Lone Star Rooster

She had a sad fall toward the end of her life. She appeared seemingly drunk or strung out on a national NBC news break telecast in late 1983 (a clip of it used to be out on Youtube, not sure if it's still there), was fired not long after that, and died not long after she was fired.

Back on the subject of Brownwood for a minute (I know there's a thread dedicated to B'wood around here somewhere), someone recently posted a video on YouTube showing a drive-through of the former subdivision in 1985, about a year and a half after Alicia blew through. Key in "Brownwood Subdivision" and you'll see it immediately. At that time, a lot of the damaged houses were still standing...having lived there, you'll no doubt recognize a lot of it, even in its altered state. Sad, yet intreresting at the same time. There were some very cool houses out there, it really is a shame what happened to that area.

Not sure that this has been mentioned out here yet...but check out this cool mod in Woodside. Aside from the garage conversion, it seems to be pretty much all original. I hope it winds up with a MCM fan who will keep it that way. Great neighborhood in a great location, tho this particular house is close to the freeway: My link

Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere on the forum, but I ran across this site featuring new modern home plans. Not often you see modern designs in stock plans, but they're really very interesting...I especially like the "Spirit of Palo Alto." I'd love to see these appear in a neighborhood around Houston, as a slap in the face to the McMansion overload: http://www.lamidesign.com/

I used to live near the Arabia Shrine Center, and actually went there to vote in the '06 election. I guess that "Valentine's Day Dance" advertised on the sign out front is always just a few days away...

Wow...those Historic Aerial images really paint a vivid picture of what happened in the Brownwood area. Also, check out the "slide" (split-screen) feature between 1957 and 1981. Amazing.

Sort of along this same line of thinking... I miss the good old Holiday Inn "Great Signs," which I recall from early childhood road trips in the late 70's and early 80's. Remember the flashing star atop the sign, and the blinking arrow? For me, thinking of those signs brings back great memories of family vacations, talking with other families during early-evening dips in the courtyard-style Holiday Inn swimming pool (do mid-level hotels even have pools anymore?), and having a real breakfast in the Holiday Inn restaurant in the morning (do mid-level hotels even have sit-down restaurants anymore?). Alas, those Great Signs are all gone now, victims of corporate cost-cutting and highway "beautification."

That house on Arletta sure is cool-looking--should attract a good crowd!

I've seen a few mods in the Lazybrook area (just inside the Loop, immediately to the northwest of Timbergrove). It's fairly reasonable, still some pretty neat homes under $300k, however I believe that area flooded pretty badly during TS Allison.

Hmmm...IMO, Steak n Shake's burgers aren't really any better than what you get at Burger King (Whataburger is better, IMO). And, as I recall from having eaten at a Steak n Shake in the past, it's not exactly "fast" food--I've typically had to wait a good 10-15 minutes after placing my order at the counter (the drive thru is even more excruciatingly slooooooooooooooooooow). Maybe I should give em another try. But, suffice it to say that my Steak n Shake experience has been less than stellar in the past.

Sounds like we might have to pay a visit to Chicago Pizza! And yes, Candelari's new Chicago-style deep dish (the "Wrigley Pie") is the closest thing to the real deal that I've found so far in Houston.

Did subsidence cause a lot of damage in the adjacent Lakewood subdivision? I've been through that neighborhood a couple of times, and it looks to be in pretty good shape--in fact, there are still some very nice bayfront houses in that area.

See my initial post above, except that (as indicated in my most recent post) Candelari's has now redeemed themselves:

* UPDATE * - Candelari's (at all locations, as far as I know) now serves a fairly authentic, Chicago-style deep-dish pizza pie! It's called the "Wrigley Pie." Toppings include sausage, mushrooms, spinach, and sliced tomatoes (the tomatoes are on top of the sauce, the way they serve it at Gino's East in Chicago). Not quite up to Mangia or Giordano levels, but very good nonetheless. For the moment, it's by far and away the best, most authentic Chiacgo-style pizza in Houston!

Interesting accounts of Brownwood. I imagine that living there through the 60's and 70's would have been an almost surreal experience, literally watching the land (and everything on it) slip out from under you. From what I've read elsewhere, it seems like the Valentine's Day flood in 1969 was really the "beginning of the end" of this once-magnificent place. Is that right? Any recollections out there from those who lived through that?

At one time or another, there were at least 4 other Howard Johnson's restaurant locations in the Houston area. Each of these was part of a HJ restaurant/motor lodge complex: -Gulf Freeway, just inside Loop 610 -Loop 610 Near the Astrodome -I-45 North near Crosstimbers -Katy Freeway (not sure exactly where) The restaurant at each of these locations ceased being a Howard Johnson's by the mid 1980's. The Bellaire Blvd. location dropped the HJ name in about 1970 or so (probably about the same time the nearby Astrodome location opened). There was also an HJ Motor Lodge complex on the SW Freeway near the Memorial Hermann SW Hospital, that was only open for a few years in the late 70's-early 80's. I'm not sure if there was an HJ restaurant adjacent to it.

My wife and I recently went to Barry's on Richmond. Although their Sicilian style pizza isn't quite like the authentic Chicago-style deep dish we're fans of (see separate thread on this topic), it's excellent nonetheless. Definitely give it a try sometime.

Well, the wife and I have tried a couple of pizza places in the last few weeks. First, we took a drive up to Cypress and Baby Leita's. While it is more authentic than what you get at Star, unfortunately it just didn't taste all that good. The crust was waaaaaaay too buttery and the cheese was runny. I'm picky, I know, and maybe we'll give it another try sometime. But for now, Baby Leita's gets an unenthusiastic shrug of the shoulders from me. Then we tried Barry's this past weekend. I gotta say, while it's not exactly authentic Chicago-style, their thick-crust Sicilian was for me the best overall pizza I've had in Houston. If I can't buy a real Chicago-style deep-dish pie, Barry's Sicilian will definitely tide me over until my next trip to Austin or Chicago!

Thanks for the tips, everyone. We might just have to give Baby Leita's a try. That, or go the mail-order route.

Back on topic... Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Huh huh. Of course, that should be Mangia -- Italian for "eat." I might just have to order up the FedEx from Austin...

I'm pretty sure I remember eating at an Atchafalaya on South Main (near the Med Center area) in about 1994. I recall it being excellent, better than Landry's is nowadays.

Buffalo Grille, on Bissonnet at Buffalo Speedway. Empire Cafe, on Westheimer near Montrose. Both have lines out the door on weekend mornings. Both are very well worth the 15-30 minute wait.

My wife and I are going crazy trying to find a place to get a good, authentic Chicago style deep-dish pizza in Houston. Any suggestions? I know what you're thinking already. "Star Pizza is known for their Chicago style." Nope. I like Star Pizza just fine, and while their self-proclaimed "Chicago style deep dish pizza" tastes OK, it's NOT the real deal. Neither is Candalari's. They're both just a thick-crust pan pizza, pretty much the same thing you could get at Domino's or Papa John's, with a little bit of sauce thrown on top. Please note: I'm not saying that Domino's or Papa John's is necessarily as good as Star Pizza, just saying that Star's authenticity is lacking to me. For those of you from Chicago, or who visit there often, I'm talking about the kind of pizza you get at Gino's East (deep dish), or Giordano's or Nancy's (which is stuffed deep dish, which includes a thin layer of crust on top right below the sauce). Mangia Pizza in Austin also has an authentic Chicago style deep-dish stuffed pizza, which is well worth the weekend drive. Here's a link to a page on the Mangia website, where you can see clearly what we're looking for: http://www.mangiapizza.com/4/Menu.html As you can see, unlike what you get at Star, the crust on an authentic Chicago style isn't necessarily all that thick--there's just a lot of stuff piled on there. I think most pizzas like this are actually baked in cake pans. So, is there anyplace in or around Houston to get something like this? Or are my wife and I going to have to learn to make this ourselves? Any suggestions would be most appreciated!

Yep, a great game. I'm glad the Gamecocks came out on top, but UH gave us a heck of a game as I thought they would. Again, awesome speed for the Coogs, esp. on offense. Looked like the tape was running at 2x speed when Aldridge and Marshall had the ball. Makes me feel good that we held a high-octane offense to only 8 points in the second half. Now, I can go back to pulling for the Coogs. Good luck next year, and GO GAMECOCKS!