How did Smithville get so lucky as to get themselves such a great restaurant? Fat Cat is a friendly, family-run place with a casual atmosphere, live music on weekends, and a one-page menu with apps, salads, sandwiches, burgers and a few entrees like ahi tuna steaks, along with a beer and wine selection. All that's great. But what makes it so uncommon are the amazing things they add to this formula that simply knocked our socks off. The salads are farm to table. The pork and beef are ranch to table (which makes their pork belly bhan mi and blue cheese bacon burgers absolutely outstanding). The proprietor owns the farm and ranch. Their beer selection has something for everyone and you can even buy it by the bucket. And without a doubt, they offer the best wine selection, the most wine-by-the-glass options, and the best prices on wine-by-the-bottle in the county. It's likely even better than anything you'll find in Travis County. Seriously, if you know wines, look at that wine menu and tell me I'm wrong. You can't do it! The three of us enjoyed a really nice Napa Vally Cabernet Sauvignon in the restaurant, and we got a $39 bottle of 2018 Pinot Noir from Sonoma's Russian River Valley to go that they would have been just as happy to open for us in the restaurant. Who does that at those prices? I'm seriously canceling my wine club membership and I'll just come here more often. Plus, the owner really knows her wines. She judges wine competitions in Houston and is more knowledgeable than many California sommeliers I've known (and I lived in California for 15 years). But she also knows old world wines and Texas wines very well. I'll post pictures of the food later. I'm coming back to Fat Cat for a pre fixe dinner - ribeye stake and snow crab with wine pairings included. The way they wine, dine, entertain and treat you, I feel like I'm the Fat Cat! And I can barely hear the music over the purring :-) read more

Fat Cat Lounge and Cafe - This is the place! - Wine Bars Near Me - Smithville, Texas

Food was delicious, we met the owner and manager they were both absolutely wonderful. I love the home time feel. I got the Nelson's grill cheese with bacon added, Husband got the cartintas-stated they were AMAZING but requests a Texas size portion. Lasagna was VERY GOOD according to my mom and my dad had the Blue Chicken Sandwich and was good. They were SUPER sweet to my little, he was the star of dinner. Try the Vampire Merlot very peaceful and homey. read more

Fat Cat Lounge and Cafe - Nelson's Grilled Cheese with Bacon - Wine Bars Near Me - Smithville, Texas

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Small but amazing wine bar with full service bar. One page food menu with 7 pages of curated wines!!!! Jazz and other delightful older music. Pictures of famous female singers on the walls. Stage for live performances. Delightful local favorite!! Great place to unwind after a hard work week. Farm to table/ from a scratch kitchen. Food features appertifs, Italian, seafood dishes, salads and burgers. Gotta love small Texas town cafes!!!!! Simple ingredients, well prepared so their flavors combine and shine. Oh...and you must ask for her speciality desserts!!! Ingredients from her garde, She makes them all!!! read more

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We are open Wednesday through Saturday 11 to 830. Thursdays we have open mic night come and check that out. We have mimosas with four different juices to choose from. And for of wine for everybody's taste. read more

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Fell upon this place after a Thursday night basketball game in Smithville and fell in love! Great wine selection and fresh farm to table food was delicious! But most of all we fell in love with the live music and the ambiance of the night. Live mic night was just a special treat on Thursday night. The staff and owner do an amazing job! We will be back! read more

Wonderful place for any meal!! The staff is amazing the food is mostly farm to table. Highly recommend! We ate almost every meal there!! Wonderful food!!! read more

If you're staying in Smithville, you have to check out this place! My SO and I booked an Airbnb in this town for a weekend getaway. After realizing the place we planned to eat at was closed for renovations, we decided to walk around and stumbled across Fat Cat Lounge. Initially, we were a little hesitant because we were the only people in there when we walked in. This is definitely more of an evening spot though so understandably so given that it was lunch m..but it was super cute and the smell of whatever was being prepped in the back was amazing. The owner, Laurie I believe, immediately greeted us and was so friendly. She talked to us about the business, showed us her very extensive wine collection and provided service so incredible that we came back later that evening again for dinner. The food is so good. So so good. We couldn't get enough of the dip trio and the lasagna had that home cooked meal feel you don't normally get from restaurants. Laurie definitely knows her stuff about wine and we had a bottle of a white Pinot noir! Also the wine list is impressive considering the location of this business and the prices are unbeatable. We came back later that evening and this time we were greeted by who I'd assume to be Laurie's husband. This time there was a lot more people and they had this really great Blues band playing. My SO and I both got curry lamb and oh my lawd it was incredible. Overall, incredible experience. Definitely do not pass this place up if you're in the area even if it's empty! read more

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Outstanding gem in Smithfield! All the dishes are from scratch and excellent!! Luckily Shepherds pie was on the menu and best I've ever had. Salad very fresh all direct from the farm. This is comfort food at its best! The bread pudding was best I've tasted also. Give this restaurant a try. You will NOT be disappointed. We'll definitely make this gem a regular visit from now on. read more

In the past few months we have had several meals at Fat Cat Lonunge. We have been impressed with the atmosphere, service and the food. It is a place where you can have a quiet relaxing meal. The service is always friendly and prompt. We recently had a group of eight people from around Austin and the service and food was first class.. We highly recommend the Fat Cat Lounge. read more

Great place with small town friendly vibe. They have an Oktoberfest menu that blew our minds! Home made bone broth soup, chicken schnitzel, goulash were really good. Sides were also great, home made red and green kraut and cucumber salad. They also have a set menu with burgers, salads, and Italian entrees. read more

I NEVER review but I felt it is time When looking for a new restaurant and come across a place that is trying to be something that is more then it is! It was OK menu limited, they over complicated with too much veggies, the dessert was not great, service really slow and compared to what we spent for 4 people NOT worth the $$$ I will say the Brussel sprout appetizer was good! I am from a very high standard f&b background so just saying! I guess I was disappointed! Running a restaurant is hard work I get it but come on do right! read more

My new favorite restaurant in bastrop county! I have been here twice now and both times blew away my expectations. I'd have to recommend getting the spinach artichoke dip w garlic bread! The service is great and it seems like everyone here is truly passionate about their food. ALWAYS ASK FOR THE SPECIALS! They also have amazing wild mushrooms that I'd recommend! The ambiance is really fun as well!! I obviously would recommend this place to anyone I know going through bastrop county! read more

My husband and I went out to the Fat Cat Lounge and Cafe today for lunch. Lemme tell y'all everything we had was amazing! We started with the trio dip appetizer (we chose Crack Chicken Dip, Spinach and Artichoke Dip, and their Hummus) all were freaking delicious! We had the special Watermelon Gazpacho Soup which was so flavorful and refreshing...we both finished it and wanted to lick the bowl clean it was so good! For our main meal I had the Bacon Jam Blue Cheese Burger with Chef Rob's farm raised beef. It was one of the best burgers I have ever had! My hubby ordered the Chef's Special a Pulled Pork Sandwich and it was so delicious! Probably the best pulled pork sandwich he's ever had! If you haven't tried Fat Cat Lounge and Cafe, you need to do it right now!! We will be adding this restaurant to our favorites and will be making regular visit to try out more of their menu! Just so you know everything on the menu is local farm to table! We didn't have time to get pictures of our food because we were hungry and everything was sooooo good! read more

Service is good. Food is extremely mediocre. Nothing to make me come back. Cute place. Great decor. Not farm to table as advertised. Desserts straight out of the freezer from Sysco. Nothing special about this place. read more

It was a very good meal with wine and live music. Great place to visit. I totally clean my plate clean. And Rob was the best server. Great personality. Explains the menu and farm to table info. You must come to Smithville for a delicious meal. Parking is no problem and their are some Airbnb's to stay at too. Love this place. I finally got to eat here. I ate the lasagna. All the dressing are homemade. Yummy. read more

Fat Cat Lounge and Cafe - I'll take the plate too. - Wine Bars Near Me - Smithville, Texas

The Grown Up Grilled Cheese is like if an amazing grilled cheese and a delicious BLT had a baby! Good food Smithville's small town charm! read more

MUST VISIT!! This place has just opened up and I'll tell you what, it's DIVINE! It's Thursday night and just did not feel like cooking. Picked up to go the spinach manicotti and spaghetti (both came with salad and garlic bread) MADE FROM SCRATCH KITCHEN and made with love....you guys, the food was soooo delicious. Lori and Mike at the Fat Cat also dropped in a little surprise - homemade chili with Nilgai (look up this exotic YUM), bacon, and other meats in this award winning chili - I glazed over listening to all the effort that goes into this chili. I usually despise chili unless it's our family recipe - this had my boy friend and I in a dizzy of a chili spell...so good!! I hear it'll show up on the menu full time - ask for it, you won't regret it. The space is super cute - cozy and with enough space to fan out safely from COVID. There's a stage for music on Saturday's and Lori is planning on throwing down wine tastings (ask for the sign up sheet to get on the list)! And not the typical wine tasting with a mediocre Chardonnay and CabSav - Lori is excited about branching out and introducing folks to other varietals you might not normally run into. Smithville is full of homegrown gems. Don't feel guilty for putting in that to go order; it's the only way we can thrive by supporting local. Can't wait for y'all to stop by this place and enjoy it - it's fantastic!! https://www.fatcatloungeandcafe.com/menu 301 Main Street Smithville TX 78957 281-236-8007 read more

Such a cool atmosphere and insanely good food!!! The servers are hilarious too, so thats a plus!

What an exceptional experience! This is one of my new favorite places to go for food, wine, great music and atmosphere. The decor is very interesting and attractive. The food was fantastic! And the wine selection is incredible and not over-priced! While we were there, the owner, Lori came out to visit and make us feel at home. What a neat lady! And the chef {can't remember the name... sorry} came out as well. We really complimented her on the food. Will definitely go back again. read more

Ambiance and service were fun and excellent. Food was good just be prepared to wait a while. We were in more of a rush than we should have been for a place like this. Would love to come back when we had no place to be. Highly recommend. read more

It had an interesting vibe, but service was lacking. I ordered a hamburger with bacon and added a easy-over egg for an additional $3. The hamburger was cooked medium as ordered, but the egg was cooked well, not over easy as I had ordered. The server never returned, but was outside on the phone. Another server came by after we had eaten. I told her about the egg, and she apologized but did not take the egg off the bill. I didn't eat the egg. There was no salt or sweetener on the table, and like I said, our server never once came to check on us. read more

Lori has a lot of experience that helps her pick the best wines at a great price. She is one of the taste testers at the houston rodeo wine contest! We had the Apple streusel. Two glasses of cab. The often have live music saturdays. read more

Great food, great service and great wine. I had the lasagna with side salad and a bottle of cab. Took half the bottle home and finished it later that night. read more

We have have here twice. First time the service and food was horrible. Thinking it was an off night, we tried it again. Second time was even worst. Service is very bad and the food was still horrible read more

Have been here twice already and the food and ambiance are great! Had the lasagna tonight and was absolutely delicious! My wife ordered the arugula and beet salad w/ goat cheese and she devoured it. We lived in Houston for many years and had access to the best food around. They have some great options on the menu. This place has great food made obviously with fresh ingredients. Hard to find decent wine around and they are starting to bring good wine to the area. Live music on Saturdays. Tables and couches are well distanced. Definitely recommend! read more

Fat Cat Lounge and Cafe - Lasagna w/ side salad and garlic bread - Wine Bars Near Me - Smithville, Texas

This place, a piece of Heaven, ROCKS! The food, service, wine selection and owner are fabulous!!! My new most favorite ever place!!!!! Go for lunch, too!!! read more

Best new place in Smithville, food was amazing. People were very kind. Can't wait to come back for live music. Come check it out!!

The food, the people, the live music, the atmosphere, are all wonderful. What a great addition to a small town.

What a friendly and fun place. We had excellent gourmet Italian food and really enjoyed the live music. Highly recommended. A real taste of local Smithville hospitality. read more

Good social distancing procedures and food was fresh, homemade and tasty! Smithville now has great Italian!