Romantic Getaway: The Farris Hotel

Only about an hour away from Houston is the small town of Eagle Lake. A main street, a town square, stores that have been there forever, even a little store, A. J. Struss, that is just like the “everything” stores I used to love when I was growing up in the 50’s. It reminds me of a similar store where I went weekly to look at a shiny, red, Western Flyer bicycle. Priced at almost $30 it was well beyond the reach of my family, but I could dream…That is the kind of town Eagle Lake reminds one of – a time when streets were safe and people were decent, hardworking, patriotic Americans

Sometimes you find businesses and people that have the ability to do things right. We found that recently in a Sunday Brunch visit to the Farris Hotel in Eagle Lake.

When you get up on Sunday morning, ride (hungry and without your cup of coffee) about 60 miles to go to a breakfast buffet you have plenty of time to wonder if it is going to be worth it.

We hadn’t “heard” about the place, known anyone who had been there or even seen a review of it. Our only contact was that a year ago we were riding through Eagle Lake and noticed a banner proclaiming “Sunday Breakfast Buffet”. (I tend to have a long memory for signs about food).

As we sat in the dining room enjoying the very impressive array of foods presented on the buffet we read up on the background of the hotel. One review of the hotel was written in 1905. The reviewers could never have expected that their work would still be read or that people would still be writing reviews about the hotel a century later.

Not to give away the “ending” but we were impressed with the buffet, the selection of foods offered, the presentation of the foods, the service and the overall ambience of the hotel dining room. The pepper crusted, smoked salmon was the best I have ever eaten. It was so delicious that I had to force myself to move on to the salad bar, the fresh fruit trays, the amazing array of cheeses, melt-in-your-mouth tender beef, delicious ham, made-to-order omelets in an amazing array of filling options, bacon (don’t tell my heart doctor) personal sized waffles, peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream. We also tested (it is our job) the jambalaya, the shrimp creole, wild rice, hot biscuits and cream gravy.

The food was so incredible that we immediately began to discuss our future calendar and to plan a return trip to do further “research”. Matter of fact, we will probably be forced to research the Farris Hotel dining on a regular basis.

To step into the Grand Hall on the floor of the Farris Hotel is to take a step into history. Eagle Lake has had a hotel on the corner of North McCarty and Post Office street for over 150 years.

The original wooden structure, The Good Hotel, was opened here in 1857. Only a mere 21 years after “The Alamo” it really puts you in touch with Texas’ rich history. The original wooden structure was replaced with a “modern” (at the time) hotel in 1912. Opened as the Hotel Dallas (it has long been a tradition to name...

We hope that you enjoyed reading this excerpt from "The Farris Hotel". If you would like to read the entire article and more, you can order a back issue of Mar / Apr 2005 where this article was originally published.

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