Shakey's Pizza On Chimney Rock Rd. At Bellaire Blvd.

[Ashikaga]

Someone my age just asked me if I remember Shakey's Pizza restaurant in Port Arthur. I told her that I did. I think that I remember some in Houston. Can anyone out there confirm this?

[MaxConcrete]

I think that I remember some in Houston.  Can anyone out there confirm this?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

IIRC, there was a Shakey's on Bellaire Blvd in Bellaire, near Chimney Rock. According to my parents, who moved to Sharpstown in 1966, it was the place to go back in those days (mid-to-late 1960s).

I really can't remember if I ever went to it before it closed sometime in the early to mid 1970s. Maybe I just saw it. I was born in 1967.

Maybe someone could confirm my recollection.

[midtown 4.2]

There was also a Shakey's on Nasa Road One, just west of JSC.

[MidtownCoog]

Also used to be one across from the Library on Klecly near Almeada Mall.

[57Tbird]

IIRC, there was a Shakey's on Bellaire Blvd in Bellaire, near Chimney Rock. According to my parents, who moved to Sharpstown in 1966, it was the place to go back in those days (mid-to-late 1960s).

I really can't remember if I ever went to it before it closed sometime in the early to mid 1970s. Maybe I just saw it. I was born in 1967.

Maybe someone could confirm my recollection.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You are correct on all counts. Used to take our kids there often in the time-frame you mention. They had long tables with benches and usually had live music in the evening.

[FIngers5]

The Shakeys I remember was out at Wilcrest and 59 - The building is still there - I most remember going there with my YMCA football teams and they had this video game where you were on a motor cycle and you jumped over barrells or something like that - Black and white monitor and sketchy audio - This thing predated Space Invaders

[MarthaG]

Shakey's is a place I have NOT thought about for years. There was one on Ella Blvd just a few blocks N of Loop 610. We use to go there when I was a teenager. There was a couple there that played on weekends. Sometimes there son would join them. I cannot remember their names, but he played a banjo.

[EastEnd Susan]

I remember going to a Shakeys on .. I believe it was Griggs. It was close to Palm Center and next door to a Kips Big Boy. I used to play Humming Bird by Seals and Crofts on the juke box. It was a fun place.

[Watchful]

There was a Shakey's on Spencer Highway in South Houston, across from Pasadena Plaza. We moved to Houston in 1965 from East Texas, and as far as I can remember, I had never eaten at a pizza place until we went to Shakey's in the late 60s.

(I never remember having eaten at a McDonald's until they opened one up next to U of H around '74 or '75!)

[Ashikaga]

Shakey's is a place I have NOT thought about for years. There was one on Ella Blvd just a few blocks N of Loop 610. We use to go there when I was a teenager. There was a couple there that played on weekends. Sometimes there son would join them. I cannot remember their names, but he played a banjo.

I think Shakey's bit the dust. I remember the hardwood table and bench you sat on, the player piano playing a song, the lights turned off with a slide projector showing the words to the song on a screen so that people could sing along while they ate their pizza and drank their pitcher of beer.

[Subdude]

According to wikipedia, there are still 63 Shakey's stores, most of which are in California. In 1974 there were 325 stores.

[TexasHome]

We hung out a lot at the Shakey's on NASA 1 in Nassau Bay.

[enviromain]

[TxFireguy]

IIRC, there was a Shakey's on Bellaire Blvd in Bellaire, near Chimney Rock. According to my parents, who moved to Sharpstown in 1966, it was the place to go back in those days (mid-to-late 1960s).

I really can't remember if I ever went to it before it closed sometime in the early to mid 1970s. Maybe I just saw it. I was born in 1967.

Maybe someone could confirm my recollection.

That Shakey's used to be in the Enerprise car rental building on Bellaire near Chimney Rock. That building was just recently torn down...

See you at the Heights Theatre...

[Jermaine]

There was a great Shakey's behind Northline Mall on I-45 north....it was right next to the Northline General Cinema. The building is still there: it's a Pizza Hut now...or it was last year, at least: I live in Colorado now.

I still remember the summer of 1980...my friends and i going to see THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK over and over again that summer and eating pizza and drinking rootbeer at Shakey's afterwards. I'd spend a million to go back to then if I could....good times.

jr

[acamarillo]

There was a great Shakey's behind Northline Mall on I-45 north....it was right next to the Northline General Cinema. The building is still there: it's a Pizza Hut now...or it was last year, at least: I live in Colorado now.

I still remember the summer of 1980...my friends and i going to see THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK over and over again that summer and eating pizza and drinking rootbeer at Shakey's afterwards. I'd spend a million to go back to then if I could....good times.

jr

Just a little correction - The Pizza Hut has always been a Pizza Hut - it must be one of the oldest in the city and seems to be one of the last of the old style Pizza Hut buildings. (I hate the new format - where can you go now to get cheap, late-night, table service pizza and beer?)

The Shakey's was on Crosstimbers, across from the mall close to the Shell station at the I-45/Crosstimbers intersection. I remember that vividly because on the first night with my first car (a '72 Vega, 4-speed, AM only, no A/C!) I went there with one of my friends. I'd only driven my dad's Impala w/auto before. When I pulled into the parking space, all the pedals suddenly confused me, I missed the brake, jumped the curb, and tapped the wall of the restaurant before sliding back into the space! Fortunately, no damage was done - but my friend said I knocked the bass player off beat.

[mkultra25]

The Shakey's was on Crosstimbers, across from the mall close to the Shell station at the I-45/Crosstimbers intersection. I remember that vividly because on the first night with my first car (a '72 Vega, 4-speed, AM only, no A/C!) I went there with one of my friends. I'd only driven my dad's Impala w/auto before. When I pulled into the parking space, all the pedals suddenly confused me, I missed the brake, jumped the curb, and tapped the wall of the restaurant before sliding back into the space! Fortunately, no damage was done - but my friend said I knocked the bass player off beat.

I remember that Shakey's well - like many other Shakey's, they used to show old Laurel & Hardy movies and other silent comedies. For many people, this was their first exposure to the old silent comedians.

Freeland's pet store was in the same strip center, either next door or a few stores down from Shakey's. I used to buy tropical fish (and turtles, before there was a salmonella scare) there all the time when I was a kid.

[northbeaumont]

I remember that Shakey's well - like many other Shakey's, they used to show old Laurel & Hardy movies and other silent comedies. For many people, this was their first exposure to the old silent comedians.

Freeland's pet store was in the same strip center, either next door or a few stores down from Shakey's. I used to buy tropical fish (and turtles, before there was a salmonella scare) there all the time when I was a kid.

There once was a Shakey's here in Beaumont at IH-10 & College Street. I remember while a song played on the player piano they would project the words of the song on a screen with an overhead projector so that people could "sing along."

[FreakyDude]

Shakey's Pizza was good pizza and they had good games there too! I can still see their pizza sign. Does anyone have a pic of the sign?

[northbeaumont]

Shakey's is a place I have NOT thought about for years. There was one on Ella Blvd just a few blocks N of Loop 610. We use to go there when I was a teenager. There was a couple there that played on weekends. Sometimes there son would join them. I cannot remember their names, but he played a banjo.

When I was a kid, going out to eat pizza was a treat and a good time. Now there are so many pizza restaurants it's no longer a treat. I now just get frozen pizzas at Wal-Mart for 99 cents, heat it for 14 minutes in a regular oven, then enjoy it just like I did over 30 years ago. Back in the 1970s, Shakey's, Pizza Hut and Pizza Inn were the only chains that I remember. Then came along Domino's, Papa John's, and other delivery places.

Really, there's so many fast food places out there now that most things are no longer the treats that they used to be. Just wait for some kind of a fair where you can pig out on the junk like candy apples, cotton candy, and corn dogs. To me, that's about the only kind of treat that still exists.

[METALHOUSTON]

Ahhh Shakey's Pizza!

I used to go to the one on at Winrock at Westheimer where Baby Doll's is now.

When my wife and I visit Baby Dolls, I can't help but laugh when thinkin' about how I used to go there as a kid to eat pizza.

[Disastro]

Ahhh Shakey's Pizza!

I used to go to the one on at Winrock at Westheimer where Baby Doll's is now.

When my wife and I visit Baby Dolls, I can't help but laugh when thinkin' about how I used to go there as a kid to eat pizza.

Shakey's had some decent pizza. Kind of reminded me of Mr. Gatti's or vice versa...if memory serves...

[northbeaumont]

Shakey's Pizza was good pizza and they had good games there too! I can still see their pizza sign. Does anyone have a pic of the sign?

KTRH radio had a story for "people who like pizza and beer." They said that a "pizza-favored beer" has been created. That doesn't sound that good to me.

[Lee]

Someone my age just asked me if I remember Shakey's Pizza restaurant in Port Arthur. I told her that I did. I think that I remember some in Houston. Can anyone out there confirm this?

I worked at the Shakey's on Ella Blvd. from the day it opened in the spring of 1968, and later at the one on Crosstimbers and, right before it closed, the one on West Bough off I-10 near Wilcrest. The store in Bellaire was the oldest and busiest in Houston. Those four were owned by the Hartzogg brothers who also owned Hartz KFC and some other fast food franchises. The Pasadena and Griggs Rd. locations were, I believe, owned by someone else. The motto was "We Sell Fun" and that was key to their success and failure. The prices were higher than Pizza Hut, but when the band was playing and the beer flowing, it was a fun place to be. When people got tired of the old-time singalongs and atmosphere, the Ella and Crosstimbers stores began to lose money (the West Bough store never did very well) and the Hartzoggs sold all but the Bellaire location. The new owners cut the budget for live music, substituting old movies on weeknights. The atmosphere suffered, business fell even further, and the Hartzogg brothers wound up regaining ownership.

I last worked for them in September 1971, and don't know what happened after that except that, as has been noted, Shakey's in Houston didn't survive much longer.

[Double K]

You are correct on all counts. Used to take our kids there often in the time-frame you mention. They had long tables with benches and usually had live music in the evening.

Yes Sir, I remember Shakey's! I spent a few Sunday nights @ the Bellaire/chimney rock location around 70-71 era. Good times.

[TV2EBoogaloo]

there was a Shakey's at Town and Country well before the mall was ever built (and then demoed) it was in the area of single story shops

I always remember they had these plastic tops they gave out and they were cheap, but they were made pretty well and they would really spin

[elecpharm]

I wasn't around when Shakey's was in Houston, but not too long ago I did visit a Shakey's in Osaka, Japan.

They still offer rojos.

[spiderroller]

Bellaire Shakey's..... the best ever... great childhood memories.

I remember that organ that automatically played via those music sheets that looked like old computer punch cards. I remember the clown that would be there on certain days that made the animal balloons (way before i ever saw someone else do that). I remember always the window where you could sit and watch them making pizza.

Baskin-Robbins is still there next door....

[cccourt]

Yes...there was a Shakey's Pizza on Bellaire Blvd.  Actually inside the "town" of Bellaire proper.  In the early 60's it was the ONLY Shakey's...and from as far away as we were (Tomball) it was the only pizza "parlor" in Houston. Yes.  We would drive over about once a month.  It was great!!  

 

I want to know if there was ever a Shakey's on FM 1960.  I don't recall one.

[GEM]

Pasadena.......late 60s.