The Best Restaurants in Killeen, Texas

Brick and Forge opened on July 25, 2020, taking over a space that Old Chicago had vacated, and it is the most substantial independent restaurant in Killeen. The pitch the general manager gave the Killeen Daily Herald at the time was a hyper local restaurant built on locally crafted beer, with the kitchen rebuilt from scratch. The beer comes from Brick and Forge Brew Works, which has been brewing since 2013.

The menu is gourmet street tacos, hand tossed pizzas, burgers and wings across eight sauces, plus loaded fries with pulled pork and barbecue sauce. It keeps late hours, runs happy hour and does curbside and family packs, which in a garrison town matters more than it would elsewhere.

Coqui is a Puerto Rican bakery and cafe rather than a dining room, and it is the best breakfast in Killeen. The counter runs quesitos, guava and cheese turnovers and mallorcas alongside pressed sandwiches, a Cubano among them, plus egg sandwiches, pancakes and cafe con leche. The house favorite they name themselves is boneless ribs with Puerto Rican style Chinese rice.

Killeen is the original store and there is a second in Arlington. It closes in the late afternoon and does not open Sunday, so it is a weekday morning habit rather than a weekend plan.

La Garita is the Puerto Rican restaurant to use when you want a plate rather than a counter. The kitchen runs slow roasted pernil with traditional sides, bistec with mofongo, and pescado frito, a whole fried fish with white rice, beans, tostones and lime. Portions are built for the appetite of the crowd that drives in from the installation.

It is central, on West Rancier close to the north side of town, and it delivers inside a five mile radius, which covers most of Killeen and the Fort Cavazos gates.

Cassidy's is the burger in Killeen. Dwayne and Julie Cassidy were both born and raised here, they took over the Billy Bob's Burgers site on East Stan Schlueter Loop in 2022, and they run it as a family restaurant built on handcrafted burgers. The city's own visitor bureau lists it, which is unusual for a burger counter.

It closes at eight on its late days and at four on Sunday, which is early even by Killeen standards. Treat it as lunch and early dinner.

Takumi House is veteran owned and family operated, running hibachi grills and a sushi counter on West Stan Schlueter Loop. It is the sit down Japanese option in a city that mostly gets buffet versions of the same thing, and the hibachi side is what groups come for.

It does not maintain a website of its own, so hours here come from its map and review listings rather than from the restaurant. Call before a Sunday or a late arrival.

Tikka Twist is the Indian restaurant in Killeen and it is locally owned and operated rather than a franchise. The kitchen runs the north Indian standards, with the tikka masala and the naan the two things regulars name, and it is set up for takeaway and delivery as much as for the dining room.

It sits on Bowles Drive on the south side of the city rather than on one of the two Stan Schlueter loops where most of this list lives, which keeps it quieter at peak times.

Tex-Rican is a lunch counter on South Fort Hood Street doing traditional Puerto Rican and Caribbean cooking. The regulars order the mofongo, the slow roasted pernil, the empanadas and the daily special platter, and the rice and beans are the test it passes.

The hours are the catch. It runs a weekday lunch service and closes in the middle of the afternoon, with Friday the one day it stays open later. Do not plan a dinner around it.

Hierba Fresca is veteran owned and among the highest rated Puerto Rican kitchens in the city, doing mofongo, tostones and arroz con gandules on North Second Street near the older part of town. The cooking is the reason it stays on lists like this one despite how little it is open.

Published hours disagree across every listing we checked, and the most recent point to a weekend only schedule of a few hours. We have not been able to confirm a weekday service, so treat this as a Saturday or Sunday plan and ring first.