Visiting Muenster Texas - A German Town in Texas

Muenster Texas is located in north Texas, about 90 minutes north of DFW.  Settled in 1889 by German Catholics as westward expansion occurred with the railroad coming through this area.  The German culture lives strong in this town today that has a population of 1,418 people.  Muenster is known for its two annual festivals celebrating the German culture.  German Fest is held in April each year and Oktoberfest in October each year.

Fisher's Thriftway
304 N Main St.
Muenster, TX 76252
940-759-4211
Website
Closed on Sundays

When you visit Muenster, you want to take a cooler with you because one of the town's highlights is the food options in town.  The highlight of your food options will be Fisher's Thriftway.  This market has all the standard grocery items, but what makes it unique are the specialty German foods.  Decorated like a German-style building with a clocktower, the German spirit grows as you go inside.

The best place to start is in the back of the store.  As you are heading back to the butcher, the shelves in the first aisle are filled with great jarred food items like pickles of every different type of vegetable and a wide range of flavors.  It takes a little time just to read the labels, and then the decision-making is the hard part.  At the butcher, they have a selection of different sausages and cheeses that they will slice to your liking, or you can also find items like pork cutlets for schnitzel.

Also in the back of the store is a case filled with cheese and sausages.  There is everything that you can imagine here.  There are Kielbalsa, Summer Sausages, and of course, there is Bratwurst.  I picked up some of each, and they are all high quality and taste great.  In the cheese, you can also find a wide variety.  I picked up some Muenster, Smoked Swiss, and some blue cheese that they were featuring.  I wanted to try so many cheese options but had to realize it would still be available the next time I am through town.

The next area to make sure you do not miss is the shelves of custom-made dressings and condiments.  There are a variety of mustards. I decided to get the Texas 1015 Onion Honey Mustard dressing.  We made a salad last night with it, and it was great.  A slight sweetness from the honey mustard, but a nice flavor of roasted onions.  Being an excellent German market, they also have many items in this section with horseradish.

Pick up a package of mushroom gravy mix, some red cabbage with apples, and a bag of dried spaetzle, and you are out the door with your cooler complete, ready to make a great dinner at home that night.  Had a great time here and probably spent at least 45 minutes just enjoying all the food options.  Fisher's Thriftway is much more than a grocery store and well worth a visit.

Sacred Heart Catholic Church
713 Main St.
Muenster, TX 76252

If you like exciting churches, continue on down Main St. a little further, and you will see the Sacred Heart Catholic Church.  The present church building is the fourth building on this site.  The first mass was held here in 1889 as the town was founded, but the first two buildings on this site were destroyed by storms.  The third building had to be taken down because of a weak foundation.  The current building was completed in 1959.

Photo from https://shchurchmuenster.com/

Other Food Options

While in Muenster, you can also visit a German Barkery and pick up a fruit strudel or stop by one of the meat markets and see their selection of meats.  We stopped by Bayer's Bakery, which is co-located with the local Exxon station.  I got a raspberry-filled danish which was excellent.  The pastry was rich and flaky, and the raspberry filling was delicious.  Our friends picked up a cherry strudel and told us that it was really great and that the fruit filling was generous inside.

4R Ranch Winery

The area between Muenster and the Red River is known as the Northern Hill Country of Texas, much like the more famous Hill Country west of Austin, near Fredricksburg.  The 4R Ranch Winery is located in this beautiful hill country about 16 minutes north of the town of Muenster.  The 4R Ranch has excellent food and some excellent wines.  Their outdoor patio sits high up on a hill and overlooks the surrounding ranch.

Read more about 4R Ranch Winery.