Blake's Cafe is located nine miles south of IH-35
What was this place?
Our guest ask us all the time. After going to the library, the appraisal district, the courthouse, and most importantly, talking with the locals: this is what we learned. Inaccuracies are inevitable.
In 1897, the first post office was established in McQueeney where our banquet room is today. Then in 1905, August Koehler built this building up against the post office. It prospered for decades as Koehler's Mercantile and General Store.
Around 1962, Vernon "Hondo" Fries, a well-known local resident, opened the McQueeney IGA. That business closed around 1972, and the building became vacant.
About five years later, the building was converted into a bar, the Curve Inn. A popular hang-out with live bands and a lot of wild stories. It had a good run, but closed around 1989.
The building was then divided into separate businesses. An electronics store in the banquet room; the Red Bandana bar in the dining room: and the McQueeney Cafe in the kitchen. This worked out well for a few years, but soon the building was vacant again.
In 1993, a local restaurateur, Mark Soward, bough the property, he did extensive re-construction, the Downtown McQueeney Restaurant opened and ran through 1997. We opened Blake's Cafe in October of 1998, two days after the big flood ( no, the water never reached us). We have been very fortunate to have found this building, and this community. Thanks to all that have made us successful.
