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Historic Houston Restaurants


groovehouse

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I miss that drive threw only burger place, and they where cheap, but the BEST! Does anyone remember? I think they had like 3 around Uptown-Westchase... I remember the color yellow, there where generally in parking lots, ONLY drive threw...

and CHECKERS!!! They had the BEST fries!!

Cinco De Mayo on Holzworth (It burned down to the ground)

 

Checkers is coming back to Houston. A new Franchisee will be opening some soon. It was announced in the Houston Business Journal this week.

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Downtown on the corner of Main and Bell was the Simpsons Dinning car. It has long been closed and last I knew of, it had been moved out on Westheimer. Can't remember now just how far out it was moved and I do not know if it ever reopened again. Also as a kid I remember the Price's Hamburger place on the south west corner of Shepherd and Washington Ave. They had 19 cent hamburgers, 12 cent fries, and 5 cent Cokes. The burgers were great and the prices right. Also there was Phil's café on the corner of Richmond and Mandell. Phil's later moved over to Shepherd between Norfolk and Portsmouth where the What A Burger is now located. 

 

One of my late uncles was a co-owner of a Cabin Cruiser Boat in the late 40's and early 50's. I grew up attending First UMC at Main and Clay. Went to Simpson's after youth functions at the church. After the diner closed it was moved out in the country somewhere out of Houston. It was brought back to Houston and redone with a building addition. It re-opened and was later taken over by the current operator of Prince's Hamburgers-James Broussard. He later closed it and others re-opened it as a Diner. That didn't last forever, and it later closed. While empty it burned down one night.

 

Regarding Phil's, he sold it and the new owners changed the name to 59 Diner. Same food and menu. They even let Phil come in each day and great diners and seat them. I don't know if he is still around. The group now has several other locations scattered around town with the same theme and menus.

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Here is a Kaphan's ad from 1970 - "the Aristocrat of Sea Food and Steaks" featuring their "world series of gold bats"

2vmts7q.jpg

 

Kaphans was owned and operated by Pete Tomek. While guests were waiting to be seated or sitting at tables awaiting orders, either he or his Maitre D' would circulate around with a Saute Pan full of Broiled Oysters on Toothpicks for you to savor.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Yep. I think Cardet's became the Latina Cafe when it changed ownership - at some point it was sold it to an Asian family who pretty much kept the menu (and some of the cooks) the same as it had been previously. I haven't been there in ages, but it used to be a favorite haunt - a friend lived within walking distance of it for several years. I can't remember when the name change happened, but I believe it was sometime in the late 80s or early 90s.

 

Sorry for replying toa  rather old message, but I've been meaning to ask this. Also at 1972 Fairview, next door to what is now the restaurant Roost, is an apartment building. I noticed the entrance to that building is on a diagonal corner, with a pair of French doors cut into it. Since you usually don't see that kind of entrance in residential buildings, I wondered if it used to be a business, like a grocery store or something like that. Anyone know? All I could find out is that the building was built in 1930's or 1940's.

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Was the building with the diagonal corner originally the food market that was related to the restaurant?  I vaguely remember this being discussed on HAIF at some point.

 


Was the building with the diagonal corner originally the food market that was related to the restaurant?  I vaguely remember this being discussed on HAIF at some point.

 

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Sorry for replying toa  rather old message, but I've been meaning to ask this. Also at 1972 Fairview, next door to what is now the restaurant Roost, is an apartment building. I noticed the entrance to that building is on a diagonal corner, with a pair of French doors cut into it. Since you usually don't see that kind of entrance in residential buildings, I wondered if it used to be a business, like a grocery store or something like that. Anyone know? All I could find out is that the building was built in 1930's or 1940's.

 

Back in the 50's and early 60's thier was a family owned grocery thier. I used to pass it walking home.They lived upstairs I think.As I recall the man was pretty old at the time. I don't recall the name of the store.I would like to find out.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I sure I wish knew what was the Mexican restaurant I ate at in the late 1990s. All I remember is that it had a rather high ceiling and was next to a Fuddruckers. I'm pretty sure it was next to a highway.

 

    Immediately next door, or just close by?  On the highway, or just close by?

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And the area was under a tornado watch.

 

This for post of the year!  :lol: 

 

That's something I would do to describe a place I've been - talk about the weather!  Priceless.

 

In all seriousness could it have been a place near this Fuddruckers?

 

2040 Nasa Road One

Houston, TX 77058

(281) 333-1598
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And the area was under a tornado watch.

 

   I don't think the tornado watch will help.

 

   I don't know how long the Fuddruckers on NASA Road 1 has been there.  Maybe someone can pull up a list of late 1990s Fudduckers locations...  I'm sure some of them have been closed.

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I'm pretty sure that Fud's has been there quite a while.  Probably around 20 years which would be 1994 when opened?  And I think there probably was something else around it - now there is some sort of "fun plex" place and a drive-thru carwash (not sure if either are still in operation?).

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Come to think of it, the high ceiling was because it did have a second level area (bar? events center?) I doubt that will help anyone though. I've got another "mystery establishment" in Dallas from a shorter time (2004), the road, and parts of a name, but even that is an unknown.

It doesn't help that both of these are in huge cities where people are less likely to know about these sorts of things... :mellow:

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Well, the further information ruled out my guess of a Monterey's that used to be on NASA Road 1... but even then, I recall it being a pleasant evening at around dusk when I ate there 20 years ago. I don't recall the direction of the wind, however.

 

One restaurant I do remember trying and liking was Camino Real at Westheimer and Westhollow Drive, near Highway 6. I think it was open only for a really brief period in the mid or late 90s, but the food was pretty legit. Part of the appeal though was that it seemed to be a sister of another Camino Real restaurant in Rosenberg, where I grew up. Both had about the same menu and prices and carried the same slogan: "The best enchiladas you NEVER tasted". It folded before 2000, and I'm not even certain if the same strip center is still there. Google maps shows a strip of similar size, so maybe it was just drastically renovated...

 

The one in Rosenberg opened in the mid 90s and survived into the 2000s. It later became a Los Cucos, and has become another Mexican restaurant since. 

 

 

 

 

Edited by ChannelTwoNews
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I'm pretty sure that Fud's has been there quite a while.  Probably around 20 years which would be 1994 when opened?  And I think there probably was something else around it - now there is some sort of "fun plex" place and a drive-thru carwash (not sure if either are still in operation?).

 

   That may be why I don't recognize it; the surroundings have changed, and I don't get to that area very often.

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Well, the further information ruled out my guess of a Monterey's that used to be on NASA Road 1... but even then, I recall it being a pleasant evening at around dusk when I ate there 20 years ago. I don't recall the direction of the wind, however.

 

   My guess would be Mamacitas, but it wasn't next door to Fuddruckers.  The wind was from the south that day.

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Heck, I don't even think I can remember the Mexican restaurant I ate at FIVE years ago, which I have MORE information for, and I STILL don't know where it is, or if it still exists or not. They had a giant Obama cut-out there. It was near a Randalls (Randalls Flagship, I think, it had capital letters instead of the script)

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  • 3 weeks later...

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