great. You won’t be sorry if you dine here.

Completely underwhelming.
My family and I were staying in a resort in Hunt a few weeks ago, when we decided to venture out to eat and stumbled upon Elaine’s table. The building itself is charming and the back view is nice, but those are the only positives.
Their extremely limited menu is super overpriced. I decided to try the tomato bisque which tasted like it came from a Cambell’s can, and my dad tried the baked chicken which was equally lame. The waitress was very unfriendly, and overall it was a dud of an experience. We will not go back.

Introduction
My mother told me that if you can’t say anything nice about someone, don’t say anything at all. If I were to follow that guidance, my review would end here. If you have read my previous reviews, you will see that I have never given any place less than 2 stars until this one. If they would allow me to give 0 stars, I would.
Review
None of the signs were positive when we drove up to Elaine’s. No cars in the parking lot at 6 pm on a Friday night. Even the parking lot of the Jalisco Number 4, down the road had 5 cars in it.
Despite the lack of vehicles, we went in. Not one table with people sitting. We should have paid attention to this second sign of the dining Apocalypse, but we did not.
We were in the mood for appetizers, but the menu was limited. We ordered the Roasted Garlic and the Oysters Hollandaise along with two glasses of wine.
While we waited for our order, the waitress brought some bread, which appeared to be home made drop biscuits. Bad assumption. Rubbery, cold, a lacrosse ball would be easier to eat.
Once our order arrived, it got worse. After tasting one bite, my wife claimed «This is the worst restaurant dish I have ever had.» This from a woman who survived on Ramen Noodles and Dollar Meals for seven years of undergraduate and law school. Unfortunately, her statement was not hyperbole. Overcooked, salty canned oysters, with the muscle still attached. The Hollandaise sauce was institutional — stiff, cold, tasteless. Neither of us could eat more than one bite.
Told the waitress how bad the dish was, and all she could say was «Well, Thank You.»
As for the roasted garlic, even the cook couldn’t screw that up; although they only served 6 pieces of toast along with the garlic. Since there was no way I was going to eat the garlic with the hockey pucks, I ate the garlic straight from my fork.
Conclusion
If anyone suggests going to Elaine’s Table, you should end your friendship immediately or begin commitment procedures. You won’t regret it.

I’ve eaten hear a few times over the years and had mixed results. As others have noted the service can sometimes be spotty however the food has pretty consistently been quite good. It’s the only higher end restaurant in the area that I am aware of so if you should find yourself in that part of the world and are interested in a potentially higher end experience I’d say go for it.

Well I wish I had read the reviews before going to this place! The food was pretty good, pricey and small but tasty. The problem was the service. Reading the other reviews, I don’t feel alone now. We went into Hunt from one of the local Ranchs. We had intended to eat at the little store that has a small café in it but it was only open for lunch. The man running the store said that Elaine’s was the only place to eat dinner in Hunt. We asked if we were appropriately dressed and he assured us that it was fine and people dressed casual and dressed up to eat there. Well, the minute we walked in we felt very uncomfortable. We had a hard time getting anyone to wait on us. Finally a really cute and sweet girl stopped and said she would get our drinks for us and that the man also there was our waiter. She actually took care of us the rest of the time because this waiter with a german accent did not even speak to us and really made us feel like we were not worth his time. I really hate that this guy ruined the place for us because the food was really pretty good and the girl that helped us out was really sweet but he really left a bad taste when it comes to Elaine’s Table.

I can give a little on food, but service is the tipping point for me. On both of my visits to Elaine’s Table service has been horrible. Unattentive and then bothered by my request for service.
My prime rib had to be sent back because it was cold.
Expensive.
Turn around and go back to Kerrville.

We had brunch here while spending the weekend in the Hill Country. It looked so promising nestled along the banks of the river with it’s cozy and intimate back dining room. What a disappointment! Think small portions, high prices, and average food. The plates our entries were served on were the size of dessert plates. We don’t need gut busting quantities, but for $ 10 a plate we would expect to leave satiated. My eggs benedict came with a thin runny hollaindaise, and a side of fruit that consisted of 2 tiny slices of pineapple and 1 tiny slice of orange. No potatoes, no toast, nothing on the side but the fruit. The trout my friend ordered, while decent, was a tiny portion with 3 grapes and 3 tiny pieces of pineapple as a side.
The service was horrible. The waiter was fawning over the locals and ignoring us. He brought us a basket of stale rolls soon after we ordered and when we explained that they did not taste fresh he simply took them away and brought others without even apologizing. He never came back to ask how the food was and just had a generally bad attitude. We were so uncomfortable with the service that we complained about him to the owner.
We ate at several very good restaurants during our weekend in the Hill Country and unfortunately Elaine’s Table was the one stain on our perfect record.

My husband and I fortuitously stumbled upon this restaurant while driving through the hill country this past week. It was getting dark and we were hungry, and happened to see this restaurant on our way back to Kerrville from Hunt. The quaint limestone building is located on Hwy 39 just west of 1340, along the banks of the Guadalupe river. They serve a kind of new-​American-​gourmet-​local cuisine. The owners greeted us at the door, they were not pretentious about letting us check out the menu first. The server, Kathleen, was wonderful. I had the tortilla-​crusted trout and my husband had the locally-​raised roasted boar. Both came with seasonal veggies and a great house-​salad and bread. They had a nice selection of Texas wine and beer. Dessert was incredible: a not-​too-​sweet chocolate-​pecan pie with ice cream. We got out of there for $ 60, including 2 glasses wine/​beer, main course, dessert and tip! If you’re ever in the area, I would heartily recommend this restaruant!
I would say the dress is casual/​dressy. We were in shorts/​nice shirts, but there were people dressier than us. I wouldn’t stumble in from the river unless maybe you want to sit outside.
NOTE: check their website for directions (
; I’ve put a note on to the Unilocal gods to update the business address, what they have currently is a PO box), they note that if you use google or mapquest for sites in west Kerr county, you’re likely to get very lost. You can also see the menu and winelist on the site.