Hungry Farmer On E. Crosstimbers St.

[sevfiv]

I'm hoping HAIFers can help me out! This restaurant was built in 1969 and apparently Hungry Farmer has been there since 1975 - I'm looking for what was there from 1969 to Hungry Farmer's arrival. Any clues? Any memories? Thanks in advance!

http://www.arch-ive.org/houston/ecrosstimbers40/ecrosstimbers40_001.jpg

[SpaceGhost]

Totally wrong, check the next reply down for the correct info.

 

It looks strikingly similar to a Covered Wagon Arby's which was added on to, and had the roof replaced. Having it built in 1969 also puts it at the perfect time. After checking Google Streetview the double posted sign also lends credit to the Arby's theory. Finally checking out the overheard view on Historic Aerials the building is difficult to make out but you can tell it's short and thin with plenty of room for a drive-thru. So my best guess is former Arby's. However I wasn't born for about another 15 years after the first tenant left, so I couldn't tell you with any certainty what was there

 

Edited December 12, 2015 by SpaceGhost

[SpaceGhost]

Okay did a bit more research, this was definitely a Roy Rogers. Those stone pillars really threw me off. The building was expanded however. Facing the front everything on the right side was added, and some buildings along the back were added. What is shown in the picture below is what was contained in the original structure. Another comparison would be the former Roy Rogers, turned Luke's, turned Zone D'Erotica (always hated that name..) which has an identical facade. This is without a doubt a former Roy Rogers.

 

[sevfiv]

Thank you! I posted in a Roy Rogers thread here on HAIF but didn't get any replies - figured this would get more exposure.

 

Do you know anything about why Roy Rogers would have built one of their trademarked buildings but vacate after a few years?

[SpaceGhost]

You're welcome! I'm on mobile right now so I'll expand on this later but abandoning the building would of fallen into one of two categories. Either poor sales or the eventual "failure" of the chain. I really don't know a huge amount about Roy Rogers although I can tell you they went from 650 locations down to around 50. They expanded far too quickly and ended up paying the price. The determining factor for why this store closed would of been when they closed in relation to the rest of the chain.

[NenaE]

There is another Roy Roger location at Gulfgate. The building still stands at Winkler and Woodridge. It has the same shape with that front roofline facade. I can confirm it was originally a Roy Rogers. The neon sign was in the shape of a large 10 gallon cowboy hat. Their colors were brown and mustard yellow. The name was written with a rope.  It's a taqueria now. I remember the stone columns, too. I don't know why they closed. I can't recall Arby's being a competitor, that early. They may have taken over, later. I first thought of Bonanza and Sizzler when I saw this pic post.

[IronTiger]

You're welcome! I'm on mobile right now so I'll expand on this later but abandoning the building would of fallen into one of two categories. Either poor sales or the eventual "failure" of the chain. I really don't know a huge amount about Roy Rogers although I can tell you they went from 650 locations down to around 50. They expanded far too quickly and ended up paying the price. The determining factor for why this store closed would of been when they closed in relation to the rest of the chain.

There was a store in Bryan too. Since Roy Rogers was always an East Coast chain, I would guess that all the stores in the area went down with the franchisee in the early 1970s.

[SpaceGhost]

There was a store in Bryan too. Since Roy Rogers was always an East Coast chain, I would guess that all the stores in the area went down with the franchisee in the early 1970s.

 

Okay so I got home and have been doing a bit more research on the company. Roy Rogers seemed to be doing alright as a whole in the early 70's. The chain was started in 1968 so the Crosstimbers location would of been one of the first in the nation. I'm wondering if the locations down here were franchised, or corporate owned.. It's possible that they could of been conversions of Marriott's previous chain "Jr. Hot Shoppes" but I don't know enough info about that chain to speculate. I also am not sure when the other Roy Roger's in town closed, but that could give some insight into why this location closed. If everything shut down around the same time it's possible that Marriott did not see promise in this part of the country and either shut down any cooperate locations, or revoked franchise licensing from their franchisees.

[sevfiv]

There is another Roy Roger location at Gulfgate. The building still stands at Winkler and Woodridge. It has the same shape with that front roofline facade. I can confirm it was originally a Roy Rogers. The neon sign was in the shape of a large 10 gallon cowboy hat. Their colors were brown and mustard yellow. The name was written with a rope.  It's a taqueria now. I remember the stone columns, too. I don't know why they closed. I can't recall Arby's being a competitor, that early. They may have taken over, later. I first thought of Bonanza and Sizzler when I saw this pic post.

 

Interesting - I go by there often but never made the connection! It definitely has the signature roof line!

https://goo.gl/maps/43h3Vxxm2dE2

[SpaceGhost]

Interesting - I go by there often but never made the connection! It definitely has the signature roof line!

https://goo.gl/maps/43h3Vxxm2dE2

 

They even kept the roof line when expanding the roof out for a patio! Interesting side note, the Sonic right next to it was a former Rally's!

 

Also I had an idea, when googling info about Hungry Farmer I found their facebook on which they're quite active. You might consider messaging them, and asking if they have any info, on taking over after Roy Roger's vacated. I wonder if it is possibly the same former franchisee running it! Unlikely, but it would make for a great story!

[LarryDierker]

There is a Hungry Farmer BBQ on south Post Oak with 1975 on the sign. Must be related.

[NenaE]

It looks like the sign for Roy Rogers was a chuck wagon (I think the wheels looked like they were turning) and the Arby's sign was a hat.  

[SpaceGhost]

There is a Hungry Farmer BBQ on south Post Oak with 1975 on the sign. Must be related.

 

Same chain, brand new building.

[technoevil]

There is a Hungry Farmer BBQ on south Post Oak with 1975 on the sign. Must be related.

 

It is.  I know the family.  They opened it a while back. 

[acamarillo]

fwiw, there were Roy Rogers restaurants around until the early 80s. when I worked downtown there was one in a building on fannin I used to go to a lot. I'll always remember the message "Roy Rogers says it's western etiquette to clean up after yourself". I think that location may have been in the building that explodes and took out the golden pot Chineserestaurant behind it.

[sevfiv]

fwiw, there were Roy Rogers restaurants around until the early 80s. when I worked downtown there was one in a building on fannin I used to go to a lot. I'll always remember the message "Roy Rogers says it's western etiquette to clean up after yourself". I think that location may have been in the building that explodes and took out the golden pot Chineserestaurant behind it.

 

Across from the also now-gone Montagu Hotel, or thereabouts?

[Purpledevil]

If property ownership is of any help, the property was held by a Carl E. Zucker until 1988. The property records that I can access show him as the first of two landowners for 40 East Crosstimbers, the 2nd being the current ETB, LLC.

I'm a little too young to remember it as a Roy Rogers restaurant, having been born three years before it opened. As far as I can recollect, Hungry Farmer has been the only restaurant I can remember there and I basically grew up 5 minutes from the location.

BTW, everyone seems to forget, but the Zone d'Erotica in Joske's/Dillard's parking lot was "Houston 420" head shop prior to Zone, and right after Charlie's Hamburgers. After Charlie's closed, the building sat vacant for a long time before the 420 folks went in, gutted it to the bare walls, and brought it back to life selling paraphernalia, t-shirts, and black light posters. That particular 420 opened simultaneously with the one next to Heights State Bank/Rockefeller's on Washington. Heights was 420 #9, Westheimer was 420 #10.

I'll lie to anyone who asks me how I know the specifics, lol...

[Purpledevil]

It just screams 40 E. Crosstimbers, don't you think?

Edited December 14, 2015 by Purpledevil

[SpaceGhost]

If property ownership is of any help, the property was held by a Carl E. Zucker until 1988. The property records that I can access show him as the first of two landowners for 40 East Crosstimbers, the 2nd being the current ETB, LLC.

I'm a little too young to remember it as a Roy Rogers restaurant, having been born three years before it opened. As far as I can recollect, Hungry Farmer has been the only restaurant I can remember there and I basically grew up 5 minutes from the location.

BTW, everyone seems to forget, but the Zone d'Erotica in Joske's/Dillard's parking lot was "Houston 420" head shop prior to Zone, and right after Charlie's Hamburgers. After Charlie's closed, the building sat vacant for a long time before the 420 folks went in, gutted it to the bare walls, and brought it back to life selling paraphernalia, t-shirts, and black light posters. That particular 420 opened simultaneously with the one next to Heights State Bank/Rockefeller's on Washington. Heights was 420 #9, Westheimer was 420 #10.

I'll lie to anyone who asks me how I know the specifics, lol...

 

Ah yes I do actually remember the building as Houston 420! Also was the location ever a Charlie's? I only remember as a Luke's when they still sold burgers.

[IronTiger]

Zone D'erotica has been there for a while, at least since 2003. Probably much longer than that.

[Subdude]

fwiw, there were Roy Rogers restaurants around until the early 80s. when I worked downtown there was one in a building on fannin I used to go to a lot. I'll always remember the message "Roy Rogers says it's western etiquette to clean up after yourself". I think that location may have been in the building that explodes and took out the golden pot Chineserestaurant behind it.

 

Can you elaborate?  What explosion was this and when?

[acamarillo]

Can you elaborate?  What explosion was this and when?

OK did some research.  Info from the May 26, 1986 and May 28, 1986 Houston Chronicle stories

 

"Explosion shatters building"   and  "Downtown fire damage set at $2.5 million

Worry expressed over transients"

 

To summarize:  On Sunday morning 5/25/86 firefighters responded to reports of a natural gas leak at the Gieseke Building, 800 Fannin at Rusk.  The building promptly exploded, fortunately with no loss of life as it was a Sunday morning after all.  Tenants of the building at that time included two restaurants, an optometrist and a pharmacy.  There was a vacant pool hall upstairs.

 

Points of interest for haifers and intersections with this thread:

 

The empty pool hall upstairs was, I believe,  the former location of Le Cue, which was the place in Houston in the 50s and 60s where people like Minnesota Fats and Jersey Red would play when they were in town.  By this point Le Cue had moved to a location in the Village above Swiss Haus.

 

The Gieseke Building was the location of the downtown Roy Rogers, as I previously mentioned.  In the May 26 story, the Chronicle quotes Luke Mizell, owner of Luke's Hamburgers, one of the restaurants destroyed.  I believe he had the former Roy Rogers location there, which ties in with his ownership of the Galleria Luke's about the same time.  I don't know if the financial loss from the fire had anything to do with why Luke's didn't survive, but it seems that it couldn't have helped.

 

That's all I have for now.  I'd like to know more about Le Cue.  Growing up I knew of its existence but I never got the chance to go there.

Edited December 14, 2015 by acamarillo

[Purpledevil]

Ah yes I do actually remember the building as Houston 420! Also was the location ever a Charlie's? I only remember as a Luke's when they still sold burgers.

You are correct. I've mixed up my burger joints, as it was indeed Luke's.

[Subdude]

OK did some research.  Info from the May 26, 1986 and May 28, 1986 Houston Chronicle stories

 

"Explosion shatters building"   and  "Downtown fire damage set at $2.5 million

Worry expressed over transients"

 

To summarize:  On Sunday morning 5/25/86 firefighters responded to reports of a natural gas leak at the Gieseke Building, 800 Fannin at Rusk.  The building promptly exploded, fortunately with no loss of life as it was a Sunday morning after all.  Tenants of the building at that time included two restaurants, an optometrist and a pharmacy.  There was a vacant pool hall upstairs.

 

Points of interest for haifers and intersections with this thread:

 

The empty pool hall upstairs was, I believe,  the former location of Le Cue, which was the place in Houston in the 50s and 60s where people like Minnesota Fats and Jersey Red would play when they were in town.  By this point Le Cue had moved to a location in the Village above Swiss Haus.

 

The Gieseke Building was the location of the downtown Roy Rogers, as I previously mentioned.  In the May 26 story, the Chronicle quotes Luke Mizell, owner of Luke's Hamburgers, one of the restaurants destroyed.  I believe he had the former Roy Rogers location there, which ties in with his ownership of the Galleria Luke's about the same time.  I don't know if the financial loss from the fire had anything to do with why Luke's didn't survive, but it seems that it couldn't have helped.

 

That's all I have for now.  I'd like to know more about Le Cue.  Growing up I knew of its existence but I never got the chance to go there.

 

Thanks.  I had never heard of that building, the explosion or Le Cue.  I looked on Historic Aerials and there does seem to have been a building across the street from the Montagu Hotel so I'm guessing that is it.  It looks like Le Cue was pretty famous in the pool world.