Hamburger Mary's Is Opening In Houston This Weekend

I've heard about and wanted to go to one of their locations during my travels across this country, but the originals are on the Left Coast, haven't done many events in that part of the country.. and the last two times I was in the Bay Area, didn't have enough time in my tight schedules to check it out.

Was surprised and happy to hear that Hamburger Mary's is expanding, and they will be coming to my Houston home turf.   The Houston location will be right in the middle of the Montrose gayborhood next door to Bayou City on Grant Street.

So what's Hamburger Mary's?   It started in 1972 in San Francisco with the idea to create a friendly beer and burger place, and quickly became popular with the Bay Area TBLGQ community.  A second location opened in Hawaii, and the concept really caught on as franchised locations opened up in Colorado, Illinois, Wisconsin, Florida and Missouri.

The Houston location when it officially opens this weekend will be the 16th for the chain.

Hamburger Mary;s is renowned for its quirky names for its burgers like the Proud Mary, Queen Mary and Buffy The Burger Slayer burgers and a dessert item called Mary Tyler S'Mores.  The local outlet will have some Tex-Mex items and fajitas on its menu..

But what it's most renowned for are its drag shows and daily entertainment that start at 8 PM  Wednesday thru Saturday, with additional shows at 11 PM on Thursday and Friday.   The Sunday show times are at noon and 4 PM.  

Wednesdays is the 'Divas' show.  Thursday night is a Latin themed 'Fuego' show, Friday nigh is a variety show, Saturday is the 'Illusions' show, and Sunday is the 'Broadway' show.

Hamburger Mary's is closed on Monday nights, and Tuesday is reserved for Drag Queen bingo night, that helps raise money for local 501c3 charities.  The Houston Gaymers tonight and the Trans National Alliance on March 14 are just two of the local groups who have already scheduled bingo nights at the new eatery.

Hamburger Mary's Houston is located at 2409 Grant Street in the Montrose gayborhood, and looking forward to finally getting the opportunity to check one out without having to hop on a plane to do so.

Louisville Landmark Lynn's Paradise Cafe Closes

I've talked about the wonderfully quirky Lynn's Paradise Cafe in a previous 'I miss da Ville' post.

But was shocked to read via a post on Angie Fenton's FB's page and commentary from my other Louisville friend's pages that after 22 years in business, the legendary independent restaurant that is Lynn's Paradise Cafe has closed its doors.

I had the pleasure of eating there when I lived in Da Ville and even experienced the tradition of a New Year's pajama breakfast there.  

It's so well known nationally that during Derby it's tough to get a table in it.  Then Senator Hillary Clinton is one of the long list of notable people who have visited Lynn's.  She did so during the May 2008 Democratic presidential primary in Kentucky.

The details are still coming out and the accusations are still flying as to exactly why the doors have closed on this Louisville institution.  But I'll probably be finding out from all my Louisville friends what's up in the ensuing days as more info becomes available.

Whatever the reason, still sad to hear it happened.

Bennigan's Is Back In H-town!

One of my fondest memories of the 80's and 90's was hanging out at Bennigan's.   When I wasn't scarfing up their food and having drinks there as well, I was soaking up the atmosphere.  

There were two of the then 20 locations in Houston that regularly got me to part with my money.  One of them was located on Loop 610 by the Astrodome and the other was by my old apartment on Bissonnet.   It was across the street from the Pappas Barbecue location I was on a first name basis with most of the staff who worked there during the 90's.  

That's another post.  This one's about my love affair with Bennigan's.

The Bennigan's on Loop 610 got the nickname of 'Black Bennigan's' by me and my friends at the time for an obvious reason.  It was a short drive from Third Ward, South Park and the nearby condo and apartment complex filled neighborhood chock full of Buppies and young professionals.  If you said you wanted to eat at Bennigan's and the answer to the 'which one?' question came back "Black Bennigan's", you knew immediately which direction to point the car and drive. 

That particular Bennigan's was more fun at times than paying $5 cover to go to any club and was always packed.  There were times when the restaurant would be closed at 2 AM and people would still be hanging out in the parking lot until 3 AM.

There were more than a few times I hung out at the 610 location with friends during the 80's.  When I moved to my new Bissonnet and Beltway 8 southwest Houston neighborhood in 1991, one of the reasons I picked it was because my apartment complex was less than two blocks walking distance from that Bissonnet Bennigan's location..

That particular location liked to put Rockets and later Comets games on their televisions, and when the Rockets won their 1994 NBA title I was sitting there cheering with everyone else when it happened. 

So when I moved back to Houston, I was shocked to learn that all 20 Houston Bennigan's locations closed when the chain went through bankruptcy in 2008.  I still get depressed when I pass by the old Loop 610 location that had been bought and remodeled into a Mexican food chain restaurant.  

Was estatic to learn that Bennigan's is reentering the Houston market and the new franchisee is planning to open up to 10 restaurants around the Houston area.  That's half of the total that were around prior to the 2008 bankruptcy, but it's better than not having any here at all  .   

And yes, for those of you who loved the Monte Cristo sandwich, it's still on the menu.