Our Story

Your Local
Family Cafe

Serving homemade country cooking since 1993.

I’m Brian. My wife Karen and I have run this place in Huntsville for more than thirty years — first as Casa Tomas, then as Farmhouse Cafe when we opened the doors here in 1993. Pull up a chair.

Our place is your place

Owners Brian and Karen Koerselman at the bar of Farmhouse Cafe in Huntsville, Texas

From the owners

A Few Words From Brian

Huntsville, family, and great country food.

Farmhouse Cafe was a concept created by my wife and my mother-in-law. Karen’s family has been in the restaurant business their entire lives, and it started right here in Huntsville with the Café Texan. From there they went on to open a Mexican restaurant called Casa Tomas — several locations from 1977 until 2003.

That’s where I was lucky enough to meet my wife, working a summer job there while attending Sam Houston State University. I fell in love with her and eventually fell in love with the restaurant business.

When we sold Casa Tomas, Karen and I had been running the Huntsville location since 1993, and we were not exactly sure what we would do next. With the help of Ed Sandhop, the Gibbs Brothers, and great creative ideas from Ginny Renfro and Karen, we came up with the concept of Farmhouse Cafe. We wanted down-home Southern cooking — what folks call comfort food. We wanted a nice, but casual “hole in the wall” place that served quality country cooking with great atmosphere and service.

Our philosophy is to take care of the customer like you were invited to someone’s house for lunch or dinner. We want you to look forward to coming to Farmhouse Cafe. We make every effort to make sure you enjoy your meal — from the broccoli cornbread and rolls, to the Blue Plate Special of the day, to the homemade pies and cakes that finish your evening.

And don’t forget the sweet tea.

— Brian & Karen Koerselman

Three generations, one family

Three Restaurants, One Family

From the Café Texan to Casa Tomas to Farmhouse — Huntsville has been our kitchen since 1977.

1977
Café Texan
Karen’s family’s first restaurant
Karen’s family arrived in Huntsville and opened the Café Texan in 1977. It was the start of three generations in the restaurant business — and the reason Karen grew up behind a counter.
1977–2003
Casa Tomas
Mexican restaurant Brian married into
Casa Tomas opened the same year as the Café Texan and ran several Huntsville locations until 2003. It’s where Brian, working a summer job during college, met Karen — and where we both learned how a family runs a kitchen.
1993–present
Farmhouse Cafe
our current home
When Casa Tomas closed in 2003, Farmhouse Cafe had already been ours for ten years — we opened it in 1993 with the help of Ed Sandhop, the Gibbs Brothers, and Ginny Renfro. Country cooking, Southern hospitality, and a 14th Street address ever since.

SHSU connection

We Are Bearkats

Sam Houston State has been part of every chapter of this family.

We employ many students from Sam Houston State University, and we’re glad to be Bearkat alumni ourselves. From Karen’s father, to Karen and Brian, to our three kids, we are all proud to be called Bearkats. If you’re a student looking for honest food and a place that knows your school song, you’ve found it.

Bearkat alums

Sammy Bearkat, Sam Houston State University mascot

The room

Inside Farmhouse

Come look around.

Our standards

How We Run the Kitchen

Two things we don’t compromise on.

Made fresh today

Our food policy

Cooked to order, kept honest.

We keep our kitchen spotless and our food fresh. Every dish is cooked to order — never reheated, never sitting under a heat lamp. The broccoli cornbread comes out of the oven in the morning. The pies, too.

Made to orderNo heat lampsBaked daily

Our core values

Treated like family.

Farmhouse Cafe is an equal-opportunity employer. Every guest, every shift — we treat people like we’d want our own family treated. If you’ve eaten at our table once, you’re not a stranger the next time you walk in.

Equal opportunityHospitality firstRegulars matter