Sometimes I worry about the state of the small Texas café, those roadside establishments judged by the way they make chicken-fried steaks, how quickly they refill a coffee cup and whether they're friendly to locals and travelers alike.

Last week, the state lost another one of those small-town establishments with the closing of Sherry’s Busy Bee Cafe, 12350 state Highway 6 in Santa Fe.

Sherry’s Busy Bee Café traced its roots back to 1935.

A newer, larger Valero gas station will replace Sherry’s Busy Bee, known for all-American diner fare, including fried chicken and cheeseburgers.

Donal Clark this week confirmed he sold the building and land to a
Valero Energy Corp., which wants to build a larger gas station and corner store.

Valero already operates a Valero gas station at 12350 1/2 state Highway 6 and needs the Busy Bee property for the planned Santa Fe expansion.

According to the history I could cobble together from interviews and this website, the Springer family in 1935 established Busy Bee Cafe in Alta Loma. (In 1978, Alta Loma was incorporated into the City of Santa Fe.)

The Springer family later sold the eatery to Mrs. Springer’s sister, who operated the cafe until 1978 before selling it to Mike Orr, who owned the property but leased the restaurant business to Donal Clark.

In 1994, Orr bought out Clark’s share of the restaurant business, but Clark again took possession of the Santa Fe Busy Bee Cafe and the property in 2005.

That same year, Sherry Smith leased the restaurant from Clark until he sold the property to Valero this month.

Clark has asked Smith to help manage his island eatery Miller’s Seawall Grill, 1824 Seawall Blvd., he said.

At one time, Clark and partners owned six eateries, including three other Busy Bee Cafes, two of which are still open in Pearland and Alvin under other owners.

In December 2008, Texas Monthly named Sherry’s Busy Bee Cafe among the 40 Best Small-Town Cafes.

“Baseball trophies and a mirrored pie case next to the register set the right mood," according to the article. Here's an excerpt about what Texas Monthly had to say about Sherry's Busy Bee Cafe:

“Special honors go to the plump cheeseburger on a tender but substantial house-made bun and to the moist and nongreasy fried chicken dredged in a mixture of flour and cornmeal ... while the chocolate—peanut butter pie, topped with real whipped cream, will send you to the moon.”

What I liked about the Texas Monthly listing was the criteria for judging a good Texas café — big-haired waitresses, pie cases and police officers and truckers at the counter made such eateries the “Real Deal,” according to the article.

But “points were subtracted from a cafe’s score (in some cases disqualifying it altogether) for evidence of anything citified, yuppified, or fancy-pants: raspberry vinaigrette, goat cheese, kalamata olives, jazz or techno music, al dente vegetables, or — horror of horrors! — baby greens …”

What do you think makes a good Texas Café? And will you miss Sherry’s Busy Bee?