Downtown McKinney Association

A FOOD TOUR for your Bucket List
There are a lot of wonderful downtowns here in Texas such as Grapevine (especially during December), Plano, Southlake, Ft. Worth, Galveston and you can fill in the blanks with yours, too. BUT, in my opinion, there’s one downtown that truly stands out among all the ones we’ve visited here in Texas and that one is…(drum roll)… McKinney! Yep, McKinney, Texas! Love that downtown. The Downtown McKinney Association has done an outstanding job!!!
On a beautiful October 20, 2013 we went on a walking tour with the purpose to list all the major eating places and other «kinds» of food places. All of the following were either in the heart of downtown or just off of it no more than a block or two. If I missed some, please let me know.
We started our journey at The Pantry where we had a late lunch of delicious homemade meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans. From there we walked east and wove in and out of this vibrant, clean, safe place to come and stay for however long.
As of that Sunday’s exploration here’s the list of fantastic food and fun:
1. The Pantry (great homemade pies, too)
2. Mellow Mushroom (very popular)
3. Bayou Jack’s Cajun Grill
4. Juarez Mexican
5. Dawgs & Hawgs
6. Lazy Lizard — oops… went out of business in ⁰¹⁄₁₄
7. Emporium Pies (pure tasty decadence)
8. Churchill’s
9. Patina Green (get there early because when the lunch food is sold out, there’s no more)
10. Gather
11. Amato’s on the Square
12. Brother’s NY Style Pizza
13. The Pub (great place to hang out and excellent fish and chips)
14. Bien Salsa (trendy Mexican food)
15. Gregory’s Bistro
16. Square Burger (get there early or be prepared to wait awhile)
17. La Misha European Bistro (great place to hang out)
18. Snug on the Square Coffeehouse & Café (great hangout)
19. Rick’s Chophouse (excellence in dining!)
20. Cadillac Pizza (FUN place and great pizza)
21. Spoon’s Café (great place to hang out and grab a light meal)
22. Sauce (mmmmmmm good Italian food)
23. Café Malaga (great place to hang out and dine)
Other «food» places:
1. Mom & Pop (Corn) Company (sugary sweet place and nostalgic)
2. Loco Cowpoke Salsa Shop (a MUST visit and purchase salsa place)
3. Canine Cookie Company (your dogs will thank you!)
4. Goodies (a favorite place to shop for your grandkids!)
5. Local Yocal
6. Lone Star Wine Cellars
7. The Cake Stand (custom cakes for weddings, etc.)
8. McKinney Wine Merchant
9. Paciugo Gelato (great gelato)
10. Landon Winery (THE hang out spot)
11. The Sweet Spot
12. Grotto Rock & Roll Bar (awesome place)
13. Hamm’s
14. Spoon’s Garage (great place to chill and sip)
Our goal is to visit each of these 37 places (and the others we don’t know about that will open) and experience their offerings before this time next year. As of this year, we have patronized 13 of them. We don’t have a «favorite» as we like each one we’ve been in, but we sure do like The Pantry, Square Burger, Goodies, and Snug on the Square Coffeehouse & Café.
Historical downtown McKinney also has a nostalgic hotel and several retail stores of all kinds that are well worth your patronage, too.