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McDonald's In Houston


IronTiger

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I was reading in this one book about McDonald's and there was a paragraph about how McDonald's couldn't use the McDonald's name until they acquired the name from a local drive-in called McDonald's.

Does anyone remember those times/care to elaborate?

(sorry the intro is so short, I'm kind of on a deadline)

Edited by IronTiger
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I was reading in this one book about McDonald's and there was a paragraph about how McDonald's couldn't use the McDonald's name until they acquired the name from a local drive-in called McDonald's.

Does anyone remember those times/care to elaborate?

(sorry the intro is so short, I'm kind of on a deadline)

Not sure. I do remember in the 90s that a Texas restaurant had the name "Homestyle Burger" before McDonald's. McDonald's won the lawsuit.

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I was reading in this one book about McDonald's and there was a paragraph about how McDonald's couldn't use the McDonald's name until they acquired the name from a local drive-in called McDonald's.

Does anyone remember those times/care to elaborate?

(sorry the intro is so short, I'm kind of on a deadline)

I can't elaborate, but I can say that I've heard or read the same story before.

I never had a McDonald's of any kind where I grew up, in the 1960's, just Jack-in-the-Box & WhataBurger.

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In the '60s & before there was a local drive-in chain called McDonalds. It was like Princes, Ranger, Texan & others, with car-hops & sold beer. There was a McDonalds on Main & one on South Park - I think that's called MLK now - and probably some others that I can't remember. Not sure when Mickey Dees bought out the name - maybe mid to late '60s.

Edited by ernie5823
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completely different era, and I don't consider it historic, yet, but I remember the dos pesos/taco cabana law suits. totally pissed me off cause dos pesos had much better food and cheaper margaritas! (and at the time they didn't card as much, which was good for me).

We had a Dos Pesos in Atlanta in the 90's before they were taken over by Taco Cabana. Sadly, even after the takeover it was by far the best Mexican food in Atlanta. Next best was Taco Bell (ugh).

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I can't elaborate, but I can say that I've heard or read the same story before.

I never had a McDonald's of any kind where I grew up, in the 1960's, just Jack-in-the-Box & WhataBurger.

I read it in "Behind the Arches" (which although putting McDonald's in a positive light, wasn't paid for by McDonald's...no conspiracy theories, please).

Here's a small snippet where it says so.

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It was in the late 60's............possibly as late as 1969. I remember the first McDonalds franchise that wew saw open was on Ella Blvd. near Waltrip High School. It seemed weird because the national marketing made it sound like they were everywhere. We in Houston had to wait though.

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The local McDonald's burger place kept the corporate Macs out of Houston for a good while. Burger King was in first and I believe that the strategy of the first McDonalds was to locate near the BK's.

On similar note, I first saw KFC as a featured chicken item at Weldon's Cafeteria rather than a stand alone restaurant.

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I was reading in this one book about McDonald's and there was a paragraph about how McDonald's couldn't use the McDonald's name until they acquired the name from a local drive-in called McDonald's.

Does anyone remember those times/care to elaborate?

(sorry the intro is so short, I'm kind of on a deadline)

Yes it was at the south side of the ship channel 69 Th & Wayside East end Where the streets joined to cross the old 69 st bridge

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Yes it was at 69 Th & Wayside , East end south side of ship channel where the two streets crosed the old 69 Th street Bridge car hops & all ,Hang out for Milby hi school in the 50

That drive in might have been Mac's in the '50s, but by early '60s I believe it was the Texan. Texan also had one on Hempstead Hyw. & possibly others. Yeah, I went to Milby.

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Looks like McDonald's was here by 1972. The one mentioned by ernie on MLK (then South Park) was opened in 1972 and was the first black owned and operated McDonald's in Houston.

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2007_4346877

my 1957 phonebook shows the Mc Donalds drive inns at 2302 wayside (right by the 69th st bridge) and at 6339 South Park which would be almost next door to the later Golden Arches above that opened in '72

Edited by gnu
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my 1957 phonebook shows the Mc Donalds drive inns at 2302 wayside (right by the 69th st bridge) and at 6339 South Park which would be almost next door to the later Golden Arches above that opened in '72

Here I go again with 45+ y/o teenager memories, but seems like the one on Southpark was next to or very near the King Center Twin Drive-in movie.

The closest thing to a Mickey Dees hamburger in Houston, 1960s & before was a local (I think) chain called Prices. They had small burgers with mustard/ketchup mix, a couple dill slices & chopped onions, for 19 cents, I believe- fries were 12 cents. Prices was a walk-up with a few picnic benches & were all over town (also Pasadena?), but one was right down Southpark at intersection with Belfort, I believe.

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Here I go again with 45+ y/o teenager memories, but seems like the one on Southpark was next to or very near the King Center Twin Drive-in movie.

The closest thing to a Mickey Dees hamburger in Houston, 1960s & before was a local (I think) chain called Prices. They had small burgers with mustard/ketchup mix, a couple dill slices & chopped onions, for 19 cents, I believe- fries were 12 cents. Prices was a walk-up with a few picnic benches & were all over town (also Pasadena?), but one was right down Southpark at intersection with Belfort, I believe.

from 1969: - sorry no pasadena directory :)

Price's Hamburgers

1: 3908 Bellaire (currently Jack-in-the-Box)

2: 8505 Jensen

4: 1728 Wirt

6: 8020 South Park (currently Tailor Cleaners - looks like it could be the original bldg)

8: 3425 Ella (currently Jack-in-the-Box)

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I too am going on a 40+ year memory, but there was a (M-A-C) MacDonalds on Main across the street, east, from 2016 Main. Very similar to Princes, about the same menu and car hop service. I know it was there from early 60's until at least 1967. I believe the Greyhound? bus station is there now.

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my 1957 phonebook shows the Mc Donalds drive inns at 2302 wayside (right by the 69th st bridge) and at 6339 South Park which would be almost next door to the later Golden Arches above that opened in '72

My cousins lived down the street from the McDonald's at 6339 South Park in the early 60s. Our family ate at that McDonalds a few times. In my memory those McDonald's burgers were more like a Prince's hamburger than they were like the national chain burger.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I was reading in this one book about McDonald's and there was a paragraph about how McDonald's couldn't use the McDonald's name until they acquired the name from a local drive-in called McDonald's.

Does anyone remember those times/care to elaborate?

(sorry the intro is so short, I'm kind of on a deadline)

the original mcdonals was located on wayside drive. as you come from I-10 take the wayside exit and go south. as you pass all the train tracks on your left you will come to an overpass. as you come down the other side wayside makes a slight turn. the old hamburger stand was on your right very close to the old army/navy surplus store. before the (big) mcdonalds came, they had to change or get naming rights. the old hamburger stand that i am referring too was there in the 40's, maybe before. as for as the dates and times that it lost its name, i have no idea now, im old and i have forgotten a lot of stuff lol

another old buffalo, class of 65

Edited by capt. kirk
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It was in the late 60's............possibly as late as 1969. I remember the first McDonalds franchise that wew saw open was on Ella Blvd. near Waltrip High School. It seemed weird because the national marketing made it sound like they were everywhere. We in Houston had to wait though.

i dont remember the name of the hamburger place next to waltrip, i just remember it being in the same parking lot. pretty cool that you could leave the school grounds for lunch. also i remember waltrip as having a jukebox in the cafeteria. our school got one in 64.

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That drive in might have been Mac's in the '50s, but by early '60s I believe it was the Texan. Texan also had one on Hempstead Hyw. & possibly others. Yeah, I went to Milby.

from one ex-buffalo to another, class of 65, the school has never looked better and she looks good for 80. my whole family went to milby from 33-75. i might know some of you

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  • 3 months later...

It was "MacDonalds" and it was a drive-in burger place that competed with Prince's. You pulled in with your car, checked the menu posted on front of building or on pole next to car, then when you were ready to order, you flashed your headlights and a car-hop came to your car and took your order. You could even order beer. At night, the young kids would cruise around showing off thier hotrods and later, muscle cars. Those were real burgers, fries and milkshakes.

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Anybody have a memory (or old phonebook listing) of a MacDonalds (carhop drive-in) other than the one on Southpark, Main or one on Wayside (at 69th st. bridge)? Those are only three that I remember from my teenage years in late '50s & early '60s.

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i dont remember the name of the hamburger place next to waltrip, i just remember it being in the same parking lot. pretty cool that you could leave the school grounds for lunch. also i remember waltrip as having a jukebox in the cafeteria. our school got one in 64.

Hey Capt., that burger joint next to Waltrip was the, "Chuckwagon"... ahhh, now you remember! The guy that was the cook ( Forget his name now, but it was on his shirt ) was real skinny, dark tan, and always wore a white cook's shirt with the sleeves rolled up to mid-biceps. White apron, and had his cap on that resembled the military type, but it was white with a red ribbon around the top, and he always had it tipped to the side. Had his Camel non - filters in his top pocket, and was a genuine tough guy - tattoos all over, with anchors on the forearms. He was so fast with those orders, man, we used to just watch for the entertainment value. I believe he was in the Navy in WWII as a cook. I never saw anyone else cooking there, so I'm not sure if he owned it, started it, or franchised it. They had big burgers, and to me, tasted, and looked, just like Whataburger, today. I went to Reagan, but we had a lot of friends who went to Waltrip. I played football, and ran track, so we were always over there with our competition, eating burgers. I'm not sure if there were any other Chuckwagons around ... anyone know ? I don't know what happenned to the cook, as we left Houston @ 1964. Man, the only time I saw him slow down was to catch a cigarette. He didn't talk to anyone much, was very nice when he did, but we all knew not to mess with him either. I can smell one of those biiiig juicy burgers right now !!

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Hey Capt., that burger joint next to Waltrip was the, "Chuckwagon"... ahhh, now you remember! The guy that was the cook ( Forget his name now, but it was on his shirt ) was real skinny, dark tan, and always wore a white cook's shirt with the sleeves rolled up to mid-biceps. White apron, and had his cap on that resembled the military type, but it was white with a red ribbon around the top, and he always had it tipped to the side. Had his Camel non - filters in his top pocket, and was a genuine tough guy - tattoos all over, with anchors on the forearms. He was so fast with those orders, man, we used to just watch for the entertainment value. I believe he was in the Navy in WWII as a cook. I never saw anyone else cooking there, so I'm not sure if he owned it, started it, or franchised it. They had big burgers, and to me, tasted, and looked, just like Whataburger, today. I went to Reagan, but we had a lot of friends who went to Waltrip. I played football, and ran track, so we were always over there with our competition, eating burgers. I'm not sure if there were any other Chuckwagons around ... anyone know ? I don't know what happenned to the cook, as we left Houston @ 1964. Man, the only time I saw him slow down was to catch a cigarette. He didn't talk to anyone much, was very nice when he did, but we all knew not to mess with him either. I can smell one of those biiiig juicy burgers right now !!

I remember Chuckwagon well, from the 60's; there was one in the Griggs/OST area.

Wheel Burger, Hub Burger and Spoke Dogs and huge drinks!!

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I remember Chuckwagon well, from the 60's; there was one in the Griggs/OST area.

Wheel Burger, Hub Burger and Spoke Dogs and huge drinks!!

Several in the Southwest part of town...one on Bellaire just west of Chimney Rock near Holy Ghost School and one near the intersection of Bissonett and Beechnut( that was still around until the late 70s. Don't get me started on Mr. Hamburger....

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