local news and culture. December 1980: Aldine buses collideHarris County, Texas, Deputy Sheriff W.J. If you were there, youll recall some of them. Revolving restaurants II: theMerry-Go-Round Basic fare: shrimp We never close Tablecloths checkered past Famous in its day: Tip TopInn Find of the day: J.B.G.s Frenchrestaurant Dont play with thecandles Interview: whos cooking? NOT SO OLD . Ill add to the list as they come to mind. 1 most stressful city for U.S. workers, 'This is about profit': Houston leaders condemn HISD takeover, Oops! Independent restaurateurs, too, found it increasingly attractive to operate more than one restaurant. April 1980- A group of Houston residents marched outside City Hall Saturday in an appeal for support and protection of Cambodian refugees who have fled to Thailand. The Secret Group. State Parks and Wildlife Department workers disposed of the remains. The food seemed to go on for miles. When the first fancy restaurant in Houston opened at the corner of Lamar and Milam in 1949, no one thought it odd that owner Camille Bermann had swiped the name from the famous restaurant in Paris. T-bone steaks which were so, so, good but served with a heart-attack inducing number of side dishes, many of them fried or in over rich sauces. Also still in Rice near the stadium last I saw. I think it's a delivery/carry out only location in an old converted house. Cajun restaurant, and the first restaurant that became a "favorite" after I moved here. Houston has everything from steakhouses to amazing desert spots. I don't remember what happened but shortly after he sold them, they all closed. My favorite was a hard salami sandwich with Swiss cheese on rye, with a salami beef stick on the side along with the best half-sour pickles. Good eaters: AndyWarhol Birth of the themerestaurant Restaurant-ing with royalty Righting civil wrongs inrestaurants Theme restaurants: barns Men only Taste of a decade: restaurants,1900-1910 Celebrating restaurant cuisine Decor: glass ceilings Between courses: dont sniff thefood In the kitchen with Mme Early: black women inrestaurants Burger bloat On the menu for2010 Christmas feasting Todays specials: books onrestaurants With haute cuisine for all:Longchamps Restaurant-ing on Thanksgiving High-volume restaurants: Smith &McNells Anatomy of a restaurateur: DarioToffenetti Between courses: rate thismenu You want cheese withthat? A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Evelyn cooked her way through New York City with stints at Jean George's Spice Market under Chef Anthony Ricco, Masak with Chef Larry Reutens and. Gatti's for sure is still around I know in Clear Lake. After that, he was gone. It was also a fried seafood type of place but it was more of a sit-down-and-order restaurant. What about that crazy fish and chips place? Thanks for writing, so interesting. Houston pitmaster goes viral after hilarious TV interview, MLB legend makes surprise appearance at Astros' Spring Training, Willie Nelson's new album is a lovely tribute to a fellow country legend, Two ocelots were photographed crossing a road in rare South Texas sighting, Astros GM Dana Brown sees bright future for top prospect Drew Gilbert, This is how astronauts see Houston, Texas Gulf from space with unaided eyes. Or you may post as a guest. They served "burgers" which were really kind of like sloppy Joes if I remember correctly. Long gone is Alfreds, since closing in the late 1990s, but never forgotten. I fondly remember many meals at Looks consisting of a chopped steak with baked potato, or fried chicken. Houston has more restaurants per capita than any other U.S. city. Draloc, Inc. I've always thought of it as a poor man's jack in the Box. Do you remember any of these places? You had to know where it was. It was probably around 1969 or so. I know of at least five in Louisville. It doesn't matter what your party or lounge lizard scene . 26503 Town Center Dr., Novi; djbistro.com . Vaness Vajdos, left; Mary Cullen, center, and Laurie Pipenur, right, will try to challenge Donna Burge's Texas record for the marathon. What Houston restaurateur often loaned diners his own sports coat to meet the dress code at his steakhouse? (4) 6.6. It's a credit union now. Houston, Texas - Weather. It was Mexican fast food and I remember a salsa bar or something it was quaint with good food. Disadvantaged locals ate for free and left, like a community service. From iconic burgers to killer Tex-Mex, these longstanding restaurants have stuck around for a reason. Munchies an artsy ice-house on Bissonett near Rice with string quartet music and mimes. Much of Market Square destroyed 7. Copies are also available at the Bellaire Coffee Shop and McHugh Tea Room on Bissonnet. sincerely, Meredith https://www.etsy.com/shop/MeredithBrittCollage?ref=hdr_shop_menu. Beautiful people, heavy druggy amorous glamorous and booze-soaked. it may have been a del taco too later but it was built as Taco Bueno. Frizell examines one of two Aldine Independent School District buses which collided at Frick Road and Sundale in northwest Harris County at 3:23 p.m. Thursday,injuring four students and a driver. It was the only upscale restaurant in the city for decades and its. Updated Sep 29, 1996, 11:00pm CDT. on Bellaire -- don't think they lasted too long. Can the 1980s Restaurants Be the Key to Growth in the 2020s? I used to eat a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches there when I was a kid. The driver and passengers in the van were not injured. Maxim's closed in January 2001. It was just one of eight stages in the downtown area that featured jazz, fold music, polka dancers, mariachi players and poetry readers Jan Dewitt by Gail Preit Preisler. 1987 With new laws holding restaurants responsible for customers who cause drunk driving injuries, rising numbers of liability lawsuits against restaurants, and ballooning insurance premiums, American Express promises protection to restaurants that accept its charge card. January 1980: Houston Oilers coach Bum Phillips shows the emotion that he shared with many of his players as they were welcomed by a crowd of more than 55,000 inside the Astrodome after returning from Pittsburgh. can't remember the name seems like it started with a W. We have Weinerschitzel in Bryan/College Station, I ate there the day before yesterday. LOL! Houston has been criticized as a city that doesn't remember its past. 17 Excellent Dining Options For Christmas Eve and Day in Houston, Where to Find the Best Comfort Food Dishes in Houston. Read her on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. Now no reason was needed at all. Maxim's catered to Houston's new oil tycoons, like John De Menil, with fawning service and lavish prices. 18 Houston Restaurants Serving Up the Finest Fried Chicken. Burgers are a menu mainstay, with versions that include the Original Diamond Jim Brady or the Charlie Brown. (though some I cant remember their names). Find authentic Cajun eats here including po-boys served traditionally on French baguette, special muffulettas, and 100% Acadiana rice field pond-raised, purged crawfish when in season. See story, Section 5, Page 44. This family-owned restaurant originally began as a Chinese food products import store in the 60s but soon transformed into the restaurant Houstonians still frequent today. Display as a link instead, Nixon was President at the time. A) Sonny Bono B) Jimi Hendrix C) Frank Zappa 4. Many luxury restaurants rejected them as waitstaff in the belief that patrons attributed higher status to male servers. Over the years, Ive had a lot of traffic coming to read my article called A Look Back at Gilleys 1980.. He was supposed to open another shop, but he never got around to it, I guess. Friendly, non-threatening. Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor in Almeda Mall. Box: 6: General menu. Houstons culinary landscape has broadened considerably over the years, but it always had a strong foundation to build upon. We had some of the best music in the country, and some really rad places to hang out with our friends. The sidewalks are always busy, but during the lunch hour they fill up with downtown workers. (Drexel St.) Houston, TX 77027 713-961-0552 Map Cuisine: Continental Seafood dishes get the royal treatment at Anthony's and even classic comfort foods of meat and potatoes get deliciously dressed up. and i'm very glad we don't have krystals or white castle. Toddle House Truckstops Champagne and roses Soup and spirits at thebar Back to nature: TheEutropheon The Swinger Early chains: Baltimore DairyLunch We burn steaks Girls night out 2013, a recap Holiday greetings from VesuvioCaf The Shircliffe menucollection Books, etc., for restaurant historyenthusiasts Roast beef frenzy B.McD. Both women came to the festival from Austin. I didn't Know Houston had Steak N Shake, Southern North America, United States, Texas, H-Town, Montrose, Lower Westheimer, Houston (previously Montrose, now Midtown) TX. Meanwhile old favorites such as steak and baked potato, tossed salad, and cheesecake seemed dull. Here are 10 Restaurant Chains From The '80s Which Are Now CLOSED: 10. Please enter a valid email and try again. The next thing was that the waiters and waitresses practically sang us a litany of all the dishes on the menu, something that we were not used to at all. I remember my bday party at Showbiz (with the bear), I think its cool we have the One of a kind "Whataburger". Tea Cup dining restaurant ware Green/White : . Bell Beefer. I don't think anyone's mentioned it yet. And some fan favoriteslike Burger Chef, G.D. Ritzy's, and Howard Johnson'sfell by the wayside. Though conditions were improving, women also faced continuing discrimination in restaurant work. While few Houston food lovers remember the place anymore, Maxim's stamp on Houston fine dining is indelible. Barbarella. Nolan Ryan traded to the Rangers 6. With dinner for two easily totaling $100 [about $228 now], they learn it often means higher prices too. Learn how your comment data is processed. But at lunchtime, the menu always included a few meat-and-potatoes dishes, including chicken-fried steaks, for rough-and-tough wildcatters. San Antone Rose Cold longnecks, mixed crowd with C/W and Top 40, a little for everyone. And we just got Chucky Cheese after them being gone for about 20 something years. My uncle, Leon Levinthal Jr., had several favorite places for steaks, including the original Brenners Steakhouse on Katy Road and Bud Bigelows way out west location on Westheimer. Posted in 1980s, Demolished, Restaurant/Bar, TX - Greater Houston, Used to be a Pizza Hut. 1986 Most restaurant reviewers contributing to John Marianis Coast-to-Coast Dining Guide report that their towns have better restaurants and a wider selection of ethnic cuisines than ten years earlier. January 1980:Some celebrated the coming of 1980 with food and drink while others prayed that it would be a year of peace and serenity. I only got to go there once or twice, but it was a treat to see (and hear) the seemingly 100-ft long organ in there. This is the decade when I first went to the USA. Pasted as rich text. Gallaghers - Restaurant From 1970', 1980's Gallaghers was a chain that had restaurants in SA, I-35 Windsor Park, I-10 and Wurzbach, Tidwell and 45 in Houston, Beaumont, Richardson. In the early 1980s, millennials didn't even exist yet. In Seattle, Colonial-themed Mad Anthonys executes a style and cuisine turnabout, replacing a beefy Steak & Kidney Pye-style menu with seafood. It's a credit union now. All are Houstonians. Famous in its day:Feras Why the parsleygarnish? It was an all-you-can-eat cafeteria where the food moved around on a conveyor belt. I know it was already listed above, but Pipe Organ Pizza was one of my all-time faves as a kid. And, by the way, so were his ice cream shops. These photos, from the early '80s into the late '90s, give . The minibus driver, Madaline Weber, 32, was in stable condition in Houston Northwest Medical Center. Never ate there, but if nothing else they should have saved the giant shrimp with six-shooters! Putting a picture of something that looks distinctly like a pile of ____ on your advertisement is probably not a well thought out ad campaignand, if my hot dog ever looks at me, it's going into the garbage. A friend of mine got clobbered. We won't fault you for getting misty-eyed over these failed fast-food chain restaurants from the 1980s. Todds was one of the best meet markets on the Southwest Side. The first thing that really struck us was how early everyone went out to eat. More than a thousand customers signed a list asking to be notified if the restaurant found a new location. Though shunned by the food elite, corporate chain restaurants continued to grow and thrive. Excellent dancing music and d.j Great atmosphere. They were famous for their incomparable remoulade sauce and Trout Marguery, which was absolutely delicious.. A food elite emerged, composed of frequent restaurant-goers with insatiable hunger for new cuisines and unfamiliar foods. George's Restaurant Houston Second Verse Bar. October 1980-Dr. Ernest Pevny, an anesthesiologist at Pasadena General Hospital, puts the finishing touches on a painting of the downtown Houston skyline. Houston, Texas - Street Cleaning Division. There was also a supreme version available . Click the Buzz Me button to receive email notifications when this writer publishes a new article or a new article in this column is published. All they said were, Jaime's is coming. Anyone remember Zuider Zee? Lots of line dancing in an atmosphere of mostly Carpenter tunes ranging from the romantic to the morose. While Ive only just started reminiscing on Houston restaurants past and present (I havent even touched on my favorite subject hamburgers), our journey must end for now. June 1980 - Bat heads by Bert. I believe that was the name of the place on Fuqua at Sabo. March - He gets in his share of people-watching. Where to Find Swoon-Worthy Soup in Houston. My favorite after-work hangout. There were many other South Main Street/Medical Center area favorites, particularly Ye Olde College Inn across from what was then known as Rice Institute. Owner Walter Bopp was a longtime Tucson businessmen. In fact, Barbecue Inn is most famous for it's crispy golden-fried chicken and country-gravy fried steak. Band member Billy Gibbons became a loyal customer of the restaurant. There was one on Chimney Rock & W. Belfort.