Pinkerton's BBQ - 3801 Farnham St.

[IronTiger]

Houston Press and the Chronicle have announced the abrupt closure of all the remaining 59 Diner stores, with signs turning people away at Willowbrook and the original location, with calls to the remaining locations going unanswered.

[mkultra25]

It appears that the owner owes quite a few people money:

 

http://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/59-diner-owner-owes-more-than-200-000-to-employees-for-unpaid-wages-8209611

[Dakota79]

It's a shame but was seriously filthy and needed updating. Maybe another Barnabys could go there!

[LarryDierker]

Went to the one near Shepherd last year on a Sunday night. They were maybe a third full and they told me it would be an hour wait due to short staff.

[Fringe]

Not surprised. 

[sevfiv]

It's a shame, I have always liked the place over the years, but it was pretty terrible last time I went

[Purpledevil]

Just another example of one of those places that conjur up fond memories of years past, but had become a mere shell of its past heyday. The South Shepherd location had been Phil's for years prior to the 59 Diner name change. When you walked in, there was Mr. Phil waiting to greet you with a warm smile, and a genuine appreciation for you choosing his diner to eat at. He remained, even after he sold the diner, standing right there at the host position doing his thing. At that point, there were only two. Katy Freeway and S. Shepherd. Both were absolutely fantastic. After his passing, S. Shepherd just wasn't the same. The food was still good, but the atmosphere began to slowly change little by little. 

I had the opportunity to go eat at 59 a few weeks before the place was shuttered. Completely and thoroughly disappointed. The chicken fried steak was a greasy mess that was more breading than meat. The chocolate malt I ordered was instead  a chocolate shake that required me to flag the waitress and ask to have the malt syrup added, and the mashed potatoes were cold and bland. I knew right then that 59 Diner was living on borrowed time. Quite a shame, and hard to replace its rich history. I sure wish we could find out if there is to be an auction at some point to sell off all of the memorabilia. The little red peddle fire truck at S. Shepherd is almost exactly like the one I had as a little boy. Would be realy neat to obtain a few items from the old girl, before the building is likely extensively remodeled or torn down altogether.

Edited March 27, 2016 by Purpledevil
misspelling

[IronTiger]

11 minutes ago, Purpledevil said:

Just another example of one of those places that conjur up fond memories of years past, but had become a mere shell of its past heyday. The South Shepherd location had been Phil's for years prior to the 59 Diner name change. When you walked in, there was Mr. Phil waiting to greet you with a warm smile, and a genuine appreciation for you choosing his diner to eat at. He remained, even after he sold the diner, standing right there at the host position doing his thing. At that point, there were only two. Katy Freeway and S. Shepherd. Both were absolutely fantastic. After his passing, S. Shepherd just wasn't the same. The food was still good, but the atmosphere began to slowly change little by little. 

I had the opportunity to go eat at 59 a few weeks before the place was shuttered. Completely and thoroughly disappointed. The chicken fried steak was a greasy mess that was more breading than meat. The chocolate malt I ordered was instead  a chocolate shake that required me to flag the waitress and ask to have the malt syrup added, and the mashed potatoes were cold and bland. I knew right then that 59 Diner was living on borrowed time. Quite a shame, and hard to replace its rich history. I sure wish we could find out if there is to be an auction at some point to sell off all of the memorabilia. The little red peddle fire truck at S. Shepherd is almost exactly like the one I had as a little boy. Would be realy neat to obtain a few items from the old girl, before the building is likely extensively remodeled or torn down altogether.

The Katy Freeway location was torn down when the highway expanded and I don't think it ever returned in any form. Today, there's a McDonald's on the spot, which functionally replaces the McDonald's that was right next to the 59 Diner (the old McDonald's pad is used by the Exxon, as it expanded).

[Purpledevil]

Actually, it did return. It reopened down by Town & Country with a significantly smaller footprint. You are correct, the original Katy Freeway 59 Diner met the same fate as Courtesy Chevrolet, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad's ROW, REI, an large swath of homes, and so many others; demolished for the behemoth that is I-10.

[SpaceGhost]

On 3/27/2016 at 1:12 PM, Purpledevil said:

Actually, it did return. It reopened down by Town & Country with a significantly smaller footprint. You are correct, the original Katy Freeway 59 Diner met the same fate as Courtesy Chevrolet, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad's ROW, REI, an large swath of homes, and so many others; demolished for the behemoth that is I-10.

Yup it replaced a Romano's Macaroni Grill. The building was truly tiny in comparison to the old location. If you check out Streetview you can get a sense for how small it was. The black and white striped sign, was brought over from the old location. That location closed around 2014 along with a few other locations (Westheimer, and Katy). The building is supposed to be torn down for a Plucker's location. No idea what the progress on that is though. As an interesting side note the Tomball Location was highly influenced style wise by the original Katy Freeway location.

[hindesky]

Taking over the old 59 Dinner.

https://pinkertonsbarbecue.com/location/houston/

Architect - https://www.identityarchitects.com

 

[hindesky]

[Specwriter]

14 hours ago, hindesky said:

Taking over the old 59 Dinner.

Which used to be Phil's, a favorite of Marvin Zindler, before it was the 59 Diner. This is good news but does it ever make me feel old. 🙂 I'll have to stop by next time I'm in town so I can say I patronized all three of the restaurants that called this location home.

[hindesky]

[astrohip]

Yes, lots of memories. We lived on Lexington just down the street from Phil's. Our rental house backed up to the SW Fwy. Our kids (both under 4 at the time) loved to sit on the edge of the freeway (behind a fence) and wave to truckers. We could walk to Phil's.

That's considered "Upper Kirby District"? Might as well call it the River Oaks area.