Walk in time, timeless places, and delicious spaces. From Mary’s hospitable table taking the palate on dOliciouS scrumptious journey food, wine, and hand made gelato ! A delightful GEM in Brownwood TX.. a must must come back again soon!

I’m from Dallas and a World Traveler 🌎 Foodie and I come to Brownwood for business often but this time I stayed here for over a week and I have tried several restaurants here but most are very low standard 😐 But I decided to try The Turtle Restaurant and not only was the food DELICIOUS, TASTY, & with GOOD PROPER FLAVOR & FRESH but Jared was so very friendly & a good listener of my needs. I’m definitely going back!!

Went 1/14/21 for dinner with two friends. I love that downtown area of Brownwood and the quiet, relaxed atmosphere of the restaurant. It’s a nice place but doesn’t feel stuffy. We ordered the potstickers, honey butter pecan chicken, and a burger. Everything was wonderful. They really take time to make sure every detail of the meal is thought through. The chicken was my favorite—crispy on the outside and perfectly cooked within. I ate every bite and got gelato for dessert. I decided on the orange chocolate and my friend got the turtle cheesecake. Both were delicious. The gelato had little bits of orange gelatin in it. It was great! We had tea to drink. With the appetizer, drinks, 3 meals, and 2 desserts we spent $98 +tip. It’s pricey but again, zero complaints. Everything we ate was delicious and the staff and atmosphere great too! We’ll be back again.

Food was 5 stars Service was 0 stars. We came at lunch on a Saturday. There was no customers or employees. We were not greeted, waited for a very long time, had to go find someone. A young woman told us they were slow and did not greet or sit us. She did not come back to take our order. She brought a water refill at the end of our meal but never checked on us any other time. She dropped the check off and never came back. She also billed us incorrectly. The chef is the one who brought our appetizer out. Both serving plates were visibly dirty. One had a thick brown spot on it the size of a 50 cent piece. When we showed her, they brought us 2 more very dirty plates. The outside patio had trash all over the ground. We were there for 2 hours due to waiting for such long periods of time to order and get our check. The food was amazing. We spent +$100 on lunch for 2 people. It is mind boggling to have such awful service and cleanliness standards, with such a high quality of food.

Before I completely destroyed this meal, it was a Turtle Burger with Cheese Fritters. The food was absolutely amazing. Savory, perfectly flavored, and an AMAZING atmosphere. Definitely a place to chill and actually enjoy a nice meal and conversation with your significant other. Wine selection was surprisingly much larger than I expected. The place is separated into two sections, one is more of a restaurant style, more quiet; the other is a small bar, with a good mix of music playing. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Would totally come back here again, hands down!!

He fixed us lattes it was quaint.

high end chef created cuisine. I'd go to Brownwood just to eat there. There's an enocoteca room perfect for wine tastings (or you can pair with a meal) this Chef Mary has won various awards in Austin competitions for gelato! did I mention an independent but connected gelateria to rival any I've had in Rome (Italy) not Rhome. this place is an oasis in a land of heart challenging fried and chicken fried. The atmosphere is light bright and friendly. I can imagine that in summer months dining on the patio would rival my favorite family restaurant in the parioli section of rome... tre sorelle (3 sisters). everything is fresh made and absolutely delicious and well worth the trip or stop enroute or returning from Austin. don't miss it. remember to thank me for the tip!

Awesome burger got the good morning burger was pretty amazing. We will definitely be back. We got here at about 10:45. No one else in restaurant but us. Great service but did take about 35-40 minutes to get food. But it is a big thick burger to cook. Then we finished it off with some vanilla gelato. Awesome meal. We don’t live here yet, but when we do we will probably be regulars.

We love the food and experiences we have at the Turtle in Brownwood. This past Tues we enjoyed "Food on Fire". It took place in the backyard and the weather was beautiful though the wind gave the staff some challenges. The staff remained friendly and accommodating in spite of the challenges. The food was Amazing. You can tell the care and time that goes into planning, preparing, and serving the dishes. If you are headed to Brownwood this a place you should definitely have on your list. If you aren't headed this way, you should consider it just for the experience

Working in Brownwood, from Austin. Google recommended this place. Go here. Amazing gem of a restaurant that I wasn't expecting. I didn't have a reservation, and was sat bar side. Went Friday 7pm. Jared was a great host and his fellow staff all seemed on the same page. Great hospitality with light conversation but not obtrusive. I eas checked on but in bothersome way. I never felt pressed to order quickly, to eat fast, or clear out. Vaulted ceilings, great air circulation, pleasant smells, and lots of turtle decorations. Felt like spring for sure. Extensive wine and spirits menu, European to Asian cuisine, and of course some American staples. I hade the Korean Bolgogi (sweet BBQ beef strips) with rice patty and oriental slaw. The plating looked very neat and appetizing. Place the beef on the rice and a bit of carrot/cabbage on the beef, eat in bites formed like that. Great flavor. Try the sake (Japanese whiskey). Sake is great with food, kinda cleans out the flavor in between bites. Makes each morsel taste like the first taste. I'm not into sweets but they do have really fancy and inspired Gelato. I spoke with the owner, she's a gem too. She's built the place up and you can tell she has a passion for the food and the experience. Highly recommended.

This is a gem of a find. The menu is outstanding & the quality of the dishes are impeccable! Will be back with any out of town visitors (especially if they think we, here in little Brownwood, don't have anything to rival "The big city." The wine list is extensive, creative, & curated with the adventurer at heart!

Service was very slow even though we were the only customers. The prices are very high. They say kid friendly and only had one booster chair. The pizza had no flavor. They said they had a kid burger, but it was a regular size and priced burger. I won't be back.

The restaurant was a delightful find. I am usually traveling through Brownwood and never have time to explore. This time I'm here for a week and decided to explore my options. The Turtle was well reviewed, so I wanted to check it out for myself. It is downtown in a building built before 1930. They have done an amazing job of preserving the classic appearance. The food was superb. The desserts looked so good, I made my meal decision based on saving room for more. I went with the spaghetti with walnut pesto. The size was perfect, and the dish was delicious. I scraped the plate clean, but I didn't feel like I was going to hurt myself with dessert. The finale was an apple empanada. These treats are made in house and from scratch. I planned my evening for this dessert, and I was not disappointed. My only regret was that I am on call and was unable to try something off their broad cocktail menu. That will have to wait for another day. If you have a minute to slow down passing through Brownwood, make it a point to stop at the Turtle and get out of your shell.

Turtle looked like a great place to try something different. Once inside the atmosphere was telling us to sit and don't be in a rush. Turn off your Social Media and visit with your family. It was not to bright, and locals was coming in to hang out. But this place is not even close to typical small town dinner...No, this place had ppl coming in and saying hello before going to their tables. With tables set up so nicely we understood no elbows on the tables.. 😂....just kidding. No straws , plus real napkins. (Please, do it "smash" the linen on the plate once your finish). Lol, restaurant petpev. I can totally get how hard or how long linen would need to soak before becoming clean. The Food is an interesting style of Asian, Mediterranean, India...Look on the menu for Heritage Culture and Asian fusion linguistic surprise. I am more that sure you will enjoy. My daughters enjoyed hanging out and looking at all the art work.

The brussel sprouts are to die for, and the staff are wonderful.

I went here for the first time and enjoyed the Pimento Cheese Fritters as an appetizer and would highly recommend the Honey Butter Pecan Chicken! Madison was an attentive server and she was able to provide great dining/beverage recommendations. I definitely would return here again due to the great service, food, and environment.

The food is good. I like going for dinner rather than lunch.

Cute and relaxing, wonderful brussel sprouts

This was our first time. Our wait was 45 minutes, but we weren't in a hurry. Our server worked so hard and gave me an extra ginger beer to go as compensation for the wait. The beef was Japanese, which I had heard was wonderful- it was! We really enjoyed the homemade potato chips too. I wanted Gelato but was too full. We can't wait to go back and try more of their delicious food. Next time, I'll cut my meal in half to take home. That should leave room for dessert!

Good food. Dainty portions and big price

We really enjoy this place! Fantastic for date nights, adult birthday parties, and Mary will even make a special cake for the party! I highly recommend the honey pecan roasted chicken or the good morning burger! Also, the gelato is award-winning-YUMMY! Such a special place to us.

Highly recommend this place! Had the Brussel sprouts, garlic fries, and the brisket/ground beef burger with barbecue sauce. Huge portions! All was extremely delicious! I was actually disappointed when I couldn't finish my burger due to the appetizers. Also the burger came with homemade warm kettle chips-yummy! Service from the waiter was very good too. Food did not come fast but was well worth the wait. Recommend making online reservations and allowing ~90 minutes start to finish. Will most definitely go back...repeatedly so I can try more things on the menu.

This is such a great, high-quality restaurant! I ate at the Turtle on 6/22 and had a fantastic experience. I had a sliced prime rib sandwich with au jus and it was tender and the sauce very flavorful. I sampled everyone around me and didn't have a bad bite! And for dessert someone ran next door and brought back several gelatos, including one made from roses. In Brownwood??? So pleasantly surprised.

Great food and a great atmosphere! The steak was tender and flavorful and the vegetables were delicious! 10/10 would recommend!

We decided to try something different and arrived at 5pm for a Tuesday meal. We pretty much had private dining at least 30 mins before another table was seated. Food was homemade and wonderful. Service was kind and attentive. We actually had forgotten how to have a quiet, relaxed and enjoyable meal until we walked into the Turtle. We will be back soon!!

High quality food and service! I had a delicious Turtle Burger and their mint chocolate Gelato, it was all divine! The server was knowledgeable and Informative, overall was a splendid meal and I'll be returning!

Cute small Restaurant, in downtown. I loved the beef empanadas, corn side was amazing really flavorful, and the roasted carrots were great. The steak I got was a leaner option. Had a whole story about it on the menu, but fell slightly short on flavor since it was so lean. Overall great experiance and service was personable.

After multiple visits we are still awed by the food this place can provide. The atmosphere is warm and friendly, and the food reflects the same. During the last visit I had the fish and chips and the cod was perfect. The batter was light and did not over power the fish. The rest of the table enjoyed their dishes as well. The drinks were crafted well and the truffles paired perfect with a Manhattan.

We've traveled 1+ hrs each time to dine here on multiple occasions. Our first times had such uniquely delicious food & exemplary service that we recommended this place enthusiastically to friends & family. But, our visit last night was so disappointing in terms of service that we've lost confidence in giving a recommendation or return visit. As a family of 6 celebrating our daughter's 21st birthday with a reservation for this stated purpose, we were welcomed & seated, but then it felt like we were forgotten. We sat for 25 min before we had to ask our server if we could order some drinks & appetizers. It took another half hour after that before the drinks actually arrived, and another 20 minutes more before only 2 of the 4 appetizers showed up. So that's 1 hr 20 min before we had a bite of food, which wasn't what we were expecting. Things did not improve from there, like having to ask repeatedly for refills of water and tea, our other appetizers showing up later alongside the main dishes, and needing to get up to track down our server for the bill. To their credit, without us even asking for this, they didn't charge us for 1 of the late appetizers. I'm leaving a 3 star review in an effort to be fair & average out this most recent time with the other great times we've had at The Turtle.

My husband and I had the most wonderful experience dining last night for date night with y’all. Absolutely loved my crab cakes and the wine was wonderful! My husband had the peppercorn steak and home on the range to sip on. He was blown away! Our server was Jarrod and he was such a kind, respectful delight! Can’t say enough how much we enjoyed it. Thank y’all so much for providing such a gem!!

Amazing the find this kind of chef driven food in the Hill Country (though becoming more common fortunately). I had their Oklahoma burger which was great. Their execution of it was a little different than I've seen before. They chop the onion into the beef. The end result was outstanding none the less. The got the char you'd expect from the griddle. Homemade chips. A great wine list too! The server was really young but knew the menu very well and was attentive. It was particularly busy for a Friday night so I hope people appreciate this place. I'll be back the next time I'm in Brownwood.

Calculated mediocrity, it took an hour and a half before we were finally served everything for our meal. Tea, appetizer, entree, and dessert. It was one hostess/waitress in workout attire running frantically everywhere. For the price of the food it was ok, the portion sizes were average, but I was not wowed by the taste at all. I really regret not making the drive to the harvest, much better food. The outside looks nice but the inside is kind of drab, not sure what theme they're going for but it looked like Christmas lights hung up inside. My lamb kabobs were ok, but the rice was definitely overcooked. Not too happy that we went here for our anniversary dinner, it wasn't busy but it took so long everything was closed by the time we got out. The point I'm making which was missed by the owners in regards to not being slow eaters is that you are severely understaffed. The food itself didn't take long to come out, the longest part was simply placing our orders because you literally have one waitress on a Friday night!

Would give 10 stars if possible! Very nice surprise in Brownwood for dinner on a business trip. I had the sourdough and dipping oil which was so good. The Chorizo Cappeletti was one of the best meals I’ve ever had! And then topped off with turtle cheesecake. I’m not a big chocolate fan and this was perfect. Not too rich. Will definitely come back next time in Brownwood.

A unique place to eat in the middle of a lot of the small town sameness. The eclectic, Mediterranean- and European-i soured menu are constantly changing and always a lit of good choices. The waitstaff is friendly and helpful and you'll enjoy your meal here. Just make sure you've got time to take it in because they don't do "fast" and they don't prep much until it's ordered.

Food was super fantastic. The waitress was very kind and helpful. Definitely worth the wait, but be warned the food took awhile. It'd be nice if they played something other than elevator music. We had 8 different meals and everything was really good, nothing was left on the plates when we were done. They deserve the 4.5 stars they have, if not more, great job guys.

Very Good!

Very nice restaurant! Good food! Excellent bread pudding!

My husband and I stopped to eat lunch at The Turtle in Brownwood today. Our Akaushi (the best Wagyū beef there is) burgers were cooked perfectly medium-rare as we requested. The accompanying chips were light and crisp. The restaurant was cozy and quiet; our server was an absolute doll. For dessert, we tried the Lavender lemon gelato and it was the absolute best gelato that I’ve ever eaten. Please note: I live in Dallas and the big city gelato shops can’t touch this one with a 10-foot pole! It is light, wonderfully creamy and refreshing! With all the aforementioned being said, I hope you give this place a try the next time you’re in Brownwood!

Amazing steak. I think the Google price guide is off but the food is so worth the price. My mother in law got a traditional German dish and she said it tasted just like she remembered getting in Germany.

Pleasant surprise to experience such carefully prepared excellent food in an idyllic downtown setting. Thoughtful preparation and choices, fresh ingredients, generous portions and reasonable prices, an amazing wine by the glass list, served in a relaxing and beautiful setting make this a restaurant to want to return to over and over again. A culinary delight in the town of Brownwood Texas !

Absolutely loved stopping at the place during a weekend day trip. We had lunch there, then ended driving back through town for a drink in the bar. They have a restaurant, gelato and chocolate shop with coffee, and a bar in three adjoining building sections.

Amazing dinner, great service and food was delicious. Bread pudding was crazy good but split it!

Such amazing food, really nice atmosphere. On par or even better than the likes of Dallas, Houston, and Austin. Well worth a detour off the highway if you're passing through!

Fabulous and friendly. Great staff and fantastic service. The food was very fresh and flavorful. The gelato is fantastic too.

We went for the gelloto. Very good!

Very unimpressed. Our waiter/bartender was very nice and seemed to keep up with us fairly well. However we were there for two hours waiting for a pizza and two burgers. Even on a “slow food” scale this is really unacceptable. But the time frame was the least of our issues once we received our food. The “Spanish Chorizo” pizza was lacking in taste and chorizo. It was honestly a pizza topped with summer sausage and tasteless cheese. A Walmart lunchable would honestly be better. The Lindsey Burger was supposed to have everything besides mustard, pickles and onions. It arrived plain and dry. Over all we spent 2 hours and $15 per meal to leave hungry but very hydrated. Honestly, We expected much more.

Be aware that this is considered “slow food,” but it’s totally worth it! Our bartender, Drex, had a very busy evening, but remained cool and calm. Delicious drinks and a huge variety of wines. We ate at the bar and had a great, chill time.

Could not figure out where the entrance was because there’s three of them. Called before to make sure there wasn’t a wait. He said to just come and there were tables. Once we got there they told us it would be an hour wsit. So we left esp since no table had food. Understaffed.

WOW WOW WOW! We were just passing through Brownwood and needed dinner. We were blown away by the amazing quality and service! We added this place to our "favorites" and we will definitely be stopping here again next time we're in town. Thank you!

Not the worst place ever, but not the best. The interior is a bit plain but that's not a huge issue, the wait time was also long but that was expected. You can tell they do care about their food and put in effort, but price to portion size is not worth it. The gelato is really the only thing I would recommend coming here for.

Awesome!!

Great food and great service. Coming from out of town it was nice to find this little gem hiding in downtown Brownwood.

Ideal restaurant with quiet atmosphere for visiting over a leisurely well appointed meal. Also good to drop by for Gelato. More casual offerings in the separate bar with bar menu. Good cocktails and wine selection.

They had some cute stuff but a bit over priced and did not have what i wanted.

Thank you for hosting our graduation dinner! The food was as amazing as always!

The quiche was excellent! Thank you!

Top quality food and service.

Excellent service, the food was wonderful, the Chef did an amazing job. Definitely goi g back, also y'all have to try the gilato it was Epic

Good food. A bit pricy.

Funny how my 1 star reviews keep getting removed over time... hrm, perhaps the owner hates online critiques as much as in person. When we tried this place, it was WAYYYYY over priced, NOTHING we wanted on the menu was available, and I've only seen a staff so rude and useless once before (in Dallas fwiw). Pretentious, and highly over priced for what little was available, esp considering only one other couple was there at the time (they didn't seem happy either). If I'm going to drop a C note on a meal for 2, it had better be AMAZING with atleast a complimentary reach-around. Honestly, Underwood's is a much better meal at about 1/4 the price. Now to see how long it takes the owner to have my review deleted, again. To the owner: no need to try and validate your attitude, prices and "food" to me. Your food just isn't worth Gordon Ramsey prices in a less than Hooterville environment. Austin or DFW would have been a better fit for you. (People are used to being robbed in bigger cities)

This restaurant has an exquisite food and wine menu - better than most places you’d see in Houston, Dallas etc. A true gem, and the food is delicious. I’d go out of my way to stop here.

Prime rib was amazing!

Great burgers!

We love this place.

Amazing, place to eat. Good selection to pick from, food took appropriate time to get. Gelato was freakin amazing, which explains the awards they received. Military friendly

Made a reservation so the wait to sit was no problem, however, it felt like we were forced to be there for so long. To get our order took 30 mins then another hour for them to make the food and us to eat. The food though was delicious! I ordered the spicy pork tenderloin & it was so soft & juicy. Def don’t regret eating there.

I love the place 😍