The secret to the success of Cody's Bistro & Lounge—the San Marcos–based restaurant took home three honors at the Taste of Hays fundraiser in May—is simple. "Let the food speak for itself," Head Chef Zac Lindsay said. "Food already tastes good. It doesn't need to be dressed up." The restaurant went head-to-head with some of the top food purveyors in the area at the United Way of Hays County's Taste of Hays County, winning the award for Best Appetizer with its watermelon yellowfin tuna tartare, Best for Dinner for its duck and pork cheek white bean cassolette, and Best Overall for the second consecutive year. None of the dishes the restaurant served at the event had more than six or seven ingredients, Lindsay said. "We get local stuff when we can," he said. "We try to buy good product—let all that stuff talk for us. It doesn't have to be a big production." When owner Cody Couch was trying to determine what kind of concept he wanted at the restaurant, he said he saw a need for a place where residents could slow down and savor their dining experience. The key to creating a relaxed atmosphere where people feel comfortable is service, he said. "The number one [focus of the restaurant] is going to be service," Couch said. "Instead of giving a customer 1 to 10, 10 being the best experience, what's going to be a 15 or a 20?" The record player which sits across from a wall painted with a mural of blues legend Muddy Waters, plays some of Couch's old records and provides a "swanky" element, Couch said. The restaurant's low lighting, classic cocktails and friendly service are intended to harken back to what Couch calls "the old-school days." "Some people say, 'Well you're in a shopping strip,' but I want to make you feel like you're somewhere else when you walk in," Couch said. In addition to a variety of beers on draft, the restaurant's drink menu includes classic cocktails such as Old Fashioneds and martinis. Additionally, drinks named for music legends such as Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jimi Hendrix augment the restaurant's blues motif. In June the San Marcos Planning and Zoning Commission approved Couch's request for an amendment to his conditional-use permit—the document that allows the restaurant to serve alcohol—which will allow him to expand the patio behind the restaurant. When completed, the project will add 480 square feet and 20 seats to the current 400-square-foot patio. Couch, Lindsay and the rest of the team in the kitchen change the restaurant's dinner menu seasonally, and this summer's menu features entrees such as duck, lamb T-bone, pork porterhouse, scallops and naan pizzas. "I believe the food quality, and how you cook it reflects on how you care about your customer," Couch said. "You could put a bunch of butters and creams on everything, and you could fry everything and that's nothing special. You're pumping out quantity over quality. I'm more about quality than quantity."