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UT buys Dobie Center

TKthunder2

By TKthunder2
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conVINCEd

conVINCEd 21469

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On 10/14/2021 at 2:04 PM, Deej said:

In a pinch, you could pay it back with a check, playing the float, and get another loan the next day to cover that check. Bought you a little more time.

That was a bold play.  UT processed checks faster than any organization on the planet.

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Bullneck

Bullneck 19206

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On 10/12/2021 at 4:59 PM, billfromlaketravis said:

Looks like the Wooten Barber Shop is still there. I loved that place. Good haircut at a reasonable price and they always had pirated movies months in advance on the big screen. 

The same barber cut my hair for 4 years. Right before I graduated he asked me how the Navy thing was going. I was pretty surprised. I told him I wasn't in the NROTC. He then argued with me and said that I was. Apparently my doppelganger and I were at UT at exactly the same time. 

It was probably me.

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Stunns38

Stunns38 3559

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Her name was Hong, but maybe she went by Holly in her younger years. She had been battling cancer for some time, but kept it under wraps and a lot of the regulars at the restaurant didn’t know because they shut down in-person dining for much of the pandemic. She was about 48 when she passed.

She was so sweet, remembered everyone’s name who came through. Sucks.
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TexasBeta

TexasBeta 1266

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She was still that way, remembering the particulars of my kids’ pho orders. She had a very loyal Northwest Hills community that loved her. 

I remember kidding her about the no public restroom sign on her door. She went on a 10 min tirade about the soccer families over at Murchison on weekends and them using her bathroom. I ate there once a week for years. Same thing. Just talked in, grabbed a table and she brought I wanted. I miss her.
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Paper_jam

Paper_jam 831

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I'd often wander by the Dobie Nikki's just before closing time and they'd sell you a slice for like 25 cents I think? Basically giving it away.

Did that ever become a large-ish chain?  Years later I saw a Nikki's Pizza in Victoria Mall and I wondered if it was related, but I didn't ask.

 

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105340

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I remember kidding her about the no public restroom sign on her door. She went on a 10 min tirade about the soccer families over at Murchison on weekends and them using her bathroom. I ate there once a week for years. Same thing. Just talked in, grabbed a table and she brought I wanted. I miss her.

Also, wow…she just popped up by my wife’s photo memories: my daughter had her birthday dinner there with friends several years in a row. Hoang always made a big deal over her, and made her feel special during some pretty awkward years. We just got to talking about how we miss her, and can’t believe she’s gone.
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South Austin

South Austin 52605

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Posted (edited)
18 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:


Also, wow…she just popped up by my wife’s photo memories: my daughter had her birthday dinner there with friends several years in a row. Hoang always made a big deal over her, and made her feel special during some pretty awkward years. We just got to talking about how we miss her, and can’t believe she’s gone.

I know it’s not COVID related, but Hoang and Hao Q are the greatest losses for me in the pandemic. I went there a few times with my kids after the divorce just before the pandemic hit, and while she didn’t say anything, she seemed to know what had happened because my ex was no longer with us, and she went out of her way to be even friendlier to me than she normally was.

I hope her daughter is doing well. Hoang loved her a ton and was always talking about her.

And to bring it all back to the thread subject, I had a bit of a crush on Hoang. I think it went back to my Dobie days.

Edited by South Austin
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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105340

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4 hours ago, South Austin said:

I know it’s not COVID related, but Hoang and Hao Q are the greatest losses for me in the pandemic. I went there a few times with my kids after the divorce just before the pandemic hit, and while she didn’t say anything, she seemed to know what had happened because my ex was no longer with us, and she went out of her way to be even friendlier to me than she normally was.

I hope her daughter is doing well. Hoang loved her a ton and was always talking about her.

And to bring it all back to the thread subject, I had a bit of a crush on Hoang. I think it went back to my Dobie days.

Yeah, really do miss her and Hao Q.  Just a deeply felt loss to the community.  And I absolutely think about her daughter a good bit -- she was so proud of her.

And no shame in having a crush on her.  She was a knockout.  I can only imagine she was even more stunning in her younger days.  Her time at Dobie was really after my time in that neck of the woods.

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South Austin

South Austin 52605

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2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Yeah, really do miss her and Hao Q.  Just a deeply felt loss to the community.  And I absolutely think about her daughter a good bit -- she was so proud of her.

And no shame in having a crush on her.  She was a knockout.  I can only imagine she was even more stunning in her younger days.  Her time at Dobie was really after my time in that neck of the woods.

When we first went to Hao Q way back when it was new, I made it a point to tell her how much I loved Hao Hao when I was in college, so she took to me right away. 

And whenever I’d call for a pickup order, she’d answer with, “Hi, [my real name], what can I get you this evening?”

It really is remarkable how someone like a restaurant owner who you might see once a month or so can become such a meaningful part of your life, such that it crushes you when they’re gone.

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Snake Diggity

Snake Diggity 4627

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19 hours ago, Paper_jam said:

I'd often wander by the Dobie Nikki's just before closing time and they'd sell you a slice for like 25 cents I think? Basically giving it away.

Did that ever become a large-ish chain?  Years later I saw a Nikki's Pizza in Victoria Mall and I wondered if it was related, but I didn't ask.

 

They were related.  The Victoria location is/was a family member of the guy who owned Nikki’s in Dobie (I think they were brothers). I actually think Victoria was the first location and Dobie came after, but I could be wrong about that.

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105340

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44 minutes ago, South Austin said:

When we first went to Hao Q way back when it was new, I made it a point to tell her how much I loved Hao Hao when I was in college, so she took to me right away. 

And whenever I’d call for a pickup order, she’d answer with, “Hi, [my real name], what can I get you this evening?”

It really is remarkable how someone like a restaurant owner who you might see once a month or so can become such a meaningful part of your life, such that it crushes you when they’re gone.

That's how business is supposed to be.  I'm happy to pay a bit extra for a dinner, or my dry cleaning, or what have you, when it's a fulfilling two-way relationship.  They get my business (and that also means that I can cut them some slack when things go wrong), and in return, they will take care of me and my family.

There were times when we had all been working hard, there was no time or energy to cook dinner, and we just walked in and said "just feed us, Hoang."  And she did.  And we knew about -- and genuinely cared about -- each other's families.  Those sorts of relationships have existed at other businesses for us from time to time, and we always really appreciate them when we have them.  

Man, this whole thread has got me all misty-eyed.  From nostalgia for a time that was SO long ago for me in my experiences at Dobie, to seeing how the threads of those places continue to be woven into our lives, 30 years later.  It's why the nostalgia for the places of our college youth isn't entirely self-indulgent bullshit (although there's plenty of that).  Places beget relationships, which turn out to be the most important thing.

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Macanudo

Macanudo 13012

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On 10/13/2021 at 11:17 AM, conVINCEd said:

I’m sure it was a shithole that was falling apart, as most of those older houses in West Campus were, but it would be tough to pick a better location.

The apartments on Nueces that backed up to Hardin House (or one of it's sister properties).   I lived in one of those for a year with a 2nd floor balcony.    Very, very nice scenery.

Oh, and I lived in Dobie (89-90).  It was the year they had tried to renovate but hadn't finished so I ended up in a corner suite with my own room and 2 other guys in the other room for the 1st semester.   That was sweet.   Spring semester had to move into my "real" room, a double occupancy normal room.   

True story.   I woke up one random Sunday morning in my dorm room wearing the shirt I had worn out the night before, my tighty-whities and my boots.   But no jeans.   The jeans weren't coming off while I was wearing the boots.   I had no idea where they were.   Looked around the room and, nope, nowhere to be seen.  I headed down to breakfast with a huge hangover and got on the elevator.  My RA was also going downstairs and she looked at me and then turned her eyes down the the ground and kind of mumbled "You came home last night without pants on."  Turns out, she was at the front desk when I came home and I apparently was loud, obnoxious and obviously not wearing pants.   

Never did figure out where those jeans came off at.   And no, Brisket, my ass wasn't sore.  

 

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105340

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Just now, Macanudo said:

The apartments on Nueces that backed up to Hardin House (or one of it's sister properties).   I lived in one of those for a year with a 2nd floor balcony.    Very, very nice scenery.

Oh, and I lived in Dobie (89-90).  It was the year they had tried to renovate but hadn't finished so I ended up in a corner suite with my own room and 2 other guys in the other room for the 1st semester.   That was sweet.   Spring semester had to move into my "real" room, a double occupancy normal room.   

True story.   I woke up one random Sunday morning in my dorm room wearing the shirt I had worn out the night before, my tighty-whities and my boots.   But no jeans.   The jeans weren't coming off while I was wearing the boots.   I had no idea where they were.   Looked around the room and, nope, nowhere to be seen.  I headed down to breakfast with a huge hangover and got on the elevator.  My RA was also going downstairs and she looked at me and then turned her eyes down the the ground and kind of mumbled "You came home last night without pants on."  Turns out, she was at the front desk when I came home and I apparently was loud, obnoxious and obviously not wearing pants.   

Never did figure out where those jeans came off at.   And no, Brisket, my ass wasn't sore.  

 

Man....you are a TERRIBLE liar.

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4th_and_18

4th_and_18 687

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Nikki's has three locations now. One in Tech Ridge, one by RRHS on 620, and one in Cedar Park. I take the kids on occasion but they'll never understand the deep nostalgia.

Wish Players was still around.

Players was at the clubhouse of Morris Williams for a bit. Did they change to something else?

Players owner had the golf course concessions contract with city of Austin iirc
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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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Posted (edited)

Yes, Sydmill Harris used to manage it in the off-season because one of his many languages spoken was Mandarin.  Moss and Quintanilla used to order from there for their joint suite.  

Paper_Jam...I only hit up players maybe 10-20 times during school...was just really far away from class/rental in east side.  But I remember those shakes being so damn good with fries after a hangover.  I didn't remember the price but $1.50 wouldn't surprise me.  And sitting right on top of it, literally in the same physical footprint is Moontower Cafe where they sell $11 glasses of wine to grad students (and me sometimes).  Circle of life, Simba.

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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7 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

i get it, syd speaks a dozen languages and his dad was a famous singer in windmill country.  just weird he chose mandarin.

Also, because South Austin in the post directly above mine ASKED, "There was a Chinese place at Dobie?"  So his hypothetical Chinese place is hypothetically managed by Sydmill Harris in my hypothetical because he hypothetically speaks Mandarin (knowing Syd, that part could actually be true).  I was just going along with the ongoing confusion as to what restaurants may or may not have been in Dobie over the years.  I didn't know we had to be so fucking literal on this thread.  I am aware of the differences in Eastern Asiatic nations.

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gsoda3

gsoda3 3282

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47 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Also, because South Austin in the post directly above mine ASKED, "There was a Chinese place at Dobie?"  So his hypothetical Chinese place is hypothetically managed by Sydmill Harris in my hypothetical because he hypothetically speaks Mandarin (knowing Syd, that part could actually be true).  I was just going along with the ongoing confusion as to what restaurants may or may not have been in Dobie over the years.  I didn't know we had to be so fucking literal on this thread.  I am aware of the differences in Eastern Asiatic nations.

makes sense now, i didn't realize you were responding to superhero, i thought you were still talking about hoa hoa.

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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It was also to South Austin.  After all these years, I still frequently reply to someone right above me without quoting them.  I'm lazy like that.  

Here's the thing, I'm really hungry for Asian food now.  Surly Happy Hour at whatever Asian restaurant we can find near Dobie?  First round's on me.  

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