About This Blog

This blog features: neighborhood restaurants, nearby restaurants, downtown restaurants, Casa View Shopping Center, nearby shopping, Downtown shops.

I will first list places and my connections with them. For the spirit of completeness, I will then list other places, known to me but not visited. I choose not to list the unknown.

I like the section entitled Places I Wish I Had Visited.

My focus is places and locations which existed from 1953, when I moved to Dallas, until 1965, when I graduated from high school. This list will continue with my college years, until I turned 21. I left Dallas in 1969 and, as I did not return except to visit my parents until 1973, my memory of East Dallas ends at that time.

Some categories were easy to separate – restaurants and shopping. Some experiences are not so easy to categorize, but are still meaningful. They may be all lumped in together, and then teased out as other connections are made.

Music wise, we may have thought we were born of the “wrong generation.” I always thought the older generation (i.e. 3 to 4 years older than me) had a richer and deeper experience.

But we, the beginning of the Baby Boomer generation, had it best – stable family life, rising expectations for the middle class and parents who wanted to give so much to their children, which most did not have in their childhood. We were left to play and roam outdoors to make our own fun. We had the best toys and the best music.

And yet we lived in tumultuous times – the Cold War, Civil Rights, Integration and the Kennedy Assassination through the killings of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King.

Hopefully we came out as loving, caring, sharing adults whose experiences made us better people and gave us the ability to show appreciation and gratitude for the neighborhood and experiences which enriched us and our loved ones.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Restaurants - Nearby in the Later Years


The Lakewood Cafe - 2111 Abrams.  214-823-0313.
"Dan's Famous Hamburgers."

Herrera's Tex-Mex - 5427 Denton Drive.  214-630-2599.
Since 1971.

 Highland Park Pharmacy - 3229 Knox Street.  214-521-2126.
Now old-fashioned soda fountain.

Hickory House Barbecue - 601 S. Riverfront Drive.  214-747-0758.

Jimmy's Food - 4901 Bryan Street.  214-823-6180.
Operated by the DiCarlos for over 40 years.

Pietro's Italian Restaurant - 5722 Richmond Ave.  214-824-6960.
Pete and Mike Mankin's favorite restaurant.

Lawry's Prime Rib -
Opened 1938 in Beverly Hills.  The place boasts a number of restaurant innovations.  The first doggy bag.  The first valet parking.  Firs to serve salads before entrees.  First to have servers personally identify themselves to guests before they serve them (Hello, my name Miss Mitzi, and I'll be serving you this evening.)

Melios Brothers Char Bar - 2026 Greenville Ave.  214-826-8800.
Four brothers still operate the restaurant: Alex, Gus, Mike and Tony.

Pictures of Greece cover the walls.  All decor sanded (away) to only include the basics.  Known for its cheap breakfast and charcoal hamburgers.  Flame-kissed burgers, shredded cheddar, grilled buns.  it is my favorite hamburger.

Tupinamba Restaurant - 12270 Inwood Road.  972-991-8148.
Opened in 1943.

The Old Mill Inn - State Fairgrounds.  214-426-4600.
Beautiful stone building with many pictures of old Dallas pictures on its walls.  Ed Campbell showed me the original fryers used by the Youngbloods and the serving windows.

Hardeman's Barbecue - 618 S. Westmoreland.  214-467-1154.
Opened in 1955 in a small West Dallas storefront on Singleton Blvd.  May be down to two locations.  Located 4 blocks away from my house, it's my go-spot for OK barbecue.

Vincent's Seafood - 2742 Bachman Blvd.  214-352-2691.
Since 1898.

Peggy's Beef Bar - 6600 Snider Plaza.  214-368-9422.

 Howard Johnson's Restaurant - 2500 Ft. Worth Ave.  Oak Cliff, Dallas, Yellow Pages, 1979.

Sambo's Restaurant - 11610 N. Central Expwy.  214-349-1950.
7 other locations in Dallas Yellow Pages in 1979 (none in 1963).  Little Black Sambo lived on, for a little while.

The Topper #3 - 1105 Commerce.  R1-1-0509.
#2 - 2009 Elm Street.  R1-2-0342.
#10 - 913 Elm Street. R1-2-0398.

 Sonny Bryant's Smokehouse - 2202 Inwood Road. 357-7120.
Moved to this location when Oak Cliff voted dry.  School desk seated.  Heated barbecue sauce bottles, huge onion rings.  Attracts three-piece suits and workers in tall rubber boots, usually eating from their car hoods.  My number 1 choice for consistently good barbecue.

Black Forest Bakery - 5819 Blackwell.  368-4490.

 The Moo Cow Drive-In - 1823 N. Washington.  TA-3-2500.
Bill Woodward, who owned Ross Avenue Ignition, used to order one double meat hamburger, burn the beef, burn the bun.

Casa Dominguez - 2127 Cedar Springs Rd.  R1-2-4945.
Austin-style Mexican, started by Peta Dominguez.

Raymond's Barbecue Cafeteria - 10920 Garland Road.  214-327-5800.

John's Cafe - 2724 Greenville Ave.  214-827-4610.
Opened in 1972, closed in 2005.  John's lease was not renewed  The owners planned to raze the building and lease the land to a bank.  Johns' re-opened at 10870 Plano Ave.  214-827-4610.  Opened another location Greenville Ave in a small shop-worn space that formerly housed Nick's cafe.  1733 Greenville Ave, 214-874-0800.
-2011 Dallas Yellow Pages mentions on 1733 Greenville Ave.

Little Bob's Barbecue - 4607 Village Fair Drive - 214-375-4909.
Bob was the first black vendor at the State Fair.  His large stand anchors the east end of the Cotton Bowl, and features a low-cost barbecue bologna sandwich.

 Charco Broiler Steak House - 413 West Jefferson.  214-942-6806.Featuring the iconic Oak Cliff landmark Sonny the Steer atop its building.  Opened in 1963.
"Oak Cliff's finest steak house" and "Best baked potato in Dallas."

 Kuby's Sausage House -
Carl Kuby and his partner Hank Winnabst started with a tiny sausage house in the early 1960s.  Kuby attributes his success in business to his faith in God and that he is a member of the Mormon Church.


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