The Potato Shack is a new restaurant in Katy, but to those Aggies in Houston, it is a familiar establishment. HTownFoodReviews has long been a fan of the Potato Shacks in College Station, but was skeptical about how well it would translate so far from home.

Well, let me say that we were not disappointed. The restaurant voted Best of the Brazos might just have the best baked potatoes in Houston too. They are good enough to be eaten without toppings, and the toppings are good enough to be eaten without the potato. Put the two together, and it’s magic in your mouth. They have such a wide variety of toppings that it seems like you could eat there 3 nights a week and not realize that you had just eaten baked potatoes 3 times in the same week.

The fare of the night was a Barbequed Beef Potato and a Broccoli and Cheese Potato with a side of gravy.

The Chopped beef on top of the Barbeque potato was delicious in its own right. It wasn’t too salty, as chopped beef sometimes is at this sort of restaurant. The beef had virtually no fat on it, which made it easy to eat. We recommend ordering extra sour cream, because the potato is so big, that the one packet that comes with it isn’t enough.

The Broccoli and Cheese potato doesn’t come with any sauce. Although the potato was still very tender and delicious, not dry like they are when you make them at home, we here at HTownFoodReviews are sauce-and-gravy people, so we ordered a side of white gravy. It resulted in a sort of chicken-fried-chicken dipped in mashed potatoes delightfulness, a wonderful combination that we here at HTownFoodReviews recall fondly as one of the few bright spots about cafeteria lunch in high school.

For those of you in the crowd that are carb-conscious, The Potato Shack also has a fairly large salad selection; however we just couldn’t bring ourselves to try them given the awesomeness of their potatoes. The friendly staff would probably also be more than happy to serve the delicious toppings sans potato, perhaps between 2 slices of Texas Toast as a sandwich. We’d like to see them maybe include this as a menu option, however, for people who wouldn’t have thought of it on their own.

The prices were very good as well. There is almost always a special, and their website has printable coupons for the rare times when there’s not. We were able to order 2 potatoes and 2 fountain drinks and get out for less than 15$ WITH leftovers. That deal can’t be beat these days. The service was very good, as everyone was friendly. The staff came around to refill drinks, pick-up trash, and make sure that everything was delicious. Based on what we know of this restaurant in College Station, this service wasn’t just a “Grand Opening Special,” and can be expected to continue. The walls are covered in some pretty hilarious bumper stickers, although we know these to be leftover from the short-lived rib restaurant that occupied the location previously.

The restaurant is located in a relatively new strip center along Mason Road that has already seen several so-so eateries cycle through. The location is very small, and as word has spread, it seems to be increasingly crowded. They may need to seek out a bigger spot if their business continues to grow, or at least add a few outdoor tables. The close quarters also makes the restaurant a little loud at times. Luckily, Potato Shack delivers, so you can beat the rush and eat in your own home. With a bigger location, It’d also be nice for them to add a TV or two and a beer selection (although they do allow BYOB), and then it would have the potential to become a football-weekend hangout for what I’m sure is a loyal Aggie following.