brucesw

Well, with the food trucks - Abu Omar on the SE corner (and maybe one or two others in the picture) and Gyro Kings, I think it was, on the SW corner, maybe they've got everything covered (as far as dining options). They're both well known operations with multiple units, I think.  ..  But it's not a hot part of town for eating out.

But you're probably right.  Maybe signage or access points, or management issues?

M&M Grill, just up Almeda, is great Middle-Eastern + Mexican and burgers.

Awesome video.  Thanks.  I had a silly grin on my face all the way through.  I remember the SS Galveston, Jack Tar, most of the others (but not all).  Never went in the mall - fancier than I would have expected and the exterior in a couple of shots was in a lot better shape than I think I ever saw it.  Would love to see another video of other parts of the island that most of us from this area would be familiar with, not just along the seawall.

Thanks, Filio.  Much more than I ever knew.  I thought I remembered she had a theatre in midtown but couldn't remember a name.

Never went.  Dean Goss was a name I was familiar with, though.  Seems I remember he had other entertainment ventures?  I believe I remember an article or interview on TV where he was talking about submitting proposals for TV game shows to the networks or something.

Then there is this, which I found online, by an Austin TV station and I don't remember ever hearing anything about this.

Dean Goss @ IMDb.  Check out the Publicity link on IMDb for mention of an article by John Nova Lomax in the Press a decade ago.  (I haven't checked).

Marietta Marich was I believe a well-known name in local acting circles.  She had a show on Channel 2, late nights, or late weekends - ???.  Her husband, Bruce, as I recall, was a long time employee/director on Channel 2.

There's lots online about the Holmes Rd. Incinerator.  Here's a piece from the Chron.  We used to have relatives in Sunnyside, moving down from the Heights in the 50s and gone by the late 60s to West U.  We'd come up 288 (now 521), take Knight Rd. to get on Holmes and go across to Griggs, right by the incinerator.   I would see trucks there but never saw any smoke and all I remember is a metal structure that was the actual incinerator, I guess.  Controversial from the beginning.

Still one by that name on N. Shepherd just north of 610.  The one paragraph 'Our Story' section on the website says it opened in 1978 and is family owned and operated but doesn't give the family name.  The Spanky's on Telephone @ 610 was formerly a Gabby's, I think.  The other mentions you referred to probably included one by me about the location on S. Gessner just north of Bissonnet.  I never went inside but did drive-thru often.  Can't remember which building it was in so not sure if it's still there.

I don't remember the S. Main store for sure.  I think that was also later one of the multiple locations of the fast rising, fast dying off Baytown Seafood chain, and I went there once (and only once).

That would be the current location of Hunan's Bistro at the opposite end of the block from Molina's.  The one at 2900 Weslayan is now (recently opened) Davanti which I understand has the chef/pasta maker from Fresca, Cafe Italiano which was in the strip along 59 across from the former Summit.  I'm wanting to check that one out.

The only Albritton's I ever went to was the one on Waugh which was where Whole Foods is now.  The picture in this article from the Chronicle is of the Waugh Drive location  They weren't fancy.  Friends lived nearby and went regularly.

I came across ads for this in my radio history research, I remember.  I assumed this was the earlier location of FIsherman's Wharf on S. Main, later.  I didn't know about the other 2 places.  This was right across from the Tower Theatre.  I believe the ad mentioned a fireplace, too!  I'll have to see if I still have that.

I ate at the Fisherman's Wharf in the early 70s but have only dim memories.

I remember seeing the original building in the 60s.  As I recall, I was on S. Main and it was off to the east, maybe a bit farther than other structures (Valian's?).  Never went to it but it influenced my appreciation of Houston a few years later when I was contemplating a career move.  Never regretted my choice to come to Houston and I went to the new facility soon after it opened.

I'll be looking for pictures of the original.  Here's the history on the website.

Annie's is at 10821 so yes, that was Zimmerman's.  The website says they opened in 1978, added breakfast service in 1984.  Interesting find.

I did not remember that either one of these was a Romana before becoming Luby's.  I probably frequented the one on Buffalo Speedway the most and always saw friends there.  

The one on Bellaire is now King Star Seafood Buffet and Hibachi Grill.  Mostly a pretty standard Chinese Buffet with a few more seafood options and a grill installed on the back row where you can get a 'parrillada' freshly prepared from raw ingredients.  They have a large Hispanic clientele in that neighborhood, hence the hibachi/parrillada.  

An AT&T store sits in front of the old Luby's building, making it easy to miss driving by.

I've been a couple of times recently with a friend who has raved about it for a couple of years.  My first visit was ..  I did much better on the second visit but still not sure.  Haven't tried the grill offerings, which are included, not extra.  Gets terrible reviews online.

Hayrides - wow.  I had forgotten all about those things.  It's been a few decades.  I never thought about hayrides in the big city - I grew up in a very small town.  I wonder if all of these other riding stables would have also offered hayrides.  Where I grew up, they were popular with youth groups, particularly church youth groups, probably not so much for adults.  That's what hansom cabs or other horse drawn carriages for two instead of a crowd were for. 

The building on Hillcroft now houses a rather large washateria/laundramat.

😃 Aha! So that's what that was.  Now Fresh and  Best Donuts, right next door to the (likely) permanently closed Bellaire Broiler Burger.  I went in only once (to the donut shop), a few years ago.  I'd been in the parking lot next door so many times I thought I'd give them a try.  I got a powdered sugar donut with a near lethal amount of powdered sugar.  It was the last one of the day so I don't know if that was characteristic of what they served.  Haven't been back; there's a donut shop much closer to me than I prefer.  It was tasty (I also got a cake donut), just had to be careful not to put too much of it in your mouth at one time and have some water handy.

Never went to a Dobbs House;  I thought they were more upscale eateries than Toddle Houses, which Dobbs owned, at least toward the end.  Toddle House, One's a Meal, Dutch Kettle, and Steak and Egg I went to back in those days.  Steak and Egg was another Dobbs owned chain, very similar to Toddle House but a little more upscale interior in my one experience

There was one on Montrose, just north of 59, back in the 60s, maybe into the early 70s.  I think it was Zimm's that was in that space (southern end of the strip center) years later.

Dobbs House in Houston - The Arch-ive

The revolving restaurant at IAH was a Dobbs House.

I can't place the one on Willowbend but looks like it's been razed.  The one on Westheimer is still open and is the place that bought the recipes from the last Felix Mexican Restaurant in Montrose, so it has two menus.  I know I've never been to either one of these but I think there were other locations and I may have been to one, especially if there was one on Main.  In the 70s. 

13 hours ago, brucesw said:

Jews in Houston apparently lived mostly southeast of downtown out toward Riverside, of course..

I should have stated that as more of a question.  The idea popped into my head last night but I don't know that the assertion is true, except for Riverside.

The Jewish Community Center was at 4701 La Branch at Blodgett.  Sister radio stations KNUZ (1230 am) and KQUE-FM (102.1 fm) took over the facility and were housed there for decades.

Heinen Theatre - 3517 Austin

ETA:  Congregation Beth Israel, the oldest Jewish congregation in Texas, occupied the building from 1925-1967.  HISD purchased it in 1966.  It was designed by Joseph Finger, a member.

Did Buffalo Pharmacy become Buffalo Grill?  That was on the south end of the strip, facing Bissonett, as I recall.  Seems like there was a Yamin's or Stephano's pizza/sub shop in there???  I can't place a Lewis and Coker, though.

How quickly we forget.

Young Women's/Men's Hebrew Association, Jewish counterpart to the YW/MCAs, in other words a Jewish social institution with a room that could be used for movies, long before the establishment of Meyerland.  Jews in Houston apparently lived mostly southeast of downtown out toward Riverside, of course..  The Jewish Community Center was on La Branch, I think - I can't remember the cross street but further south than this, and there was a Synagogue across from San Jac Hi School that became a Unitarian Church.

The film is about life under the Czars in Russia for Jews, produced in 1928.

About the film

About the author, Sholem Aleichem

I'd never heard of this place either.

History on Wiki

No mention of Dutch Kettle but note the founders had experience with Toddle Houses.   The one I went into in LJ had to be even before this chain was founded.  I know because of the car I was driving that caused me to go to the Sears Tire Store.

Locations

No date on the list.  There was a list of locations on the Wayback Machine at one time, and the 'About Us' from the website, but both are missing.

Facebook - College Station

There are postings online referring to the Galveston location on Seawall Blvd as a Dutch Kettle.

The way we were --- pictures of Houston in 1992, courtesy of long-time HAIFER J.R. Gonzales (I hope he's still around).  Scroll through and enjoy.  Note Pop Quiz # 2 (it's quite a ways in) about a Houston restaurant chain - pics and a little snippet of information about Kettle restaurants.

That is very different than the Dutch Kettle I went in in the 1960s.

The book Lost Restaurants of Houston by the Galvanis has a brief chapter on George P. Kelley, for whom the Original Kelley's Steak House was built in 1936 @ 3512 Main.  Kellly had 5 restaurants at one time.  The building became Christie's in 1938/9? and was not demolished until 2007, according to the book.  Surely there have to be pictures out there somewhere.

Galvani has pics of the interior but none of the exterior that I can find in the book.

BTW, the book includes a brief chapter 'A Drive down Main Street in the 1960s,' starting with Elliot's Steaks @ 11321 and ending at One's a Meal in the  1000 block.  Fascinating.  A good book.

The Galvani's book Lost Restaurants of Houston has an excellent chapter on BSSS/One's a Meal, based on memorabilia preserved by a descendant of the founder.  The Brooks System was invented by a man from Fort Worth, named Brooks, and was described as an early form of franchising.  A Houston man, interested, worked with Brooks in Beaumont where he was 'installing' his system, came back to Houston and started One's a Meal.  The system included emphasis on the breakfast trade, 24 hour operation, and an open kitchen, so diners could watch the food being prepared.  Sandwiches were big but I think their most famous and enduring dish was chili, served with breakfast.  The chain first started in 1920 with a location on Rusk.  The chili survived the decades and ownership changes until a couple of years ago when Theo's Greek Restaurant on Westheimer closed.  The dish was still listed on their website citing it's origin at One's a Meal.  That's enough on that for now.

I don't know much about Kettle Restaurants or whether they're related to the earlier Dutch Kettle, and there's no mention in Galvani. 

Some time before stepping down at 13, Ward signed off one night as David Ward, explaining it was his real name and he was tired of not being able to use it, or something like that. It made the news the next day (Chron) but didn't last long as his employer made him return to using Dave until his (already announced I think) retirement.

Makes sense from the company's point of view, of course, as they had spent years and years and who knows how much in promotional efforts promoting their lead anchor as 'Dave Ward,' not David. 

So maybe he's the one who suggested or even demanded that he be referred to as David.

Interesting to think how much of 'downtown Bellaire' was farming land just 70 years ago.  This is 2 short blocks west of the Bellaire HEB, 1 block north of the Bellaire Triangle - riding stables!

I remember Westmoreland Dairy on Rice Ave, I think it was, where Sam's Club is now, some cattle in the fields behind the plant, and Pin Oak Stables on Post Oak Rd, now 610, south of the railroad tracks/Westpark, next to the original quonset hut studios of Channel 2.

Kahn's reuben was the same as Alfred's as far as I could tell.  And I'd agree - it's still the best I've ever had.

Kahn's website (I think the son's name was Michael, had a line about 'everybody's good at doing something; I'm good at making sandwiches' -  and he was.