SpaceGhost Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 So I'm trying to find the history of a particular building. It was once known as Wok Bo. The address is 12270 Westheimer Rd Houston, TX 77077, or should I say was. It's been out of business for around 5 years now! One of the Yelp reviews the place got before it closed was to ignore the fact that it was painted pink, as it had been a Mexican restaurant in a previous life. The only Mexican place I can think of that resembles this was Chi Chi's, who closed all their locations around 2004. So if they were in Houston it had to have been earlier than that. Also if I'm not mistaken there are some other similarly shaped buildings around town. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acamarillo Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 chi chis was in houuston sometime in the mid 80s. the only location i'm sure about was in humble, in the building that became, and still is, olive garden. ate there once or twice, nothing spectacular. miss el torito more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted June 14, 2016 Author Share Posted June 14, 2016 Thank you! I had seen the Olive Garden before (had it come up here on HAIF?) and remarked on the similarity to the former Wokbo. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 I would have said no before, since from what I've heard they were primarily a northern chain. Is it possible the Humble location wasn't part of the chain but rather a similarly named one-off? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted June 15, 2016 Author Share Posted June 15, 2016 2 hours ago, IronTiger said: I would have said no before, since from what I've heard they were primarily a northern chain. Is it possible the Humble location wasn't part of the chain but rather a similarly named one-off? Based on the Humble and Wok Bo building designs I would wager that they were part of the same chain. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbleweed_Tx Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 That one on Westheimer was a Chi Chi's, and the old Yucatan Liquor Stand on Richmond was a Chi Chis. There were four locations in Houston. Humble had one, I don't remember where the last one was. My uncle was a partner in Chi Chi's, based in OKC. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sootycat Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 If memory serves me correctly, there was a Chi Chi's on 45 South in front of Baybrook mall. An Olive Garden later occupied the building when Chi Chi's closed. The Olive Garden is now on the opposite side of the street. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 5 hours ago, Tumbleweed_Tx said: That one on Westheimer was a Chi Chi's, and the old Yucatan Liquor Stand on Richmond was a Chi Chis. There were four locations in Houston. Humble had one, I don't remember where the last one was. My uncle was a partner in Chi Chi's, based in OKC. Chi-Chi's was based out of Louisville (and before that, Minneapolis). However, the company that operated the Houston franchises was based out of Houston. Seemed it disappeared in the late 1980s: http://newsok.com/article/2211531 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANDROID 26 Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 On Monday, June 13, 2016 at 2:26 PM, SpaceGhost said: So I'm trying to find the history of a particular building. It was once known as Wok Bo. The address is 12270 Westheimer Rd Houston, TX 77077, or should I say was. It's been out of business for around 5 years now! One of the Yelp reviews the place got before it closed was to ignore the fact that it was painted pink, as it had been a Mexican restaurant in a previous life. The only Mexican place I can think of that resembles this was Chi Chi's, who closed all their locations around 2004. So if they were in Houston it had to have been earlier than that. Also if I'm not mistaken there are some other similarly shaped buildings around town. Ah yes i remember when it was the mexican restaurant also when it was Wok Bo. We used to eat at that location every Sunday afternoon! Good times. Good memories! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readam Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 There was a Chi Chi's on Fondren south of Braeswood and North of W Bellfort, across the street from The Foundry if memory serves me. The chain was started by Max Magee a wide receiver of the Green Bay Packers 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue92 Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 On 6/13/2016 at 2:26 PM, SpaceGhost said: So I'm trying to find the history of a particular building. It was once known as Wok Bo. The address is 12270 Westheimer Rd Houston, TX 77077, or should I say was. It's been out of business for around 5 years now! One of the Yelp reviews the place got before it closed was to ignore the fact that it was painted pink, as it had been a Mexican restaurant in a previous life. The only Mexican place I can think of that resembles this was Chi Chi's, who closed all their locations around 2004. So if they were in Houston it had to have been earlier than that. Also if I'm not mistaken there are some other similarly shaped buildings around town. Could it have been a Casa Cabana? I know about that time they moved into the DFW area that by the late 2000s closed down many of their locations and their buildings were pink. Casa Cabana is out of SA. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue92 Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 On 6/13/2016 at 2:26 PM, SpaceGhost said: So I'm trying to find the history of a particular building. It was once known as Wok Bo. The address is 12270 Westheimer Rd Houston, TX 77077, or should I say was. It's been out of business for around 5 years now! One of the Yelp reviews the place got before it closed was to ignore the fact that it was painted pink, as it had been a Mexican restaurant in a previous life. The only Mexican place I can think of that resembles this was Chi Chi's, who closed all their locations around 2004. So if they were in Houston it had to have been earlier than that. Also if I'm not mistaken there are some other similarly shaped buildings around town. Could it have been a Casa Cabana? I know about that time they moved into the DFW area that by the late 2000s closed down many of their locations and their buildings were pink. Casa Cabana is out of SA. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkultra25 Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 (edited) 16 hours ago, readam said: There was a Chi Chi's on Fondren south of Braeswood and North of W Bellfort, across the street from The Foundry if memory serves me. The chain was started by Max Magee a wide receiver of the Green Bay Packers There was a good piece about McGee in SI at the end of last year: The man behind the legend: McGee’s story goes well beyond SB hangover His role in Chi Chi's origin is discussed, along with several other of his restaurant/hospitality ventures. I never knew he was the co-founder of Chi Chi's until I read this. Edited July 2, 2016 by mkultra25 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANDROID 26 Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 On 07/02/2016 at 1:57 PM, blue92 said: Could it have been a Casa Cabana? I know about that time they moved into the DFW area that by the late 2000s closed down many of their locations and their buildings were pink. Casa Cabana is out of SA. Was there a Casa Cabana and Taco Cabana? I seem to remember similar named businesses but i can be mistaken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acamarillo Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 there was two pesos and taco cabana. TC is out of San Antonio. The two restaurants were pretty much identical in layout, menu, and decor, the only difference was one was turquoise and the other pink. TC brought a trade dress lawsuit against two pesos and won. The result was TC wound up acquiring two pesos and taking over the locations. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANDROID 26 Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 5 hours ago, acamarillo said: there was two pesos and taco cabana. TC is out of San Antonio. The two restaurants were pretty much identical in layout, menu, and decor, the only difference was one was turquoise and the other pink. TC brought a trade dress lawsuit against two pesos and won. The result was TC wound up acquiring two pesos and taking over the locations. Youre right there were Two Pesos and Purple! Wow that comment brought some memories back. They were still opened when I moved to Houston and had no idea what happened to them. What were some of their locations? I really liked TC, back whenbi worked in the Galleria area used to stop by the one on Richmond / Chimneyrock and bring in dozens of breakfast tacos to the office. Good days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted July 8, 2016 Author Share Posted July 8, 2016 On 7/6/2016 at 5:59 AM, ANDROID 26 said: Youre right there were Two Pesos and Purple! Wow that comment brought some memories back. They were still opened when I moved to Houston and had no idea what happened to them. What were some of their locations? I really liked TC, back whenbi worked in the Galleria area used to stop by the one on Richmond / Chimneyrock and bring in dozens of breakfast tacos to the office. Good days. Two Pesos locations have always been difficult to find. If anyone can supply any definite Two Pesos locations it would be much appreciated! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANDROID 26 Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 (edited) 2 hours ago, SpaceGhost said: Two Pesos locations have always been difficult to find. If anyone can supply any definite Two Pesos locations it would be much appreciated! Would be nice to see some old photos too! Edited July 9, 2016 by ANDROID 26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbleweed_Tx Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 Richmond and Fondren TC was a Two Pesos 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbleweed_Tx Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 Richmond and Fondren TC was a Two Pesos 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkultra25 Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 6 hours ago, SpaceGhost said: Two Pesos locations have always been difficult to find. If anyone can supply any definite Two Pesos locations it would be much appreciated! 8101 S. Main St. (where OST branches off from S. Main) 3905 Kirby Dr. (Kirby & 59) Both of these were Two Pesos locations that were converted to Taco Cabanas after Taco Cabana prevailed in their trade dress lawsuit against Two Pesos. Not sure if they were the first, but they were certainly among the earliest Two Pesos locations in Houston. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 (edited) 18 hours ago, SpaceGhost said: Two Pesos locations have always been difficult to find. If anyone can supply any definite Two Pesos locations it would be much appreciated! Not in Houston, but one of the buildings in the College Station Northgate area (actually a converted apartment building originally built in 1930) was a Two Pesos for a while, but it never converted to a Taco Cabana. I always thought the "cotton candy colors" were extremely gaudy-looking. Edited July 9, 2016 by IronTiger typo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANDROID 26 Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 Wow, I remember the Richmond/Fondren location being that purple Two Pesos! I just did a google map of the location and yup, its now a Taco Cabana! I havent been in that part of Houston since 2003! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANDROID 26 Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 3 hours ago, IronTiger said: Not in Houston, but one of the buildings in the College Station Northgate area (actually a converted apartment building originally built in 1930) was a Two Pesos for a while, but it never converted to a Taco Cabana. I always thought the "cotton candy colors" were extremely gaudy-looking. Awe, lol, I've always liked those festive colors! They sort of put me in the mood for a margarita! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANDROID 26 Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 21 hours ago, SpaceGhost said: Two Pesos locations have always been difficult to find. If anyone can supply any definite Two Pesos locations it would be much appreciated! Trying to reply by quoting your message above, with the historic retail links. I remember Warehouse Music (did we also have a SoundWarehouse)? There used to be this neat record shop on Bissonnet near MedCenter called Ricks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iliketurtles Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 On 6/14/2016 at 11:02 PM, acamarillo said: miss el torito more. The chain or a different one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallycat Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Don't forget the Two Pesos on Gessner. They had a two lane drive-thru. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 On 7/8/2016 at 5:10 PM, SpaceGhost said: Two Pesos locations have always been difficult to find. If anyone can supply any definite Two Pesos locations it would be much appreciated! Two Pesos was gone by the time I got to Houston, but I can tell you where the one in Atlanta was. It was the only decent tex-mex in Atlanta so I went there a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 On 7/9/2016 at 2:18 PM, ANDROID 26 said: Wow, I remember the Richmond/Fondren location being that purple Two Pesos! I just did a google map of the location and yup, its now a Taco Cabana! I havent been in that part of Houston since 2003! Sadly, that location has been closed for a few years now. They may have even leveled it. Don't recall what's there now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 On 6/13/2016 at 2:26 PM, SpaceGhost said: So I'm trying to find the history of a particular building. It was once known as Wok Bo. The address is 12270 Westheimer Rd Houston, TX 77077, or should I say was. It's been out of business for around 5 years now! One of the Yelp reviews the place got before it closed was to ignore the fact that it was painted pink, as it had been a Mexican restaurant in a previous life. The only Mexican place I can think of that resembles this was Chi Chi's, who closed all their locations around 2004. So if they were in Houston it had to have been earlier than that. Also if I'm not mistaken there are some other similarly shaped buildings around town. That particular building was a Wok Bo at least as far back as late 1999. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.