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Historic Houston Restaurants


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I think you got the right restaurant but got mixed up on the location.

Leo's was just off washington a couple of blocks east of heights blvd.

It's where the "new" Heights Star Pizza location is.

gnu knew the "new" heights Star Pizza location was the old Leo's, not the car wash!!

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You have to go to Tel Wink extra early am to beat the huge crowds. Its so ironic that this place once stood across the street, burned and was rebuilt at present site. It was created as a truck drivers stop for a big chicken fried steak meal once word got out it became a neighborhood icon. The popularity waned for a while in the 80's-90's then suddenly remerged due to high prices at other local breakfast joints ie: Frank's Grill down the street. Strangely enough the owner makes so much $ yet the roof has numerous leaks and the parking lot well, still oyster shell not concrete and plenty of room for expansion? Well, eat and you'll be hooked. :P

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You have to go to Tel Wink extra early am to beat the huge crowds. Its so ironic that this place once stood across the street, burned and was rebuilt at present site. It was created as a truck drivers stop for a big chicken fried steak meal once word got out it became a neighborhood icon. The popularity waned for a while in the 80's-90's then suddenly remerged due to high prices at other local breakfast joints ie: Frank's Grill down the street. Strangely enough the owner makes so much $ yet the roof has numerous leaks and the parking lot well, still oyster shell not concrete and plenty of room for expansion? Well, eat and you'll be hooked. :P

where across the street was it? This is the same place that was there in the 50's. when you say it was rebuilt at the present site what do you mean?

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I grew up in Pasadena; years ago there was a great fast food

place called "Burger Prince." They had the best burgers, onion rings

and malts. :wub: The old man that ran it sold it in the 80s and it

never was the same, needless to say it did not last long after that.

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We used to go to Leo's, and I remember the story of his riding with Villa. We also went to Old Mexico on Gray, Santa Anita downtown, and Felix on Westheimer. But, our favorite place was Del Rio on Shepherd near W. 26th. There is an electronics place there now.

Oh, man. Santa Anita. That was my grandmother's epitome of fine eating. I recall it as so-so, but it was pretty fancy ... at least to a kid in the 60s.

thefensk

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Even though it's only been gone a short time, I miss the original Antone's on Taft. The chain Antone's pale in comparison to the original locations. I don't even know how many 'original' stores exist.

I also miss ZuZu, which was on Shepherd near Fairview. It was Mexican fast food and I remember a salsa bar or something... it was quaint with good food.

All of these posts got me to thinking ... there used to be a dingy dirty looking Chinese Restaurant on Elgin, around Smith or Louisiana or maybe even up as far as Milam or Travis ... heading East it was on the right.

For a long time it was the Tin-Tin but later I think it was changed to Blue Star.

I still always called it Tin-tin. It looked like a greasy spoon cafe, but they had just about the absolute best Egg Foo Yung in the world.

For that matter, that was from the time when most Chinese restaurants had Chinese AND American food.

I have fond memories of another place in Bellaire called The Mayflower ... wonderful food. I worked not far from there and ate lunch there a lot and they must have had six different lunch menus, with different specials every day of both Chinese and American lunches. You could eat there every day and go quite a while without repeating yourself and if you didn't want Chinese you could get chicken fried steak or roast beef.

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I have another vague memory of a place I only went to a couple of times on Westheimer close to Montrose,

something like The Treehouse (it also had a Spanish or Italian name but always added Treehouse as a translation) ... it was built on a really strange floorplan with huge tree trunks throughout giving the impression that it really was a treehouse.

Nice place to take a date as most of the tables were set into little alcoves and were very private.

There was another short lived place on Westheimer in the same strip center with the old Budget Tapes and Records; it was a small Greek cafe called Kojak's. Their back room was set up almost like a grotto with weird stalagtite stuff hanging from the ceiling.

Killer gyros at that place ... in fact I had never seen gryros on a menu before that place. A line drawing of Telly Savalas on the cover of the menu really added to the funky charm of the place. Today the litigation police would have swooped down on them within minutes of opening.

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I have another vague memory of a place I only went to a couple of times on Westheimer close to Montrose,

something like The Treehouse (it also had a Spanish or Italian name but always added Treehouse as a translation) ... it was built on a really strange floorplan with huge tree trunks throughout giving the impression that it really was a treehouse.

Nice place to take a date as most of the tables were set into little alcoves and were very private.

Was that Los Troncos restaurant?

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There was one on Hillcroft near Robert E. Lee High School in the mid 70s also.

Wow. Not sure about HBG, but there was another fancy burger place on Hilcroft near Lee ... can't think of the name. There were phones on the tables and you "called in" your order.

On the whole HBG on Kirby thing ... the original poster had it right, there was one down toward West University, in fact it was IN West University. I remember this because a friend of mine managed it for a while and he was complaining to me that they had WEEKLY health inspections instead of monthly like in Houston. They had a full-time health inspector who didn't have enough restaurants to inspect I guess.

We both had previously worked at the kirby location of Rolando's Burger Factory, which was between Alabama and Westheimer. I was Rolando's original employee at that location and trained at his original original location on Richmond in a reformed coffee shop that was close to Woodhead between Woodhead and Dunlavy.

The Kirby location was originally a really lame Jack-in-the-Box copycat called The Pied Piper, which I remember because I helped him clean it out and got tired of the stupid Pied Piper logo on the zillions of bags and such we were throwing out. The place was filthy!

Over a period of many months Rolando took the shell of the building and rebuilt it, expanding the dining room and changing (some might say creating) the decor as he built the business.

I think this may have also been the location of a 50s era fried chicken place called The Chicken Shack. Pre-KFC, or pre-KFC restaurant I might say since originally Col Sanders was selling the KFC concept as an add-in. I remember some cafeteria downtown featured Kentucky Fried Chicken.

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Wow. Not sure about HBG, but there was another fancy burger place on Hilcroft near Lee ... can't think of the name. There were phones on the tables and you "called in" your order.

I remember going to a burger place in the late 60's or early 70's where you phoned in your order from the table. It was called "Round the Corner". Your phone rang when your order was ready to be picked up. I think it was on Hillcroft...Food was great. I went to one in Denver a few years ago and I think they are still doing good business..

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  • 2 weeks later...

Across the Street

I remember going to a burger place in the late 60's or early 70's where you phoned in your order from the table. It was called "Round the Corner". Your phone rang when your order was ready to be picked up. I think it was on Hillcroft...Food was great. I went to one in Denver a few years ago and I think they are still doing good business..
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I remember some cafeteria downtown featured Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Not sure about that restaurant, but my first taste of KFC was in the late 50s, maybe early 60s at a place called the Bluegrass Inn. It was a nice, dine-in restaurant on Gray across from Capt. John's and the bakery (Mrs. Baird's?).

The fare was all-you-can-eat, and you had your choice of either fried chicken or fried shrimp. I am pretty sure the price was $1.99 for whichever you chose. I can

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There once was a King or should I say a nice little hamburger place on I think? Crosstimbers near Jensen Drive? all I know is it was en route to old Northline Mall many moons ago. When we were kids my mom would drive to Northline but on the way we always stopped here! This is the only place I know of where you could get 4 hamburgers for one dollar! This was around 1966. We won't see those type of deals for a long time. Anyhow the little eatery name was no doubt inspired by the success of this film. Wonder if Yul Brynner ever knew he inspired a hamburger restaurant name in Houston, Texas? :lol:

678778_DV_L_F.jpg

Edited by Vertigo58
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I miss these restaurants:

1. Lee's Den - chinese - on Main Street. Very popular on Sunday nights.

2. The Silver House - Chinese - across from the downtown civic center, the George R. Brown. They had the best special noodle soup I've ever tasted. I've never had anything like it. Does anyone know where the chef went? Does any other restaurant have a similar soup?

3. Italian Sandwich Shop on Chimney Rock between Bissonnet & Beechnut in an old house. The best meatball sandwiches for under $2. Homemade pasta dishes. I've never had a meatball sandwich anywhere as good as theirs!

4. By the old Sakowitz close to the Galleria was Katz's restaurant with great ice cream.

5. I ate my first pizza at a pizza place (something like Spanky's) on Bellaire Blvd. across from the Bellaire Triange. I burned the top of my mouth, but I immediately fell in love with pizza.

6. The original diner where the 59 Diner is now located. Huge iced teas!

7. The Sabrett's hotdogs on Richmond in the strip center behind the Edward's movie theater & across the street from the old HISD main bldg. They had great hotdogs!

8. At Wesbury Square had a great lunch and ice cream place. Lots of kids had their birthday parties there. In the middle of Westbury Square was a large fountain.

9. Herbert's Ritz -- the best steaks ever and wonderful remalaude sauce -- prices were unbelievable -- I remember when I could get a steak dinner for approx. $7!

Here are some great places that are still open:

1. If you want a good old fashioned hamburger, try the Bellaire Broiler Burger -- it's hard to find but worth the trip.

2. I also enjoy the Telewink Restaurant -- a real diner! Great breakfasts & still cheap.

Old fashioned waitresses.

3. The Bellaire Breakfast Shop in the Bellaire Triangle (between Bissonnet & Bellaire & Chimney Rock & South Rice). Great prices.

4. Hank's ice cream on Main Street - close to Loop 610. Outstanding, homemade ice cream.

5. Hobbit Cafe - on Richmond between Richmond & Greenbriar.

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I miss these restaurants:

1. Lee's Den - chinese - on Main Street. Very popular on Sunday nights.

2. The Silver House - Chinese - across from the downtown civic center, the George R. Brown. They had the best special noodle soup I've ever tasted. I've never had anything like it. Does anyone know where the chef went? Does any other restaurant have a similar soup?

3. Italian Sandwich Shop on Chimney Rock between Bissonnet & Beechnut in an old house. The best meatball sandwiches for under $2. Homemade pasta dishes. I've never had a meatball sandwich anywhere as good as theirs!

4. By the old Sakowitz close to the Galleria was Katz's restaurant with great ice cream.

5. I ate my first pizza at a pizza place (something like Spanky's) on Bellaire Blvd. across from the Bellaire Triange. I burned the top of my mouth, but I immediately fell in love with pizza.

6. The original diner where the 59 Diner is now located. Huge iced teas!

7. The Sabrett's hotdogs on Richmond in the strip center behind the Edward's movie theater & across the street from the old HISD main bldg. They had great hotdogs!

8. At Wesbury Square had a great lunch and ice cream place. Lots of kids had their birthday parties there. In the middle of Westbury Square was a large fountain.

9. Herbert's Ritz -- the best steaks ever and wonderful remalaude sauce -- prices were unbelievable -- I remember when I could get a steak dinner for approx. $7!

Here are some great places that are still open:

1. If you want a good old fashioned hamburger, try the Bellaire Broiler Burger -- it's hard to find but worth the trip.

2. I also enjoy the Telewink Restaurant -- a real diner! Great breakfasts & still cheap.

Old fashioned waitresses.

3. The Bellaire Breakfast Shop in the Bellaire Triangle (between Bissonnet & Bellaire & Chimney Rock & South Rice). Great prices.

4. Hank's ice cream on Main Street - close to Loop 610. Outstanding, homemade ice cream.

5. Hobbit Cafe - on Richmond between Richmond & Greenbriar.

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I remember Miss Charlotte's (a very trendy restaurant for the time, not the gay bar) on Converse St., two blocks east of Montrose between Willard and Welsh, behind Anderson Fair Retail. It opened and closed in 1973. It was just down the street from a house (corner of Welsh and Converse) with damn-it dolls nailed to its side. A postman and his wife lived there and they had naked seances at night. Late one Saturday I backed into a driveway on Willard St. trying to turn around. I hit a huge Bonneville parked face-out in the driveway of this bungalow and put out one of the car's headlights. A man in jockey shorts comes out on his porch with a shotgun and demands I pay cash for a whole new front end to his car. I told him he'd have to deal with my Dad's insurance company and took off (we lived on Woodhead at the time.) The insurance company did some sort of search and found he had no insurance and the county picked up his car. I felt terrible about that but he got back at me by writing on my car with a nail--very embarrassing because this was before self-serve gasoline and every time I filled up the guy would come inform me that someone wrote on my car with a nail. My Dad sold that car and kicked my ass for being drunk.

We ate TexMex at El Patio on W. Gray (in the center of RO center) and I usually ordered their Nachos Grande. I remember eating at Lillian's, on Westheimer where Numbers is now. They sold crepes. There were several sidewalk restaurants on the Lower Strip and pedestrian traffic was always heavy, even during the week. I stayed with my grandma sometimes in the summer (she lived in an old white wooden two-story house on Westheimer where the parking lot for Numbers/La Strada is today.) I would sit on her front porch swing with my shirt off and try to hustle joints from the guys walking down the sidewalk between the restaurants. Il Padrido was on the corner in that block (where La Strada stands now). They had good pizza. Michaelangelo's, which was directly across the street, is the only restaurant left from that time period. Sorry for rambling, this took me back.

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I remember Miss Charlotte's (a very trendy restaurant for the time, not the gay bar) on Converse St., two blocks east of Montrose between Willard and Welsh, behind Anderson Fair Retail. It opened and closed in 1973. It was just down the street from a house (corner of Welsh and Converse) with damn-it dolls nailed to its side. A postman and his wife lived there and they had naked seances at night. Late one Saturday I backed into a driveway on Willard St. trying to turn around. I hit a huge Bonneville parked face-out in the driveway of this bungalow and put out one of the car's headlights. A man in jockey shorts comes out on his porch with a shotgun and demands I pay cash for a whole new front end to his car. I told him he'd have to deal with my Dad's insurance company and took off (we lived on Woodhead at the time.) The insurance company did some sort of search and found he had no insurance and the county picked up his car. I felt terrible about that but he got back at me by writing on my car with a nail--very embarrassing because this was before self-serve gasoline and every time I filled up the guy would come inform me that someone wrote on my car with a nail. My Dad sold that car and kicked my ass for being drunk.

We ate TexMex at El Patio on W. Gray (in the center of RO center) and I usually ordered their Nachos Grande. I remember eating at Lillian's, on Westheimer where Numbers is now. They sold crepes. There were several sidewalk restaurants on the Lower Strip and pedestrian traffic was always heavy, even during the week. I stayed with my grandma sometimes in the summer (she lived in an old white wooden two-story house on Westheimer where the parking lot for Numbers/La Strada is today.) I would sit on her front porch swing with my shirt off and try to hustle joints from the guys walking down the sidewalk between the restaurants. Il Padrido was on the corner in that block (where La Strada stands now). They had good pizza. Michaelangelo's, which was directly across the street, is the only restaurant left from that time period. Sorry for rambling, this took me back.

that wasn't the Pagan church on Welch you backed into was it? I it was on Welch?

anyone remember Ted from Theodore's club on Mason? He had a restaurant near Lillian's, etc. in this kinda strip center.. late 70's I believe?

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