Plano North | September 2023

Dining

BY JONATHAN PERRIELLO

Katy Trail Ice House Outpost brings backyard beer garden to Plano Tucked away in a small nook along Routh Street in Dallas sits a brick wall tacked up with a wooden sign that reads Katy Trail Ice House and a path leading behind it. Walking down the path reveals a garden of shade trees and dozens of gently misting fans and people enjoying food and drink at the picnic tables beneath them. The restaurant is at its center, complete with indoor seating, a full kitchen and bar menu and servers shuing orders out to customers. For owner Buddy Cramer, this is the closest Texas representation of traditional German beer gardens. Now, the Katy Trail Ice House Outpost in Plano is undergoing a similar expansion with the addi- tion of 6,000 square feet of patio space and almost $1 million worth of planted trees. “In this business if you’re not doing anything to (make progress) then you’re probably moving backwards,” Cramer said. The idea emerged from his desire to meld the hole-in-the-wall patio bars in Central Texas with the beer gardens he visited in Munich, Germany, where people gathered beneath trees with friends and family, Cramer said. “It really derives from a Munich beer garden that we put the Texas air to,” he said. The restaurant serves the full gamut of bar-style food from hot dogs to cheeseburgers to poblano chicken sandwiches and more. After the Plano renovations are complete, Cramer plans to expand into Allen.

Renovations to expand the patio at Katy Trail Ice House Outpost in Plano are underway.

PHOTOS BY JONATHAN PERRIELLO COMMUNITY IMPACT

W. PARK BLVD.

OLD SHEPARD PLACE

4700 W. Park Blvd., Plano. www.katyoutpost.com

Katy Trail Ice House Outpost serves a large variety of beers, including a hefeweizen from Live Oak Brewing Co.

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