Hico, Texas: Chicken-Fried Steak, Billy the Kid, and a Good Empty Road

If you want a weekend escape that does not involve airport security, head for Hico, Texas, on U.S. 281 between Fort Worth and the Hill Country. It is a small, old-fashioned town with brick storefronts, broad skies, and just enough oddness to keep the drive from feeling like an errand.

Park in the free angled spaces along downtown’s North Pecan Street, or use the public lot just behind the main storefronts. You can leave the car there for a few hours without playing the usual small-town game of wondering whether you are accidentally blocking somebody’s cousin’s driveway.

Start at Koffee Kup Family Restaurant, the local institution with a name that sounds like it was chosen by a committee in 1957. Order the chicken-fried steak with mashed potatoes, gravy, and a vegetable you can pretend balances things out. Save room for pie. The portions are firmly in the “I should have listened to my friend” category, so do not arrive after eating a snack in the car.

After lunch, walk the courthouse square and browse the antique shops. Hico is easy to explore on foot, which is excellent because the whole point of a town like this is slowing down without having to announce that you are slowing down.

Here is the surprise: Hico claims Billy the Kid once lived there under the name William Bonney. The story is disputed, naturally, because no small Texas town is allowed to have a simple past. The local museum and downtown displays lean into the legend, and even skeptics will admit it makes a better afternoon than scrolling through your phone at a chain coffee shop.

For the scenic part, take Farm Road 1602 north and wander through the ranch country toward the Paluxy River, then loop back before dark. The roads are quiet, the landscape rolls instead of showing off, and you get those long Texas views where the horizon seems to have misplaced its edge.

Go on a weekday if you can. On weekends, arrive before noon, because Hico’s best tables and its limited supply of pie are both capable of disappearing.