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Restaurants from your childhood that don’t exist anymore

Longboard Horn

By Longboard Horn
in Food and Travel

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DoobieWah

DoobieWah 1535

Posted
Posted

I loved Monterrey House back in the day. It was one of the few places we would go out to in the mid to late '60s. We would hit the one on Airline just west of I45 in Houston and then hit up the Airline Drive-In. I remember seeing True Grit there after it came out in 1969.

I still occasionally get that cajeta candy at my local carneceria once in a while.

We also used to eat at a little cafe on Shepherd just north of the Sears in the Garden Oaks area. It was the first place I ever had 1000 Island Dressing; (weird I remember that).

There was an associated higher end restaurant behind it that we NEVER ate at. Anyone have any idea what that might have been?

 

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Knoxtnhorn

Knoxtnhorn 6303

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Posted
On 8/19/2018 at 5:19 PM, rage-a-holic said:

There was one in Richardson too, on Coit, between Arapaho and Belt Line in Promenade Center. Fucking loved that place way back when.

 

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I was trying to recall this place.  Promenade had a Pipe Organ's Pizza and a dollar theater.  Iirc,  this restaurant had curly fries which was a huge novelty to my brothers and me.

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 106884

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, DoobieWah said:

I loved Monterrey House back in the day. It was one of the few places we would go out to in the mid to late '60s. We would hit the one on Airline just west of I45 in Houston and then hit up the Airline Drive-In. I remember seeing True Grit there after it came out in 1969.

I still occasionally get that cajeta candy at my local carneceria once in a while.

We also used to eat at a little cafe on Shepherd just north of the Sears in the Garden Oaks area. It was the first place I ever had 1000 Island Dressing; (weird I remember that).

There was an associated higher end restaurant behind it that we NEVER ate at. Anyone have any idea what that might have been?

 

For a long time, it was THE place to get tex-mex in many cities.  I remember eating at one in Stafford on the SW side of Houston as a kid.  Cheese enchilada plate FTW.

I have no recollection of whether it was really good, compared to the tex mex options of today.  But I remember liking it at the time.

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rage-a-holic

rage-a-holic 4732

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

I was trying to recall this place.  Promenade had a Pipe Organ's Pizza and a dollar theater.  Iirc,  this restaurant had curly fries which was a huge novelty to my brothers and me.

Yep. Pipe Organ Pizza and the dollar theater were right around the corner from Next Door. The dollar theater used to be a two-screen first run theater where I saw a ton of shit growing up (Temple of Doom, Trading Places, Blade Runner, etc.). Nobody there gave a shit about underage kids sneaking into R movies.

I think we discussed all this in the "Dallas Joints" thread from shaggy.

 

http://www.shaggytexas.com/board/showthread.php/6786-Dallas-joints-from-your-childhood?s=b2808fa2589406692ef0c9a51d8428f2

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SHOOTER12

SHOOTER12 8886

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 8/15/2018 at 9:34 PM, RollLeft said:

The only thing i remember from that place was the banana pudding.  I'll see your Bonanza and raise you Sirloin Stockade for shitty steakhouse family night.  

Was just about to mention Sirloin Stockade...how long have they been kaput?

 

Edit: Still showing active locations according to the googles, I haven't seen on in a long, long time.

Edited by SHOOTER12
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SHOOTER12

SHOOTER12 8886

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On 8/16/2018 at 3:51 PM, Brisketexan said:

Used to be Don's Hungry Farmer in Texas.  I remember eating at one on the south side of San Antonio with my grandparents (they had come in to SA for a VA appointment).  It was a real country cafe sorta thing, but also had damned fine cheese enchiladas, IIRC.

Wife used to work for HF back in the day.  They had the south side location and opened a second location on Blanco Road, aggy owned and operated.  Like you, I remember eating with my parents at the one on S.W. Military as a "youngun".

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formermav43

formermav43 4625

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Posted (edited)
27 minutes ago, OatmealRaisinCookie said:

Didn't read thread so SIAP:

There used to be a knock-off of El Fenix in DFW called El Chico. I always wondered what that place tasted like because my family would never go there and said it was blasphemous to even think about it.

El Chico was a pretty major regional chain at one point, and still has more locations than El Fenix (though greatly reduced from its heyday). It’s been around since 1940 and was discussed in Robb Walsh’s Tex-Mex Cookbook along with other pioneering joints. Not sure why it would be considered particularly inferior or a knockoff.

Edited by formermav43
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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 106884

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, formermav43 said:

El Chico was a pretty major regional chain at one point, and still has more locations than El Fenix (though greatly reduced from its heyday). It’s been around since 1940 and was discussed in Robb Walsh’s Tex-Mex Cookbook along with other pioneering joints. Not sure why it would be considered particularly inferior or a knockoff.

It's like some of y'all never popped one of these in the oven back in the day:

JN2012-0765.jpg

AC1246ElChico_0.jpg

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 106884

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, DalTxHornFan said:

That was a big feast during my days on the 40 Acres.  Add a bag of tortilla chips, a bottle of salsa and a six-pack of cheap beer and you were living large!

Mash the whole thing together into a gloppy mess, top it with cheap salsa, then scoop it up with tortilla chips, wash down with a cheap beer.

Dammit.....

I may have to do this soon.....

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 32076

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, OatmealRaisinCookie said:

Didn't read thread so SIAP:

There used to be a knock-off of El Fenix in DFW called El Chico. I always wondered what that place tasted like because my family would never go there and said it was blasphemous to even think about it.

El Chico was nasty, but it was founded by the Cuellar family and probably pre-dated El Fenix, certainly did as a chain.  They moved upscale with Cantina Laredo.

 

https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2013/november/dallas-1963-the-cuellars-and-el-chico/

 

Edit:  Wrong about pre-dating, right about the chain.  Not a knockoff, but not very good.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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Wiler77

Wiler77 1628

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6 hours ago, SHOOTER12 said:

Was just about to mention Sirloin Stockade...how long have they been kaput?

 

Edit: Still showing active locations according to the googles, I haven't seen on in a long, long time.

There's one on the east side of I-35 in Round Rock.  I know this because every time we drive to Dallas to visit the in-laws, I notice it and comment how amazed I am that place is still in business.  And usually when I say this the parking lot is full.  I've never been, but I assumed it was a poor man's Golden Corral, as sad as that sounds.

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gsoda3

gsoda3 3362

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Posted
25 minutes ago, Wiler77 said:

There's one on the east side of I-35 in Round Rock.  I know this because every time we drive to Dallas to visit the in-laws, I notice it and comment how amazed I am that place is still in business.  And usually when I say this the parking lot is full.  I've never been, but I assumed it was a poor man's Golden Corral, as sad as that sounds.

at 45/35?  i think that one's closed.

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1978horn

1978horn 904

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Posted
12 hours ago, Spaulding Smails said:

UR Cooks

I can remember traveling from our hometown of Corpus Christi to Houston to visit some family friends.  They took us to UR Cooks.  At about 8 years old, I thought that was the coolest fucking restaurant idea I'd ever seen. 

Yep, loved this place as a kid.  I would throw so much of that butter sauce on thick pieces of bread and throw it on the grill.  It was so good.  I never understood why some people would go there and then pay someone to cook the food.  If you want someone to cook your food go somewhere else.  The whole point of this place is to cook your own damn steak.

Also another place that I loved as a kid was La Tapatia on East 6th right next to Cisco's Bakery.   Little Italy has been mentioned a couple times as well.

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 106884

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San Jacinto Inn
Leo's Tex Mex on Shepherd
Zorba the Greek
All staples for our family during my chiildhood in Htown.

San Jac Inn is still around, or was a couple years ago. But it ain’t the same.
Is Mr. Gatti’s still around? Would got to the one on Bee caves at Walsh Tarleton every Saturday after little league sports.

Srsly? Yeah, Gattis is all over still.
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PorscheGuy

PorscheGuy 127

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The Big Fisherman in Rockport before it burned down and they had all the animals in dubious confines. It was cool.

The big fisherman brings back a lot of memories. My father loved that place. Think he ate there twice a week. Every time we visited I knew we were headed there. Definitely a cool restaurant. Felt like everyone in Rockport was there either working or eating.


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Judge Roybeanbag

Judge Roybeanbag 11860

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On 8/22/2018 at 9:50 PM, CooterBrown said:

The Big Fisherman in Rockport before it burned down and they had all the animals in dubious confines. It was cool.

Haha yeah.  One of my wife’s relatives ran the aviary.  The guy that started the restaurant was from El Paso. Still loved it back in the day though. 

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CooterBrown

CooterBrown 18288

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9 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Haha yeah.  One of my wife’s relatives ran the aviary.  The guy that started the restaurant was from El Paso. Still loved it back in the day though. 

Walking to the door always stunk but at least the smell didn't continue inside.  

IIRC the Big Fisherman platter than had every sea animal fried plus an ear of corn and a cup of split pea soup was $7.

 

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Judge Roybeanbag

Judge Roybeanbag 11860

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4 hours ago, Mack Tripper said:


I too remember Monterrey House being pretty good (and the candy in the chip baskets). They were all over the place. So what happened?

Not much on google about the demise.   You can, however find the recipe for the candy online.  

https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/candy/mexican-candy-leche-quemada.html

 

 

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