Back In The Day Cafe

We stopped in for lunch around 11:50 it was not busy at all. I guess its more popular around Breakfast. Ordered a green chile burger and my friend ordered steak fingers with two sides.
The burger could of been better, it was big, but I was hoping there was more green chiles or like green chile on it with a slice of cheese. It was just queso with diced green chilis on it. It didnt taste that great on my burger, but I still ate it because I was hungry. The steak fingers I tried from my friends plate was okay, I am not a fan of steak fingers, but she said it was good. Overall, I give it an extra star for the staff being very friendly and welcoming when we stepped in the door and it is a family owned restaurant. I do not think I would go back, most of their menu items have «Fried» items.

Our first time here. Great food and awesome service. Unique atmosphere. We will definitely be back. Fried catfish was delicious as was the chicken fried steak. Hidden gem of Midland!!! Can’t wait to come for breakfast.

Great food. A little pricey but really good home cooking. The sides are just like grandma used to make. I haven’t had okra that good in forever.

A hidden gem in Midland! Doesn’t look like much from the outside, but step inside for an adorable walk back in time! My husband and I both had the chicken fried steak and it was superb! My only complaint is that the food had the taste of being friends in oil slightly past its prime! Delicious iced tea and all the sides were great! Service was excellent as well!

There was only about 3 people in the whole place and my food took absolutely forever to arrive. Mashed potatos tasted like they were the instant out of the box variety. Fried chicken was below average. Décor was kinda neat.

The unique décor and friendly servers are the only redeeming aspects of my visit. I had hoped for good food on top of this but was disappointed. I had the chicken fried steak and it was very chewy; the mashed potatoes were instant.

I stopped in for breakfast. They had the buffet set up nicely. The biscuits and gravy were really good. They need to change the bacon and sausage they use. Those weren’t good at all. The omelet was very good.
The staff was welcoming and friendly. The décor was unique. I liked it.

Today at lunch we were looking for a «mom and pop» restaurant to eat some chicken fried chicken! We found a menu online of this Café. When we walk in there is so much that catches your eye. A little tour of midland during your hour lunch. Nice friendly staff and service was fast and accurate. Everything is very warm and welcoming. Only reason I didn’t give it four stars I felt like the drinks were very expensive and the online menu was different from the menu I was reading at the restaurant.

Loved it! The décor is unique. The walls are lined with store fronts. The wait staff are friendly and fast. The food is delicious. We had the chicken fried steak. It was huge. Everything is home made. We tried the bread pudding it was very good. Next time I am getting the meatloaf and trying the banana pudding. Will come back for sure.

My teenage son and I have been twice. I had heard the chicken fry was good, so when I looked at the menu it was close to $ 15.00! I told the waitress «Wow, that seems a lot for a chicken fry.» She said that most people split it, so that is what we did and ordered an extra side… The portion after cutting in half was still large and plenty for anyone. I’m 58 years young and have lived in Texas most of my life. I have often reminisced about the good old days when you could find a true homemade chicken fry that wasn’t frozen or made out of mystery meat. Well, I finally found it. This chicken fry was excellent. Best I’ve had in many many years. Huge. When you walk in the restaurant you can see into some of the kitchen… Mine has never been that clean. Unbelievable. The second time we went back to eat only about a month later, lo and behold, the prices had dropped! But not the portion size! Yay Yay Yay. This is our go to place for some good old back in the day chicken fry.

Food was good– has the chicken strips– mac&cheese with mashed potatoes — food was good and service was friendly. Great atmosphere and not packed to the max where you have to wait for long periods of time.

It is so cute inside. It has a church with stain glass windows, a stage, a house with a front door and family inside. The food is delicious. Started with a salad with blue cheese crumbles and ranch. The chicken fried steak was excellent and really huge. Gravy was the bomb flaky warm biscuits homemade mash potatoes. my only complaint I was to full for desert. Something in a dish with crumbles on top looked amazing. Also all the staff was super nice. The negative review on the décor must be nuts or a
is adorable.

What a refreshing change from the day to day madness of living in Midland!!! So happy I found this place! The décor is very unique as it depicts Midland «back in the day». The staff is very friendly and attentive. Now to the food … drum roll … AMAZING comfort food cooked to perfection with generous portions! I had the fried catfish with beans and cole slaw! Soo yummy! You must give them a try! You will not be disappointed!

This was my third time at Back in the Day Café’, and I have to say it was… okay? As one of the few locally owned restaurants in town serving these kinds of American classics, I wanted to like this place a lot. Walking in, I got a positive impression. The place was clean, the hostess friendly, and the décor was pure Americana. On my first visit, my waitress was quick and attentive, but when I asked for a recommendation, she stated she was a vegetarian and had not eaten any of the entrée’ items. I found that a little off-​putting, as I would expect a waitress to at least recommend the most popular item on the menu. I settled on fried chicken, since I was aching for some yard-​bird that did not come from a fast food chain. It arrived hot, crispy and juicy. It could, however have benefited from a pre-​cook soak in a brine of some sort, as the meat itself was a little bland. In fact, one commonality to all three entrée’s I’ve tried is that they are all a bit under-​seasoned. My sides were… adequate. Mashed potatoes from a package mix is just inexcusable in a restaurant today. Ditto for the «cream» gravy. Real mashed potatoes and gravy will win you a lot of good will in this town. Portion size was respectable, though. Half a chicken, two sides, a biscuit and a salad for about ten bucks is pretty reasonable.
Next visit was chicken fried steak, Again, huge portion for the price, but the packaged gravy mix let me down on consistency and flavor. The hand breading on the CFS was skillfully done and prefectly cooked, just like the chicken the week before. Again, however, it seems as though a dash of salt and a couple of grinds of pepper would have added a deeper flavor dimension to the meat rather than forcing the breading and «gravy» to do all the heavy lifting.
Tonight’s visit saw me order the Mesquite miked Ribs, which I was kind of excited about. This turned out to be the worst of the three entrée’s I’ve had. The flavor of mesquite smoke was completely absent from my half-​rack of baby backs, and the same lack of seasoning that plagued my previous two dinners was present here as well. The greatest sin, however, was the poor execution on the ribs. Although they were cooked through, they were nowhere near «falling off the bone» that we all expect from baby back ribs. It came with barbecue sauce on the side, which I appreciated, but I suspect it was a commercially available jar sauce. Avoid the two barbecue dishes on the menu.
In short, Great service, friendly people, nice looking joint and the cook clearly has some skills. There is potential here, but they really should address some of these issues.

There were two in our party, so we shared the chicken fried steak. I can’t remember the last time I ordered CFS at any restaurant. It was excellent. The sides are great as well.

Cool atmosphere and great comfort food. Huge portions with friendly service.

Had a wonderful lunch of Chicken Fried Steak with a co-​worker. We got an extra setting and shared the entrée as it was VERY generous. With the salad, biscuits and sides, we were both completely full with no room left for dessert. Our waitress was wonderful and very attentive. Loved the décor. The food was «just like momma made» and was delicious (except momma’s biscuits weren’t this good). I will definitely work my way through this menu and recommend it to all.

My wife and I have been wanting to try this place since they opened up. We finally were able to go have some food and we ended up picking ribs. We figured since it was the first thing on the menu it was probably the best thing they make… It was the exact opposite! Very dry and almost no flavor. After reading other reviews it seems chicken may be the way to go at this place.

My Wife, Myself and two teenage boys ate at back in the day tonight. The food was good. Southern style food. fried chicken, chicken fried steak, chicken strips lots of food! It came with green beans mashed potatoes, gravy, creamed corn mac and cheese the sides are served in a big bowl and you serve how much you want on your plate all of the food was good! I highly recommend this place!

This restaurantis new as lf mid January.
Had lunch there today with husband and grandson.
First of all it is served family style. You have a choice of a meat and then they bring you the sides family style (which are the same for each meal.)
Te meals starts with a fresh, yummy salad with an Italian dressing and feta. Very good. Fresh, hot, biscuits are delivered with butter. They were very good.
We ordered the chicken strips and steak fingers. Both were great. They brought those out with mashed potatoes, cream gravy, creamed corn, green beans, and we also had macaroni and cheese.
Everything was flavorful and fresh tasting.
The sides are «all you can eat» so doggy bags are not allowed except for the meat (which we had plenty left over)
Service was good.
I had iced tea. It was fresh and good.
The Décor is awesome especially if you are a Local. Lots of Midland past in there. Mix and match chairs made it kinda cool to look at.
It was a good experience and even the 6 year old ate well.
They had desserts of banana pudding and cobbler but we didn’t have room. Husband poured honey on a buttery biscuit and he was happy.
If there was a negative it would be the price for lunch. We shared an entrée and still had quite a bit left.