Oldest Restaurants in the Houston Area

[DonRocks]

I'd like to begin a group project to honor the oldest restaurants in the Houston area, mirroring the one we've maintained for years in Washington, DC. Surrounding areas are included, and since our community was founded on April 15, 2005, anything that was open on that date is included as well. This will be an ongoing project that will start out small, and will grow over time - please feel free to add your entries (with a link to some substantiation, please), and I'll include them in the list.

Please note the third post down, as some of the research for this was done by Natalie Dressman.

... to be continued
1936 - Brenner's Steakhouse (Originally Brenner's Cafe, Memorial District)
1938 - Lankford's Grocery & Market (Fourth Ward)
1941 - Molina's Cantina (Originally "The Old Monterrey" on 1919 W. Gray St., River Oaks)
1946 - Barbecue Inn (Independence Heights)
1949 - Three Brothers Bakery (Originally on Holman Street, Downtown, First Moved 1954-1955)
1976 - Rudi Lechner's
1977 - Gerardo's Drive-In

[JBag57]

I lived in Houston back in the 1981-1983 time frame, as a young engineer fresh out of college.  Two places that remain near to my heart, and that are still in business (one is in the Houston Chronicle Top 100 still, and the other has an active website) are:

Ninfa's (we did not go to the original, but one that was near 700 Fannin, where I worked)

Treebeard's (also not the original, but the one that was in the Church cafeteria, also near work)

Those were great places for lunches, as well as occasional early dinner, before we headed out to the 'burbs to our apartments.

I was also interested that, in looking at the map version of the Top 100 list, near the area that I lived in now is regarded as "Chinatown" (I lived on Harwin Drive, near Gessner).  It was, as far as I remember, nothing like any "Chinatown" that I had seen before.  This must be a "new", i.e., within the past 30 years, development.

[Josh]

This is a great rundown of some of the oldest places in Houston.  4 of these are more or less in my neighborhood (Yale St. Grill, Pizzitola's, Molina's, and Barbecue Inn).

"The 10 Oldest Restaurants in Houston" by Natalie Dressman on visithoustontexas.com

[yeah]

Rudi Lechner's claims 1976 as an open date.  Never been but that "Beer Schnitzel Express Lunch" and "overly stuffed" cabbage rolls look like a win right now.