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Favorite Defunct Restaurants


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Given that the area restaurant guide came out relatively recently, I'd like to take this time to have discussions of old restaurants. Here are a few:

Tuscany's: The Gelato place closed down and is replaced by some sign of a karate guy kicking! What happened? :o

The abandoned steakhouse on Texas Ave.: You've always seen it...it's the one with the tepees and the vine-coated sign, between Kroger and Wal-Mart...but what is it?

Defunct Post Oak Mall Eateries: According to an insert when Post Oak Mall opened, Chick-fil-A and Corn Dog 7 opened as well as the following eateries: Funnel Cakery, Giovanni's, The Great Hot Dog Experience, Ken Martins Chicken Fried Steak (looks like that venture didn't go too well), Peanut Shack (it's actually a candy and nut shop that still seems to exist in forgotten places), Pepe's, Potatoes Etc., Salad Bartique (that is how it's spelled), Seafood Shoppe, and Sesame Hut.

Also, McDonald's, Orange Julius, and Subway had presence as well.

Swenson's was also in it, as well as the now-defunct location near Los Cucos. I believe it closed Dec. 2005 but I could be wrong. The ice cream there (as well as the clown ice creams) were awesome!

I wasn't sad to see Pancho's (where Los Cucos is now) go. Pancho's had these creepy sun masks all against the wall. They gave me nightmares!

T-Bone Jones was a sad loss, but you couldn't find it unless you were looking for it after they redid University.

Tom's BBQ I have a menu of, but I never ate there.

That's all I can think of for now...anyone know of these places/have restaurants they knew of too/etc. etc.?

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The steakhouse you are thinking of must have been Ft. Shiloh, which was actually on the site, and I think even used the building of the old Shiloh community center, a long lost community.

Ft. Shiloh was owned by Ken Martin, I just read on TexAgs that the sign came down a few days ago.

My favorite old places were 3-C's BBQ in Culpepper Plaza, their Texas Toast was awesome. Swenson's in CP was also great in the 80's.

I don't really remember those places listed for Post Oak Mall aside from Corn Dog 7, Chick-Fil-A, Swenson's and later Subway and McD's.

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I haven't been here too long (since 2000), but a few places I remember were:

Garcia's (where Fuddruckers is now). This seemed to me to be a pretty popular place, I always liked it, and it had won several "Best in the Brazos" type awards. I'm surprised it went out of business, but there is a lot of competition in the Mexican food market.

Alicia's (where Crazy Cajun's is now). This was a unique kind of Mexican/Cajun place that we used to bring out-of-town guests to. This one closed when Alicia decided to retire/move, and was replaced by a Thai restaurant that moved there, then by Crazy Cajun's.

Imperial Chinese (I don't think anything has gone in there yet, though it's been closed for a while). I had some of the best Chinese food I've ever had outside of China there - yes, I'm serious. Of course, that was when I came here for my job interview and went with someone Chinese who ordered directly (not even off the menu). After raving about it to my wife, I took her there and had a not-very-good-at-all meal. I had the impression that they were fixing "Americanized" dishes geared toward buffets/mass preparation, while if they had stuck to more authentic dishes, they could have done really well.

And, though they weren't particularly outstanding places, there used to be two Thai places (Nipa Hot and Thai Taste) on the North side of University near A&M. I think high rent in Northgate drove out Nipa Hot, and the Thai Taste place had some of the slowest service ever, so I'm not surprised they're gone. I am surprised that there are no other Thai restaurants that took their place, though.

Two places I don't miss (but that I think others really liked) are T-Bone Jones and Tom's Barbecue. I tried each of those for the first and only time shortly before they went out of business, and in both cases, the food was pretty bad - maybe it had been better in earlier years.

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I haven't been here too long (since 2000), but a few places I remember were:

Garcia's (where Fuddruckers is now). This seemed to me to be a pretty popular place, I always liked it, and it had won several "Best in the Brazos" type awards. I'm surprised it went out of business, but there is a lot of competition in the Mexican food market.

Alicia's (where Crazy Cajun's is now). This was a unique kind of Mexican/Cajun place that we used to bring out-of-town guests to. This one closed when Alicia decided to retire/move, and was replaced by a Thai restaurant that moved there, then by Crazy Cajun's.

Imperial Chinese (I don't think anything has gone in there yet, though it's been closed for a while). I had some of the best Chinese food I've ever had outside of China there - yes, I'm serious. Of course, that was when I came here for my job interview and went with someone Chinese who ordered directly (not even off the menu). After raving about it to my wife, I took her there and had a not-very-good-at-all meal. I had the impression that they were fixing "Americanized" dishes geared toward buffets/mass preparation, while if they had stuck to more authentic dishes, they could have done really well.

And, though they weren't particularly outstanding places, there used to be two Thai places (Nipa Hot and Thai Taste) on the North side of University near A&M. I think high rent in Northgate drove out Nipa Hot, and the Thai Taste place had some of the slowest service ever, so I'm not surprised they're gone. I am surprised that there are no other Thai restaurants that took their place, though.

Two places I don't miss (but that I think others really liked) are T-Bone Jones and Tom's Barbecue. I tried each of those for the first and only time shortly before they went out of business, and in both cases, the food was pretty bad - maybe it had been better in earlier years.

T-Bone Jones and Tom's BBQ were pretty notorious for serving bad meals before going defunct. However, both were great restaurants before things went downhill.

Also, Confucius Chinese Cuisine (where Walgreen's is now) was an ornate building and had some of the best egg rolls ever. I believe it was right near Imperial Chinese (which was near the pawn shop?). Also, when did the "Egg Roll House" on University close?

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There was a place on Bryan Pkwy. called Werman's where I had my first chicken fried steak. It's probably still the best I've ever had.

For some strange reason I also miss eating in the diner in Woolworth's downtown. My grandparents owned the furniture store across the street and we would sometimes go over there for a quick lunch.

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Oh, and Luby's Cafeteria and Chelsea Street Pub & Grill were there. I don't have any pictures of Chealsea Street in Post Oak Mall but here is a picture of it in a mall in Memphis (mall is now demo'd)

Yeah, and once Luby's at Post Oak closed it turned into a Bishops Cafeteria for a short period of time, I think it was only there for a year or two. Anybody remember The Red Bandana on Highway 21 in Bryan? They had some pretty awesome chicken fried steak and smoked sausage.

Edited by txshady
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I'll play - and show my age :rolleyes:

What's now Carney's Pub used to be Youngbloods - best chicken fried steak in town. Best, biggest, wonderful! We're talking 1980 or so tho.

"Egg Roll House" has been gone forever - it was mexican in 1978-80, then Egg Roll till about 85??? It's sat vacant all these years.

What about Ken Martin's Steak House in it's original location on Texas Avenue.. with "the cave" in it. I think it's where FatBurger/Enterprise rent a car is now.

I don't remember Swensons in Post Oak at all just in Culpepper that I recall. But I do remember the tater place :lol:

And to date my time/experience in B/CS: Dairy Palace used to be just north on the west side of the intersection of Texas Ave & Hwy 30! phiphi.gif

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I'll play - and show my age :rolleyes:

What's now Carney's Pub used to be Youngbloods - best chicken fried steak in town. Best, biggest, wonderful! We're talking 1980 or so tho.

"Egg Roll House" has been gone forever - it was mexican in 1978-80, then Egg Roll till about 85??? It's sat vacant all these years.

What about Ken Martin's Steak House in it's original location on Texas Avenue.. with "the cave" in it. I think it's where FatBurger/Enterprise rent a car is now.

I don't remember Swensons in Post Oak at all just in Culpepper that I recall. But I do remember the tater place :lol:

And to date my time/experience in B/CS: Dairy Palace used to be just north on the west side of the intersection of Texas Ave & Hwy 30! phiphi.gif

Wouldn't that be where Jack in the Box is now?

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Here's a real blast from the past. Anyone remember the "Tokyo Steakhouse"? The Coldwell Banker office just north of Texas & University was originally an upscale japanese steakhouse if you can imagine that. I remember a few dinners there as a small kid. Had the sliding paper doors and everything if I recall correctly.

Fajita Ritas! One of the hottest spots in town til probably the mid-90's or so when all of the franchise places started popping up. Now some random lil' mexican joint that can't be long for this world.

Casa Thomas...in the center at Rosemary & Texas. Used to have a line out the door every Sunday. Fountain in the center kids would throw pennies into. Had my fair share of Roy Rogers (cherry coke) and Shirley Temples (cherry sprite) there. Now a quilt shop or something.

Too young to remember Youngbloods but I've certainly heard about it.

The Prosperity Bank in Bryan at Texas & Villa Maria (formerly State Bank, First State, First Federal S&L, etc) was an upscale seafood restaurant at some point? Too young for that too but man, how random.

My parents had their rehearsal dinner at Ken Martin's on Texas in Bryan...in the cave room. I have a couple of brief memories of the place before they moved to 29th Street. My folks tell me it wasn't their first choice but there literally were very few options in B/CS in the mid '70's.

Oxford Street in Bryan was originally a Steak & Ale when that was one of the nicer chains in the south.

There used to be a private club called "Plaza Club" on the top floor of the now Wells Fargo Plaza at Briarcrest & Hwy 6. Closed in mid '90's or so. Served dinner, drinks, etc. Its amazing how many really nice things this town used to have that have faded into history.

The Texan!!! You have to have lived here for a while to know about the Texan. Its now the scuzzy cigarette shop at S College & Villa Maria. Was a 5 star restaurant for years owned by the Tapley family. Served mahi-mahi, conche, amazing steaks, ostrich, crab, etc, etc, etc. The place was always a hole but you went there for the food! Silver Lining Salad, Kubra Libra Salad, Ceasar like you've never seen before..man, oh man, that was a big night out on the town. Had several birthdays, senior prom, etc there. Closed in 2000 or so....almost immediately after Christopher's opened and their regulars bailed.

The nail shop at Texas & Southwest Pkwy was originally "Pelican's Wharf". Very nice seafood joint. Vacant for years then it was Pasghetti's....same owner as Fajita Ritas I think. Didn't last long. Then it was a cake & pie place owned by a family out of Round Top, now an asian nail shop....go figure.

Man, I could go on and on.

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Wouldn't that be where Jack in the Box is now?

Actually, it was further south than where JITB is - closer to JJ's. There's actually a creek that runs through the southwest side of the intersection, and the Dairy Palace drive thru was right next to it.

Pelican's Wharf was one of the more upscale spots to go late '70s for students.

Sparky's (not REALLY a restaurant, I admit) was at Eastgate (Walton and Texas Ave) before it became the cavalcade of eateries/bars alongside Acme Glass there.

Anyone remember the fish/aquarium shop Pisces just south of there on Texas? Old two story frame house converted for students to buy fish . . . ?

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  • 1 month later...
Here's a real blast from the past. Anyone remember the "Tokyo Steakhouse"? The Coldwell Banker office just north of Texas & University was originally an upscale japanese steakhouse if you can imagine that. I remember a few dinners there as a small kid. Had the sliding paper doors and everything if I recall correctly.

Fajita Ritas! One of the hottest spots in town til probably the mid-90's or so when all of the franchise places started popping up. Now some random lil' mexican joint that can't be long for this world.

Casa Thomas...in the center at Rosemary & Texas. Used to have a line out the door every Sunday. Fountain in the center kids would throw pennies into. Had my fair share of Roy Rogers (cherry coke) and Shirley Temples (cherry sprite) there. Now a quilt shop or something.

Too young to remember Youngbloods but I've certainly heard about it.

The Prosperity Bank in Bryan at Texas & Villa Maria (formerly State Bank, First State, First Federal S&L, etc) was an upscale seafood restaurant at some point? Too young for that too but man, how random.

My parents had their rehearsal dinner at Ken Martin's on Texas in Bryan...in the cave room. I have a couple of brief memories of the place before they moved to 29th Street. My folks tell me it wasn't their first choice but there literally were very few options in B/CS in the mid '70's.

Oxford Street in Bryan was originally a Steak & Ale when that was one of the nicer chains in the south.

There used to be a private club called "Plaza Club" on the top floor of the now Wells Fargo Plaza at Briarcrest & Hwy 6. Closed in mid '90's or so. Served dinner, drinks, etc. Its amazing how many really nice things this town used to have that have faded into history.

The Texan!!! You have to have lived here for a while to know about the Texan. Its now the scuzzy cigarette shop at S College & Villa Maria. Was a 5 star restaurant for years owned by the Tapley family. Served mahi-mahi, conche, amazing steaks, ostrich, crab, etc, etc, etc. The place was always a hole but you went there for the food! Silver Lining Salad, Kubra Libra Salad, Ceasar like you've never seen before..man, oh man, that was a big night out on the town. Had several birthdays, senior prom, etc there. Closed in 2000 or so....almost immediately after Christopher's opened and their regulars bailed.

The nail shop at Texas & Southwest Pkwy was originally "Pelican's Wharf". Very nice seafood joint. Vacant for years then it was Pasghetti's....same owner as Fajita Ritas I think. Didn't last long. Then it was a cake & pie place owned by a family out of Round Top, now an asian nail shop....go figure.

Man, I could go on and on.

Stop the presses, hold everything, we segued to Bryan/College Station here? We've been invaded by Aggies? Well, okay, but shame, shame, no one mentioned Rebel's? I mean, wow, I lived in a small rural area for a while and the nearest decent shopping was Bryan, so we'd always do the necessaries, then head for Rebel's for a grand steak dinner, even in middle of afternoon. Great stuff.

Equal time now for Longhorns. In Austin, a place named "The Mars Bar", which was actually a restaurant in an old house a bit removed from campus. Really good food, again great steak and some divine garlic mashed potatoes.

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Equal time now for Longhorns. In Austin, a place named "The Mars Bar", which was actually a restaurant in an old house a bit removed from campus. Really good food, again great steak and some divine garlic mashed potatoes.

Excuse me, but this is the BCS thread with BCS restaurants. :angry2:

I believe you wanted to go to here!

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A&W Rootbeer drive in Pretty close to where sonic is at Texas and University.

Buccaneers drive in down south college in Bryan.

Fish and chips blace across from the defunct Kroger\Holiday Inn\The Forum\HEB in Bryan.

Now a car dealership.

I think Buppys was a fish Place before it was Farmer's Market.

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A&W Rootbeer drive in Pretty close to where sonic is at Texas and University.

Buccaneers drive in down south college in Bryan.

Fish and chips blace across from the defunct Kroger\Holiday Inn\The Forum\HEB in Bryan.

Now a car dealership.

I think Buppys was a fish Place before it was Farmer's Market.

I think that the area where Taco Casa is, at the corner of Wellborn and Rock Prairie, used to be Sonic. I'm pretty sure it was A&W before that. Am I right?

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  • 2 weeks later...
A&W Rootbeer drive in Pretty close to where sonic is at Texas and University.

Buccaneers drive in down south college in Bryan.

Fish and chips blace across from the defunct Kroger\Holiday Inn\The Forum\HEB in Bryan.

Now a car dealership.

I think Buppys was a fish Place before it was Farmer's Market.

Are you talking about the fish place that was next door to the old Ken Martins place had like a windmill on the front? It was called Zyder Zee

There was also another fish/chips place on the west side of Texas ave a little south of there called Alfie's

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I think that the area where Taco Casa is, at the corner of Wellborn and Rock Prairie, used to be Sonic. I'm pretty sure it was A&W before that. Am I right?

Yes it was. However it was the current modern day A&W thats still around in other cities. The other poster was referring to the old original A&W drive in where they would bring your drinks out to your car on the trays that would hang off your car door window.

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  • 1 month later...
There used to be a private club called "Plaza Club" on the top floor of the now Wells Fargo Plaza at Briarcrest & Hwy 6. Closed in mid '90's or so. Served dinner, drinks, etc. Its amazing how many really nice things this town used to have that have faded into history.

I worked at the Plaza Club (as a cook and also briefly as a waiter) from the summer of 1989 until sometime in 1993. It was a good operation, but probably too exclusive for B/CS. As a private club, only members could use it, but how to boost membership was always a big problem. The Plaza Club was part of the global ClubCorp chain, so it was connected to a much larger network. But, the parent company eventually cut it loose and it went under, maybe in early '94. We served great dinners, hosted excellent private parties and weddings, and also had a fine Sunday buffet, which I used to prepare almost entirely by myself. A lot of good people worked there while I was there - here's to them (where is Chef Mike now?) And here's to the Plaza Club.

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In the late 1980s there was a very good restaurant at 701 University Drive E., facing the Hilton, called "Cafe d' Amerique". It was an independent venture, jointly owned by the manager and the chef, Kraig Thome, who did fantastic things with food. I washed dishes there in the evenings while in high school, and helped out with food prep. work. Alas, Cafe d' Amerique only survived a couple of years - it closed in early 1988. I showed up for work one day to find all the doors locked, drove to the chef's apartment and heard the news. I guess I should have seen it coming - they'd been paying the staff in cash from the register for a week or two leading up to the closure (not a good sign). Kraig soon hired on as executive chef of the Plaza Club in Bryan, and in the summer of '89 he went on to a bigger and better club in Fort Worth, and later to an even bigger one (the University Club) in Houston. But before Cafe d' Amerique another restaurant - Confederate House - had occupied that site for years. Throughout Cafe d' Amerique's short lifespan a glass case holding plates and other items from Confederate House stood silently in its dining room, reminding both staff and customers alike that all things must pass!post-6985-1221613961_thumb.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...
Here's a real blast from the past. Anyone remember the "Tokyo Steakhouse"? The Coldwell Banker office just north of Texas & University was originally an upscale japanese steakhouse if you can imagine that. I remember a few dinners there as a small kid. Had the sliding paper doors and everything if I recall correctly.

The Prosperity Bank in Bryan at Texas & Villa Maria (formerly State Bank, First State, First Federal S&L, etc) was an upscale seafood restaurant at some point? Too young for that too but man, how random.

The nail shop at Texas & Southwest Pkwy was originally "Pelican's Wharf". Very nice seafood joint. Vacant for years then it was Pasghetti's....same owner as Fajita Ritas I think. Didn't last long. Then it was a cake & pie place owned by a family out of Round Top, now an asian nail shop....go figure.

Man, I could go on and on.

Toyko Steakhouse/Coldwell Banker building was originally a bank. When it closed, that building became a bar called Last National Bank. Then Tokyo Steakhouse opened.

Prosperity Bank Building was Clayton's Restaurant.

There was also a Tastee Freeze next to the old A&W that was mentioned.

How about - Burger Chef across from the old Kroger in Bryan? And anyone remember when Kroger was originally at the Texas Ave. end of Manor East Mall (where Hastings is now)?

Oakridge Smokehouse on Texas across from campus? TJ McCord's? Mama's Pizza? Bullwinkle's? The 2-story Mr. Gattis in Bryan by the mall and in College Station where Schlotsky's is now.

We sometimes used to eat at the diner in JC Penney at Manor East Mall. There was a Taco Villa across from Manor East also. We had a Pizza Inn near Bryan High behind the Dairy Queen.

Edited by rcj0618
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I miss the Hwy 21 Cafe in North Zulch. They had the best Chicken Fried Steak I've ever had.

That qualifies as Brazos Valley, right? I mean, it drains to the Navasota River, and that's tributary to the Brazos...

[Oops...just looked at a map and realized that that side of North Zulch actually drains to Bedias Creek, which is tributary to the Trinity River. Gotta go to the other side of the tracks to west North Zulch to get in the Navasota River watershed.]

I still miss that CFS. The next nearest CFS to my grandpa's place is Sodolak's in Bryan, and their CFS is just a step above cardboard.

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Post Oak Mall food court, 1984:

2ia4y9y.jpg

Pepe's, Ken Martin's, Orange Julius, The Great Hot Dog Experience!

Holy crap! Where did you find that? I'm pretty sure the Orange Julius is now the other entrance to American Eagle, but a look at my own picture vs. the current mall directory, the entrance to the restrooms changed. Let's see, the Orange Julius was basically gutted between American Eagle Outfitters and the restroom entrance, and Pepe's and Ken Martin's combined into the current Taste of the Tropics space. Or something like that if you went to the same space today, you would only Taste of the Tropics, American Eagle, and the restroom entrance.

Although I'm sad that such places no longer exist in the mall today and today's food court spaces totally suck...

...for today, you are my hero. Thank you.

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I only go to the mall about once every year or two, but last time I was there and went to the food court, the restroom entrance at Post Oak Mall was the same.

I very seldom go to the mall as well, but looking at that picture, isn't the restroom entrance to the right of the Orange Julius, and the old arcade on the other side?

I think Sonic is now where Orange Julius was. According to the map on the Post Oak Mall website, Taste of the Tropics is in the Ken Martin's spot, Roman Delight is where Pepe's was, and Manchu Wok is in the Hot Dog Experience location.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Frank's Place on University Ave. My wife and I had our first date there in 1990.

J.T. McCords on Texas Ave. I used to live in the Apt's right behind there and would walk over for a beer from time to time.

There was a pool hall on Texas Aveneue just north of University.... Kind of next to Fajita Ritas. Can't remember the name.

I did eat at the Texan in about 1987. It was good, but what a dive! Hard to believe it was ever really 5 stars.

Used to eat lunch at Brazos Landing in Northgate. Also went there for some great live music at night.

Hey! What about the Flying Tomato Pizza??? That's long gone, isn't it?

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