The world-famous Blue Bonnet Cafe lies in the heart of Marble Falls and serves true-blue American diner food, delicious pies, and heaps of nostalgia. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
If cities had hearts, Blue Bonnet Cafe might be the beloved ticker of Marble Falls. The Hill Country diner has been serving Texas-size chicken-fried steaks, delicious pies piled high with meringue, and heaps of nostalgia for almost 100 years and counting.
Blue Bonnet Cafe, 211 U.S. 281 North, might be the most iconic locale in the Highland Lakes. Generations of Texans have come through its doors, and its name is recognized on every continent. Yes, even Antarctica, according to staff.
“I think it’s just a comfort place,” co-owner David Plante told 101HighlandLakes.com. “People came here growing up. Now, they’re coming back with kids or even grandkids. They love that nothing has changed.”
The cafe is one of the few true-blue diners in the Highland Lakes, with all-day breakfast, Pie Happy Hour, and country classics like pot roast and biscuits and gravy.
Blue Bonnet Cafe opened in 1929 on Main Street in Marble Falls and moved to its current, high-traffic spot on U.S. 281 in 1946. While it is surrounded by bluebonnets and lies in the heart of bluebonnet country, the restaurant isn’t named after the blooms but rather a woman’s bonnet, which is also where the Texas state flower got its name.
According to Plante, Blue Bonnet’s pies and chicken-fried steaks are its biggest draws.
And he’s absolutely right, at least in the case of Isidro Garza and his family. Garza told 101HighlandLakes.com he orchestrated a road trip from McAllen in South Texas to Edmond, Oklahoma, so the group could pass through Marble Falls. Garza, wife Sol, and sister and brother-in-law Ofilia and Alex Salinas paused their 700-mile road trip for a bite at the Blue Bonnet.
“We’re here for the cafe,” Garza said, “the pies and the chicken-fried steak.”
The restaurant usually has a line stretching out the door and is typically packed during the day, but don’t let that stop you from visiting.
“We always tell people, ‘Don’t let the line scare you,’ because we move pretty quick,” Plante said. “People don’t want to come and sit in a cafe and spend three hours. They want to come in and get out and do what they’re going to do, whether it’s going to Longhorn Caverns or the strawberry patch.”
Blue Bonnet Cafe, 211 U.S. 281 North in Marble Falls, is open from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 7 a.m.-1:45 p.m. Sunday. Visit bluebonnetcafe.net to browse its menu, read about its history, or pre-order a world-famous pie.
