Felix Mexican Restaurant

[johnnydrama]

Here's a depressing thought but very realistic. Don't be surprised if you go by and it's already been bulldozed.

Houston new ICON/MASCOT should be a bulldozer. We keep plowing down all of our history.

Do you think the current property could be salvaged? Lets say there was a potential tenant with ideas of a new restaurant. Would Felix lease the space out? I like the market...with Dolce Vita, Katz, Indika, Sorrento, La Strada, Ruggles, etc. Becoming quite the culinary block.

Apologies to all of the Felix faithful...but there seem to be multiple reasons why they didn't survive (granted they made it longer than most!) Having never been there...I can't comment.

[poohbear21]

Do you think the current property could be salvaged? Lets say there was a potential tenant with ideas of a new restaurant. Would Felix lease the space out? I like the market...with Dolce Vita, Katz, Indika, Sorrento, La Strada, Ruggles, etc. Becoming quite the culinary block.

Apologies to all of the Felix faithful...but there seem to be multiple reasons why they didn't survive (granted they made it longer than most!) Having never been there...I can't comment.

[/quote

Yes...the property could definetly be salvaged.....the right tenant can make that space...

[Vertigo58]

The last time I recall going in with a crowd, sitting down and eating was during a Westheimer Arts Festival around 1987? I always like the aura of the place mainly because it harked back to an era of Houston you just dont see any more, well we have plenty of copy cats but nothing like Felix.

I have good interiors pics of the Telephone Rd @ Dumble street from 1972 but need to scan (again).

Of course some of you remember this one having a srious fire a few years ago? Was in all the news. Miracle it made it, just offices got fried. No the beans didn't get burned either.

[dbigtex56]

Updates:

The furnishing were sold a couple of months ago.

A dilapidated addition on the rear of the building has been demolished (pre-Ike); the main structure is still intact.

Signage has been removed.

[CampLogan1917]

Stan and Drew are you out there? When I was with Burger, Vernay & Co. on Louisiana St. on the south end of downtown in the late 1970's and early 1980's we use to go to Felix for lunch everyday I was in the office. The other two partners Stan and Drew went there everyday for YEARS. The waiter was an old guy by the name of Frank that never said a word but the other partners I went with were such creatures of habit that Frank like a good bartender knew exactly what we wanted and brought. We had better have wanted what he brought because that;s what we got. Personally, I NEVER knew what the magic of Felix was. Go figure! Mr. Felix's wife was there everyday and it had been years since he had passed away. I never saw Mrs. Felix smile not even once. Like I said I don't know what the magic was but God Bless all of you that have good memories of Felix but not all of us did. I guess that's why there is red and that's why there's blue!

[dbigtex56]

I see there's a large "For Rent" sign on the door now.

[dbigtex56]

And an even larger, stand-alone "For Lease" sign now.

Although the neon "Felix" signs have been removed, the main, tall sign remains. I hope it doesn't get destroyed; you just don't see things like that anymore.

For the uninitiated, the sign depicts a saguaro cactus with a sombrero-shaded figure, dead or sleeping, slumped against its base. (I'm guessing dead; who's going to lean against a cactus to sleep? No one's that tired.) Before the howls of racism and stereotyping begin, please keep in mind that the sign was put up by a man who was proud of his Mexican origins. At any rate, it's colorful, authentic early 60's signwork - maybe not quite the Neon Cockroach, but still worthy of preservation.

[SecondTour]

I don't know what the magic was but God Bless all of you that have good memories of Felix but not all of us did.

That's where I am with the place as well. I went there once, about 8 years ago. It was just old school 1960s style Tex-Mex. Now, for what it's worth, there are plenty of times when that's exactly what I want for lunch or dinner. That said, Taco Cabana (if you're in a hurry) & Pappasitos (if you have more time) both do the same thing - only less greasy and better tasting. As do several other places here. It takes more than sentiment these days.

[KinkaidAlum]

You had to grow up on Felix's. I am convinced of that.

Everyone I knew that went there as a kid LOVED the place. Everyone that was exposed to it as an adult after Tex-Mex became the "it" thing in Houston thought it was nasty.

I will go to my grave thinking that the queso, served hot on a fried corn tortilla (not a chip, the whole damn thing) was one of life's best pleasures.

I grew up riding in the back of an Orange Volvo wagon every Sunday night to the Kirby location. Sitting with my sister in the back on the way home with a mouth full of chicklets was the perfect way to end a weekend!

To this long-time Houstonian, another piece of the original city has died. My last memory of my grandmother involved having lunch with her at Felix's while she wore a track suit... if you knew my grandmother, you'd know what a relief it must have been for her to be so casual.

[Poppahop]

You had to grow up on Felix's. I am convinced of that.

Everyone I knew that went there as a kid LOVED the place. Everyone that was exposed to it as an adult after Tex-Mex became the "it" thing in Houston thought it was nasty.

Absolutely. It wasn't really '60s-style Tex-Mex as stated in another post, nor was it comparable at all to Pappasito's or especially Taco Cabana. Felix's was '40s-style Tex-Mex, and the other two are post-Ninfa's Tex-Mex boom joints, one of which caters primarily to drunk people.

[IHB2]

I will go to my grave thinking that the queso, served hot on a fried corn tortilla (not a chip, the whole damn thing) was one of life's best pleasures.

exactly