I have always liked to play around with maps– look at them, use them to learn things about different places, and make them. Sometimes I like to make maps showing specific information, such as this one showing my favorite restaurants in 1975. I thought this may be a good way to talk about restaurant nostalgia in the “Big H.”

For a short time I lived near Gessner Road where I was able to savor the delicacies of “Junk Food Alley.” I’m sure that every American city has its counterpart to this. However it opened up a previously unknown to me world of adventure exploring ethnic neighborhoods and restaurants, with the possibility of others to visit in the future such as “Cajun Country” to the east.

At the top of my list was Roznofsky’s which served cheeseburgers that were so good they were addictive. I remember them as being fresh, in contrast to the fast food places. Roznofsky’s always seemed to have a line waiting for the burgers, but whether it was inside, outside, or in their vehicles I cannot recall.

Ninfa’s on Navigation Blvd. was a Houston institution even in 1975. It was the only Tex-Mex place I went to in Houston that rivaled Austin in the flavor and quality of the food. Now I think every Tex-Mex place in Austin that I really enjoyed is gone but Ninfa’s is still churning out tamales, puffy tacos (I assume because I couldn’t find it in the on-line menu) and other items that look a whole lot better.

El Felix seems to have closed quite a while ago. I don’t remember the food but it was where I ate when I couldn’t afford Ninfa’s.

Then there was the fabulous Greek food. At Zorba the Greek I apparently enjoyed the fried shrimp, but I do not remember it. What I do remember was the Athens Bar & Grill on the Houston Ship Channel. Most of the patrons came to the restaurant via the ship channel, although you could also take the maze of mostly unknown streets coming from Houston. This where the popular drink was Retsina, the belly dancers had already had a good supply of it, and the patrons had imbibed even more.  It is not that I really condone any of this, but they say there are two kinds of drunks–happy ones and mean ones. Everyone here really seemed to be in the happy category.  I join with them in shouting “Opa!”