Marble Falls is home to one of the state’s most well-known dining institutions, the legendary Blue Bonnet Cafe. Since opening its doors in 1929, the Blue Bonnet Cafe has become famous as a destination for comfort food – especially its pies.
I’ve been making pilgrimages to Marble Falls for years, as it’s one of my favorite road trip destinations. This time, I was going solely for the purpose of introducing the Blue Bonnet to a first-time visitor, especially after the cafe was recently ranked as the most beloved local business in Texas, according to an August nationwide survey from financial media company MarketBeat.
To get there, you head north on Highway 281 from San Antonio for about an hour and a half. Passing through Bulverde, Spring Branch, Blanco, Johnson City, and Round Mountain, you get a glimpse of the beauty of the Texas Hill Country.
Reaching Marble Falls, you descend a hill and cross the bridge spanning the Colorado River. The scenery makes you think you’ve been absorbed into a Norman Rockwell painting. On a corner in downtown, humble as can be, sits the Blue Bonnet Cafe.
The Blue Bonnet Cafe in Marble Falls was founded in 1929. It’s a staple eatery in the small Texas town. (Emma Weidmann/MySA)
Inside Blue Bonnet Cafe
As you walk in, the pie case is probably your first greeter while you wait for one of the cafe’s busy wait staff to find a spot for you. The menu is pure comfort food: pot roast, burgers, enchiladas, and breakfast offerings of omelets and pancakes.
I’m a connoisseur of chicken-fried steak, and Blue Bonnet serves up a good one. Their version comes slathered in a blanket of cream gravy, along with three of their side dishes. Mine were Italian-cut green beans, red-skinned mashed potatoes and some of the best fried okra I’ve ever eaten. It also comes with a basketful of rolls and cornbread muffins.
The steak is meaty, tender, and perfectly fried, and is one of my favorites. My traveling buddy ordered the same. We devoured our meal, leaving our bellies full and our hearts happy.
Blue Bonnet Cafe is known for its pies on display as soon as you walk into the beloved local business. (Eric Moreno for MySA)
However, no trip is complete without pie. Blue Bonnet offers no less than a dozen types on their regular menu, ranging from cherry and apple to German chocolate and lemon meringue, which boasts a topping that’s easily four inches thick.
We ordered a chocolate cream and a peanut butter cream. Both came lovingly covered in heaping amounts of whipped cream, and they lived up to the hype. The crusts were flaky, and the fillings were just the right amount of sweet.
I can’t recommend the Blue Bonnet Cafe enough. It is the best kind of famous – it lives up to its reputation without taking itself too seriously. It’s not a white tablecloth, Michelin star winner, but it has earned its status as a legend.
This article originally published at I tried the nearly 100-year-old Texas cafe named the state’s most beloved.