Austin -- We are losing this place

[DalTxHornFan 3071]

 

[DalTxHornFan 3071]

Thanks be to god that there is one stable source of donuts in this town:

https://mjbakery.com/

[Deej 76197]

Mrs. Johnson's isn't what it used to be. 

[HenryJames 65525]

[Hagbard Celine 10543]

haven't been by mrs. johnson's in several years, when I was last there it was being run by pakis (no racist) and it was not the same as olden tymes

 

assume above pic is S-H on Manor?

 

[HenryJames 65525]

The Patels have run it since around 1980 so no idea to which olden tymes you are referring.

[mdmost 42459]

Ken's Donuts fueled many an all-nighter for me back in the mid-90s when I lived off Nueces. RIP.

[HenryJames 65525]

My best memory is when Ken's started making Samosas that tasted like donuts because they were fried in the same oil.

[Macanudo 12791]

True story....   I lived in an apartment on Nueces right where it splits off of Guadalupe there where Ken's was and Dirty's is for a year my junior year (91-92.)   I ate a shit ton of both.   But the story is this... 

One day, something happened to the phone lines in the alley and when Ken's phone would ring for orders so would mine.   I could hear the caller and Ken's but they could not hear each other.  So I relayed them for Ken's.   This took about 2-3 days to get sorted out by the phone company.   It kind of sucked because the calls started each morning at like 5:00 am but I was in there often enough that I felt like being nice.

The day after it got fixed, I walked in and the counter guy (who knew me) said that I was getting free donut and drink.   Cool, thanks.   Except it wasn't just for that day.   It was indefinite.  So I had Ken's Donuts for breakfast whenever I wanted for around 2-3 months.  

I am not a big donut fan now.

 

[jimmyjazz 45192]

11 hours ago, HenryJames said:

The Patels have run it since around 1980 so no idea to which olden tymes you are referring.

I'm pretty sure they're not quite as involved in the day to day any more, though.  The guy from Michi Ramen came on board at some point.

[gsoda3 3194]

3 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

The guy from Michi Ramen came on board at some point.

freddie?

[South Austin 51632]

12 minutes ago, Macanudo said:

True story....   I lived in an apartment on Nueces right where it splits off of Guadalupe there where Ken's was and Dirty's is for a year my junior year (91-92.)   I ate a shit ton of both.   But the story is this... 

One day, something happened to the phone lines in the alley and when Ken's phone would ring for orders so would mine.   I could hear the caller and Ken's but they could not hear each other.  So I relayed them for Ken's.   This took about 2-3 days to get sorted out by the phone company.   It kind of sucked because the calls started each morning at like 5:00 am but I was in there often enough that I felt like being nice.

The day after it got fixed, I walked in and the counter guy (who knew me) said that I was getting free donut and drink.   Cool, thanks.   Except it wasn't just for that day.   It was indefinite.  So I had Ken's Donuts for breakfast whenever I wanted for around 2-3 months.  

I am not a big donut fan now.

Legit cool story, bro.

[jimmyjazz 45192]

6 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

freddie?

Yes, that's it.  At least according to this:

Mrs. J's

Quote

Established in 1948, Mrs. Johnson's keeps Airport Blvd supplied with fried, sweet goodness by handing out hot, fresh donuts every night around 8:45 pm. although the recipes have recently been overhauled by Freddie Lee -- owner of Michi Ramen -- the nostalgic integrity remains intact. Try a Bavarian cream-filled donut, a kolache, but never skip the O.G. glazed variety.

 

[Macanudo 12791]

1 hour ago, South Austin said:

Legit cool story, bro.

Lived in the Carrels.   Rumor was that Janis Joplin had recorded some stuff there way back when.

[South Austin 51632]

14 minutes ago, Macanudo said:

Lived in the Carrels.   Rumor was that Janis Joplin had recorded some stuff there way back when.

Now you're just name-dropping.

[futureman 22352]

On 5/5/2022 at 12:03 PM, Macanudo said:

Lived in the Carrels.   Rumor was that Janis Joplin had recorded some stuff there way back when.

I was next door at coventry place. rod babers was my neighbor. nbd. 

[Blotto 23286]

On 5/28/2022 at 1:47 PM, futureman said:

I was next door at coventry place. rod babers was my neighbor. nbd. 

Did you get matching tattoos with rod, chris, and mike? 

[futureman 22352]

3 hours ago, Blotto said:

Did you get matching tattoos with rod, chris, and mike? 

you know what, I did. I’m the fourth musketeer. 

[Biff Tannen 45151]

I went into Ken's one night on mushrooms and when I went to get water from the fountain the lever stuck and I couldn't figure out how to make it stop so water was just pouring out all over the floor and I ran out.  /csb

[Deej 76197]

Had an interesting night in quite a few places on the Drag after we made the mistake of buying a joint off a drag worm for three bucks that was apparently laced with PCP. Would have been 87 or 88. 

[DalTxHornFan 3071]

17 minutes ago, Deej said:

Had an interesting night in quite a few places on the Drag after we made the mistake of buying a joint off a drag worm for three bucks that was apparently laced with PCP. Would have been 87 or 88. 

I cannot imagine buying street stuff these days with all of the fentanyl going on.  Jake is a great example.  It is easy to wake up dead with that stuff.

[Deej 76197]

It was 35 years ago. 

And according to Nicole, just stay close to a librarian these days. 

Edited June 30, 2022 by Deej

[dcbc 14247]

1 hour ago, Deej said:

Had an interesting night in quite a few places on the Drag after we made the mistake of buying a joint off a drag worm for three bucks that was apparently laced with PCP. Would have been 87 or 88. 

The good news is it probably wasn't PCP.  It probably was Raid bug spray.  Still, no fun.

[dcbc 14247]

1 hour ago, DalTxHornFan said:

I cannot imagine buying street stuff these days with all of the fentanyl going on.  Jake is a great example.  It is easy to wake up dead with that stuff.

No money in lacing weed with fentanyl.  I remember when that hit the news, and I think it was reported either not true or an isolated incident.

 

I want that to be the case.

[DalTxHornFan 3071]

Another one bites the dust:

Original Z'Tejas location to shutter in about 6 months

Owners seeking new spot in Central Business District

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2022/07/05/ztejas-sixth-street-location.html?taid=62c498a53e1ad60001aa5c8a&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+New+Content+(Feed)&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

[CooterBrown 17735]

The city now offers a shuttle bus to Zilker Park from their parking garage on Barton Springs. We used to go down to Zilker every week or so. Haven’t been in over 5 years because it’s such a clusterfuck.

[crash_davis 23050]

17 hours ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Another one bites the dust:

Original Z'Tejas location to shutter in about 6 months

Owners seeking new spot in Central Business District

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2022/07/05/ztejas-sixth-street-location.html?taid=62c498a53e1ad60001aa5c8a&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+New+Content+(Feed)&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

I have a soft spot for this restaurant. We frequent it a lot, still. Food is always good. It's a victim of not being Instagram worthy. It used to pull tons of talent during Happy Hour. Those were the days. 

[Helobious 9420]

5 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

The city now offers a shuttle bus to Zilker Park from their parking garage on Barton Springs. We used to go down to Zilker every week or so. Haven’t been in over 5 years because it’s such a clusterfuck.

I’m not an austinite but have been going up almost every weekend lately cause I’m dating a girl there. We went to zilker on Saturday around 2pm. Parked for free at those baseball fields on tomey(?) rd. Short walk across that footbridge to zilker. Park was almost completely empty, I was shocked. Probably cause it was 100 degrees but still. However the lake was a floating mass of humanity.

[DalTxHornFan 3071]

2 hours ago, crash_davis said:

I have a soft spot for this restaurant. We frequent it a lot, still. Food is always good. It's a victim of not being Instagram worthy. It used to pull tons of talent during Happy Hour. Those were the days. 

Back in the day it was known as "Another Raw Deal", a steak and whiskey joint with a great jukebox.  A favorite watering hole for politicos like Ann Richards and Bob Bullock.  Fun place. 

[jimmyjazz 45192]

What was the pizza joint there, Olive's?  Did Z Tejas expand to take over that spot or were they always separate?

[DalTxHornFan 3071]

4 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

What was the pizza joint there, Olive's?  Did Z Tejas expand to take over that spot or were they always separate?

I do think that it was a different establishment, but can't remember the name.

This is a great blog that captures the ambiance (and the juke box) of Another Raw Deal: https://austinrawdeal.wordpress.com/category/2-another-raw-deal/

[chainsaw 9656]

Is this the thread where we discuss how the Drag is absolutely dead

[4th&Five 41183]

You don’t like a full block of urban outfitters?

[irishtexan 11414]

I wonder how much longer Hole in the Wall can hold out. The drag is a good microcosm of the "growth" of Austin, in general. When I was there it was an eclectic mix of record stores (Sound Exchange), coffee shops (Quacks), arcades (Le Fun), locally-owned restaurants (Texadelphia), bars (the Showdown), crazy-ass scientologists and drag rats. Hippies would sell their beads and shit in the little patio area around the corner from the Co-Op. Now it's just shitty places like urban outfitters and Tyler's. 

When I was drinking at the Showdown the oldtimers would bitch about how Austin isn't cool like it was in the 70s. It's getting more and more difficult not to regress to that position and complain about how the things that used to make Austin a cool and unique place are all pretty much gone. At least we've got the green belt and barton springs and the Town Lake hike and bike trail. I don't think they can get rid of those things. 

#ImOld

[stc 1445]

i was at hole in the wall on a friday night a couple months back and it was completely dead. thought it was a perfect example of people lamenting the loss of old austin while simultaneously not frequenting old austin establishments. 

[crash_davis 23050]

16 hours ago, chainsaw said:

Is this the thread where we discuss how the Drag is absolutely dead

The Drag on campus and Guad north of campus all the way to 35th are dead. That whole area used to be hopping with UT students.

They really built out West campus. That's where the students congregate now. I think both UT and Austin wanted to keep the students close to West campus and use the other areas (north Guad) for single family homes. I don't think they foresaw retail on Guad struggling as much as it is.

[crash_davis 23050]

44 minutes ago, stc said:

i was at hole in the wall on a friday night a couple months back and it was completely dead. thought it was a perfect example of people lamenting the loss of old austin while simultaneously not frequenting old austin establishments. 

See above post. Students now do not venture up that way. All the old Austin people who used to go there have moved the fuck away. Old Austin is dead. Some of it is by-product of city planning, some is just changing tastes, some is there's better options (this is true about most of the older Austin restaurants).

[chainsaw 9656]

8 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

The Drag on campus and Guad north of campus all the way to 35th are dead. That whole area used to be hopping with UT students.

They really built out West campus. That's where the students congregate now. I think both UT and Austin wanted to keep the students close to West campus and use the other areas (north Guad) for single family homes. I don't think they foresaw retail on Guad struggling as much as it is.

It's really sad to see. The vibrancy of the Drag and how it seamlessly integrated with the campus by the Union crosswalk up to Dean Keeton was a big selling point to me as the most Austin-y part of the campus itself.

I know now that most college towns have something kind of like this, but none of them had that perfect blend of true weirdness that comes from artists, frat boys, scientologists, arcade goers, conspiracy theorists, and non-aggressive panhandlers all coexisting together.

Now it's just banks, chain restaurants, vacancies, condemned buildings. Practically a ghost town.

[jimmyjazz 45192]

Well, I went to one of my daughter's shows at the Hole a few months back and it was absolutely jam packed, both rooms.  I didn't get a feel for how much of the crowd was students and how much wasn't, but I haven't seen it that full very often.  To be fair, I think this was some kind of label or magazine sponsored show, but people turned out.

[chainsaw 9656]

27 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Well, I went to one of my daughter's shows at the Hole a few months back and it was absolutely jam packed, both rooms.  I didn't get a feel for how much of the crowd was students and how much wasn't, but I haven't seen it that full very often.  To be fair, I think this was some kind of label or magazine sponsored show, but people turned out.

We can't lose that place.

[yoladu 4045]

On 7/12/2022 at 11:57 AM, chainsaw said:

It's really sad to see. The vibrancy of the Drag and how it seamlessly integrated with the campus by the Union crosswalk up to Dean Keeton was a big selling point to me as the most Austin-y part of the campus itself.

I know now that most college towns have something kind of like this, but none of them had that perfect blend of true weirdness that comes from artists, frat boys, scientologists, arcade goers, conspiracy theorists, and non-aggressive panhandlers all coexisting together.

Now it's just banks, chain restaurants, vacancies, condemned buildings. Practically a ghost town.

it's interesting, because the density in West Campus has increased 10 fold. Every 10 to 20 story building built in the last 15 years has commercial retail at the ground level. Everything has turned inward. Retail on the drag has been abandoned.

i am sure someone smarter than me could explain it all.. an urban designer type. Would be nice if we could find strategic ways to get that vibrancy back along that edge. Would be curious to know what UT higher ups want that campus edge to be, if anything.

[chainsaw 9656]

1 hour ago, yoladu said:

it's interesting, because the density in West Campus has increased 10 fold. Every 10 to 20 story building built in the last 15 years has commercial retail at the ground level. Everything has turned inward. Retail on the drag has been abandoned.

i am sure someone smarter than me could explain it all.. an urban designer type. Would be nice if we could find strategic ways to get that vibrancy back along that edge. Would be curious to know what UT higher ups want that campus edge to be, if anything.

I have noticed that West Campus has become insanely developed, but it's mostly cookie-cutter retail and restaurants from what I've seen. It's definitely not "The Drag" as we remember it.

[crash_davis 23050]

Many of the new dorms and apartments are further in West campus, where they have restaurants and shops. My daughters live in WC. The students are mostly staying in West campus and aren't venturing out of it. North campus area was mostly dependent on student foot traffic. What happens when there is no foot traffic and the neighborhood families do not frequent those retail places? We are seeing it.

I used to live in Hyde Park and know families around the surrounding area. None of them go anywhere near campus for anything, well maybe except for Breed.

[jimmyjazz 45192]

My daughter lives near 24th & Leon.  She rarely makes it to Guadalupe.  There's no need.  (Online classes make it worse.)

[hornian 5159]

Plus it’s too damn hot these days. 

[tigol 2379]

On 7/12/2022 at 11:34 AM, crash_davis said:

The Drag on campus and Guad north of campus all the way to 35th are dead. That whole area used to be hopping with UT students.

They really built out West campus. That's where the students congregate now. I think both UT and Austin wanted to keep the students close to West campus and use the other areas (north Guad) for single family homes. I don't think they foresaw retail on Guad struggling as much as it is.

Do people call Guadalupe "Guad" now?  Ewww.

[Deej 76197]

I'm going to the Chipotle on Guad to get some guac, brah. 

[Foggy Notion 1198]

On 7/12/2022 at 10:19 AM, irishtexan said:

I wonder how much longer Hole in the Wall can hold out. The drag is a good microcosm of the "growth" of Austin, in general. When I was there it was an eclectic mix of record stores (Sound Exchange), coffee shops (Quacks), arcades (Le Fun), locally-owned restaurants (Texadelphia), bars (the Showdown), crazy-ass scientologists and drag rats. Hippies would sell their beads and shit in the little patio area around the corner from the Co-Op. Now it's just shitty places like urban outfitters and Tyler's. 

When I was drinking at the Showdown the oldtimers would bitch about how Austin isn't cool like it was in the 70s. It's getting more and more difficult not to regress to that position and complain about how the things that used to make Austin a cool and unique place are all pretty much gone. At least we've got the green belt and barton springs and the Town Lake hike and bike trail. I don't think they can get rid of those things. 

#ImOld

The Tyler’s is closed and now empty I believe.

The Scientology building is all boarded up, but the Scientologists still hang out in front and try to recruit you.

I was walking down the drag one day last week, passing by the condemned looking building and saw one of them out front passing out flyers and another sitting at a table with some books and an e-meter. I kept my head down and walked past them.

On the next block, Alfred Collins and another guy on the team rode by on scooters. Didn’t recognize the other guy, but he was a big dude, maybe D line? I picked up my lunch and then headed back the way I came. I get to the old Scientology building, and this other unidentified player is sitting at the table, gripping the cans of the e-meter. Meanwhile, Collins is riding his scooter up and down the block waiting for the other dude. Not sure how long he was waiting, but if we’re missing a lineman that’s what happened to him. Scientologists got him. 

[Deej 76197]

Scientologists took over the old strip center at Bull Creek and Hancock.

Edited July 15, 2022 by Deej

[Murfdogg21 4398]

On 4/4/2022 at 7:11 PM, HenryJames said:

Best donuts in Austin at S&H. After living in East Austin for 12 years and rotating Saturday breakfast between Kerbey, Paco’s, and S&H, the past year in Houston suburbia makes me feel like Henry Hill getting his egg noodles and ketchup. I miss that Cambodian lady and her donuts.