Where to Eat in Cleburne, Texas

Downtown Cleburne's square is the center of the local food scene, with shops and restaurants filling the older storefronts around it. It pairs eating with browsing — you can catch a show at the Plaza Theatre Company or the Carnegie Players and grab dinner nearby.

One of the square's landmarks is the Red Horse Antique Mall, three stories of antique booths at the edge of downtown, with Taqueria Torres on its first floor serving Mexican right in the building. It's a good example of how the square mixes shopping and eating.

Away from the square, Cleburne covers the Texas staples — barbecue joints and Tex-Mex spots that handle the everyday eating for a working county-seat town. It's honest, unpretentious food rather than a destination scene.

That's the character of dining here: local kitchens, a historic square, and the kind of Texas comfort food the region runs on.

For a wider range, Cleburne sits about half an hour south of Fort Worth and close to fast-growing Burleson, both of which add far more dining. Fort Worth's restaurants, from the Stockyards to the cultural district, are an easy drive north on the highway.

But for a meal in town, the square and the local spots give Cleburne its own low-key flavor.