lowspark

I bet no one else remembers this: There was a restaurant on the corner of W. Belfort & Chimney Rock next to the (then) Weingartens which had little horses on springs arranged in a semi circle for kids to sit on while they ate their burgers. I don't know what else they served or what the name of the place was but I LOVED that place back in the early/mid 60s. Also I remember Bonanza -- they were all over town. There was one on Stella Link just inside the Loop that stayed in business at least till 1980. And speaking of Stella Link inside the loop, remember Alfred's? It was a venerable "Kosher Style" Deli and I believe it stayed in business till Alfred died. His son owns Kahn's Deli in the village.

I'm not sure how attractive those anchors were. They certainly weren't enough to lure people over from Foley's at MC. I mean, T&C was (at one time) a brand new three-story mall, with all the newer ameneties, including a parking garage, and Memorial still beat them out. It came down to who had the better anchors I guess, because all the small stores had to be pretty much the same in both malls.

Maybe their previous lack of success was due as much to the format and the offerings as it was their location. I guess they were sort of ahead of their time with their original T&C Village concept in the 60s. Or maybe they just had crummy stores! I think a big part of the reason for the success of the new Village is that they have some stores there which have only a few locations around town. I think I had 'location' in my head because it seemed to me that T&C (especially the mall but even the "village" before the mall) was in direct competition with Memorial City because of their proximity, and it just seemed obvious they'd lose out in that fight. But maybe if T&C can distinguish themselves with unique stores/restaurants which can't be easily found close by, they'll do well with their new development. I really do hope so! I don't like to see dead areas around Houston, and T&C (with the exception you pointed out above) has a history of being just that.

Sorry to keep posting but I keep remembering! A couple of restaurants which were (apparently) huge in other markets but came here and lasted about 5 minutes: Steak N Shake (1977) White Castle Burgers (80s)

OH! And I just remembered, Neil's Ice Cream in the 80s. Man that place was hoppin! Neil was some guy who came here from New York I think. Opened a bunch of ice cream places and did a booming business. Then he sold them all and made a #$@#$load of money. I think he and his brother opened a kiddie amusement center in one of the malls after that but I don't think it lasted very long. After that, he was gone. And, by the way, so were his ice cream shops. I don't remember what happened but shortly after he sold them, they all closed.

Back in the day, it was called Der Weinerschnitzel. There was one on Chimney Rock & W. Belfort. It was an A shaped building and you'd drive through between the legs of the A. There were a few seats outside but no other seating. There was a Del Taco on S. Braeswood just west of Hillcroft that opened brand new around 1979. It lasted a few years and was gone. I also remember Alfie's Fish & Chips, & H. Salt Fish & Chips. ALSO Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips. Fish & Chips just seemed to be all the rage in the 70s, they came in to Houston in force and then most of them went out of business pretty quickly. The Alfie's on Fondren between SW Frwy & Bellaire lasted the longest to my knowledge. I think it lasted into the 90s. Anyone remember Zuider Zee? It was also a fried seafood type of place but it was more of a sit-down-and-order restaurant. Not sure where it was exactly but my faded memory suggests somewhere on 59 near Sharpstown. How about.... --Lumburger or Crumburger (?) on Bellaire -- don't think they lasted too long. They served "burgers" which were really kind of like sloppy Joes if I remember correctly. --Jaime's on the corner of N. Braeswood & Main. They put up a bunch of billboards before they opened. All they said were, Jaime's is coming. Really built up curiosity! Then they opened, served burgers & beans, at least that's what we ate the ONE time we went. Their advertising was enough to get my family to go once & once only. It was probably around 1969 or so. --Wyatt's Cafetaria. There was one in Sharpstown Mall, and one on the corner of W. Belfort and (then) Post Oak (now 610) --Romano Cafeteria (which got taken over by Luby's) --Piccadilly Cafetaria (was that in Northline Mall? I know it was in a mall, just can't remember which one) Can you tell we ate at a lot of cafeterias when I was growing up?

Interesting discussion. I'm just going to throw in my 2 cents. I think the memorial city development is great. I mean, what we had was a ~40 year old mall that looked it, and what we have now is a completely revitalized mall and a future revitalization of the area around it. What's the alternative? Something like Sharpstown which is in dire need of attention but instead is just sitting there? I'll take the Memorial City version any day. It's my understanding that Metro National is a Houston corporation, which got their start developing Memorial City. That makes me even more enamoured with the project -- these folks are in it for the long haul. Sure, they're going to rake in the $$ but they're not going to build a lot of sleek looking stuff which looks good on paper and then sell it and not care what happens after that. I'd be willing to bet that 50 years from now, what they're building today will have maintained/gained in value and will be in a constant state of upkeep. Here's a link to their website, Metro National, gives their history, press releases, plus a video of their upcoming developments. On the topic of Town & Country, does anyone remember the original T&C? Way back in the late 60s I think it was, pre T&C mall. The concept was to have a bunch of small squares of stores with stores inside the square and parking around the perimeter. It was meant to be sort of a villagy sort of feel. In fact, it was actually called, Town & Country Village. It didn't do well. And what I remember was that the reason it didn't do well was that people wanted to be in an air conditioned mall, not walking from store to store in the Houston heat. Then they built the mall, finally. Why didn't it do well? I guessing proximity to Memorial City and no really attractive anchors to steal business away from MC. And now they're going to tear down the mall and go back to the outdoor concept?? What a hoot. Maybe they just ought to face facts that the location is just not good for retail.

Ah yes, Tang City. If you build it, they will come. NOT. That was a classic ill-conceived project. They built a beautiful (it was beautiful when it was new) Asian style shopping mall and (if I remember correctly) a high end Asian Furniture store opened there. The plan was to fill in the mall with similar retail, and then further develop the area with residental and other light commercial. Problem is, you ought to build the housing first, THEN the retail. Basically, there just wasn't any business for the mall, and there was no further development. (I guess the financing dried up.) The one store closed and the mall was abandoned and just got more dilapidated as time wore on. It's a real shame because it really was a nice place when it got built. How long ago was that now? I think maybe 15 - 20 years?

I thought the Cyclone was supposed to be an exact duplicate of the roller coaster at Coney Island. Or was that just hype?

I'm new to this forum and just coming across this thread. I work very close to the Central Market on Westheimer/Weslayan so I stop by there now and then. Back in May they were doing a survey -- it was very short, I can't remember now but I think it just asked for your zip code, how often you shop there, a couple of questions like that. The lady who was handing out the clipboards said they were evaluating whether to open another CM in Houston. Don't know if anything came of that or not.

I have to admit that I haven't been to Astroworld in years. But the talk about the Texas Cyclone reminded me of the first "real" roller coaster there, Dexter Freebish's Electrical Roller Ride -- which later became Excalibur I think. When that opened, I was probably about 12, so 1972, and a friend and I spent practically our whole day riding that ride, running around, getting back in line and riding again.

We could probably start a whole new thread on old rides at Astroworld that are no more. Let's see, off the top of my head: Astro wheel Needle Barrel of Fun Black Dragon

I forgot to say.... I also remember Playland Park, but just the name, nothing else about it. My parents used to take me to Kiddie Wonderland on S. Main a lot and the thing I remember the most there were the ponies. They were slow, tired old ponies I guess because mine would always stop in the middle of the ring and refuse to move. At least that's what my memory tells me!!

Just remembered Globe's motto: Everything under the Sun

That restaurant was called (of all things) Circus. It was owned by the Pappas family who owns Pappadeaux which now sits on that site. They also used to run a restuarant called The Strawberry Patch which served the most wonderful strawberry muffins and you could order a "flower pot of salad". That location is now Pappas Steakhouse. The Railhead died around 1980 or so. We had a high school banquet there in 1978 and I remember it going under just a couple of years later.

El Chico is gone and has been for years. Guess you can call it demolished because I'm about 99.9% sure that building is no longer in existence. Funny thing is that El Chico became just another run-of-the-mill TexMex place later, but back in the day of the restaurant pictured above, it was a pretty fancy place. I remember my parents getting dressed up for a night-on-the-town type evening to go out for dinner there. They didn't take us kids to such a fancy place! Funny to think of El Chico that way, or any TexMex place, but that's how it was back then.

Oh yeah. You had to rent your phone, and pay for it every month in the phone bill. And a princess phone cost extra. So did colors. WHAT A RIP OFF! Then in about 1980 or so, you had to turn in your rented phone and buy your own. They were pretty expensive to buy back then too! And yes, I do remember rotary phones. You can still see them in old movies sometimes. I remember telling my kids about them, and I said, I hated phone numbers with too many zeros. You had to rotate that dial ALL THE WAY AROUND, and wait for it to come all the way back! How funny that all seems now.

The old South Main Drive-In!! I loved that place when I was little. Notice how it says And Kiddie Amusement Park on the sign? I remember going to the drive in movies as a kid, and the minute we arrived, I'd say Bye to the parents, and run off to play in the park. It had a bunch of swings & other typical playground equipment and it was located on a grassy area exactly in front of & underneath the screen. I'd play there for who knows how long, and only go running back to the car for a drink or a snack. Funny, how you could let your kid go running off to some playground in the dark and never worry about them back in the 60s. Can you imagine anything like that today? Oh, and I remember my parents getting dressed up to go to the movies at the Majestic when I was young. My father used to get tickets for movie debuts/previews which were apparently a big deal back then. The also went to the Gaylynn movie theatre in Sharpstown when it was brand new.

Torchlight answered about what occupies the old Sage location now, but I don't think anyone answered what sits on the old Globe location at Bellaire & Hillcroft. It's now a Fiesta Grocery Store. And across the street where the old Sharpstown Drive in was is now a strip center which I can't recall what is in it now. It was a Safeway a long time ago.

PArkview was mine back in the 60s. Back then everyone in parkview was PA9 or PA3. That's it. Then they added PA1 numbers. I live in that area now and my number is PA6 or actually 726-.... And of course lots of other exchanges cover this area now.

I took the Ghost Walk tour and yes, we stopped in at the Spaghetti Warehouse where Sandra mentioned the cold spots & other ghostly happenings. There are apparently several other "haunted" places in Houston which she covers on the tour. It was a couple of years ago when I took the tour and I don't remember much of it now, but it was definitely a fun experience. Discover Houston Tours