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Golden Corral, Pancho's and Other Low-Brow Eateries of Your Youth


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On 11/20/2021 at 9:32 PM, FirstTimeCaller said:

So was it just youth or did something about restaurants back then just hit harder? Sometimes I think about eating at a dine-in Pizza Hut with red plastic cups, wood/brass decorations, dim lighting, and crummy arcade games... and damn if I don't want to go hunt one down for the nostalgia.

Look at this. Glorious. Classy. An experience. I smell the breadsticks and pan pizza. 
 

 

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45 minutes ago, South Austin said:

There used to be one on South Lamar close to Ben White, but I think that closed a while ago.  I've never set foot in one, but I always thought the opposite - that it was a shittier Golden Corral.  Jim's seems the same way, but also have never been there.

 

36 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I should downvote you for speaking against Jim’s. 

In college I took a date to Jim's for dinner. Yup, I was a smooth operator. It was our one and only date. 

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We had a DQ right around the corner from our house.  My old man would drive all the way across town to eat at Dairy Queen Brazier because it was so much better (used charcoal to cremate the burgers) and, well, he was my old man and he had his reasons such as “shut up, kid” and “want me to beat you to death?”  

Edited by deadshank
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2 hours ago, South Austin said:

Jim's seems the same way, but also have never been there.

Whoa, now....

bad001fd-1f12-41bb-9498-55a9aecf53e5_tex

 

Jim's is actually pretty damned good Texas diner fare.  Great biscuits, a really good cheeseburger and fries, and their chorizo con huevo tacos are top-notch.  My mexican grandpa always wanted at least one trip for a Jim's burger every time he visited us.

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5 hours ago, ScottS said:

Red Line Burgers still exists.  They have a location in Portland on Wildcat out near the Gregory city line.  Near one of the entrances to the GCCV facility.  They claim no affiliation with the food truck in Corpus that uses the name.

https://redlineburgers.com/faq/

I may have to go check it out one day when I'm out that way.  I recall the chain popped up everywhere from the RGV to San Antonio back in the late 80's into the early 90's and it had a sister brand with the exact same food called Rally's.  Now the former buildings that remain in Corpus are drive up Taquerias.   

Speaking of Corpus....   Boat -n- Net used to rock for a cheap meal!    Drive thru with a PVC pipe that carried your voice to the window!  LOL.   Found out a few years ago, the gentlemen who owned all the Boat-n-Nets was an immigrant from Hong Kong  and he donated a nice chunk of money to the A&M Corpus for their Business College.   I think most of them have closed down, but maybe a few remain.  

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2 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Furrs was a pretty damn good facsimile of Luby’s for the Panhandle/West Texas/Hobbs area. It did turn into a shitty buffet style towards the end.

Jims is awesome and miles ahead of Golden Corral, it’s also not a buffet. 

The other Cafeteria I recall that was big in the RGV back in the day and maybe elsewhere was Wyatt's 

 

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2 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Look at this. Glorious. Classy. An experience. I smell the breadsticks and pan pizza. 
 

 

image.jpeg

I'd love to have one of those for a future Man Cave.   My kids think it was boring that once upon a time, Pizza Hut used to be one our hangouts.   Especially on Tuesday nights when they had buffet night.   Fun times!

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1 hour ago, Nueces River Rat said:

The other Cafeteria I recall that was big in the RGV back in the day and maybe elsewhere was Wyatt's 

 

There was a Wyatt’s in Barton Creek mall in the 80’s. My mom took us every time my dad traveled for work, so about once a week. 

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4 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

I thought about bringing Jim's up because we ate there so much when I was a kid but I still go and it's fantastic.

Breakfast was solid at Jim’s, was in the rotation for Saturday breakfast when working at AMD.  Also loved their chili chopped steak. 

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3 hours ago, RollLeft said:

Popeye's?  Everyone who lived in San Marcos, from that era, knows that you if you ate chicken you bought from Gil's Fried Chicken. Snack Pac's for the win.   

Ahem... 

image.jpeg.20f5e51903d3b1a32573790a62d09b8d.jpeg

Managed at this location a couple years, a lot of fun back in them days.  Always mad it a point to drive by the park by Stratham on way to bank during summer/school in session.  

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23 hours ago, South Austin said:

I always thought Gumby's Pizza was solid, and I say this having actually eating it a few times while sober.  Certainly better than Ci-Ci's.

Remember getting the 20" pizza delivered to the 10th floor of Jester West a few times. I think it was less than $10, incuding a generous gratuity.

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16 hours ago, Underdog said:

Ahem... 

image.jpeg.20f5e51903d3b1a32573790a62d09b8d.jpeg

Managed at this location a couple years, a lot of fun back in them days.  Always mad it a point to drive by the park by Stratham on way to bank during summer/school in session.  

I gotta say....I think that Church's spicy is on par with Popeye's.

Speaking of Popeye's, when I was a kid, many of our family "vacations" were just mom and me tagging along with dad as he took work trips through south Louisiana (I spent a lotta time in Lafayette, Eunice, Baton Rouge, New Iberia, St. Francisville, Houma, etc.).  Back then, Popeyes ONLY existed in La.  So, one night on every trip, that was the dinner plan -- we'd pick up a big order of Popeyes, get some cokes from the motel vending machine, and eat delicious fried chicken, often sitting on the curb outside our motel room in the warm and sticky La. night.  I honestly looked forward to that dinner every single trip.

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Underwoods is a place I thought was great as a child.

Swung into Brownwood a couple years ago and stopped in there.  Walked in and walked right out.  There are WAY too many great Casas de Cue to tolerate that bullshit. Free ice cream don’t cover it.

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1 hour ago, slorch said:

Underwoods is a place I thought was great as a child.

Swung into Brownwood a couple years ago and stopped in there.  Walked in and walked right out.  There are WAY too many great Casas de Cue to tolerate that bullshit. Free ice cream don’t cover it.

Yeah.....it was "legendary."  So I stopped in one time on a road trip for work.

NOPE.

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3 hours ago, Brisketexan said:


Still is. But they regularly run out. “Do you want to fill out your order with regular?” Nope, I don’t.

Church’s also had solid catfish, gizzards and livers and a chicken sandwich that was just chicken patty, mayo(@futureman) on a bun.  The roast chicken never really took off and they had just started the honey butter biscuits when I left them, still missed their dinner rolls. 

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On 11/24/2021 at 12:55 PM, slorch said:

Underwoods is a place I thought was great as a child.

Swung into Brownwood a couple years ago and stopped in there.  Walked in and walked right out.  There are WAY too many great Casas de Cue to tolerate that bullshit. Free ice cream don’t cover it.

We went there all the time when driving through to visit family. But we never got bbq there. The fried chicken was damn good

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6 hours ago, Hermanator said:

We went there all the time when driving through to visit family. But we never got bbq there. The fried chicken was damn good

Brownwood has been a BBQ desert for at least 30 years.  Overcooked, dry, and stringy is the Brownwood way.  If you have to eat there, go downtown to The Turtle (no ‘cue) or drive to Coleman and eat pizza at the place downtown.  I fondly remember the Underwood’s of my youth in Wichita Falls, Brownwood and Lubbock-now, just say no.  Yet the place is usually busy……..

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Our rotation for our once-a-week eating out experiences was:

Long John Silver's (you are wrong if you didn't respect that chicken plank)

Fuddruckers

Little Ceasars

And when it was a birthday or graduation or something special, it was Steak & Ale.   Where I'm disappointed no one has brought up how great the bread was and how the salad bar made you feel like you owned bitcoin since 2015, bruh. 

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28 minutes ago, Hornbeliever said:

I'd go back and ask for 2nds on crunchies (for years, mind you).  I'm in my mid 40s and amazed my cholesterol doesn't have a siren going off yet.

Same. Some of the things I used to eat the shit out of when I was young, make my arteries clog just thinking about them now. Amazing. Getting old sucks

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On 11/23/2021 at 12:48 PM, RollLeft said:

Popeye's?  Everyone who lived in San Marcos, from that era, knows that you if you ate chicken you bought from Gil's Fried Chicken. Snack Pac's for the win.   

I was more interested in eating a couple of Manske rolls at Gil's broiler-screw that yardbird.

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On 11/26/2021 at 2:55 PM, Hornbeliever said:

I'd go back and ask for 2nds on crunchies (for years, mind you).  I'm in my mid 40s and amazed my cholesterol doesn't have a siren going off yet.

Somebody on Surly suggested the chicken planks with malt vinegar. It was incredible. 
 

The closest Long John’s to me is in Katy. 30 minute drive. I have to be very motivated to go eat there. 

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54 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Somebody on Surly suggested the chicken planks with malt vinegar. It was incredible. 
 

The closest Long John’s to me is in Katy. 30 minute drive. I have to be very motivated to go eat there. 

You do not want to go to that LJS in Katy. I have tried to go there twice and walked out after taking a look at the employees they had working. One of them started a fight with a customer.

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On 11/23/2021 at 9:11 AM, Brisketexan said:

 

2 - last time I was in a Chelsea Street Pub was 20+ years ago.  We hit the one in Lakeline with some friends to grab some beers and nachos before going to see a movie.  But it turned out it was karaoke night, and that shit was a BIG deal.  We ended up ditching the movie, and just sitting at our table drinking all night and laughing our asses off and letting our jaws drop at the numerous VERY serious musical performances people put on.

 

Chelsea Street Pub in Baybrook Mall when I was a kid.

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