The Best Restaurants in Kerrville, Texas

The building is the hook and the kitchen holds it up. Rails occupies the restored 1915 Kerrville train depot, on a site that served the San Antonio and Aransas Pass passenger line from 1887, and it took the Texas Downtown Association's 2004 award for the restoration. The Kerrville Daily Times has profiled it as a lunch and dinner fixture, and the menu runs to house soups, daily specials, a grilled salmon salad, a spicy shrimp Caesar and bison burgers.

First because it is the one Kerrville restaurant that both locals and visitors put at the top, and it has held that position for years rather than a season. Tripadvisor currently ranks it number one of more than a hundred restaurants in town, with reviews still landing through 2026.

Billy Gene's sits on the river at the west edge of town and most of its tables have a Guadalupe view, which is the reason it gets named first by visitors. It is also the restaurant that has repeatedly shown what it is made of. After the July 2025 flood the family fed first responders for free while debris was still piled on the back patio, coverage that reached Fox News and KSAT, and the Kerr County Lead listed it among the businesses open and doing the same thing again after the July 2026 flood.

Second because the view and the kitchen are both real and the place has proved it stays open through the worst the river can do. Expect home cooking rather than a chef's menu.

The Kerrville Convention and Visitors Bureau singles Francisco's out as the downtown spot for dinner with a strong wine list, and it carries an AAA listing as well, which in a town this size is not common. It sits on Earl Garrett a block off Water Street, with street parking only.

Third because it is the downtown room to book when the occasion matters. The one caution is the schedule, which is the most inconsistently reported of anything on this list. We found three different sets of hours across three directories, so this is a phone call rather than a drive-by.

A working brewpub with a kitchen doing sandwiches, salads, pizzas and snacks, listed by the visitor bureau and reviewed by Fodor's, which notes it keeps small-town hours and closes by 9pm. The unusual thing is the opening time, with the bureau listing an 8am start on most days, which makes it a coffee stop in the morning and a beer stop at night in the same room.

Fourth because it is the most useful all-day address in Kerrville and because the Kerr County Lead's July 2026 flood recovery guide listed it among the businesses open and trading, which is a harder verification than a directory entry.

The CVB lists this one as "Hill Country Cafe, A Texas Legend" and describes it as a beloved local spot doing hearty home cooking. It opens at 6am, which no other restaurant on this list comes close to, and it shuts in the early afternoon. Saturday is a short morning service and Sunday is closed.

Fifth because it is the best cheap breakfast in Kerrville and the one place on this list where you will be eating alongside people who live here on a weekday morning. Note that it runs cash only with an ATM on site, though at least one recent review reports cards being taken, so bring cash and do not count on plastic.

Texas Highways and the San Antonio Current have both written this one up, the Current under the line that it brings the wine experience down to earth, which is the right summary. It is a wine bar with a beer list and a small kitchen attached, on Water Street in the middle of downtown, and the Kerr County Lead listed it among the businesses open after the July 2026 flood.

Sixth because it is a bar first and a restaurant second, and we would rather be clear about that than oversell it. For a drink and a good plate downtown before or after dinner somewhere else, it is the best room in Kerrville.

Thai Ocha is listed by the Kerrville CVB at 417 Water Street and named in the bureau's own patio dining guide as one of the handful of restaurants in town where you can eat with a river view, alongside Billy Gene's and Taqueria Jalisco. It is the only Thai restaurant that turns up consistently across the downtown listings.

Seventh and last because we could not verify a phone number or current hours from any source we trust, and we will not print numbers we have not confirmed. The restaurant is listed and located, the schedule is not. Walk past it rather than driving to it.