{"id":210003,"date":"2026-03-18T16:28:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T16:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/210003\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T16:28:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T16:28:18","slug":"how-a-fort-worth-area-restaurant-became-famous-as-the-i-love-lucy-cafe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/210003\/","title":{"rendered":"How a Fort Worth-area restaurant became famous as the \u2018I Love Lucy Cafe\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bluebonnet Cafe<\/a> has \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d<\/a> toys, \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d posters, \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d memorabilia and 1950s \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d TV reruns<\/a> in a constant loop on dining-room TVs.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople think I\u2019m obsessed,\u201d co-founder Judy Quiroz said.<\/p>\n

I never thought of her that way. For 32 years, Bluebonnet has been mostly a popular local breakfast and plate-lunch cafe<\/a> at 2223-A Haltom Road, 1 mile north of Airport Freeway.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t a tourist must-see.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, thanks to TikTok and Facebook, it\u2019s on travel tip lists as the \u201cI Love Lucy Cafe.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 300,000 users have viewed Facebook or TikTok videos of Bluebonnet and of celebrity tribute artist Rhonda Medina<\/a>\u2019s January visit as late comedian Lucille Ball.<\/p>\n

\"Part<\/p>\n

Part of the vast collection of \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d memorabilia at Bluebonnet Cafe, in a file photo from June 26, 2011.<\/p>\n

So, Medina will return at noon March 22, visiting lunch diners over their Bluebonnet turkey and dressing, meat loaf or chicken-fried steak<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody put us on TikTok<\/a> \u2014 it just took off,\u201d Quiroz said.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always gone to the Bluebonnet for the homestyle lunch plates or the big breakfast biscuits.<\/p>\n

\"Biscuits<\/p>\n

Biscuits and gravy at Bluebonnet Cafe in Haltom City, Texas, seen June 26, 2011.<\/p>\n

Now I find out I should have been going for Quiroz\u2019s nostalgia collection of \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d items, Coca-Cola antiques, Betty Boop<\/a> cartoons, Western movie posters and Rod Stewart merch.<\/p>\n

The 1950s nostalgia fills three dining rooms.<\/p>\n

The amount is mind-boggling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of the biggest amounts of Lucy memorabilia,\u201d a commenter wrote for Quirky Roadside USA.<\/p>\n

\"Chicken-fried<\/p>\n

Chicken-fried chicken with a side of fried okra and carrots, broccoli and cauliflower among the \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d memorabilia at Bluebonnet Cafe in Haltom City, Texas, unchanged since this scene January 16, 2004.<\/p>\n

(Aimee Santos\/Special to the Star-Telegram)<\/p>\n

Let me put this in perspective.<\/p>\n

When \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d ended its original TV run, I was 2 years old.<\/p>\n

When Carlos and Judy Quiroz started cooking and serving food like this at another old local restaurant, the Cactus Flower Cafe, I was 27.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s just say that was a lot of biscuits ago.<\/p>\n

The Bluebonnet has never changed.<\/p>\n

The chicken-fried steaks are exactly the same. The wheat rolls and buns are exactly the same. The cinnamon rolls are exactly the same.<\/p>\n

\"Chicken-fried<\/p>\n

Chicken-fried steak, a roll, carrots and mashed potatoes at Bluebonnet Cafe in Haltom City, Texas, shown Oct. 27, 1998. That\u2019s exactly how it looks today.<\/p>\n

The hours are limited. The restaurant is open only for breakfast and lunch Thursday through Sunday. That may be why it\u2019s stayed open.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t eat out nearly as much during the week as on weekends,\u201d Judy Quiroz said. \u201cWe want to be open just four days and keep up our consistency.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s not really a huge \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d fan.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t get me wrong,\u201d she said. \u201cI like the show. It\u2019s funny. But I can\u2019t recite the dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Celebrity<\/p>\n

Celebrity tribute artist Rhonda Medina on a January 2026 visit to Bluebonnet Cafe in Haltom City, Texas, the \u201cI Love Lucy Cafe.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Medina, the tribute artist, can.<\/p>\n

She performed as Ball for 20 years. She re-enacts scenes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal in life is just to bring love and laughter,\u201d she said by phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think \u2018I Love Lucy\u2019 does all that.\u201d<\/p>\n

With gravy.<\/p>\n

\"Chicken-fried<\/p>\n

Chicken-fried chicken, okra, carrots and broccoli at Bluebonnet Cafe.<\/p>\n