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


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Lots of talk about Jims. If you lived on the south side of San Antonio in the 60s the place to go was Jims Frontier on Goliad Road. The Flame on Loop 13 was also pretty good. 

Pretty sure a SA congressman either famously attacked or was attacked at Jim’s back in the 80’s. Might’ve been Henry B Gonzalez.
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On 11/26/2021 at 10:30 AM, Hornbeliever said:

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. 

And is it wrong to confess the best part was  the crumbs from the batter they would pack with your planks ?   

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On 11/19/2021 at 10:09 AM, DFWTexEx said:

As a kid, Bonanza and Pancho's were amazing.   A couple of years ago, we tracked down a Pancho's in Forth Worth, and I took my parents and sister there.  Just like old times.  The experience and the tastes were exactly as they had been 40 years ago.  Those chiles rellenos!

My freshman year in college, a group of guys on our floor had a Friday night free and decided to go to Steak and Ale.  We did our best to dress up and act like grown ups.  It cost us what we thought was a fortune.  Looking back, it was so goofy, but I remember that night so clearly.  It's a happy memory.  I wonder where those guys all are now.

I happened to drive by it a few weeks ago a I was floored to see one was still open.

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The LJSilver closed down about 5 years ago, here in Granbury. Myself, CHIEF Jr., and our buddy, Billy were absolutely crushed. We would go every other Saturday Get the chicken plank platter, add two more planks, six shrimp, and a boat of extra crumbs for each of us. When I have to go to or through Weatherford I stop at theirs every time. It's my favorite fast food of all time. We have a Cotton Patch, and their Shiner beer battered cod is about as close to LJS as you get around here. 

Chicken Express is the "go to" in all the small towns around here. Every weekend, when we go to the deer lease, we either hit the one in Graham, or the one in Seymour. 18 gizzards, and a sweet tea. They are great to eat while driving. One of us drives and keeps the dog out of their gizzards, then switch out and the other eats.

CHIEF

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Grew up in San Antonio. Grandparents lived in Eagle Pass. Whenever my parents took me to stay with my grandparents or when my grandparents would take me back, we'd always meet halfway at the Golden Corral in Uvalde and eat dinner there. 

Would get the same thing every time. Pile a plate high with mac and cheese and fried chicken on one plate with a salad that had the ratio of 1:1 ranch dressing/lettuce on another plate. Wash it all down with Sprite then finish with a dessert of a big bowl of Jello and a soft serve cone.  Later on, when I was like in middle school I'd class it up by eating the same thing minus the dessert as a first course then a T-bone steak (that you had to order) as a second course then finish it up with the usual Jello + soft serve cone. Remember one time, they had all you can eat steak so I nixed my usual and had like 5 T-bones. It was awesome. As someone mentioned early thank God for that childhood metabolism. Have no idea how I wasn't morbidly obese as a kid.

You couldn't pay me to go into a Golden Corral nowadays but I still remember those times fondly. Especially given the health of my grandfather who probably won't make it till the end of the year.

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Grew up in San Antonio. Grandparents lived in Eagle Pass. Whenever my parents took me to stay with my grandparents or when my grandparents would take me back, we'd always meet halfway at the Golden Corral in Uvalde and eat dinner there. 
Would get the same thing every time. Pile a plate high with mac and cheese and fried chicken on one plate with a salad that had the ratio of 1:1 ranch dressing/lettuce on another plate. Wash it all down with Sprite then finish with a dessert of a big bowl of Jello and a soft serve cone.  Later on, when I was like in middle school I'd class it up by eating the same thing minus the dessert as a first course then a T-bone steak (that you had to order) as a second course then finish it up with the usual Jello + soft serve cone. Remember one time, they had all you can eat steak so I nixed my usual and had like 5 T-bones. It was awesome. As someone mentioned early thank God for that childhood metabolism. Have no idea how I wasn't morbidly obese as a kid.
You couldn't pay me to go into a Golden Corral nowadays but I still remember those times fondly. Especially given the health of my grandfather who probably won't make it till the end of the year.

Eagle Pass….man, I miss The Charcoal. Solid burger.
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For those of us who had the privilege  of growing up in the RGV….  
 

El Pato…..   I mean their Carne Guisada was the bomb.

Then spending my early adult life post college in Corpus still on a low budget…Boat N Net filled that need.   Drive thru window and order through a PVC pipe.  
 

I think this photo is more recent at one of their few remaining locations.   Whatever works!

99A6B187-8EF6-4823-85C0-506D4D5AE4AF.jpeg

Edited by Nueces River Rat
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13 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

 

99A6B187-8EF6-4823-85C0-506D4D5AE4AF.jpeg

 

#csb - Eva was an engineering major for a year or so at A&I and sat next to me. Every Thursday a group of us would hit KFC lunch buffet, Eva included. You'd be very hard pressed to meet a nicer human being. One of her fellow hs cheer teammates was also a chemE major, easily as good looking as her, maybe better looking. the same as eva, nicest person you'd ever meet. I still remember hanging out at Eva's apt at the squares, her roommate was also hs cheer teammate and just had this biggest tits you'd ever seen. FFF or some crazy shit, no idea how she even walked. I forgot her name. 

 

CV0DnVYW4AE4GKd?format=jpg&name=large

Edited by tx 3 putt
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43 minutes ago, deac_tracy said:

You couldn't pay me to go into a Golden Corral nowadays but I still remember those times fondly. Especially given the health of my grandfather who probably won't make it till the end of the year.

 

pre covid, a buddy wanted to meet for lunch and he picked golden corral (the guy worth several mil). i must admit, the new GC's are much nicer and the food wasn't completely horrible. 

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This may be a little too high-brow for the topic, but anyone remember the Judge Roy Bean's chain? Famous for their 2-fer Tuesday chicken fried steak dinner. This was a huge steak too, not some Furr's-sized BS. In HS, the crew would go and the small guys would get two huge plates of CFS, mashed potatoes, both doused in gravy, and some other veggie, and the football players would get 2x so 4 total plates per person. All would be dominated. Think the 2-fer was $7.99 back then and a single plate must have been about 1,500 calories. Again, yay for metabolism at that age.

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10 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

#csb - Eva was an engineering major for a year or so at A&I and sat next to me. Every Thursday a group of us would hit KFC lunch buffet, Eva included. You'd be very hard pressed to meet a nicer human being. One of her fellow hs cheer teammates was also a chemE major, easily as good looking as her, maybe better looking. the same as eva, nicest person you'd ever meet. I still remember hanging out at Eva's apt at the squares, her roommate was also hs cheer teammate and just had this biggest tits you'd ever seen. FFF or some crazy shit, no idea how she even walked. I forgot her name. 

 

CV0DnVYW4AE4GKd?format=jpg&name=large

 

Ah... The good ol University Squares.  The stories those apartment walls could tell....

From drug deals gone bad to crazy parties...  I bet there are still some hung over people from early 90's still sleeping it off from a party over at Squares....LOL  

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23 minutes ago, next2naus said:

Didn't Double Daves have an all you can eat Pepperoni Rolls night?

I'm listening.

I know they have the buffet and peproni rolls are on there. Spent several Saturdays in the fall eating at the one in the Castilian and watching CFB.

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17 minutes ago, Rip76 said:

I just looked for a pic.  
The one I ate at as a kid was in Texas City.

It looks like Northpark in Dallas to me.

Edit:  Could be Ridgmar in Ft. Worth.  It depends on which parent I was shuttled to that week in the mid 80's.

Edited by tigol
Malls.
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12 hours ago, next2naus said:

Didn't Double Daves have an all you can eat Pepperoni Rolls night?

Wild 'n Wooly Wednesday was the shit.  As I recall (mid 80's), it was $5 for unlimited buffet and your first beer.  Subsequent beers were $0.50 or something stupid.  Used to tear up the one on Riverside most Wednesdays.

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3 minutes ago, The Ace of Aces said:

Wait I don't recall Mr. Gatti's being cheap - like CiCi's/Golden Corral cheap. From my memories (we went fairly often after church on Sundays with friends) was it was basically Pizza Hut but with a kid TV room and larger/more seating. 

No it wasn't cheep at all in price or quality..  Not like the Gatti Town version of pizza either which many of us who were parents of young ones sometime this still young century had to endure if we were taking our own kids there or attending a birthday/team party.  Mine are grown up minus one who is 15, and while I miss a lot of stuff about those days and not doing them now, I DO NOT miss Gatti Town pizza....   Or fricken Peter Piper for that matter.       CiCi's I guess is a draw and tolerable?    But I haven't stepped foot in one for a few years.

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