Chi Chi's. First place you could get liquor by the wink in Tulsa.

The Southern Kitchen was a good one here in Dallas. Remember going a few times growing up to celebrate something special.

I saw there are a couple Bonsnzas left. Maybe in Virginia.

It was on YouTube. Still looked pretty solid.

Man, they had good fried chicken…..was all I could do though, not to fill up on those cinnamon rolls before dinner!

Brown Derby was a favorite for our family.

In Dallas…..

Salih’s Barbecue
Victoria Station
Cattleman’s downtown
Chili’s on Greenville….not anything like what it’s become.
Youngbloods Fried Chicken
Casa Dominguez on Cedar Springs
Jamie’s Hamburgers
Shakey’s Pizza
Prince Hamburgers
Kip’s Big Boy
The original Herrera’s on Maple

Tony Roma’s in Mesquite

Loved that place….went to the location on 75 and Yale. I think Clint Murchison Jr. owned it in those days.

What was the place that had the saloon girl on a swing?

Wasn’t that Old San Francisco Steakhouse?

And that makes me remember Trail Dust Steakhouse in Aubrey!

Steak and Ale. Kensington Club and the best salad at in town.

Jay's Marine Grill
Little Bit of Sweden

Adding a few more….

The Rib
Il Sorrento
Roscoe Whites Easy Way
El Taxco

Baby Doe

I wasn't born until 1977 but I do love Chi Chi's, all colors. They make me happy.

Yep. Big ol baked potatoes. T-Bone Steak and sautéed mushrooms. Michelob draft. Was living the high life when I dined there.

I use to hit Dixie House at least once a week. Spaghetti Warehouse too.

Chateaubriand.

The Shed
Filling Station

Bonanza
Little bit of Sweden
Still open but closed to me Panchos
Wyatt’s Cafeteria


If you’re a Grove Rat from the 50s-60s then you probably recall The Velmar, The Monterey House and Taco Inn.

I ate at the Wyatt’s on Buckner and Bonanza on Buckner.

I told my wife I wanted Panchos for my birthday, still open next to Vanston.

Which Dixie House and what year? I was the original manager of the first one on McKinney in 76ish. Then on to Dixie Lakewood when it opened after that. Wasn’t at either long cause I went into upper management after that.

The only Dixie House I knew of was Lakewood.

Crystal's on Camp Bowie.

I was sad to see Il Sorrento go. Great food and ambiance.

Trail Dust was good before they moved to Sanger

Judge Roy Beans

Worked my way through college at the Dallas Steak and Ale as a waiter and bartender. Was a great learning experience and great place to work.

The Golden Eagle, Richardson
Bedford`s Steak House, Garland Road
Shotgun Sam's and Bob White's BBQ. Both Garland Rd/East Grand and Gaston Ave.
And speaking of Gaston, just remembered a Gaston's cafeteria in the A Harris shopping center in South Oak Cliff after church.

I thought the topic was "fancy". Bonanza, Panchos, Wyatt’s are far from that.

There were two Trail Dusts and they were only common in name. The one in remote (then) Denton County is where you went looking for a bar fight on Saturday night. The one on restaurant row was a nicer family atmosphere.

My vote is all of Stemmons Restaurant Row.

Magic Time Machine comes to mind. Not fancy but expensive and weird.

The Shakey's Pizza in San Angelo was amazing, as was the one in Wichita Falls.

Magic Time Machine is still open.

JR

Zider Zee was good.

That's the one! I remember going to both of those places multiple times as a kid. Not trail Dust in Aubrey though. I believe the one we went to was in Mesquite maybe?

Not fancy but Highland Park Cafeteria recently closed.

Farmers Daughter in Fort Worth over by TCU was a very fancy restaurant.

YUUUP!!

Wait, the Bonanza restaurants were fancy?

Wasted way too much time watching the video….

Most were marginal crap to begin with….no wonder they’re gone!

Not fancy but liked Sambos as a young man.

Rolltide, there were several Dixie Houses. First was the very small menu Blackeyed Pea. Then came the bigger menu at Dixie House. Then we basically took the Dixie House menu for all new Blackeyed Peas and opened a whole bunch of em. My good friend owned the Lakewook Yacht Club across from Dixie Lakewood-go in that one Roll??

Someone mentioned Majic Time Machine. Very well ran place. We got one of their waiters from there in our early days(while we were winging it) and he taught me their "7 steps of service" which I parlayed into our original training system and later adapted in all our places. We were good.

Tlk mentioned he worked at Steak and Ale. Extremely well ran. They really set the tone for all the organized full service restaurant chains that were able to mass produce a quality product. I didnt realize he worked there and it explains some of the similarities he and I have.

FANCY. As Gas said, not many of yalls examples are fancy. One that comes to mind for me is The Grape which was great forever, and fancy, and finally it went away. St Martins was fancy and there at least forty years and they recently lost their lease but just relocated. Tried to get a reservation this weekend but all booked. My very good friend used to own it. Same guy managed The Palm back in the day and it was definitely fancy and gone now.
Shannon Wynne had a fancy place or two back then that are long since gone but he and another ex employee of mine are killing it now with many Rodeo Goats(not fancy.)
Heck I forgot one of ours. The Wine Press was "fancy" and we did well there for a long time. That building is where Al Biernats is now and originally it was our very first "bar", J Alfreds. J Alfreds was my very first restaurant job exactly 50 years ago this past Sunday.
Yall really got me going on the restaurant scene from the 70s and 80s. .......

Man, Freerange….you are like a time warp for me…J. Alfreds, and taking a date to the Wine Press…..Gene and Phil had it going back in those days! That original Pea on Cedar Springs had the best CFS you could put in your mouth!

And, a couple of other go to’s….The Old Church and Chelsea Corner.

Miss those days!

We may know each other. Of course, hanging out at those places didnt do much for the memory. If you were actually in J Alfreds on a weekend night then we may need to talk.....
You got me started again..... I started parttime while going to school. I started at J Alfreds then The Old Church then Pea on Cedar Springs when it first opened. Bartender at all those. My first night bartending at Cedar Springs a waitress started helpin me clean up after close. I ask her why. She said "if youre coming home with me you need to hurry." Fun times.
After that I opened Blues Lakefront Bar and Grill at Bachman Lake as manager. Then opened Dixie House Mckinney and on to Dixie Lakewood. Then to Tamales off Cedar Springs on Oaklawn. Then promoted to upper management. After that it was full speed ahead opening a ton of Blackeyed Peas. Gene and Phil finally got out and made a killing. I bailed when they did and those places were never the same again.

Was Chelsea Corner the one down from Old Church with the fireplace in the middle??? You probably went to San Fransisco Rose as well. Mother Blues maybe... I could go on and on....

Free -

Chelsea Corner was at the corner of McKinney and Monticello….across from Javiers. Did have the fireplace in the middle. Was Blues the place at te corner of NW Hwy and Webb Chapel?

Cedar Springs was great in those days….hookers everywhere….You could get in some trouble at Adairs! And the Spanish Village had some Mexican food!

Mother Blues was one of the all-time great music venues.

You had to mention Javiers. Maybe my all time favorite place. Went there first in about 83. Javier still works the door, and the room, sometimes. I just canceled my reservation for there for this Sat night a couple hours ago(not going to the big city after all.)
Adairs, yes. Loved playing shuffleboard and darts at Milo Butterfingers(still there I think.) Youre correct on the Blues location. Not one of our better concepts. Phil got to chose one....
Hollywood and Vine(old Old Church) and SRO were a couple more concepts that were short lived.

For a Grove Rat, Bonanza was fancy.

This place wasn't fancy but it was good , El Fenix Buffet on Forest Lane and Webb Chapel , 70's

Trail Dust in Aubrey was called the South 40, first , before it came a steakhouse . South 40 was rough , bouncers killed a guy once

Aubrey? The one I remember was on 380 on the way to McKinney and it wasn't in town at the time. Guessing where it was is Aubrey now (around 380/377).

You’re correct, that’s where it was. I guess today it’s Crossroads, TX. But we just called it Aubrey back then. Had a couple of horses with a trainer very near there and his address was Aubrey.

Just from the video, I never considered any of those "fancy", I have actually heard of about half and ate in half of those.

Ports O’Call and The Chaparral Club atop what is now the Sheraton Hotel. The Golden Pheasant, Little Bit O Sweden, Lucas B&B, The Torch, Town & Country, The Beefeater. Bishop Ave. Grill and Rose Marie's, Italian Village, Jay's Marine Grill, Brockles, Taxco Cafe, The ORIGINAL Herrera's, Orange Julius, Jamies Hamburgers, Carter's BBQ and Hardeman's BBQ, Zeider Zee, The Circle Grill, The Railhead, Steak and Ale...I could go on and on, born and raised right here.

If you're really old, you might remember the Pig Stand drive ins.

All were in Fort Worth

Zeider Z seafood
Spanish Galleon - seafood
Pie R Square -pizza

I remember that place well.

For a Grove rat Denny's is fine dining.

Lawreys steak & prime rib, hated to see them close, best prime rib around Dallas…

What was the place across from The Granada and Snuffers and down a little. Seems like that place was there forever and really good. And kinda fancy. I think they had some fancy bread or something that came to every table and had a little relish/sauce kinda stuff in a lazy suzan kinda thing. Obviously I dont remember it real well.....

Houston’s off Lovers Lane and Nothwest Highway. One of the first nice restaurants I ate at when I moved to Texas.

It's actually in Preston Center on Preston just south of NW Highway. And it is still there and thriving. Same restaurant, but they rebranded it as Hillstone ~15 years ago.

St. Martin's?

I believe The Cicle Grill is still open.

I remember Pig Stand by Whiterock spillway and on Northwest Highway.

Anyone remember Lakewood Cafe?

No. The other direction on Greenville and across the street. Just a few businesses away.

Didn’t Zuider Zee become Bill Martin’s Seafood when they went out of business? I loved both of those places as a kid. Their hush puppies were on time! And the fried shrimp! Yessir.

Barbecs

And I remember the Lakewood Cafe.

Would it have been the original Kirby’s Steakhouse? Went there every year for birthdays.

Was called Crossroads back them

On Beltline in Addison, loved their ribs.



Went to the one on NW Hwy at Bachman Lake all of the time, loved it!!

Great place, took my mother there a few times


Gorged on the bread and Crab Stuffed Mushrooms.

He actually started both. Both had several locations. Great food too!

What was the upscale pizza and Italian party joint nationally, Crystal Confectionary? Think one of their last ones closed in Irving, TX in late 1990s...

It seems like there were two separate but almost identical Dixie houses?

There was the Dixie House that I used to eat at on NW HWY across from Bachman Lake back in either the late 70's or early 80's, that I use to eat at that I thought was another one of Gene Streets restaurants like the Black Eyed-Pea, Back then you got a large portion of meat with three sides and it was so darn good

Unfortunately I cannot find any info on the Dixie House on NW HWY??

Then there is this other one The Dixie House Cafe that original started as Theresa's.

http://www.dixiehousecafes.com/index.php/about-us

This is a good article about old fine dining in Dallas.

https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2004/october/30-years-of-dining-in-dallas/

If you are talking about the original at Park and Greenville, I was a regular there in High School in the late '70s

The steak house place?? I can picture it but can't remember the name.

Brennan's in downtown Dallas was a favorite for my family.
The Old Warsaw.
The Chimney, not too fancy but a small, nice, place.
Dakota's in downtown Dallas.
By George's on Greenville Ave
The Grape on Greenville Ave, my Mom was friends with the owners.

Crystals Palace?

Believe when national chain, Crystal Confectionary, Crystal Palace was a surviving business upon that chain's closure....

Yep, that was it. Hunt Dog almost got it too. They served toast or bread or something with special butter or something.....? It was a special place back then.

Outstanding Stub. Really good article. Anyone following this thread should click on that.

Good article. Brought back a lot of memories. Ate at a lot of those places and knew, or worked with, several of the Chefs.

Stub, if you are confused or curious about anything to do with Dixie House or Blackeyed Pea just give me a shout.
Gene Street and Phil Cobb started the company "Prufrock" in about 72 with J Alfreds, Old Church and Bullys Pub. Then they struck gold with the small place, small menu Blackeyed Pea on Cedar Springs in 74ish. I was a parttime bartender at all those while going to school. I saw Streets genius and anticipated the growth and went fulltime as they begged me to do. They tried various other concepts through the years but the Pea and Dixie were the keepers for growth.

Another very small Pea in Snider Plaza and converted Bullys to a Pea. Dixie House on Mckinney was next and I opened it as manager. Then Dixie Lakewood was next and they moved me there. These Dixie's had a much bigger menu than the early Peas. Blackeyed Pea on Camp Bowie in FW was next. This was the first Pea which was basically a Dixie House menu with the BEPea name. All future Peas would have this morphed Dixie/Pea menu.

It was next that I went into the corporate office and became VP Operations. We grew like crazy. A few more Dixies opened up(like Bachman and Addison) but all the major growth across Texas and to a smaller degree, the country, was The Blackeyed Pea.
Eventually Street and Cobb sold out to an English conglomerate, and I got out too. The company that bought it had many other interests so its no surprise they lost what made us great. It changed hands a time or two more with similar results. Things started spiraling downhill and a once great chain went by the wayside. It was sad for me to see a lifetime of work go down the tubes but I was watching from the sidelines by then.

freerange appreciate your insight. two questions.

1. About when did the Dixie House location on NW Hwy/Bachman lake open?
2. As high lighted in Bold above. Were there two separate Dixie house owners/companies? I know Gene Street and Phil Cobb owned the Dixie House & Black eye-Peas.

There is a lot of write ups about these other owners and their Dixie House Cafe's.

http://www.dixiehousecafes.com/index.php/about-us

Dixie House Cafe originally opened in 1983 as Theresa’s, named after the owner’s wife.

http://www.dixiehousecafes.com/index.php/about-us

We opened our first restaurant in January 1983. At that time the restaurant’s name was Theresa’s Cafe, named after my wife Theresa.

Your friends Dale and Theresa

BTW it was obvious when Gene & Phil sold out. It went from generous portion of the main entrée with 3 sides, down to smaller portions and only two sides.

Stub, I’ve never heard of Theresa’s or any other Dixie House except ours. I just glanced at your link but it seems like a similar menu. If they had same name and menu I’m sure we would of been in court over that.
Cotton Patch, literally, blocked off our Blackeyed Pea name off menu and literally made photo copies for their original menu. Strange but 100% true. We went to court over that so I’m sure Theresa would be same and that didn’t happen.
Bachman Dixie was after McKinney Ave and Lakewood but before Addison so maybe 77/78…?

I always enjoyed the Blackeyed Pea the food was good and the portions were generous. I remember when the one in Mesquite opened up in the 80’s and there was always a wait to get in. When I started working in HVAC in the early 2000’s with the company that I’m now with we handled some of the Blackeysd Peas and Dixie Houses. I can tell you they weren’t spending money on the HVAC equipment. The one in Lakewood was something else!

Lakhota, that Dixie House in Lakewoods ceilings must have been 30'+ tall and went almost all the way back. It was hard to cool. I kept it together with duct tape and bailing wire as much as I could...... Of course, I was long gone by the 2000s.

My wife and I lived in Lakewood before we got married. We ate at DH quite a bit.

Found this picture -- Austin Texas - Magic Time Machine 1980's

We had a restaurant in Denton on 35 between Denton and Sanger , was like a Black Eyed Pea . Guy that owned it came from Black Eyed Pea 's
Can't remember the name , any body know the name of the restaurant

Also, in Lewisville, at 35 and 1171, was the first Grandy’s. Ate a lot of chicken and CFS there after water skiing all day on Grapevine. In the 70’s, when it opened, it was Granny’s. The “d” came when a trademark dispute with Granny’s Dinner Theater in Dallas arose. It was pretty good back in those days. I guess some are still around.

Po Folks. great food.

We loved the one in Carrollton in the 80's Our first time to have cheese fries.

Herrera's on Maple...Crazy nachos were great.

World's biggest salad bar, Bedford's Steakhouse. Was really, really good! It burned and the family decided to retire and not rebuild it. Sad day for the East Dallas folks.