'Fox & Friends' bringing morning show to Alabama election day

If you need any more proof America is following Alabama's Senate race, just turn on Fox News Network's "Fox & Friends" Tuesday morning. Or stop by Huntsville's Blue Plate Cafe and watch the show broadcasting live.

Blue Plate owner Jerry Sparks says "Fox & Friends" show called this week wanting to broadcast segments from the popular meat & three throughout the morning. "Our manager caught the call," Sparks said Wednesday. "She first thought it was the local Fox station."

Blue Plate Cafe owner Jerry Sparks stands in his popular Huntsville restaurant Sept. 20, 2017. (Lee Roop/lroop@al.com)

It wasn't the local Fox afflilate. Once that was straight, Sparks quickly agreed to open an hour early Tuesday to accommodate the show's 6 a.m. EDT start time. Blue Plate normally opens its doors at 3210 Governors Drive at 6 a.m. Alabama time.

Sparks doesn't know which Fox personality will do the live segments, and he isn't sure how the network found him. But it wouldn't be hard. Google Huntsville breakfast restaurants, and Blue Plate pops up fast.

Blue Plate Cafe opened 14 years ago, but most locals think it's been there longer. It's a place where, in Sparks' words, "a plumber's truck sits next to a Mercedes in the parking lot and everyone feels at home."

"Fox & Friends" viewers will see Blue Plate's collection of old Huntsville pictures on the walls and the long counter with its round, rotating seats. And if the Fox reporter wants to try a signature menu item, that'll be easy. Blue Plate's hash brown casserole is a star at lunch and dinner, and it's served at breakfast in a version called "cheesy browns." Or perhaps a few biscuits with chocolate gravy.

Blue Plate isn't a chain restaurant. Sparks says the food is like his mother made for him. But the family has opened a second Blue Plate on South Memorial Parkway in recent years. Son Justin Sparks owns that Blue Plate, while Jerry minds the mother ship.

Well, he's in and out, Sparks says. He jokes that some old friends will turn around and hit the door if they see him at the griddle. So Sparks leaves the cooking mostly to the pros.

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