Shut down during the pandemic, Cafe Texan reopens as dual concept: Coffee house and global museum

Houston Chronicle: May 3, 2023

Vance Howard says Cafe Texan should still be considered the state’s oldest coffee shop.

“We’re claiming it because COVID shut down everybody,” he said. “If someone disagrees with me, they’re itching for a fight.”

Cafe Texan was born in 1936 along Sam Houston Avenue, just a hop and skip away from the Waller County Courthouse and the infamous Huntsville Walls prison unit. It has played host to a variety of…

Oldest Cafe in Texas reopens in Huntsville

ABC13 KTRK: April 28, 2023

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (KTRK) — Cafe Texan has been on the same corner in downtown Huntsville for 87 years, but for the last three its delicious chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy have been on hold.

ABC13’s Dave Ward grew up in Huntsville. Cafe Texan was a big part of his growing up years.

“As a kid I would go there often with my father, I would order the trout with tartar sauce and mashed potatoes and English peas for 75 cents,” Ward said…

The Cafe Texan Announces Grand Re-Opening

April 26, 2023

HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS – April 26, 2023: The oldest running café in Texas, the Café Texan, is set to reopen to the public after closing its doors in 2020 due to the pandemic. The café has since undergone extensive reconstruction and will reopen as a non-profit café and a museum, a concept of the new owner and Huntsville native, Vance Howard.

Rebirth of the Cafe Texan

The Huntsville Item: March 28, 2023

Settling into a booth at the Cafe Texan on any given day for a hot cup of coffee or a glass of iced tea and a hearty meal was a ritual of comfort for the Huntsville community. Over a span of 24 years, John Strickland and his staff served consistently good food and provided some of the friendliest service in town. It was more than a restaurant. It was a local institution.

History of the Cafe Texan

May 31, 2022

The earliest known image of Huntsville is a simple hand-drawn sketch by an English traveler named William Bollaert, who captioned his work, circa 1842: “Very few of the houses can be seen on account of pine & other tees, bushes, etc.” Indeed, it is said Huntsville is the western point of what is known as the Piney Woods Region of Texas.