Historic Gulfgate Restaurants

[old_Sharpstown]

How old is the Dot Diner at the old Gulfgate Mall location? It is next to the Pappas Bar-BQ place (formerly called Brisket House). Both are some of the oldest in the Pappas chain. They are probably from the 70's.

Although not Houston....how old is Gaido's in Galveston? Has it always been at that seewall location? I went there in the 60's at least.

Until it burned down maybe 5 years ago....how old was the "Sho 'Nuf" Bar-BQ place on I-10 east right past Mercury on the south side of the freeway? It looked old.........

How old is Bonnie's on the Gulfgate freeway near Woodridge and how old is Dante's also on Gulfgate (a little further south on the freeway feeder road).

Just some thoughts of old restraurant locations.....

[Ashikaga]

How old is the Dot Diner at the old Gulfgate Mall location? It is next to the Pappas Bar-BQ place (formerly called Brisket House). Both are some of the oldest in the Pappas chain. They are probably from the 70's.

Although not Houston....how old is Gaido's in Galveston? Has it always been at that seewall location? I went there in the 60's at least.

Until it burned down maybe 5 years ago....how old was the "Sho 'Nuf" Bar-BQ place on I-10 east right past Mercury on the south side of the freeway? It looked old.........

How old is Bonnie's on the Gulfgate freeway near Woodridge and how old is Dante's also on Gulfgate (a little further south on the freeway feeder road).

Just some thoughts of old restraurant locations.....

I remember as a kid back in the 1960s we would go to Galveston and remember seeing Gaido's back then. I wish that I could remember some of the old restaurants around Gulfgate. On this same category on a topic called "Tour de Telephone" Subdude posted a bunch of photos of old businesses including restaurants. I think that one of them was Gaido's. I know that he did post one of the Tel-Wink Drive-In Restaurant which is/was located near Gulfgate on Telephone Road at Winkler Drive.

[TJones]

Pretty sure Gaido's has been around since 1911 or so.

[Original Timmy Chan's]

I don't know how old Dot, Bonnie's, and Dante's (is it still open?) are, but they go back as far as my memory does, which is almost 30 years.

Also, right across from Gulfgate is Spanky's. It's straight out of the 70's. I don't think it's ever been remodeled, judging by the interior. I'm not a big fan of the pizza there...but apparently somebody likes it.

A little ways down Telephone from the South Loop is the Original Kolache Shoppe. I think it's been there since the 50's or 60's.

[Ashikaga]

I don't know how old Dot, Bonnie's, and Dante's (is it still open?) are, but they go back as far as my memory does, which is almost 30 years.

Also, right across from Gulfgate is Spanky's. It's straight out of the 70's. I don't think it's ever been remodeled, judging by the interior. I'm not a big fan of the pizza there...but apparently somebody likes it.

A little ways down Telephone from the South Loop is the Original Kolache Shoppe. I think it's been there since the 50's or 60's.

I'm wanting to remember a short-lived restaurant chain called "Roy Roger's Roast Beef Sandwich". I'm picturing it somewhere around Gulfgate.

[MidtownCoog]

Dante's (is it still open?)

Dante's turned into Angelas (?) and is now closed. We last ate there in 2001.

"Roy Roger's Roast Beef Sandwich".

It's a Taqueria now. Same building.

Edited June 15, 2006 by MidtownCoog

[Ashikaga]

Dante's turned into Angelas (?) and is now closed. We last ate there in 2001.

It's a Taqueria now. Same building.

Is Taqueria a chain?

[Guest danax]

I don't know how old Dot, Bonnie's, and Dante's (is it still open?) are, but they go back as far as my memory does, which is almost 30 years.

Dot opened in 1965.

[gnu]

I'm wanting to remember a short-lived restaurant chain called "Roy Roger's Roast Beef Sandwich". I'm picturing it somewhere around Gulfgate.

They are still around in the Northeast US. I ate at one in Maryland a few years ago.

http:\\www.royrogersrestaurants.com

[Ashikaga]

They are still around in the Northeast US. I ate at one in Maryland a few years ago.

http:\\www.royrogersrestaurants.com

I think that Roy Rogers' Roast Beef Sandwich is similar to the kind that Arby's makes. The only Arby's in this area is one in Parkdale Mall in Beaumont.

[westguy76]

i used to love going to that Spanky's as a kid. I remember occasioning the Dot always with my best friends family because they smoked and that place was always lit up like a chimney as i remember it.

we would also hit the Brisket house on Sundays sometimes that was good stuff.

I also remember going to a Big Boy restaurant with the big figure outside holding up a burger. was there one of these in the vicinity it must have been on 45 south if memory serves me?

[Ashikaga]

i used to love going to that Spanky's as a kid. I remember occasioning the Dot always with my best friends family because they smoked and that place was always lit up like a chimney as i remember it.

we would also hit the Brisket house on Sundays sometimes that was good stuff.

I also remember going to a Big Boy restaurant with the big figure outside holding up a burger. was there one of these in the vicinity it must have been on 45 south if memory serves me?

Wasn't Big Boy the place whose french fries were "curled"?

[Original Timmy Chan's]

Dante's turned into Angelas (?) and is now closed. We last ate there in 2001.

Hey, guess what, Midtown....Dante's is BACK! I noticed last weekend..."Dante's" is back on the sign out front, complete with the FLAMES!

I've never eaten there, so maybe now's my chance! Was it worth it back in the day?

[Heights2Bastrop]

Murdoch

[musicman]

How old is the Dot Diner at the old Gulfgate Mall location? It is next to the Pappas Bar-BQ place (formerly called Brisket House). Both are some of the oldest in the Pappas chain. They are probably from the 70's.

Brisket House...was in 67 I believe...of course when the Pappas people changed it's name, prices went up. But they still have the biggest potatoes there!

I'm wanting to remember a short-lived restaurant chain called "Roy Roger's Roast Beef Sandwich". I'm picturing it somewhere around Gulfgate.

Corner of Woodridge and Winkler...now it is Taqueria Mexico.

[Original Timmy Chan's]

I remember a restaurant called Big Humprey's on Park Place back in the 70s. My memory is that Big Humphrey (and yes he was) was Italian and they had hamburgers and Italian food. I went there several times so it must have been good.

Isn't he on 518 in Pearland now?

[MidtownCoog]

Gaido's moved to the Seawall in the 60s according to Rob Walsh in last week's press.

Hey, guess what, Midtown....Dante's is BACK! I noticed last weekend

I saw that last week, too!

Yes. It was not too bad as far as I can remember.

It was run by real Italians but had the feel of fine dining from Southern Germany.

[musicman]

Isn't he on 518 in Pearland now?

yep near the chevy dealership.

[tetherman]

Does anyone remember or have information about the "Las Vegas Inn", a great family owned Mex restaurant on (N side of) Wayside near the intersection of Wayside and the Gulf Freeway?

[musicman]

Does anyone remember or have information about the "Las Vegas Inn", a great family owned Mex restaurant on (N side of) Wayside near the intersection of Wayside and the Gulf Freeway?

There's a thread...i think tour of telephone....that has a post card of the restaurant....if it's the one i'm thinking about it was on telephone

[texianjoe]

i used to love going to that Spanky's as a kid. I remember occasioning the Dot always with my best friends family because they smoked and that place was always lit up like a chimney as i remember it.

we would also hit the Brisket house on Sundays sometimes that was good stuff.

I also remember going to a Big Boy restaurant with the big figure outside holding up a burger. was there one of these in the vicinity it must have been on 45 south if memory serves me?

Kips Big Boy was on the NW corner of South Park now MLK and Griggs. Across the street on the SW corner was Montgomery Wards on the SE corner was Palms Center, a pre-mall shopping center but not really a strip center, I don't remember what was on the NE corner.

Big Humphrey was a wrestler. I don't remember where it was on Park Place but I do remember Kolchak's BBQ just west of Telephone Rd., it closed in the last couple of years.

joe

[tetherman]

There's a thread...i think tour of telephone....that has a post card of the restaurant....if it's the one i'm thinking about it was on telephone

Hi Musicman,

I checked out the thread "Tour du Telephone" (BTW, a great pic thread of old Telephone Rd).

I stand corrected, you were right on! That was in fact the very Las Vegas Inn where I loved to eat, and it was on Telephone, not Wayside as you said. I worked for NASA when it first moved to Houston, and was scattered all over the South end in miscellaneous buildings. I worked in an apartment house (NASA had rented), and the street in front of the apartment dead-ended into Telephone just about 2 blocks from where the Las Vegas Inn was located, so we had many a pleasant lunch there.

Thanks for the clue!

Dave

[musicman]

Hi Musicman,

I checked out the thread "Tour du Telephone" (BTW, a great pic thread of old Telephone Rd).

I stand corrected, you were right on! That was in fact the very Las Vegas Inn where I loved to eat, and it was on Telephone, not Wayside as you said. I worked for NASA when it first moved to Houston, and was scattered all over the South end in miscellaneous buildings. I worked in an apartment house (NASA had rented), and the street in front of the apartment dead-ended into Telephone just about 2 blocks from where the Las Vegas Inn was located, so we had many a pleasant lunch there.

I actually live by some of the old nasa facilities on office city and a neighbor used to be a nasa photographer in the 60's. i'd have to guess you were in the EVA area?

[PapillionWyngs]

Hey, guess what, Midtown....Dante's is BACK! I noticed last weekend..."Dante's" is back on the sign out front, complete with the FLAMES!

I've never eaten there, so maybe now's my chance! Was it worth it back in the day?

Well....it's not really back. It is a bar now, or so the signs say, with a grill inside - burgers, chicken sandwiches, etc. It has opened, closed, opened, closed, changed names, closed, opened, renamed Dantes, closed, opened, closed...you get my drift. My Mom lives by it, we pass it everytime we go to her house - at least once a week.

Kips Big Boy was on the NW corner of South Park now MLK and Griggs. Across the street on the SW corner was Montgomery Wards on the SE corner was Palms Center, a pre-mall shopping center but not really a strip center, I don't remember what was on the NE corner.

Big Humphrey was a wrestler. I don't remember where it was on Park Place but I do remember Kolchak's BBQ just west of Telephone Rd., it closed in the last couple of years.

joe

There was also a Big Boy on 45 South near Monroe - now Mannie's seafood. Big Humphrey's WAS on PArk Place, went there during high school - loved it! He's in Pearland, are we sure? He would have to be over 100 by now...

[tetherman]

I actually live by some of the old nasa facilities on office city and a neighbor used to be a nasa photographer in the 60's. i'd have to guess you were in the EVA area?

I worked in the Franklin Apartment Building just across the Gulf Freeway from the Houston Petroleum Center. I worked in the Flight Crew Support Division (but at that time our group was separated from the rest of the Division because of the general shortage of facilities, so we were strung around Houston)....those in my Division did work on EVA, but I personally was in flight simulation and crew training.

Dave

[musicman]

He's in Pearland, are we sure? He would have to be over 100 by now...

Was he a wrestler or something like that? if so it's him because there are pics of him in the restaurant on 518

[daddy dr]

Isn't he on 518 in Pearland now?

[daddy dr]

Was he a wrestler or something like that? if so it's him because there are pics of him in the restaurant on 518

Yes he was a wrestler and I got an autographed picture of him at the Mosk's Mens Store that was in the Rice Hotel Building on Main Street. This was back in the early 50's before he opened the hamburger place on Park Place. Paul Boesch of the old wrestling days in the Coliseum and B & W TV(remember that?) used to hold autograph sessions at Mosk's and have the wrestlers on hand. Danny McShane, Lou Thez(?), Prince Majava(?), and Duke Kiomoka(?). Big Humphrey had a replica of the little shack on wheels-just like in Dog Patch.

I was a third generation East End resident and still proud of it.

[musicman]

Yes he was a wrestler and I got an autographed picture of him at the Mosk's Mens Store that was in the Rice Hotel Building on Main Street. This was back in the early 50's before he opened the hamburger place on Park Place. Paul Boesch of the old wrestling days in the Coliseum and B & W TV(remember that?) used to hold autograph sessions at Mosk's and have the wrestlers on hand. Danny McShane, Lou Thez(?), Prince Majava(?), and Duke Kiomoka(?). Big Humphrey had a replica of the little shack on wheels-just like in Dog Patch.

I was a third generation East End resident and still proud of it.

Paul Boesch lived bike riding distance away from us. He was good friends with a friend's parents and was very nice. My brother used to go to the wrestling matches atthe coliseum every week. i went a few times as well. did you or your relatives go to Milby? if so i'll bet you know my dad who seems to know everyone on east side.

[daddy dr]

Paul Boesch lived bike riding distance away from us. He was good friends with a friend's parents and was very nice. My brother used to go to the wrestling matches atthe coliseum every week. i went a few times as well. did you or your relatives go to Milby? if so i'll bet you know my dad who seems to know everyone on east side.

I graduated from Milby as a Mid-termer in January of 1962 and also attended Bonner Elementary and Deady Junior High. We lived on Howard Drive in Meadowbrook from 1945 until 1962. After that I lived in various parts of Southwest Houston. I've been in the Spring area for over 30 years. We had good friends that lived both next door and accross the street from Paul Boesch. He had met his wife in Hawaii while in the service during WWII. I attended several neighborhood parties with them. They were both very nice people.