Built in 1902 in Old Town Spring as a hotel and saloon for railroad employees, today Wunsche Bros. Café stands emasculated by its current surroundings but holds strong to its heritage. The interior of Wunsche Bros. is still filled with hints of manlier times - of honor bars and prohibition stashes, swinging shuttered doors, old rusted Coke machines and paint-stripped wood.
For years I've thought of Wunsche Bros. as the place to grab a rather unremarkable burger and have an underage giggle at the prospect of beer bread before continuing to traverse a cluttered forest of knick-knacks and antiques with my mother.
This visit, after years of picking through Christmas kitsch and sampling apple cider, I found my best Old Town Spring discovery to date - the catfish at Wunsche Bros. It's remarkably fresh, and paired with savory, bacony green beans and a respectable scoop of mashed potatoes. And all this time spent scoffing at vegetables and ordering the fries feels tragic - Wunsche's battered and fried zucchini slices served with homemade ranch dressing are glorious.