Blue Bonnet Cafe

All the damn diners are gone! Or so I thought, as I sulked in a Denny's booth while stuffing my filthy maw with hash browns at 5AM on a Sunday morning. I had slept with my windows open and the sound of glass shattering had jolted me awake half an hour prior. My neighbors were clearly involved in a domestic dispute. Or an underground fight club. Or alien abduction. Whatever. Either way, I couldn't fall back asleep and ended up at a sad Denny's because all the great 24hr diners have disappeared, apparently.

And yet this doesn't seem to be the case. According to IBIS World, there are 8,648 breakfast restaurants and/or diners in the US today, and they're growing at about 0.5% annually—with the exception of a 2020/21 COVID dip. Maybe it's more accurate to say that all the great, classic diners seem to be disappearing. You know, the kind of place that has a two-page menu, is open at unreasonable hours, and may or may not add cigarette ash to your coffee.

While I do have a certain affinity for that kind of place, the historic Blue Bonnet Cafe sits a few notches higher on the quality scale. This classic spot has been serving locals since 1929—though it did move locations to its current spot in 1946. You can order up all the diner classics here, from omelets and salads to pot roast and chicken-fried steak. Some dumbass clickbait website once named it the best hole-in-the-wall diner in Texas, which is such a stupid take, I may need a tutor.

This family-friendly spot is not a hole in the wall; it’s actually in very good shape. Its biggest draw is a great selection of pies, made from scratch according to traditional recipes. According to The Wall Street Journal, the cafe sells about 40,000 pies annually (as of 2017). Southern Living magazine even named its German chocolate pie one of the best in the South.

I ordered the banana meringue and can confirm it was excellent. Light and fluffy, it's a delicacy that doesn't feel like a ton of bricks going down. Pair it with a cup of coffee, and it's the best combo since Siskel & Ebert. Two thumbs up. 👍