Of course, she remembered him from when he owned the Phile's on Mandell.Īlso in the 50's, there was a little restaurant on Richmond at Mandell, just behind where Lucky Burger is, owned by an elderly couple named Golberg or some similar name. He lent her the money to pay for her lunch. Phil (the original Phil, from when 59 Diner was Phil's) was there, working as a host. One day when she was 80 she had her caregiver drive her there for lunch and discovered she had forgotten her money. I don't know if it co-existed with the Phil's that became the 59 Diner or if it relocated there, but my mother discovered the 59 Diner in the late 80's and began eating there often. There was also a Phil's on Mandell just north of Richmond until the late fifties or very early sixties. I remember going there in the late 70s or early 80s and it wasn't a retro 50s restaurant, it was like someone had preserved a 50s restaurant, including the waitresses. It makes me sad to think of how great these places were.Īnother place I miss was Phil's (where 59 Diner on Shepherd is now). There was a location on Guadalupe in Austin during the mid 80s. The ice cream they made tasted exactly like home made ice cream, because it was. They had a huge White Mountain ice cream freezer in the store, just like the one we had when I was a kid, except much larger. None of them are as good as the original, when grandma was making them in the back. There was a location on Hillcroft that changed its name to Marines in the 90s when Marini opened up a new place on Westheimer. I remember a few other locations later on, including one in Good Time Charlies at Sharpstown Mall. The original joint was tiny, with bull fighting posters on the walls and tables and chairs made from old barrels. I think there were over 100 different kinds of empanadas. These were the best empanadas I've ever had. I realize this is a 2 year old post, but I have to wax nostalgic about these two places. Now I'm stuck in the frozen north and missing a Houston that is completely gone. It was part of a small chain and had the biggest chicken fried steaks I have ever seen. I also miss a great little steakhouse that was just off of Richmond and Hillcroft? named Dirty's. It was great for grabbing the latest thriller/sci-fi and ducking into to read a few chapters first to see if it was worth my babysitting money. There was also a wonderful book store on the same end as the Coquery that had a children's nook. I also saw Legend there (remember all the hayfever fluff?) Does anyone remember the theatre that was just down the way on that level? I remember that was where I saw the first Star Wars and how they made a huge deal about the new speaker system that they installed specifically for that movie. I can't tell you how many weekends I spent skating, haunting the Farrell's candy shop, and the Joke shop. He also taught a basic art class there for awhile through HCC. My dad was good friends with the manager for years and would set up his rig and do caricatures at the entry way to help him get more of a crowd. My manager turned all sorts of interesting colors at that request!įarrell's also owned The Coquery which was next door and kind of a cafeteria style restaurant. I only had one odd experience that year when the father of a birthday boy (about 12/13) wanted to know if his son could pull off my leg garter for a hefty tip. I even later spent the summer after my sophomore year of high school working as a waitress at Farrell's Family Restaurant. I grew up in the Gessner/Westheimer area and practically lived at the Galleria with several years of skating lessons and following my dad (an artist) up to the mall to work on weekends. The last time I looked, the movie theatre is long gone and is now a dance hall. My first job after freshman year of high school was at a movie theatre just north of what was Trader Vic's at Westheimer and Gessner. Remember the days of Tiffany? Kind of scary. I vividly remember the food court and blowing a lot of quarters on air hockey. I was also a mall rat at Sharpstown since I had gone to Sharpstown Middle and a few of my friends lived in that area. I think it was a tall tale since she was so young at the time but you never know - life was a bit more relaxed back then. His daughter was my age and she had a bunck of their T-Shirts and bragged about being on the trapeze. When I was in middle school, the manager of the San Francisco Steak House lived in my neighborhood. Wow.I've been skimming through this and it really makes me homesick for things that will never be again.
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