The Cartoon Saloon in Toonstone, Texas, has been called a “roadside distraction” rather than a “roadside attraction.” It’s a photo op outside of Comfort disguised as an Old West town with tongue firmly placed in cheek.
Built of weathered wood with a tin roof, the saloon is sandwiched between the “Not So OK Corral” and “Sal Men Nello’s Café” facing the ranch-to-market highway and backing up to a thicket of cedars.
Inside the small room there’s a bar made of bottles encased in cement. The walls are insulated with neat rows of empty beer cans. Among the beer signs and graffiti left by visitors are hand-painted signs saying pithy things like “God Bless John Wayne,” “Remember the Alamo,” and “$5.00 fine for Whining.” Wind chimes made with beer cans and animal bones rattle in the trees.
The bartender never took our order, but someone had left a half-full bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey on the bar despite a sign warning that alcohol or drugs aren’t allowed in Toonstone.
The mock saloon is the brainchild (or brain fart, depending on your view of folk art) of four friends hanging out in the Cocky Rooster Bar, a real saloon in Comfort. J.P. “Cartoon Cowboy” Rankin, Paul Denmark, Brian Coyle, and Marc “Biscuit” Lafrenais built the faux town after Rankin and his daughter Ammeke Herrera decorated a cedar tree with Lone Star Beer cans for Christmas in 2013.
Rankin holds the title of justice of the peace of the fictional town of Toonstone when he’s not an insurance agent or award-winning cartoonist in the style of Ace Reid and Jim Franklin. Denmark is the self-proclaimed mayor, and Biscuit is the deputy because Bob Marley/Eric Clapton shot the sheriff.
The Cartoon Saloon in Toonstone is at 508 FM 473, about five miles east of Comfort. It’s open 24/7 and there’s never a cover charge.
1,789th in a series. Everywhere is a day trip from somewhere. Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/day-trips.
This article appears in January 16 • 2026.