With a menu featuring famous dishes from states across the U.S. and tables decorated with photos that customers bring in of their travels, National Treasure Restaurant & Bar in Cypress is a restaurant that wants to inspire people to explore, owner Katherine Quarfordt said.
Quarfordt said she opened National Treasure Restaurant & Bar in early 2018 with the goal of turning it into a neighborhood gathering place that always keeps its customers in mind. Another goal, Quarfordt said, was to be different. With nearby restaurants specializing in Mexican and Chinese cuisine, she said she wanted to focus the menu elsewhere.
“We didn’t want to be like anybody else,” she said. “We just wanted to be us.”
The concept to feature dishes from different U.S. states was inspired by the road trips Quarfordt used to take with her father when she was younger, she said.
The Oklahoma bull fries—popular among oil and gas employees—are made from cattle from the plains of Oklahoma. The Belvedere fennel and apple salad pays homage to Belvedere, California, where fennel and rosemary grow wild in the streets. The Georgia peach chicken, one of the most popular menu items, is meant to remind diners of the famous peaches grown in Georgia.
The eatery is very particular about the ingredients that go into each dish, Quarfordt said. The beef used in burgers is 100% Angus beef from 44 Farms outside of Fort Worth. The chicken is organic from the Georgia-based Naked Truth farms. Stanley said she looks to source ingredients local whenever possible.
Most dishes are made with six or fewer ingredients, Quarfordt said.
“We let the ingredients speak for themselves,” she said.
In March, Quarfordt brought in Mac Redding to serve as the restaurant’s new executive chef. Redding, who previously worked as the executive chef at Perry’s Steakhouse and Brennen’s of Houston, was tasked with expanding the menu to include more seafood and barbecue items. Several new items he is testing with customers now include a pine-crusted snapper on the dinner menu and eggs Benedict for brunch.
“I’m looking to make use of a new barbecue smoker we just got to start doing some cured ham and brisket,” he said.
Moving forward, Quarfordt also plans to host monthly wine tastings with wines grouped according to different themes, such as grape, winery or year, she said. Wine dinners, where wines are paired with different dinner entrees, are also in the works, she said.
“Everything we do is done with the customer in mind,” she said. “We really just want to be that neighborhood place where people can come for a date night but feel like they can bring their kids too, if they wanted.”
12640 Telge Road, Ste. D, Cypress
832-220-6990
www.nationaltreasurerestaurantbar.com
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
