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Norma’s Cafe marks 65 years with chicken fried steak for $1.79 on June 23

Norma’s Cafe is celebrating their anniversary with throwback-priced blue plate specials at all five of their North Texas locations.

A plate of French fries was the only thing that Ed Murph could afford at Norma’s Cafe when he was in high school. He would jet over after school — ”It was just something to do,” he remembers — and watch the folks with a few more bucks in their pocket crack into the crust of a chicken fried steak. “It was something to look forward to,” Murph says.

A short list of things have changed at Norma’s since it opened in Oak Cliff in 1956. And for one day, on June 23, to celebrate the cafe’s 65th anniversary, nothing will have changed about the chicken fried steak blue plate special. It’ll be the exact, $1.79 plate that it was in 1956: A thunderhead of mashed potatoes, green beans, and a chicken fried steak smothered with cream gravy. Until the day’s end, the blue plate special will be the same as it ever was.

“We’ve certainly gone through it on this pandemic thing,” says Murph, the diner’s owner since 1986. Oak Cliff is his stomping grounds. “That’s why we’re doing this, to thank our supporters.”

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Owner Ed Murph in 2017 at Norma's Cafe in Plano
Owner Ed Murph in 2017 at Norma's Cafe in Plano(Ryan Michalesko / Staff Photographer)
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At all five Norma’s locations on June 23, the dine-in only blue plate specials — chicken-fried steak, meatloaf, and the chicken and dressing with mashed potatoes and green beans — will be $1.79. A slice of the sales will go to the Birthday Party Project, a Dallas-based nonprofit that organizes birthday parties for homeless children.

Murph is no stranger to mission-based events: He’s hosted charity and chicken-fried-focused events for years. Every now and then he’ll put together a “chicken fried steak bus,” a motor tour on Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day dedicated to the dealer’s choice of charities. What’s Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day? It’s a real legislated holiday (Texas House Resolution 1419) that Murph helped get done. It is so ordered that Oct. 26, every year, be a true Texas holiday.

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Despite the ups and downs of six decades of business, through bus tours and endorsements from, say, Blazing Saddles actor Burton Gilliam, a plate of CFS is prepared in the same way as it was the year Elvis’ “Hound Dog” was released. Inside round steak filets get buzzed through a tenderizer four times, drenched in buttermilk, and thumped in flour and [redacted] spices. They fry it for a few short minutes, and it’s dropped in front of you in a blink. A knife will fracture the crust, revealing peppery steam. The gravy is silky, a light tang. Get a slice of pie — look for one with a tall wedge of meringue — and you’ll have the distinct sensation of time travel.

The throwback prices will end at close-of-business on June 23, but Norma’s has always been generously priced. For $11 on regular days, you can get a moon-sized CFS and three sides of vegetables. Of course, you’re welcome to simply order the Murph-high-school special: an enormous plate of French fries.

Available at all five Norma’s Cafe locations. normascafe.com.

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The Chocolate Mile High Pie at Norma's Cafe in Dallas
The Chocolate Mile High Pie at Norma's Cafe in Dallas(Jason Janik / Special Contributor)