Normally Texans do not associate chicken-fried steak with a Cajun restaurant. Granted, the one served up at Treebeards — best known for its red beans and rice — is not the typical battered piece of meat smothered in a white cream gravy. Instead, this is chicken-fried like your grandmother used to make. This thick but tender piece of steak looks and tastes like it has been well worked over with a tenderizing mallet, battered and fried and then covered in dark gravy made in part from its own juices. The difference is divine. Available Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
This article appears in Sep 21-27, 2000.