Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part I (Dallas: dry, single)

[tcs]

Originally Posted by Primo

Speaking of...does anyone remember where they were for the black-out of 1977. I can still remember being in my parents car and we were getting donuts at the Orignal Donut shop on Fredricksburg...and the lights started going out as my parents were picking out out the donuts (they were buying them for the next morning).

We were having at party at my place on Fabulous Street off West Ave. I had a big fish tank that I was concerned about the fish using up all the O2. My girl friend was coming back from Pleasanton and said that she could not see the city lights so she went back to her parents house. That was a wierd event. When the lights went out they dimmed and came back up for about a second then slowly dimmed out. But the beer was cold and the cassette player had batteries.

[linskie]

Originally Posted by 1313

I have been reading this thread for several weeks now in my spare time (only on page 171) and I am simply blown away by all the memories that have been brought back. There are things that had been seemingly erased from my mind but immediately popped back into clarity when I read about them. I'm 41 years old and have lived here my whole life- grew up in the Basse/Blanco area. I have been resisting the urge to register but I really want to see all the pictures posted so I finally gave in. Now I'm going to have to go back and check out all the pictures. Several people mentioned Ringo's hamburgers- believe it or not my grandfather was Ringo himself. Technically, he was my step-father's father but my mother and step-father have been married since I was 2 years old so he was a real grandfather to me. I remember there were at least two different locations and maybe three (but maybe not at the same time). One was on West Ave across from the Dairy Queen and the second was on Jackson Keller across from Nimitz Middle School. Unless I'm mistaken I seem to recall another one in the parking lot of a grocery store (can't recall the name) on Blanco south of West Ave in the little building which was later a Fishin' Pier. I don't know why it was called Ringo's because his name was Harry. Both Harry and his wife Louise died several years ago but I will always have memories of spending Christmas Eve at their little rock house on W. Mandalay. Someone else mentioned Tom Eng's on West Ave- I will always remember that on the night of the big city-wide power blackout I was all alone at home because my parents had went to Tom Eng's to pick up supper. It seemed like hours before they came home but I'm sure it was just because the house was all dark. I hope this thread continues for hundreds of more pages...

I found by way of the City Directory of 1979 that there was a location on McCullough and another on Blanco Rd where Taqueria Vallarta is now. I remember the second one because it seemed that the building come all the way out to the street. Speaking of burger shacks, anyone remember Joe's
Hamburgers on Blanco (I think). This place redefined shack.

[tcs]

Originally Posted by linskie

I found by way of the City Directory of 1979 that there was a location on McCullough and another on Blanco Rd where Taqueria Vallarta is now. I remember the second one because it seemed that the building come all the way out to the street. Speaking of burger shacks, anyone remember Joe's
Hamburgers on Blanco (I think). This place redefined shack.

Lin, I did a fly over on Live Search maps and see that the building is still there. We used to get burgers there back in the 70's. I worked at Lafayette Radio at 4701 Blanco and used to go down to get lunch there for the guys at the store. I remember 2-3 lady cooks dressed in something that looked like nurse uniforms for the time. I am surprized that anyone remembers that place expecially you. Where have you been?

[blabride]

Originally Posted by 1313

One of my high school friends worked at that Night Hawk which was in the parking lot of the old K-Mart on San Pedro. We would go there and meet him after work sometimes.

I also worked at the same Night Hawk for about three weeks in the fall of 1975. I only worked there because of my good friend and neighbor down the street wanted me to work with him. I remember it was kind of a ground breaking restaurant mostly due to the anti racist attitude of the owner of the chain named Akins. In fact this restaurant's manager was black. I wish I could remember his name because he was a great guy and put up with a lot of crap from the teenagers on his staff. I also remember having my first taste of pure single malt from the bar late one night.

[spaceage007]

I also worked at the same Night Hawk for about three weeks in the fall of 1975. I only worked there because of my good friend and neighbor down the street wanted me to work with him. I remember it was kind of a ground breaking restaurant mostly due to the anti racist attitude of the owner of the chain named Akins. In fact this restaurant's manager was black. I wish I could remember his name because he was a great guy and put up with a lot of crap from the teenagers on his staff. I also remember having my first taste of pure single malt from the bar late one night.

http://www.hooverscooking.com/

http://www.austinfarmersmarket.org/newsletter/kitchen/2003_05_01_archive.html (broken link)

Yes, Harry Akin was the owners name. Ive seen you guys talking about this Night Hawk place and knew I had heard the name somewhere before. There was a restaurant on San Pedro where the old Maverick Cafe was located called Hoovers Cooking(now closed). My first time there I was waiting for my order and they had a article about the cook from a newspaper and magazine. Hoover Alexander use to be the cook at the Night Hawk in Austin for 25 years. The article raved about the Hoovers cooking and listed some of the places and people he has prepared food for. From what I remember the list included Presidents, and Acadamy Award parties and the University of Texas Heisman Trophy Party for Rick Williams. The food there was excellent I wish I would have went more before they closed. They had the best Jerk Chicken,Meatloaf and Chilli. Did anybody here ever dine at this place when it was open?

[Been There B4]

Originally Posted by Primo

I remember there was a Aqurium shop called "The Blue Buda"...it was all dark with lite up fish tanks. I also remember on the far end was a nightclub, probably a disco...that was suppose to be very popular. Anyone remember the name?

All this fish talk and I'm having the hardest time trying to recall the name, as I lived in the area from '79 - 2000, and drove past it countless times. Was this not the Aquarium Disco?

[Primo]

Originally Posted by munerider

Primo!

We had a GW Jr's on Pat Booker in UC and I remember loving it back in 76-77, but didn't remember any specifics about the place, other than the location and lay-out. I just read your reference to the Foot-long chili dogs and my mouth just salivated like Pavlov's dog...WHAT a blast! Thanks my friend!

I remember having to cut the Foot Long into 3 equal sections because it was too long to hold up to eat. I will say that the closest thing existing today to GW Jr's foot long is the Chili Dog from Chesters. Yes...they have the best hot dogs. Try it sometime.
I also remember GW Jr's was the first to start having an Avocado burger.

[GWhopper]

In looking for some pics of GW Jr's (Found none!) I did come across three pics of San Antonio's recent past that I don't think have been posted here yet. If I am mistaken (it's hard to remember what you've seen after 217 pages of posts), I apologize in advance for any duplications. This first one is of playland park in its prime.

[GWhopper]

The next one is something near and dear to my heart, the old BookStop at Sunset Ridge:

[GWhopper]

And you know you are from San Antonio if you know these guys.....Legs Diamond (Now if I could only find some Moxy....)