In Granbury, Legend Has It You Can Grab a Burger Where John Wilkes Booth Tended Bar

Wanna grab breakfast or lunch where notorious assassin John Wilkes Booth moonlighted as a bartender? Well, allegedly.

The Square Café in Granbury claims you can do just that.

You probably already know Booth’s story, but in case you need a refresher: On a mid-April night in 1865 at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., Booth placed his loaded derringer pistol at the back of President Abraham Lincoln’s head. And with the pull of a trigger and a balcony leap into infamy, Booth fled into the night. Lincoln died the following morning, and Booth was ultimately tracked down and killed at a barn in Virginia.

Or was he?
In the part of Texas where you find Granbury and Glen Rose (about an hour and 15 minutes southwest of Dallas), there’s a long-held belief that Booth was never killed at that barn in Virginia. Instead, under the alias John St. Helen, Booth assumed a new life in Texas, where he worked the bar at a saloon (now The Square Café) and continued his stage acting career next door at the historic Granbury Opera House.

Evidence cited by local historians and those who buy into the theory includes the fact that St. Helen showed up in Granbury not long after the assassination, bore an uncanny resemblance to Booth, walked with a limp (like one might have after leaping off a second-floor balcony) and was a talented stage actor (like Booth).

Legend also has it that St. Helen didn’t drink — except for one night a year. That night was, coincidentally (or not), the anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination. And did we mention St. Helen confessed he was John Wilkes Booth on his deathbed?

After learning the legend of St. Helen on Chet Garner’s Lone Star Emmy Award-winning PBS travel series, “The Daytripper,” we found ourselves at the charming Granbury Square on a day trip of our own. And naturally, we had to stop by The Square Café for lunch to see it for ourselves.
Inside, a large mural depicting Booth tending bar spans a wall. The building was erected in 1885 — squint hard enough and you can almost see the ghosts of its past. Whether or not you buy the Booth conspiracy theory, this place has a history.

Breakfast and lunch are served at The Square Café. For breakfast, a wide selection lets you find just about anything you crave to start the day, from build-your-own omelets to pancakes (including an upside-down pineapple pancake) to breakfast burritos. And on Sundays, there’s an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet ($14.99). Some buffet items include egg and sausage breakfast enchiladas in a sour cream sauce, homemade cinnamon roll casserole and Texas-style biscuit and sausage gravy.
We narrowly missed breakfast hours, so it was lunch for us. We started with the “BATLOC” sandwich ($11.49): bacon strips, avocado, tomato, lettuce, onion and cheese (provolone) on toast. Hence “BATLOC.”

Our next choice was, of course, the John Wilkes Booth burger ($11.49). This house-seasoned, six-ounce beef patty comes on a toasted bun and is topped with melted cheddar and a fistful of bacon crumbles. On the side, you can choose from standard potato chips, macaroni salad, greens or fruit. We suggest the macaroni salad, which was sweet, slightly tangy and tasty.
The sandwich was adequate, and the burger hit the mark. The woman who took our order, Coletta, was delightful as she further explained the history of The Square Cafe.

We’d love to come back for breakfast, and we'll do that when we're back in Granbury at a sufficiently early hour.

If you’re looking for a day trip from Dallas, Granbury's a lot of fun. It's a town steeped in lore. For example, while their car was being worked on at a nearby service station, Bonnie and Clyde picnicked on the grass of the courthouse that lies at the center of Granbury Square. Davy Crockett’s wife, Elizabeth, is buried just outside of town, and outlaw Jesse James also has a gravesite in Granbury.

And don't miss the Hood County Jail Museum, built in 1885 and serving as the only city jail until 1978. Visitors can view the gallows and cells upstairs and peek through the living quarters on the main floor. It doesn't cost anything for a quick tour by the tour guide hanging out that day, but donations are gladly accepted.

Editor's note: We took a lively tour of the jail a few years ago with a very dramatic reenactment from our tour guide of an exorcism that had taken place recently (an evil spirit in the old jail upstairs had attached itself, piggyback style, to a visitor). But, are there any exorcism reenactments that aren't dramatic? It was certainly worth the price of admission. There are also Johnny Cash-esque notes scratched into the old cell walls. Great place to take the kids.

The Square Cafe, 137 E. Pearl St., Granbury. Daily, 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.