brucesw

Leon's to live on, owner vows.

Yes, I think Jo Jo’s was not just local; I wondered too about Toddle House, etc.  There is lots of good info in the Historic Houston forum about past restaurants, too, not just in the Defunct Restaurants thread.  That forum used to be one of the most active on HAIF and there were lots of contributors who knew a lot about Houston.

I see upthread where it’s been suggested the Champs were formerly named Jim’s.  I’m remembering the name Terry’s from someplace but can’t pin it down.  

Jim’s/Terry’s/Champs - whatever -- there was one at ca. 6475 Hillcroft, on the V-shaped tract formed by the intersection of Westward and Hillcroft.  This is the first I went to and that was possibly before the name change the first time I went.  

After it closed and was razed, a large Conoco station went in there with a large C store that seemed to me to be a copy of the large Stop and Go Corner Market formats.

The Street View from just last September shows an Exxon station there.

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7108576,-95.4931976,3a,75y,338.7h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sXMBLNjlSD1K4Q9ml8fwE1A!2e0

The El Ranchero Restaurant at 5300 N. Braeswood was originally a Champ’s.  I remember being surprised seeing it there because that’s not anywhere near as heavily traveled a thoroughfare as the other locations I knew about; that one would really be just a neighborhood café.  After Champs closed that became Pastine; there is still a listing for Pastine on Menuism or one of those sites which lists it as Italian, Mexican and Pizza.  It never seemed to do any business but lasted for quite a few years.  El Ranchero moved in 5 or 6 years ago, perhaps.

http://www.elrancherohouston.com/

There was a Champs in the parking lot of the Academy at 8236 S. Gessner at 59.  There was a Mobil station on the corner, facing the frontage road, which is now a garage/used car lot.  The Champs backed right up to the back of the gas station and faced north, not Gessner.  I went in there once, not long before it closed.  There was no parking directly in front of the restaurant.  You had to park elsewhere in the lot and walk and that driveway could be very busy at times.

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.6885879,-95.5318034,3a,75y,180h,91.75t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sv4W7m7ECcN5Ff--7wMOESQ!2e0!6m1!1e1

You have a Champs on the SW corner of S. Wilcrest and 59, now an Exxon station.  Yes, but that was originally a Jo Jo’s.  That’s why I asked if there was any connection.  I went there once, after the name change.  That is the only location I remember seeing a train which is why I asked which chain that was.

The Jo Jo’s faced south, into the parking lot of the big strip center (Marshall’s, Carter’s Gun Country, etc.), not Wilcrest or the frontage road.  The driveway into the parking lot was the first one south of the frontage road.  It's been altered so it's impossible for me to get my bearings looking at the street view.  There was room for one row of parking directly in front of the building, separated by a sidewalk, small strip of sod, and shrubbery.  Note both the freeway and frontage road have been widened.
 

You can look at these on Historic Aerials but many of the shots are very difficult to make out.  You can see however that the Hillcroft, N. Braeswood and S. Gessner buildings had a similar shape with a point to one end of the roof.  The building on S.Wilcrest was square.  The best one to look at is the 2002 image of the S. Gessner location which shows the building there.  By 2004 it is gone completely.  The 1981 image of Hillcroft is probably the best one to look at for that store; that’s about the time I went there I think.  It shows parking in front of the building, in fact, on every side except Westward.  I hadn’t been able to remember if you could park right in front of that one because of the tapering lot but the restaurant is farther from the tip than I remembered.

Working on some on the SW side, but some questions:

What was the difference between Champs and Champps? 

Was Champs earlier known as Terry's or something?

Which chain had the train running around on a ledge beneath the ceiling?

I hadn't realized JoJo's was a local chain.  Was there any connection to Champs.

There was a Taco Bueno at ca. 3810 S. Gessner, intersection Westpark, west side of the street.  After TB pulled out, the building became a dentists office or loan office or something but has now been demolished.  A strip center occupies the space between where the TB was and Westpark that contains a Tortilleria La Reyna, with parking on the south of the building rather than along Gessner.  The TB would have sat in the parking lot, very close to the La Reyna.

There was a Taco Bueno at ca. 8767 S. Gessner.  When TB pulled out, Taqueria Arandas occupied the building without much alteration at first but later a paint job.  Years later, the TA was razed and a larger restaurant was built on the back of the site.  Last year the TA closed and within the last few months a Don Rey Mexican restaurant has moved in.

An L-shaped center was built on the lot s. of where the TB stood.  I can't remember what was there when it was TB.

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.6858302,-95.5285299,3a,75y,90h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s92McQ-TF6kujKWXErS_7Ig!2e0

The China House Restaurant @ 8797 S. Gessner, corner of Jason (?) was originally a Captain D's.

I don't remember the Miller's in the Village but there was one on Main, south of Dryden, in that old 2 story strip that also included the Briar Shoppe and a scrubs emporium.  There's one in one of the medical offices towers now; I think I remember it in Scurlock Tower.  Yelp lists four around town, including Clear Lake.  I've been to the South Main and Shepherd ones.

I went to Zinnante's just once; Robb Walsh wrote it up in the Press, praising the meatball sub as I recall.  I had never been aware of it and went to try it out.  It was closed in less than a year.  The power of the Press?  That is now My Pita which seems to have frequent ownership changes.

I think a some of the Indian grocery stores are chains but many are independently owned.  Likewise Pakistani grocery stores.

Belden's in Meyerland.

Phoenicia - 2 locations.

I wonder about Hong Kong Market in Hong Kong City Mall.

Pyburn's - the original in Almeda has been around for probably 50 years but four years ago they opened a second location in Fondren Southwest and they're set to open another in a food desert.  I don't know what all the stores are this Vuong owns but one is Jim's Supermarket on Yellowstone.

Pyburn's is known for their meat department.  Sometimes I think there are more butchers milling around behind the counter waiting on someone to serve than there are customers in the whole store.

That makes sense.  I don't remember that at all and it has bugged me for a long time.

Rice built a much bigger store on Hillcroft, just south of S. Braeswood (address on Hillcroft although it's back behind a strip center) that was a Rice Epicurean and is now a nice Walmart Neighborhood Market.

For aggieengineer, it's still a very nice neighborhood.  Meyerland, after all.  Houses immaculately maintained on the outside, anyway.  Interesting boutique businesses - The Russian General Store in the center where the L&C was, probably the biggest selection of salamis in Houston and lots of import goodies, My Pita, a Kosher bakery that makes fantastic pitas, and the New York Coffee and Bagel Shop with probably the best bagels in town.

^

Interesting.  That was before I moved to this part of town.  Must've been the space on the corner.  That was a Blockbuster for a long time, then vacant for a few years and just recently became Flooring for Life.  I think I've been around long enough that there was something there before the Blockbuster and after Lewis and Coker but I can't think of what it was right now other than I'm sure it wasn't a grocery.

Not to hijack the thread but do you recall what was in the strip center on the SW corner of S. Braeswood and Chimney Rock where there is a small, dumpy HEB now?  Must've been a grocery, 5 & 10 or hardware in that space.

I agree.  They were considered very desirable residences; my brother and his wife lived there just after marrying in the early 60s.  As I recall, on the exterior they resembled the apartments that were torn down for the Montrose HEB.

I'm sure we've discussed them before on HAIF but I can't for the life of me remember the name to search for.  They'd probably be in one of the threads on Riverside Terrace which was where wealthy Jewish families (Weingarten, Battlesteins, Sakowitz) lived since they couldn't buy in River Oaks.

I believe that was Meyer Brothers.  Women’s and children’s clothing, no men’s?  Then it was an antique store before being taken over by Half Price.

The Jones Apothecary was right at Rice and Morningside as I recall, NW corner.  They also had a location on Montrose, between Richmond and 59.  Prescriptions and OTC drugs only, I think, no sundries, cosmetics, soda fountain, etc.

The original location of House of Coffee Beans, 1973, was on Rice, between Rice Food and Kirby. Two store fronts, one housed the shop, the other their huge roaster in a picture window.  That was the first Houston boutique coffee roastery, I think.  The roasting facilities were moved to 610 S decades ago, the store about 15 years ago to a downsized space on Bissonnet.  I think they cited rising rents as the reason for the latter move.  I’ve been buying beans and coffee paraphernalia there since the mid 70s and still like some of their blends.  A price list from the 70 shows the address as 2520 Rice.

There was a meat locker on Kelvin, south of Rice, east side of the street, about where Evoke is now.  A co-worker and I bought a side of beef there ca. 71, had it cut and wrapped to our specifications and rented a locker.  I ate a lot of beef that year, got sick and tired of it.  After we ate it all up, neither one of us wanted to do it again.

KAUM had a screening at the Village Theatre, ca. 1971 I can’t remember the film for sure but it either had something to do with being shot in Houston or aimed at our audience.  IIRC, the Houston premier of The Exorcist was at the Village, December, 1973.

There was a hippie clothing store, SE corner of Kelvin and Times - bell bottom pants, tie-dye, high heel shoes for men, that sort of stuff.  I want to say it was an original location of the Gap when it was just starting out before they yuppified but I’m not sure; maybe it just that they were put out of business by the Gap.  There was a bead shop in that block of Times, too.

ETA:  It comes to me out of the haze that the name of the clothing store was Warp and Woof.  The first Gap was in the Galleria and was a quite different store.

It will always be just The Village to me, not Rice Village.  That’s the way it was advertised, on radio and in print.

I lived a block and a half from there in the early 70s when I first came to town.  I remember the toilets and lavatories on display in the picture windows, for those who wanted to go window shopping for toilets and lavatories.

I Love the open windows above the canopy for ventilation.

A & P -wow.  Grocery stores were so much smaller back then.  That's not all that big a building.

Did Mading's have three entrances so close together or was Rettig's a separate business?

I wonder if the presence of the architect's sign and the debris off to the right indicates it was a very new building when this picture was taken?

^ I'll have to defer to others who were there more often.  It's been 40 years and I was only there 2-3 times at the most.  The more I thought about it the more I thought it was a bigger space than Jenni's.

I wasn't aware the place had lasted into the 80s and 90s.

In a strip center on the SE corner of Shepherd and Alabama - looks like the center may still be there.

As I remember, it was where Jenni's is.  Right next door, out of the picture to the right, was one of the early locations of Frenchy's.

I remember The Record Rack well though I only went a couple of times.  I got all the free records I could handle through my job.  Met the owner, chatted with him about new releases and what was selling but didn't remember his name.

I believe it was Los Troncos...try this site; it's loaded with info...http://blog.chron.com/bayoucityhistory/2010/07/los-troncos-restaurant/

 

Los Troncos has been talked about here, too.  I remember I posted a postcard, possibly earlier in this thread.

I stumbled on this last night while rummaging around, looking for a photo of the old Mrs. Baird's bakery on W. Gray (I get distracted easily).  Story Sloane writes this feature for Houston Lifestyles emag using some pictures from his great collection at Sloane Gallery and a couple of years ago published this one about old restaurants.

I know what the mystery cafe is.  I wonder if he's got all ten winners yet.

I'm still working my way through all the other articles but there are some great photos.

I have no idea but obviously there are lots of family ties in the restaurant business in Houston, so why not grocery stores?

The initials of Howard E. Butt, the son of the company founder:

http://www.heb.com/s...history/3000002

Pasternak's. I miss that place, it was still open when I first moved into the area in the early 80s. Can't remember the business that moved in after they closed, but eventually they went out of business too and the original building was razed.

I had forgotten all about Pasternak's.  It was there when I lived in Montrose in the 70s but I never went.  I don't know why since there was a shortage of grocery options in Montrose.  As I recall, a used furniture store later occupied the space, not a junk or antique store, just used.  I think the name was Alabama Furniture and it later moved up on Yale.

Interesting about everybody's reaction to Roman Meal.  I had no idea it was so popular.  According to the website, it was originally a hot cereal and had some ingredients that are trendy today.

It was supposed to be good for you but wheat bread was supposed to be good for you too and Roman Meal tasted a lot better.

I think I'll have to pick up a loaf sometime and try it.

I drove over on Washington today; they sure don't brag about that place being a bakery.  It's a Sunbean outlet store and I did see a Flowers Bakery sign behind the burglar bars at what I assume was the entrance to the main building.

We never cut the crusts off at our house except occasionally if mother was making finger sandwiches for a party or something.  I haven't bought supermarket bread in ages - I had to check over the weekend to see if Rainbo was still available and it wasn't at my neighborhood grocery but apparently it's still being made.  But I remember supermarket bread not being as soft and squishy as today; maybe just because I was a kid.

Yes, there weren't many options, certainly not where I lived.  Loaves came in one size and the slices in one thickness - there was no thin sandwich bread or jumbo loaves.  There probably were no supermarket generic breads.  We occasionally had a loaf of wheat bread, but not often.

I never heard of Federal.  Both Three Brothers on Braeswood and Alfred's in the Village opened in 1948 I think.  Surely they both offered rye and pump.   My aunt who lived in the Heights had resettled to West U by the late 50s/early 60s and discovered Three Brothers and introduced us to the hard rolls.  We often came home from visiting her with a big bag of rolls and maybe a loaf of 'French' bread.

And another supermarket bread I remembered - Roman Meal.  I don't know when that first appeared but we loved it and that was our go-to bread from then on.

In the Vintage Neon Signs thread, a question was raised about a sign for Fair-Maid bread.  I don't recall ever seeing the sign and I don't remember Fair-Made bread at all.  Perhaps it just wasn't distributed where I grew up (Lake Jackson) or my mother never bought it.

The breads I remember as a kid in the late 40s/50s were Schott's Holsum and Mrs. Baird's.  As I remembered it, Holsum disappeared in the 50s and was replaced by Rainbo but according to what I found online, Schott's Holsum became Holsum Sunbeam bread.

Here's a story from the Galveston Daily News, 1951, on the arrival of Schott's Holsum bread on the island with some of the history of the bakery.

The Schott's bakery was (?)/is (?) located on Washington, just east of Montrose.  The Schott's bakery building lacks the curb appeal of the old Baird's bakery on West Gray.  We went past that one frequently on the way to visit relatives in the Heights but seldom went across on Washington and I'm not sure it was even there back then.

Here's a little history on Little Miss Sunbeam.  Holsum was also a brand name used by other bakers.

Anybody else remember Holsum bread?

Bumping this thread again.  I found this site today while surfing around.  Some great old pics including Antonelli's in it's original location on 2nd street, the JC Penney's, Bodiddles, the Surf Drive-In, the entrance to the AP Beutel Building at Dow and more, all mentioned up-thread, and some images lifted from this thread.

Also, I recently visited the relatively new Freeport Museum.  Many of the displays relied quite a lot on framed newspaper clippings, still, there were some great images of the aftermath of hurricanes, some nautical relics, etc.  Worth a visit if you're down that way.

Please do post the picture of the pre renovation period you have. Having been raised in Houston I love Houston history of the fifties, sixties and seventies.

 

Here is another photo of Ivy Russell Ford at 2120 Main.

The picture helps; I was trying to remember that one.  Reminds me of Curry Ford on 2nd Street in Freeport.  Other Ford dealerships in Brazosport included Angleton Motors on what is now 288B, close to the County Courthouse complex.  I think that building is still there, converted to county offices; I'm going down that way this weekend and will check.  The Ford dealer in West Columbia was Clyde V. Lee Motors, which I can't place but was probably on TX 35.

Here's the photos in the Bob Bailey Collection at UT labeled Ford.  Many of cars, a few of dealers including several of Raymond Pearson and one I'd never heard of, Alsbury-Burke.

yep, it was Luke's

Originally one of the roast beef franchises, Roy Rogers Roast Beef IIRC, before Luke's.

I saw Grand Hotel at the Parc III (didn't remember the name of the theater) ca. 1972-73 and had my '68 Volvo vandalized in the parking lot.  Not exactly what I expected a block from River Oaks.  The theaters were on the ground level, west end of the strip center, right on McDuffie as I recall.  Tiny auditoriums, very, very plain.  i think I've been in theaters with bigger restrooms than the auditoriums of the Parc III.  I don't remember that grocery store as anything other than a Kroger.  After the theaters disappeared there was a Soup and Salad at about the same location.

Re:  the Shamrock 4.  When I worked at KAUM we held a screening of Performance with Mick Jagger there.  That was released in the fall of '70 and the theaters were very new.  KAUM was on the 16th floor of the Fannin Bank at Holcombe and Main, now a Wells Fargo?   I was surprised how small the auditoriums were.  There was very limited seating so lots of listeners had bought tickets to the other films showing and were trying to sneak into the Jagger film.  I went out to the concession stand during the movie and quickly abandoned that idea because of the crowded lobby and the long line, then I had to fight my way back to my seat.  The theater staff was making no attempt to police the situation, probably wisely.  The whole time I was there I kept thinking of Valians.

That was the first multiplex I'd ever been in but a year or two later I saw a movie (can't remember the name) at the Gaylynn (?) Twin (?) at Sharpstown and the theaters were not brand new but I don't know how old they were.  One full sized auditorium, one smaller but still larger than the auditoriums at Shamrock or Parc III.  Does a twin-plex count as a multi-plex?

Of course there had been twin drive-in movie theaters long before that.

Definitely a sign for a pharmacy, and a Jack and Jill Liquor.  There's a 56 Olds and maybe three 57 Fords so that dates the picture.  Anybody got a phone directory from that era?  Was Westheimer @ Chimney Rock that developed by 57?