Spoken like a true OLD MAN!AgDotCom said:
In my opinion if you're under 35-40 years of age, you've never had a truly good CFS. The institutional food services have killed it (and the gravy, too.) Even Threadgill's in Austin isn't what it once was.
The best locally, back in the day were Youngblood's (now Carney's Pub), and Wehrman's in Bryan.
Locally today, IMO Willie's is the most "decent". And as Zone416 said, try the chicken fried medallions at Republic...not a true CFS but very tasty.
The best I've had in the past couple of years were at a Bill Miller's BBQ in both Hondo and Castroville. They don't serve it at their San Antonio locations for some reason. They were excellent, but still not as good as the holes in the wall of yesteryear when you were a high school athlete and the team bus unloaded at these places when you were playing out of town. Every coach in Texas knew where the best CF steaks were.
I will agree that institutional food services have taken over the CFS industry (and the gravy, too!), but I had some of the best CFS growing up at home! I also make a pretty mean CFS and home made cream or pan gravy. I have also had my share of really good CFS's in restaurants, although they are hard to find these days. Don't tell me I have never had a truly good, CFS, GRANDPA!