northbeaumont Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Looks like the one in Beaumont is the only true remaining Monterey House:http://home.beaumontenterprise.com/visitor...erey_house.htmlYes, it's still there on South 11th Street. The family of a woman I went to high school with has owned it for many years. And they're not Mexican. Their last name is LeJeune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aconner Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 This is SO incorrect. Showbiz has NOTHING to do with MRI. MRI was started by Larry Forehand. Our food is wonderful. We have excellent quality and excellent foods. Don't listen to stupid people who are mis-informed.Does anyone ever research before they post replies? This is from their website - company history - just copied and pasted:About Monterey...Our HistoryFounded in 1955 as Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Marty Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 (edited) Does anyone ever research before they post replies? This is from their website - company history - just copied and pasted:About Monterey...Our HistoryFounded in 1955 as “Monterey House”, the Company has operated in the Houston, Texas market for over 50 years. In 1987, ShowBiz Pizza Time, Inc. (“ShowBiz”) acquired Monterey House and immediately began restructing the Company. ShowBiz put its own management team in place, remodeled and upgraded the restaurants, moved food preparation in-house to each restaurant and changed the name to “Monterey’s Tex-Mex Caf Edited October 18, 2007 by Marty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChannelTwoNews Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 I actually ate at the Monterey House in Beaumont last Friday when I was visiting my relatives out that way. It is essentially a Monterey's just by the original name since all of the menu items are the same. I will say that they had faster service than I'd ever seen at any Monterey's or any mexican restaurant for that matter. Even more impressive since this was around the lunch rush period.One of the more interesting (to me anyway) touches is that each of the tables has promotional "placemats" or something similar printed within the surface of the table, and they all look exactly like that 2nd candy box. 80's era logo and all.Honestly, if I hadn't known Monterey House was a chain, I'd have just thought it was a local joint. Decent and cheap eats in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmariar Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Remember the candy they would place in the bottom of the chip basekt?We would always hit one on Old Galveston Road in the 70s.Don't know if it was the same one, but we ate at the Monterey House on NASA Rd. 1 (a few blocks away from the intersection with Hwy 3/OGR) all the time in the 70's. I think of that candy whenever I grab a praline walking out of Brennan's - they're similar in taste to me, though of course the pralines have nuts. Before the Monterey House was built, I think we had to go to a Pancho's or something on 45 - I remember the little flags at the table. After the Casa Ole was built on El Camino, we went there. Seems like the NASA Rd. 1 Monterey House later became "Monterey's" and/or a Tortuga's, but I'm not sure - haven't lived in that area for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disastro Posted October 24, 2007 Share Posted October 24, 2007 Don't know if it was the same one, but we ate at the Monterey House on NASA Rd. 1 (a few blocks away from the intersection with Hwy 3/OGR) all the time in the 70's. I think of that candy whenever I grab a praline walking out of Brennan's - they're similar in taste to me, though of course the pralines have nuts. Before the Monterey House was built, I think we had to go to a Pancho's or something on 45 - I remember the little flags at the table. After the Casa Ole was built on El Camino, we went there. Seems like the NASA Rd. 1 Monterey House later became "Monterey's" and/or a Tortuga's, but I'm not sure - haven't lived in that area for a while.The food quality took a dive when it became Monterrey's and/or Tortugas...but that's just my opinion...The only comparable Tex-Mex restaurant to Monterrey House was Casa Ole...but even they have changed their menu a bit and is almost unrecognizable from what it used to be in the early days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northbeaumont Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 The food quality took a dive when it became Monterrey's and/or Tortugas...but that's just my opinion...The only comparable Tex-Mex restaurant to Monterrey House was Casa Ole...but even they have changed their menu a bit and is almost unrecognizable from what it used to be in the early days.To me, Mexican restaurants are becoming so much like pizza places: so numerous, so many chains, that the food is no longer good and unique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disastro Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 To me, Mexican restaurants are becoming so much like pizza places: so numerous, so many chains, that the food is no longer good and unique.That's true.I prefer the "hole in the wall places" or smaller local chains. I recommend Manuels...up on FM1960 and El Imperial on 1960 is still good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northbeaumont Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 That's true.I prefer the "hole in the wall places" or smaller local chains. I recommend Manuels...up on FM1960 and El Imperial on 1960 is still good too.Yes, I've liked either privately-owned restaurants or local "chains" that have only about three or four restaurants in a particular area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devonhart Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 I think my dad brought Monterey home before he started bringing pizza. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEM Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Ole............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgriff Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 That's the first Mexican food I remember having. We ate at the one in Beaumont in the early 70s about once a month. My brother didn't like the "exotic" Mexican food so he would go next door and get a burger from Burger Chef. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torimask Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 I'm not too sure about "makes Mexican food taste like it should" but as a kid, I loved the Saltillo platter and fighting over the candy at the bottom of the chip basket! (The candy maker who supplied Monterey House as well as a number of other places around Houston in the 1970s is still cooking and selling candy out of his house! Just like I remember it as a kid.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earlydays Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Used to love the Summer Platter (3 different tostadas).....here in Dallas, El Fenix has the same platter and it's called the Monterey! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkultra25 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 I'm not too sure about "makes Mexican food taste like it should" but as a kid, I loved the Saltillo platter and fighting over the candy at the bottom of the chip basket! (The candy maker who supplied Monterey House as well as a number of other places around Houston in the 1970s is still cooking and selling candy out of his house! Just like I remember it as a kid.) Does he sell to individuals, or just in wholesale quantities? I'd definitely be interested in picking up some of that candy and reliving the chip-basket discoveries of years past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torimask Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Does he sell to individuals, or just in wholesale quantities? I'd definitely be interested in picking up some of that candy and reliving the chip-basket discoveries of years past. His family runs the order side of things and it's very individual. Email lacolmena.gina@gmail.com and let Gina know you'd like to be on their email list. Once they've got a batch going, she sends out a mass email asking for orders. She'll meet you for free in some areas around Houston/Clear Lake or will ship to you. $7 per half pound, or $13 for a full. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkultra25 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 His family runs the order side of things and it's very individual. Email lacolmena.gina@gmail.com and let Gina know you'd like to be on their email list. Once they've got a batch going, she sends out a mass email asking for orders. She'll meet you for free in some areas around Houston/Clear Lake or will ship to you. $7 per half pound, or $13 for a full. Done, thanks. I see they have a Facebook page as well: https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Colmena-Mexican-Candy-Jesse-Bocanegra-Tribute-Page/519958054684054 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firebird65 Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 (edited) (A)s a kid, I loved the Saltillo platter and fighting over the candy at the bottom of the chip basket! I used to love that Saltillo platter as well. Good ol' Monterey House. My most vivid memory of the place (besides the candy, of course), was when I took a girlfriend to the one on Rittenhouse in 1987. We were at the time the only customers in the restaurant (it was at an off-peak hour after lunch and before dinner). We ordered our food and the waiter walked into the kitchen and immediately walked back out with our order. No more than two minutes could have passed, if even that. The kitchen doors were still swinging from when he walked in when he walked out. It is the fastest I have ever been served at any restaurant anywhere, anytime... including already prepared buffets and ones where I had phoned in my order ahead of time. My girlfriend went nuts. She could not believe they had even cooked our order in that short an amount of time. Actually, I couldn't believe it either, but I was hungry and didn't care. Yeah, Monterey House was good food at good prices. But there's simply no way they'd make it today. Too much competition, for one thing. There's a Mexican restaurant every block in Houston now. And people's palates have become more sophisticated about Mexican food to where Monterey House's simple combos just wouldn't satisfy anyone. But I sure enjoyed it while it lasted. Edited August 2, 2014 by Firebird65 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devonhart Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 There's actually two left in Houston, now called Monterey's Little Mexico. I've been to the one by Greenspoint Mall a couple years ago, had the same platters.http://www.montereys.com/locations.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purpledevil Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Yep, and another "Little Mexico"/ former Monterey House on E. Crosstimbers, between Airline and the North Freeway, that's been there for years. Well some palates have become more sophisticated, lol. Pancho's seems to always have a crowd when we go. I disagree about Monterey House not surviving in this day and age. Places like Monterey's, El Chico, and the like still have their niche. Affordable Mexican food that's pretty good, especially when you're in a hurry. These guys may not make the killing they did in their heyday, but they still have a decent enough following to maintain a profit. Only thing that killed Northwest Freeway's location was the widening of the freeway itself. The Monterey's was typically busy when it was still open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkultra25 Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Places like Monterey's, El Chico, and the like still have their niche. Affordable Mexican food that's pretty good, especially when you're in a hurry. These guys may not make the killing they did in their heyday, but they still have a decent enough following to maintain a profit. Only thing that killed Northwest Freeway's location was the widening of the freeway itself. The Monterey's was typically busy when it was still open. I tend to agree, but I think the rapid decline of some of the neighboring areas where some of these Tex-Mex places were located was also a significant factor that led to their closure. I'm thinking in particular of the El Chico that used to be in Deauville Plaza, and Ricardo's at Gulf Bank and I-45. Ricardo's hung on for a long time, but I think in their case the owner also wanted to retire. His son occasionally posts on the Aldine Facebook group, and every time the restaurant is mentioned it brings a lot of people out of the woodwork reminiscing about how great it used to be. Having eaten there on a few occasions in its waning days and more often than not being one of the only customers when I did, I can't help but wonder if Ricardo's would still be open if more of the folks bemoaning its demise had continued to patronize them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firebird65 Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Ricardo's hung on for a long time, but I think in their case the owner also wanted to retire. His son occasionally posts on the Aldine Facebook group, and every time the restaurant is mentioned it brings a lot of people out of the woodwork reminiscing about how great it used to be. Having eaten there on a few occasions in its waning days and more often than not being one of the only customers when I did, I can't help but wonder if Ricardo's would still be open if more of the folks bemoaning its demise had continued to patronize them. I grew up in Northline Terrace, just down the street from Ricardos, and I think we only ate there twice. The sole reason I even remember doing so is because the kids in the neighborhood always made jokes about that's where the neighborhood's stray dogs ended up. (I'm sure that happens in pretty much every neighborhood, of course). So naturally I was, as a 10 year old, quite concerned with what exactly was in my beef enchiladas. For whatever reason, my mother and father always preferred Monterrey House or sometimes Panchos (at that time on far away Long Point) in the 1970s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SherryDenice Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 Monterey House was the BEST food in the world when I was growing up! It was the only place my family went "out to eat" together at. We went to the one on Rittenhouse. There was one in Humble and I started working there at age 15 in 1988. When I was there (for only a few weeks), is when they closed and Monterey's Little Mexico (or whatever it switched to at the time) took over. If I had ANY idea how upset I'd be at missing the original Monterey House salsa, I would have asked for the recipe before I left there. There is ONE left in Beaumont and I drove all the way there about a month ago to try it out and it SUCKS! I was soooooooooooooooo disappointed. NOTHING like it used to be. They claim they have not changed their food, but they have. So sad. My mom and I would go pick it up from Rittenhouse sometimes and it had the BEST smell when we brought it in the house in these boxes! Oh...the good ole days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggmsmolly Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 I went to school with the Garza sisters whose father owned Monterey House. When Mr. Garza died, the restaurant was sold. The candy recipe was not included in the sale of the restaurant and was made by the Garza's grandmother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggmsmolly Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 On 7/14/2005 at 2:51 PM, Ashikaga said: Here's something else that I remember. On Telephone Road a little way's south of the Santa Rosa Theatre, there was a mexican restaurant called "Monterey House." I also remember that a driving range was next to it and across the street was a Henke & Pillot (now called Kroger) supermarket. Are any of these places still there? I looked up in the Houston phone book and I found "Monterey House Tex-Mex Restaurants." I wonder if Monterey House changed their name to that. Chet Cuccia No, we went to school with the Garza girls whose parents owned Monterrey House. It will still in business for a brief time in the 80s until the owner, Mr. Garza, walked into the propeller of the plane that he was leaving on and was tragically killed. Mr. Garza's mother made all the candy for the restaurants. Someone bought the locations but the Garza family retained the Monterrey House name and they refused to sell the recipe for the candy. Every function that we had at Mount Carmel High School was catered by Monterrey House. Another favorite was Bertha's Mexican Restaurant in an old Greek Revival house in downtown Houston owned by Bertha Robinson. I went to school with her daughter, Dora. We would hit that place after school. Great Mexican food. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkultra25 Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 16 minutes ago, ggmsmolly said: No, we went to school with the Garza girls whose parents owned Monterrey House. It will still in business for a brief time in the 80s until the owner, Mr. Garza, walked into the propeller of the plane that he was leaving on and was tragically killed. Mr. Garza's mother made all the candy for the restaurants. Someone bought the locations but the Garza family retained the Monterrey House name and they refused to sell the recipe for the candy. Every function that we had at Mount Carmel High School was catered by Monterrey House. Another favorite was Bertha's Mexican Restaurant in an old Greek Revival house in downtown Houston owned by Bertha Robinson. I went to school with her daughter, Dora. We would hit that place after school. Great Mexican food. There was a family-run business a few years ago called La Colmena which made leche quemada candy in small batches. They claimed to have been the original suppliers of the candy to both Felix Mexican Restaurants and Monterey House. I bought some on several occasions, and if it wasn't the original Monterey House recipe, it was so close as to be almost indistinguishable. They haven't been making candy for the past couple of years as they got hit pretty hard by Harvey, and I understand the family has been dealing with some health issues on top of that. Bertha's had a second act in the 1980s, when Bertha opened another Mexican restaurant of the same name on Montrose Blvd. which is still fondly remembered by those who frequented it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chasbro Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Monterrey House was my favorite too. The brown sugar candy was just the right way to finish off the meal and don't forget to ask the waiter for a to go cup full of iced tea. When they quit the candy I asked them why and they said the health department made them. It was sad to see them go. Here in Rosenberg we have Bobs Taco Stand so its not too bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian-o Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 On 7/15/2005 at 9:28 AM, gnu said: boy I wish I had the recipe for that candy. I have never been able to find anything close to it. I bought some candy similar to that at Fiesta. I remember a Monterey House on Gessner Rd when I was growing up. It was one of our favorite places to eat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted August 13, 2023 Share Posted August 13, 2023 Thought I would share some information I found regarding Monterey House Restaurants Here's an advertisement dated September 28, 1966 for the location at 6539 Bissonnet Street. Monterey House Famous For Take-Out Mexican Food Now Dining Room Service 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM (Closed Mondays) 6549 Bissonnet Across from Kyle Chapman Field / PR 4-7244 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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