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Christie’s Seafood & Steaks has been around for over 100 years.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s practically a tale as old as time: The city of Houston is notoriously terrible about preserving its history. Amid all the change and growth, though, some centuries-old establishments are holding down the fort\u2014and with these relics come numerous stories that help keep the history of the Bayou City<\/a> alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n While it\u2019s always nice to give love to the newer, up-and-coming hot spots<\/a>, Houstonia decided that 2025 is the perfect time to reintroduce, spotlight, and celebrate the city\u2019s oldest and most historic restaurants and bars through our occasional series, The Classics<\/a>. Here is a rundown of some of our favorite old haunts.<\/p>\n Yale Street Grill is a no-frills-or-thrills Heights staple.<\/p>\n this Heights restaurant specialized in drugs (no, not that kind). In 1923, owners Abel and Mildred Dupuis opened a pharmacy at the Yale Street Grill location, and expanded it over the years to include a post office, gift shop, and grill. Eventually, their son took over but sold the pharmacy operation in 1997. The place nearly closed in 2001, but Paul Gomberg, a Houstonian originally from Los Angeles, swooped in to save the day, buying the restaurant before it shut down. Yale Street Grill has since undergone multiple ownership changes. Today, it\u2019s a thriving time capsule with an enduring can-do attitude, a no-frills-or-thrills environment, and a dependable menu of omelets, pancake stacks, waffles, French toast, and milkshakes. Yale Street Grill<\/p>\n Heights restaurant specialized in drugs. No, not that kind. In 1923, owners Abel and Mildred Dupuis opened a pharmacy at the Yale Street Grill location, which also housed a post office, gift shop, and grill. Eventually, their son took over but sold the pharmacy operation in 1997. It nearly closed in 2001, but Paul Gomberg, a Houstonian originally from Los Angeles, swooped in to save the day, buying the restaurant before it shut down. \u00a0Yale Street Grill has since undergone multiple ownership changes and has experienced several different eras of Houston. Today, it\u2019s a thriving time capsule with an enduring \u201ccan-do\u201d attitude, a no frills and thrills environment, and a dependable menu of omelets, pancake stacks, waffles, French toast, and milkshakes.”><\/p>\n Before homestyle breakfast and burgers, this Heights restaurant<\/a> specialized in drugs (no, not that kind). In 1923, owners Abel and Mildred Dupuis opened a pharmacy at the Yale Street Grill location, and expanded it over the years to include a post office, gift shop, and grill. Eventually, their son took over but sold the pharmacy operation in 1997. The place nearly closed in 2001, but Paul Gomberg, a Houstonian originally from Los Angeles, swooped in to save the day, buying the restaurant before it shut down. Yale Street Grill has since undergone multiple ownership changes. Today, it\u2019s a thriving time capsule with an enduring can-do attitude, a no-frills-or-thrills environment, and a dependable menu of omelets, pancake stacks, waffles, French toast, and milkshakes.<\/p>\n West Alabama Ice House has remained a constant. The bar\u2019s history dates to 1928, when it opened as a literal icehouse that also served as a gas station and garage. As time went on, it evolved into \u201cdrive-ins\u201d or tailgates fueled by cold brews. Current owner Petros\u00a0Markantonis took over the location in 1985 and has turned it into a Houston mainstay that still offers ice-cold craft beers, ciders, seltzers, and nonalcoholic options. While food isn\u2019t sold here, bargoers can complement their drinks with bites from neighboring food truck Tacos Tierra Caliente. West Alabama Ice House<\/p>\n Ice House\u00a0(yes, we said \u201cthe\u201d\u2014the rest are posers). West Alabama has been around since 1928, when it was an actual business that sold ice before the days of refrigeration. Today, the shack-like structure and its many red picnic tables are a regular gathering space for locals. Grab a Lone Star and order from the Tacos Tierra Caliente truck across the street, or wait for the tamale guy to come through and order a dozen of venison.”><\/p>\n Despite Montrose\u2019s ever-changing landscape of restaurants and bars, West Alabama Ice House has remained a constant<\/a>. The bar\u2019s history dates to 1928, when it opened as a literal icehouse that also served as a gas station and garage. As time went on, it evolved into \u201cdrive-ins\u201d or tailgates fueled by cold brews. Current owner Petros\u00a0Markantonis took over the location in 1985 and has turned it into a Houston mainstay that still offers ice-cold craft beers, ciders, seltzers, and nonalcoholic options. While food isn\u2019t sold here, bargoers can complement their drinks with bites from neighboring food truck Tacos Tierra Caliente.<\/p>\n The fried shrimp is a fan favorite at Christie’s.<\/p>\n Gulf Coast seafood restaurant settled\u00a0in Galveston in 1917, with hopes the city would live up to its\u00a0title as \u201cthe playground of\u00a0the Southwest.\u201d But founder Theodore Christie had a vision. He followed the crowd and,\u00a0in 1934, opened this seafood- and steak-fueled restaurant\u00a0on Houston\u2019s South Main Street, before opening three more, on Bellaire Boulevard, South Post Oak, and another on Main Street. The only remaining Christie\u2019s, on Westheimer Road, still serves its beloved fried shrimp, famous fish\u00a0sandwich (the star of the show), crispy crab cakes, and Greek Village salad, served traditionally sans lettuce, with tomatoes,\u00a0olives, pepperoncini, red onions, and feta. Christie\u2019s Seafood and Steaks<\/p>\n This beloved Gulf Coast seafood restaurant<\/a> settled\u00a0in Galveston in 1917, with hopes the city would live up to its\u00a0title as \u201cthe playground of\u00a0the Southwest.\u201d But founder Theodore Christie had a vision. He followed the crowd and,\u00a0in 1934, opened this seafood- and steak-fueled restaurant\u00a0on Houston\u2019s South Main Street, before opening three more, on Bellaire Boulevard, South Post Oak, and another on Main Street. The only remaining Christie\u2019s, on Westheimer Road, still serves its beloved fried shrimp, famous fish\u00a0sandwich (the star of the show), crispy crab cakes, and Greek Village salad, served traditionally sans lettuce, with tomatoes,\u00a0olives, pepperoncini, red onions, and feta.<\/p>\n Pizzitola’s Bar-B-Cue has been serving Houstonians for 90 years.<\/p>\n Pizzitola\u2019s\u00a0Bar-B-Cue and recently rebranded to highlight its longevity, this local spot has smoked up finger-licking good barbecue for 90 years. Owners\u00a0John and Leila Davis first opened the restaurant in 1935 as Shepherd Drive BBQ. It later switched hands (and names) after Jerry Pizzitola took over. He operated it for 40 years before deciding to hand the keys over to Willie Madden\u00a0and James Maida. Madden died suddenly in 2021, leaving\u00a0only Maida to run the business.\u00a0Despite all the change, one thing has stayed the same: Every dish, except the banana pudding, is cooked in Pizzitola\u2019s\u00a0brick pits out back. Expect classic ribs and plenty of items where brisket is the main event, including burgers with meat ground in-house, brisket queso and chips, enchiladas, and the loaded brisket mac and cheese. Pizzitola\u2019s Heritage Bar-B-Cue<\/p>\n Long known as\u00a0Pizzitola\u2019s\u00a0Bar-B-Cue<\/a> and recently rebranded to highlight its longevity, this local spot has smoked up finger-licking good barbecue for 90 years. Owners\u00a0John and Leila Davis first opened the restaurant in 1935 as Shepherd Drive BBQ. It later switched hands (and names) after Jerry Pizzitola took over. He operated it for 40 years before deciding to hand the keys over to Willie Madden\u00a0and James Maida. Madden died suddenly in 2021, leaving\u00a0only Maida to run the business.\u00a0Despite all the change, one thing has stayed the same: Every dish, except the banana pudding, is cooked in Pizzitola\u2019s\u00a0brick pits out back. Expect classic ribs and plenty of items where brisket is the main event, including burgers with meat ground in-house, brisket queso and chips, enchiladas, and the loaded brisket mac and cheese.<\/p>\n Lankford’s is a Houston burger staple.<\/p>\n Lankford\u2019s Grocery & Market for classic bacon cheeseburgers\u00a0and more\u00a0creative renditions, including the Grim burger that\u2019s topped with macaroni and cheese, jalape\u00f1os, and a sunny-side up fried egg. The Firehouse, a burger slathered with habanero mustard sauce and cayenne butter, is another crowd-pleaser that earned a spotlight on a 2009 episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Still in the Prior family, the restaurant has expanded in recent years to Bellaire, and there are plans for more locations. Lankford’s Grocery and Market<\/p>\n an ice house, and finally as the full-service restaurant we know it as today. The burger hot spot has made quite a name for itself, even earning an appearance on Guy Fieri\u2019s\u00a0Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. While we don\u2019t recommend getting Fieri\u2019s frosted tips, we do recommend pretty much all the burgers at Lankford\u2019s. The pimento cheeseburger is our favorite, but the Houston burger featuring thick slabs of brisket is a close second. Three generations in, the staple is not going anywhere, so you have plenty of time to try them all, and the family even opened a second location in Bellaire.”><\/p>\n What started as a fruit stand\u00a0in 1937 led to one of Houston\u2019s\u00a0most iconic burger joints. It evolved into a mom-and-pop grocery store, which it remained until the early 1980s. Major competition from chain grocery stores like H-E-B\u00a0and Kroger prompted owner Eydie Lankford Prior to pivot. Now, nearly 90 years later, Houstonians continue to\u00a0frequent\u00a0Lankford\u2019s Grocery & Market for classic bacon cheeseburgers<\/a>\u00a0and more\u00a0creative renditions, including the Grim burger that\u2019s topped with macaroni and cheese, jalape\u00f1os, and a sunny-side up fried egg. The Firehouse, a burger slathered with habanero mustard sauce and cayenne butter, is another crowd-pleaser that earned a spotlight on a 2009 episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Still in the Prior family, the restaurant has expanded in recent years to Bellaire, and there are plans for more locations.<\/p>\n family-owned cafeteria has served Houstonians for nearly 85 years, offering diners a taste of scratch-made recipes that date back decades. Year-round, Houstonians can enjoy hearty plates that\u2019ll remind them of home, including baked ham, corned beef and cabbage, country steak and potatoes,\u00a0and Cornish game hen, served with saut\u00e9ed vegetables and crisp salads. November, however, is the Cleburne Cafeteria\u2019s\u00a0proper time to shine, as it\u2019s a space people flock to on Thanksgiving. Turkeys are boiled for several hours with onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and a combination of seasonings, before they are basted with butter and roasted in\u00a0the oven. Cleburne Cafeteria<\/p>\n family-owned cafeteria has served Houstonians for nearly 85 years, offering diners a taste of scratch-made recipes that date back decades. Year-round, Houstonians can enjoy hearty plates that\u2019ll remind them of home, including baked ham, corned beef and cabbage, country steak and potatoes, and Cornish game hen, all served with saut\u00e9ed vegetables and crisp salads. November, however, is the Cleburne Cafeteria\u2019s proper time to shine. \u00a0Each year, in preparation for Thanksgiving, Cleburne serves its special turkeys, which are boiled for several hours with onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and a combination of seasonings, before they are basted with butter and roasted in the oven.\u00a0“><\/p>\n This family-owned cafeteria<\/a> has served Houstonians for nearly 85 years, offering diners a taste of scratch-made recipes that date back decades. Year-round, Houstonians can enjoy hearty plates that\u2019ll remind them of home, including baked ham, corned beef and cabbage, country steak and potatoes,\u00a0and Cornish game hen, served with saut\u00e9ed vegetables and crisp salads. November, however, is the Cleburne Cafeteria\u2019s\u00a0proper time to shine, as it\u2019s a space people flock to on Thanksgiving. Turkeys are boiled for several hours with onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and a combination of seasonings, before they are basted with butter and roasted in\u00a0the oven.<\/p>\n Molina\u2019s Cantina<\/p>\n There\u2019s a reason Molina\u2019s is former president George H.W. Bush\u2019s favorite Mexican restaurant in Houston: the menu has barely changed since the restaurant was first opened by Raul Molina in 1941, a time when there were only a handful of Tex-Mex spots in the entire city. The friendly servers here always make you feel right at home, and it\u2019s always the right time to seek comfort in its old favorites: Jose\u2019s Dip (classic, ooey-gooey queso blended with spicy ground beef) and the Mexico City Dinner, which features three successive platters filled with enchiladas, tamales and more.”><\/p>\n Little did the family behind Molina\u2019s Cantina<\/a> know that by dishing out bean tostadas and chili-covered tamales, they were helping define a cuisine<\/a>. In 1941, the same year this restaurant opened, the term \u201cTex-Mex\u201d appeared for the first time in print. By the \u201970s, Molina\u2019s made history again as one of the first establishments in Houston to sell frozen margaritas<\/a>. Today, diners can still indulge in the boozy, tequila-filled drink, plus favorites like the street al-pastor tacos and the customer-inspired Berly\u2019s Burrito, loaded with beef or chicken fajita and covered with chili con carne.<\/p>\n Molina’s Cantina has other locations in Bellaire and Fulshear.<\/p>\n An assortment of mouthwatering homemade pies from Three Brothers Bakery.<\/p>\n This bakery\u2019s story began in Poland with a family\u00a0bread business that ran from 1825 until the Holocaust. After the concentration camps were liberated, the Jucker family landed in Houston,\u00a0opening Three Brothers Bakery on Holman Street in 1949. With just one parking space, they found it challenging to bring in more than a trickle of hungry customers, but after relocating to Almeda Street and then to South Braeswood, business picked up. Three Brothers became synonymous with some of the best European-style breads and pastries, as well as cookies, cupcakes, wedding and birthday cakes, and pies. Since the early 2000s, the bakery has continued to expand, with four locations all serving up sweet bites and breads.<\/p>\n The bakery now has three other locations in Memorial, Tanglewood, and on Washington Avenue.<\/p>\n “><\/p>\n Three Brothers Bakery\u00a0<\/p>\n The story of Three Brothers Bakery begins in 1930s Poland, where twin brothers Sigmund and Sol Jucker learned the art of Eastern European baking at the tender age of 10. But in 1941, Sigmund, Sol, and their family were sent to a concentration camp.\u00a0In 1949, Sigmund, Sol, and their younger brother Max purchased a bakery on Houston\u2019s Holman Street, serving specialty breads like egg, rye, and pumpernickel, all originating from the Jucker family\u2019s Polish roots. Today, Three Brothers Bakery is a Braeswood staple serving everything from specialty breads, Kaiser rolls, bagels, coffee cakes, pecan pie, and even gingerbread men made year-round.<\/p>\n The bakery now has three other locations in Memorial, Tanglewood, and on Washington Avenue.<\/p>\n “><\/p>\n This bakery\u2019s story began in Poland<\/a> with a family\u00a0bread business that ran from 1825 until the Holocaust. After the concentration camps were liberated, the Jucker family landed in Houston,\u00a0opening Three Brothers Bakery on Holman Street in 1949. With just one parking space, they found it challenging to bring in more than a trickle of hungry customers, but after relocating to Almeda Street and then to South Braeswood, business picked up. Three Brothers became synonymous with some of the best European-style breads and pastries, as well as cookies, cupcakes, wedding and birthday cakes, and pies. Since the early 2000s, the bakery has continued to expand, with four locations all serving up sweet bites and breads.<\/p>\n The bakery now has three other locations in Memorial, Tanglewood, and on Washington Avenue.<\/p>\n paranormal crowd, but Houstonia still\u00a0hasn\u2019t written off the possibility that it could be the result of drunken thoughts and overactive imaginations. Regardless, it\u2019s a stellar spot to sip wine with friends. La Carafe<\/p>\n it\u2019s haunted.”><\/p>\n Erected in 1845, Houston\u2019s\u00a0oldest confirmed building is home to La Carafe, a wine bar that\u2019s been serving Houstonians since the mid-1950s. Despite all the technology of 2025, it\u2019s a blast from the past with a cash-only business\u00a0model and candlelit interior. Rumored to be haunted, La Carafe is popular among\u00a0the paranormal<\/a> crowd, but Houstonia still\u00a0hasn\u2019t written off the possibility that it could be the result of drunken thoughts and overactive imaginations. Regardless, it\u2019s a stellar spot to sip wine with friends.<\/p>\n New Orleans brought some of its Creole flair to\u00a0Midtown. Even the building,\u00a0once home to the Junior League, was redeveloped to pay homage to Brennan\u2019s French Quarter roots. It\u2019s been a fixture of Houston\u2019s dining scene ever since, offering a place to stop in for shrimp and grits, eggs Brennan (a Benedict), and jazz for brunch, plus classic dishes like shrimp r\u00e9moulade, haute Creole seafood gumbo, jumbo lump crab cakes, bananas\u00a0Foster lit aflame tableside, and the famed turtle soup. The restaurant is still moving with the times: Brennan\u2019s\u00a0debuted a\u00a0new courtyard bar<\/a> in April, offering a laid-back, casual vibe.\u00a0 Brennan\u2019s of Houston<\/p>\n In 1967, New Orleans brought some of its Creole flair to\u00a0Midtown<\/a>. Even the building,\u00a0once home to the Junior League, was redeveloped to pay homage to Brennan\u2019s French Quarter roots. It\u2019s been a fixture of Houston\u2019s dining scene ever since, offering a place to stop in for shrimp and grits, eggs Brennan (a Benedict), and jazz for brunch, plus classic dishes like shrimp r\u00e9moulade, haute Creole seafood gumbo, jumbo lump crab cakes, bananas\u00a0Foster lit aflame tableside, and the famed turtle soup. The restaurant is still moving with the times: Brennan\u2019s\u00a0debuted a\u00a0new courtyard bar<\/a> in April, offering a laid-back, casual vibe.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Christie’s Seafood & Steaks has been around for over 100 years. 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