Fu-Kim Grand Palace At 2615 Fannin St.

[bkjones98]

Thanks. I forgot to check the Neighborhood section.

[Subdude]

Closing this one.

[The Great Hizzy!]

It's a shame that we can't see any renderings of the clinic at this time. Obviously, design is a big concern with all new projects going up in Midtown. There hasn't been all that much lately to feel good about. Then again, you have to consider the tenants (Wachovia Bank, CVS, Walgreens, etc).

Edited June 24, 2007 by The Great Hizzy!

[Ross]

I noticed there's a sign on the old Fu Kim location at McGowen and Fannin announcing the construction of a medical building, San Jose Clinic, I think, by Christus. The rendering looked reasonable, but I was in a hurry and didn't stop to take a closer look. Be nice to have a decent building there.

[Displaced]

Yeah, it's slated to open in 2010. I first saw the sign last month. San Jose Clinic is a sliding-scale clinic now located near the ballbark with (I think) an outlying satellite. This building would consolidate them. Google San Jose Clinic Houston.

[dguet]

There was once a large Chinese restaurant in Midtown (I think Fannin or Main Street) that covered a city block and large parking lot. It had bas-reliefs of dragons on the walls that entered the property. The building was multistoried (two stories?) which included the large restaurant and banquet halls. They had Dim Son style service on Sundays for brunch/lunch.

It closed sometime in the '90's and the property was razed and rebuilt. I don't remember the exact location, but it was south of the area where Rich's Gay Bar (2401 San Jacinto) was previously located. It might have been the site where the Camden Apartments are built.

Have been trying to remember what it was called. Anyone know?

[dbigtex56]

9 hours ago, dguet said:

There was once a large Chinese restaurant in Midtown (I think Fannin or Main Street) that covered a city block and large parking lot. It had bas-reliefs of dragons on the walls that entered the property. The building was multistoried (two stories?) which included the large restaurant and banquet halls. They had Dim Son style service on Sundays for brunch/lunch.

It closed sometime in the '90's and the property was razed and rebuilt. I don't remember the exact location, but it was south of the area where Rich's Gay Bar (2401 San Jacinto) was previously located. It might have been the site where the Camden Apartments are built.

Have been trying to remember what it was called. Anyone know?

The bad news: I don't remember the name of the restaurant.
The good news: I remember the exact location because a friend painted the bas-relief figures on the fence surrounding the building. It was located on the southeast corner of Fannin and McGowen streets, across the street from Kim Tai. 
The current building is a Catholic Charities' property which houses various health clinics.
edit: The October 2007 Google Maps photo for this address shows a vacant lot. 

 

Edited August 22, 2022 by dbigtex56

[dbigtex56]

There was another Chinese restaurant in Midtown which was part of a sort of Chinese mall. It was located on the superblock where Camedon McGowen Station apartments now stands, and it included the aforementioned restaurant, a grocery store, and other assorted small shops.
Does anyone remember the name of the mall and the restaurant located there?

 

[dguet]

4 hours ago, dbigtex56 said:

There was another Chinese restaurant in Midtown which was part of a sort of Chinese mall. It was located on the superblock where Camedon McGowen Station apartments now stands, and it included the aforementioned restaurant, a grocery store, and other assorted small shops.
Does anyone remember the name of the mall and the restaurant located there?

 

Many thanks. You confirmed I am not completely senile. 😄 Hopefully I can hunt it down; I know someone who works for Preservation Houston, so maybe he can pin it down. I'll post if if I find out.

[editor]

I remember when people would call Midtown "Little Saigon," but there was really more a pan-Asian thing going on.  There's only a few remnants of the Asian influence left in Midtown, like the auto repair shop at Main and Hadley with the sign written in what appears to me to be Chinese, but I could be wrong.  Here's how it looks in Apple Maps:

There was a pretty long article in the Chronicle a few Sundays ago about the last of old Chinatown, behind the GRB, about to be wiped out by the I-45 project.  The people interviewed didn't seem all that bothered by it. 

I'll note here that HAIF's very first sponsor was Jenny's Noodles, when it opened its first shop in Chinatown, now EaDo.

 

[dguet]

2 hours ago, editor said:

I remember when people would call Midtown "Little Saigon," but there was really more a pan-Asian thing going on.  There's only a few remnants of the Asian influence left in Midtown, like the auto repair shop at Main and Hadley with the sign written in what appears to me to be Chinese, but I could be wrong.  Here's how it looks in Apple Maps:

There was a pretty long article in the Chronicle a few Sundays ago about the last of old Chinatown, behind the GRB, about to be wiped out by the I-45 project.  The people interviewed didn't seem all that bothered by it. 

I'll note here that HAIF's very first sponsor was Jenny's Noodles, when it opened its first shop in Chinatown, now EaDo.

 

I may be wrong, but wasn't Kim Son originally in Midtown?

[editor]

1 hour ago, dguet said:

I may be wrong, but wasn't Kim Son originally in Midtown?

Maybe.  Even though I lived in Midtown, my memory of specifics isn't what it should be.  @dbigtex56 remembers everything, it seems.

[unionroofer]

I too believe it was in Midtown probably in the building described above.

[Subdude]

Most of the Chinese restaurants were east of downtown. I vaguely remember a two-story center with a large Chinese restaurant downstairs.

[august948]

4 hours ago, Subdude said:

Most of the Chinese restaurants were east of downtown. I vaguely remember a two-story center with a large Chinese restaurant downstairs.

There is still a Kim Son just east of downtown in the old chinatown area.  I recall a largish chinese restaurant on or near Fanin that served dim sum.  That place closed around the time the built the red line.  Can't remember the name of the place, though.

11 hours ago, editor said:

I remember when people would call Midtown "Little Saigon," but there was really more a pan-Asian thing going on.  There's only a few remnants of the Asian influence left in Midtown, like the auto repair shop at Main and Hadley with the sign written in what appears to me to be Chinese, but I could be wrong.  Here's how it looks in Apple Maps:

There was a pretty long article in the Chronicle a few Sundays ago about the last of old Chinatown, behind the GRB, about to be wiped out by the I-45 project.  The people interviewed didn't seem all that bothered by it. 

I'll note here that HAIF's very first sponsor was Jenny's Noodles, when it opened its first shop in Chinatown, now EaDo.

 

At this point there really isn't much left of the old Chinatown. 

18 hours ago, dbigtex56 said:

There was another Chinese restaurant in Midtown which was part of a sort of Chinese mall. It was located on the superblock where Camedon McGowen Station apartments now stands, and it included the aforementioned restaurant, a grocery store, and other assorted small shops.
Does anyone remember the name of the mall and the restaurant located there?

 

I remember that mall.  Went to the grocery store there a few times when we first moved to Houston in '99.

[Hans Gruber]

Wasn't this Fu Kim?  The address was 2615 Fannin?

 

https://www.yelp.com/biz/fu-kim-grand-palace-houston

[dbigtex56]

1 hour ago, Hans Gruber said:

Wasn't this Fu Kim?  The address was 2615 Fannin?

Yes! That's the name!
How did I forget that unforgettable name? It still makes me giggle.

[august948]

7 hours ago, dbigtex56 said:

Yes! That's the name!
How did I forget that unforgettable name? It still makes me giggle.

Ditto 😃

[dguet]

9 hours ago, Hans Gruber said:

Wasn't this Fu Kim?  The address was 2615 Fannin?

 

https://www.yelp.com/biz/fu-kim-grand-palace-houston

YES! I believe that is it! Thank you so much. It was driving me crazy trying to remember.

[mkultra25]

14 hours ago, dbigtex56 said:

Yes! That's the name!
How did I forget that unforgettable name? It still makes me giggle.

When I used to work downtown and the subject of where to go for lunch came up among coworkers, someone would occasionally suggest Fu Kim. As you might suspect, it was pronounced a little bit differently than if it had been uttered by a native speaker. 

Fu Kim, you are sorely missed. But at least Houston can rest easy knowing that there are plenty of other places that have taken up the mantle of Businesses with Unforgettable Names:

Edited August 24, 2022 by mkultra25

[Hans Gruber]

There were couple of Asian markets where the Camden McGowen Apartments stand today... Que Huong -  2600 Travis St Ste 7, Houston, Texas 77006,   the other was Hoa Binh - 2800 Travis St Ste 15   (I think)

[editor]

Digging through some old photographs today, I found one I took in March:

Back when Midtown was Little Saigon, almost every street had a Vietnamese name.  This is the only one I've seen since I returned.