Mourning Texas French Bread

Tuesday was a day for grieving, after the iconic Texas French Bread restaurant went up in flames.

Context: Once upon a time, in its incarnation as the Rome Inn, the building, built in 1939, was a classic hang-out, where Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Lou Ann Barton and scores of other musicians performed.

• In recent years, the restaurant had been an airy getaway where UT kids went with their visiting parents and lobbyists headed for a bite away from the Capitol.
• "[Impossible]," Harvey Kronberg, editor of the Quorum Report, wrote on Twitter. "Decades in Austin. All old Austin went there."

Our favorites have long been the lemon pound cake and the sour cream coffee cake.

• When Asher's wife's family comes back to Austin from far flung spots around the globe, the kitchen counter is a traffic jam of TFB baked goods.

What they're saying: "We are devastated at the loss of our bakery and restaurant, but forever grateful that our employees walked out unharmed," Texas French Bread posted on Instagram after the Monday fire.

Yes, but: Even though the building was totaled, we're rooting for a TFB comeback.