She’s a 58-year-old grandmother who gay men can’t resist. Some of them give her free lap dances. Others bring her rare roses. And in turn, she admits to falling in love “30 times a day.”

Known as the “Purple Lady of Laguna Beach,” she’s become something of an ornament at the popular Boom Boom Room, where she waits tables dressed always in purple outfits and tasseled slippers. The color extends to her eye shadow, jewelry, eyeglass frames and personal household furnishings — although, with a little help from L’oreal, her hair is bright red.

“I can out-purple anybody and leave them defenseless,” she jokes.

Since joining the Boom Boom staff in August, this vivid social butterfly took on the appropriate name Violet Rose Magenta, which she plans to legally adopt this year.

Magenta is a precious commodity at the Boom Boom Room’s ocean-view café, which features homemade fare for breakfast, lunch and dinner. On rare occasions when business is slow, she’s been known to stand out on Pacific Coast Highway and lure people inside as passing motorists wave and beep at her.

Humble yet humorous, she quips, “I’m like the crazy aunt you had as a child that everyone always loved.”

Says James Marchese, who purchased and upgraded the café/club with a business partner three years ago: “Violet has helped grow the business because she makes customers feel at home. She is our very own Debby,” referring to the loving straight-mom character on Showtime’s “Queer as Folk,” played by Sharon Gless.

For gay men who lacked that type of unconditional support growing up — Magenta fills the void by simply serving up a plate of Chicken Kiev. “I love gay guys! They’re like eye candy with some of the cutest butts I’ve ever seen. They give warm and friendly hugs, hold intelligent conversations and definitely tip better than straight people.”

Magenta’s affinity for purple, however, dates back to when she was a child. “I’ve always loved the color. It makes me feel better spiritually. In fact I don’t own any clothes that aren’t purple. Everything in my apartment is purple too — even the carpet and silverware!”

The Boom Boom Room, she adds, feels like a second home. “The owners treat me like I’m their mother. They have the best sound system and freshest food in town. And the customers give me all the lap dances I want for free. All it takes is a good song to come on.”

A waitress since she was 13 years old, Magenta moved to Laguna Beach from Detroit some 21 years ago and worked previously at Greeder’s Corner Restaurant, where she befriended a large slice of Laguna’s gay community. “I heard about the Boom Boom Room from my customers at a time in my life when I wanted to have fun at work.”

But, she said, rubbing elbows with drag queens and singing along to disco tunes with men in tank tops “was an entirely new experience for me when I started working there.” And perhaps the same holds true for the scores of gay men who first encounter Magenta. “I like to flaunt a lot of cleavage. I push ‘em up and put ‘em out — and spritz myself with White Diamonds perfume by Elizabeth Taylor.”

The Boom Boom Room and its adjoining Coast Inn is located at 1401 Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach. The café offers a full menu of foods such as fresh fish, oven-roasted turkey club sandwiches, char-grilled burgers, chicken Kiev and homemade Italian specialties, to name a few. For more information, call (949) 494-7588.