[houstonray]

Just read an article that all of the Pig Stands have closed?!?! It said the store in Houston and Beaumont and all the ones in San Antonio.

That really sucks.

[wendyps]

The sign on the door just says closed for repairs. they are doing all that street work outside of it...maybe it is just that...

[gnu]

wendyps, on Sunday, November 19th, 2006 @ 3:36pm, said:

The sign on the door just says closed for repairs. they are doing all that street work outside of it...maybe it is just that...

http://www.bizjourna...13/daily43.html

The closures were prompted after the Comptroller's office denied appeals by Vincent Luizza, the Chapter 11 trustee for Texas Pig Stand Inc., to keep the three stores open while he continued the search to find a buyer for the business.

.....

The company had planned to borrow funds against its real estate to pay off its past-due sales taxes. However, Pig Stands Inc. officials contend that the company was still in negotiations with a prospective lender on Nov. 8 when the Comptroller's office suspended its licenses to operate.

[houstonray]

Just read another article (google news "Pig Stand") and it's definitely closed for "other" reasons than repair. They have been in bankruptcy for over a year and are delinquent in back sales tax. The owner is looking for a buyer but in the interim, the State of Texas ordered them all closed indefinitely.

[west20th]

Wonder what the cost would be to buy out just the Houston location? Anyone know how to find out?

[wendyps]

west20th, on Sunday, November 19th, 2006 @ 6:14pm, said:

Wonder what the cost would be to buy out just the Houston location? Anyone know how to find out?

betcha that would be a great investment with everything going on over there right now!

[houstonray]

I was just talking about that with a friend. With the right investor, some money poured into a general 'overhaul' of the place, keep the same menu, etc, that place is a Houston landmark that has potential. And with more and more traffic coming to the area because of Sawyer Heights, it's only going to get busier.

[dbigtex56]

First New Orleans Po' Boys, then Diedrich's, then Helios, now this...

Is every cool place in Houston under assault?

If a buyer can be found to reopen the place, I hope they don't fix it up too much. Sometimes people scrub the charm right out.

The Pig Stand allowed me to brag that my butt has occupied the same stool as Shirley MacLaine's. It was one of the settings used in The Evening Star.

[rps324]

dbigtex56, on Monday, November 20th, 2006 @ 12:19pm, said:

First New Orleans Po' Boys, then Diedrich's, then Helios, now this...

Is every cool place in Houston under assault?

If a buyer can be found to reopen the place, I hope they don't fix it up too much. Sometimes people scrub the charm right out.

The Pig Stand allowed me to brag that my butt has occupied the same stool as Shirley MacLaine's. It was one of the settings used in The Evening Star.

Yes, but it could use some scrubbing. I am a big fan of "comfort food" like they served at the Pig, but the lack of cleanliness there kind of kept me from going very often.

[lilyheights]

rps324, on Monday, November 20th, 2006 @ 12:48pm, said:

Yes, but it could use some scrubbing. I am a big fan of "comfort food" like they served at the Pig, but the lack of cleanliness there kind of kept me from going very often.

Never mentioned this before, because despite my experience I like the place and wanted to see it continue:

Unfortunately, this was my case too. The occasional roach sighting I could handle...it was when one crawled all the way up to my father's collar that I wrote the place off.

Still, I'm sorry to see it closing. If someone would scrub it and fumigate, I'd come back in a heartbeat.

[Modernceo]

dbigtex56, on Monday, November 20th, 2006 @ 2:19pm, said:

First New Orleans Po' Boys, then Diedrich's, then Helios, now this...

Is every cool place in Houston under assault?

If a buyer can be found to reopen the place, I hope they don't fix it up too much. Sometimes people scrub the charm right out.

The Pig Stand allowed me to brag that my butt has occupied the same stool as Shirley MacLaine's. It was one of the settings used in The Evening Star.

New Orleans Po' Boys is closing/has closed !!! ?

[sevfiv]

Modernceo, on Monday, November 20th, 2006 @ 2:49pm, said:

New Orleans Po' Boys is closing/has closed !!! ?

yep -
http://www.houstonar...?showtopic=7788

[Modernceo]

sevfiv, on Monday, November 20th, 2006 @ 4:52pm, said:

yep -
http://www.houstonar...?showtopic=7788

Yeahp, just posted in that thread. So sad to hear.

[houstonray]

dbigtex56, on Monday, November 20th, 2006 @ 1:19pm, said:

First New Orleans Po' Boys, then Diedrich's, then Helios, now this...

Is every cool place in Houston under assault?......

I also read on the restaurant thread that Eatzi's closed last week! Holy cow, what's happening to our cool places?

[PureAuteur]

Was Pig Stand the oldest restaurant in Houston? I remember another thread about a really old place from the 40s that closed down but that was a while back.

[heights_yankee]

houstonray, on Monday, November 20th, 2006 @ 4:54pm, said:

I also read on the restaurant thread that Eatzi's closed last week! Holy cow, what's happening to our cool places?

Eatzi's closed b/c that whole strip center is being demolished. I don't know what Cafe Annie is going to do... but they are going to have mixed use- residential on top and retail below. It's going to be the home of the new 25,000+ sq ft Whole Foods!

[sevfiv]

there's a couple of old pictures of the pig stand from the chronicle (little camera icon by the story):
http://www.chron.com/news/houston/

and the story:
http://www.chron.com...an/4350454.html

[B.I.H.]

Was bad enough when the one on Sheppard closed.... Ahh.... The memories of Regan High and the Pig Stand.

[musicman]

on live at 5, they interviewed a former employee who said that they are going to try and reopen on Dec 1. we'll have to see what happens.

[nmainguy]

musicman, on Tuesday, November 21st, 2006 @ 5:44pm, said:

on live at 5, they interviewed a former employee who said that they are going to try and reopen on Dec 1. we'll have to see what happens.

I hope so because the chicken fried steak at BBQ Inn has gone to the toilet. I need my cardiac on a plate from Pig Stand!!!!!!!

[musicman]

nmainguy, on Tuesday, November 21st, 2006 @ 5:57pm, said:

I hope so because the chicken fried steak at BBQ Inn has gone to the toilet. I need my cardiac on a plate from Pig Stand!!!!!!!

you need to hit Telwink!

[nmainguy]

musicman, on Tuesday, November 21st, 2006 @ 6:00pm, said:

you need to hit Telwink!

Been there-done that. I'm not knocking it but the PS adds just the right amount of salt and pepper in the gravy and sometimes the meat is so tender you can cut it with a fork.
Besides, the ambiance of the pig motif plus the stylish waitresses is unsurpassed this side of Paris...Texas

[TheNiche]

nmainguy, on Tuesday, November 21st, 2006 @ 6:13pm, said:

Been there-done that. I'm not knocking it but the PS adds just the right amount of salt and pepper in the gravy and sometimes the meat is so tender you can cut it with a fork.
Besides, the ambiance of the pig motif plus the stylish waitresses is unsurpassed this side of Paris...Texas

For once we can agree on something. Even though the chicken fried steak usually has a chicken fried blood vessel somewhere within it that is impossibly chewy, the flavor is better. And between the decorum and the career waitresses with the gritty voices from a lifetime of smoking...just makes for a good experience.

[mkultra25]

I was driving down Washington while running errands this afternoon, and noticed someone changing the letters on the sign in the Pig Stand's parking lot. When I was headed home an hour or so later, it now read "Employees Fundraiser Tomorrow". No further details, and by that time the guy who'd been changing the letters was gone, or I'd have stopped to ask him about it.

[houstonray]

mkultra25, on Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006 @ 7:12pm, said:

I was driving down Washington while running errands this afternoon, and noticed someone changing the letters on the sign in the Pig Stand's parking lot. When I was headed home an hour or so later, it now read "Employees Fundraiser Tomorrow". No further details, and by that time the guy who'd been changing the letters was gone, or I'd have stopped to ask him about it.

A tchotchke pig auction perhaps??

If it's not going to reopen, I wouldn't mind a small ceramic/glass/metal/wood/whatever pig as a memory of the "good old days"....

[ToolMan]

I always drove by and said to my friends "We have to check this place out", but we never did.

[Don Julio]

houstonray, on Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006 @ 7:02pm, said:

If it's not going to reopen, I wouldn't mind a small ceramic/glass/metal/wood/whatever pig as a memory of the "good old days"....

...and I wouldn't mind having that glorious neon 'Coffee Shop' sign that offsets all of the beyond-hideous condos now dotting Washington Ave.

This is truly horrible news. The Pig Stands here, and in SA and Beaumont, were the last of the old-time diners still left in South Texas. When I moved back to town a few months ago, this was one of the first places I headed to.

Now the corner of Washington & Sawyer will just be another #@*&! condo...

I'm joining the Taliban...

[luvtheheights]

Don Julio, on Sunday, December 3rd, 2006 @ 10:38pm, said:

. The Pig Stands here, and in SA and Beaumont, were the last of the old-time diners still left in South Texas.

You still have Yale Street Diner!!!!

[torvald]

bicycled past the pig stand today and noticed that the
two wall mounted wooden pig waiters are missing.
i think they had the location numbers on them...
hope they went to a good place.

[segovia]

Chatters Cafe & Bistro (140 S Heights Boulevard) has an excellent weekend brunch.

[mkultra25]

segovia, on Tuesday, December 12th, 2006 @ 9:26am, said:

Chatters Cafe & Bistro (140 S Heights Boulevard) has an excellent weekend brunch.

Never been to the brunch, but we ate there for the first time a couple of weeks ago and liked it. It's run by the same people who are involved with Hungry International on Rice Blvd., so if you're familiar with Hungry's, the menu at Chatter's is very similar.

[Vertigo58]

houstonray, on Sunday, November 19th, 2006 @ 5:33pm, said:

Just read an article that all of the Pig Stands have closed?!?! It said the store in Houston and Beaumont and all the ones in San Antonio.

That really sucks.

Never understood why people are so ga-ga about the Pig-Stand on Washington maybe just the fact that it's an icon of the area and because Ms McClaine did her short scene inside for The Evening Star. It may as well close prices are outrageous, service is slooooowwwww and the idea of having the restroom outside (yes it is) always disgusting. The mens RR was designed for children or dwarfs and it is beyond description. Ugh.. People only go because of the reputation. Best thing to do is tear down and build a brand spanking new CLEAN coffee shop that has that 1940-50's appearance. When it was new it was the place to be, inexpensive convenient and great fast food so my relatives say, ahh the good ole days. Baileys Studios has great photos of most eateries on Washington. Wait till rail comes in and really crams the street, bet that's waiting in the wings. Whole nother thread for sure.

[Subdude]

Quote

Best thing to do is tear down and build a brand spanking new CLEAN coffee shop that has that 1940-50's appearance.

No no no. Fake nostalgia is never the same thing.

[Vertigo58]

Subdude, on Monday, January 22nd, 2007 @ 3:25pm, said:

No no no. Fake nostalgia is never the same thing.

True, so true!

Then come the plastic people... oh Prince's Hamburgers why did you ever leave us...boo hoo hoo. Tear in my invisible onion rings.

[HeightsGuy]

Vertigo58, on Monday, January 22nd, 2007 @ 8:47am, said:

Never understood why people are so ga-ga about the Pig-Stand on Washington maybe just the fact that it's an icon of the area and because Ms McClaine did her short scene inside for The Evening Star. It may as well close prices are outrageous, service is slooooowwwww and the idea of having the restroom outside (yes it is) always disgusting. The mens RR was designed for children or dwarfs and it is beyond description. Ugh.. People only go because of the reputation. Best thing to do is tear down and build a brand spanking new CLEAN coffee shop that has that 1940-50's appearance. When it was new it was the place to be, inexpensive convenient and great fast food so my relatives say, ahh the good ole days. Baileys Studios has great photos of most eateries on Washington. Wait till rail comes in and really crams the street, bet that's waiting in the wings. Whole nother thread for sure.

There's a shiny new 59 diner with your name on it a few miles down the road on I10. In the meantime, the Pig Stand takes up all of about 3000 sq feet of space on Washington. Leave it be.

[sunsets]

I see all the little pig statues are gone from the windows.

It's true, it wasn't the cheapest place to eat, but it had a certain atmosphere. (when you wanted to slum it a little and harden your arteries at the same time) And the chicken fried steak was really good.

Hopefully some other kind of diner operation will take over the building, but I fear we're in for more condos.

[northbeaumont]

I remember three Pig Stand restaurants over here in Beaumont. There was one on Washington Boulevard, one on College Street, and one on Calder Avenue. A few months ago a read an article about the chain in a magazine, I think it was Texas Highways. It said that Pig Stands were experiencing financial problems and most, if not all, of its restaurants have closed down. It talked about the ones in Houston, Dallas, and I think it mentioned some in San Antonio. Are any of them in Houston still operating?

Yes, I remember the Pig Sandwich, Senior & Junior. The lunch and dinner of the day was plentiful and filling. There was always pie and cake underneath a glass cover on the counter.

[TheNiche]

Our last one, on Washington Ave, closed down several months ago. There was speculation that one of the former employees might resurrect it as an independently-owned and operated establishment, but nothing seems to have come of it.

[Firebird65]

The one on Washington has closed. Last I checked, there was a Pig Stand in Seguin, but whether it's still there or not is unknown.

The food at the one on Washington wasn't that good and was overpriced to boot. We used to go to the ones in San Antonio when I was a kid and when I learned there was one on Washington when I got a job in the vicinity, I was thrilled. Man, what a disappointment.

True, walking in the joint was like walking into a time machine. It looked like something out of the 1950s or 1960s. It also looked like they hadn't cleaned it since then either. And the Pig Sandwich was nothing special whatsoever. Nothing at all like I remembered it. The french fries that came with the meal were good, but that was it. And I wasn't too keen on paying nearly $8 for it either.

Part of me thinks it was a shame the Pig Stand closed, but part of me thinks it outlived it's time.

[tmariar]

Here's the earlier thread on the Washington location closing:

http://www.houstonar...mp;hl=pig+stand

[brucesw]

The company went into bankruptcy last year after struggling for several years and selling off some units. The one in Seguin was an attempt to re-invigorate the brand, I think. There should be an article on the closures in the San Antonion Business Journal on-line -- the company was based in SA at the time.

The first Pig Stand opened in Dallas in 1921, the first Houston location in 1922 but I don't know if it was the one on Washington. I believe HCAD dates that one only to 1960. The early ones would have been curbside. They were the first drive-ins. Carhops (the first ones were all male) would run to the curb and hop on the running board of your car to take your order - that's where the term 'carhop' came from. There's a history on line, or used to be; I've lost my link.

Besides inventing drive-ins, Pig Stand was credited with inventing onion rings and Texas toast, iirc. I thought the CFS was pretty good for what it was; I thought the signature pig sandwich was awful.

[northbeaumont]

Firebird65, on Monday, March 26th, 2007 @ 12:04pm, said:

The one on Washington has closed. Last I checked, there was a Pig Stand in Seguin, but whether it's still there or not is unknown.

The food at the one on Washington wasn't that good and was overpriced to boot. We used to go to the ones in San Antonio when I was a kid and when I learned there was one on Washington when I got a job in the vicinity, I was thrilled. Man, what a disappointment.

True, walking in the joint was like walking into a time machine. It looked like something out of the 1950s or 1960s. It also looked like they hadn't cleaned it since then either. And the Pig Sandwich was nothing special whatsoever. Nothing at all like I remembered it. The french fries that came with the meal were good, but that was it. And I wasn't too keen on paying nearly $8 for it either.

Part of me thinks it was a shame the Pig Stand closed, but part of me thinks it outlived it's time.

Yes, I think the same thing not only about Pig Stands but other businesses as well. I mentioned Stuckey's in another thread. They seem to have had their "heyday," and newer establishments have come along and people have started patronizing them. Howard Johnson's is still operating, but its newer motels no longer have the trademark orange roof. That makes me believe that HoJo will soon be on its way out. To the best of my knowledge, the Sambo's Restaurant chain no longer exists. And I believe that Denny's might soon bite the dust. It seems like Cracker Barrel and Waffle House are now the most popular roadside restaurants.

[Subdude]

Note merged duplicate topics

[Disastro]

Anybody remember the Pig Stand restaurants? I remember one over near White Oak Bayou...I think on White Oak Drive...

God, I was little back then...lol

[Mark F. Barnes]

try using the search feature

undefined

[northbeaumont]

Disastro, on Sunday, September 16th, 2007 @ 11:04am, said:

Anybody remember the Pig Stand restaurants? I remember one over near White Oak Bayou...I think on White Oak Drive...

God, I was little back then...lol

Yes, there were at least three (maybe four) Pig Stand Restaurants in Beaumont. I read that the whole chain is having financial problems and all of the branches might become things of the past. I remember the famous "Pig Sandwich."

[luvtheheights]

Does anyone know anything about the location of the old Pig Stand?? What is the property going for, are they looking to lease or sell it???

[dbigtex56]

Merged threads.

[Ross]

luvtheheights, on Sunday, January 6th, 2008 @ 2:47am, said:

Does anyone know anything about the location of the old Pig Stand?? What is the property going for, are they looking to lease or sell it???

There's a Dallas phone number on the sign out front with "Call for information" next to it. I'll try to remember to write down the number the next time I go by there.

[brucesw]

Ross, on Sunday, January 6th, 2008 @ 9:38pm, said:

There's a Dallas phone number on the sign out front with "Call for information" next to it. I'll try to remember to write down the number the next time I go by there.

214-349-1100

The one on Broadway in San Antonio reopened several months ago.