Last week, I asked readers of our weekly newsletter Eat Drink which long-closed North Texas restaurant they would revive if they could. The responses were varied and passionate. People shared memories of nearly 150 beloved restaurants, from date spots to childhood favorites that had been forgotten over time.
One reader recalled the 94th Aero Squadron, which was decorated in the style of a World War I military headquarters and featured radio traffic from the control tower at Dallas Love Field Airport as background noise while guests sipped French onion soup.
Another reader told stories of the Old San Francisco Steakhouse, where chunks of Swiss cheese and sourdough bread were served at the start of the meal and employees dressed in saloon clothes floated above the bar on a giant swing.
The question prompted reader Lauren Law to dig through her collection of restaurant matchbooks that she had started in the 1980s.
“When I saw your email asking about restaurants we love and would like to return to, I remembered my matchbox and threw them on the sofa. My husband and I went through them all and decided on our favorites,” Law said.
Across all of the reader responses, two restaurants were mentioned and mourned the most: Southern Kitchen and Steak and Ale. Dozens of readers wrote in to share their decades-long grief over the disappearance of these two restaurants from the Dallas dining scene. It’s probably no coincidence that the most missed restaurants were both known for offering good value.
Southern Kitchen, described in a 1986 Dallas Morning News List of restaurant recommendations as “a sort of ’60s ideal for fine dining,” had an all-you-can-eat menu with shrimp, oysters, fried chicken, baked potatoes, hush puppies, biscuits and cinnamon rolls. The restaurant, which had two locations on Northwest Highway, closed in 1987, according to The news‘ Records.
Founded in Dallas in 1966 by Norman Brinker, Steak and Ale was widely loved for its salad bar, beef and relaxed atmosphere. At its peak, it had hundreds of locations across the country, but the brand took a nosedive and abruptly closed in 2008.
Southern Kitchen is long gone, but there’s good news for Steak and Ale’s many fans. My colleague Sarah Blaskovich, who has been following Steak and Ale’s planned return, says that while the North Texas steakhouse’s reopening is taking longer than expected, it’s still planned.
Here’s the full list of North Texas restaurants that readers miss the most, some of which were submitted more than once:
- 20 feet of seafood
- 94th Aero Squadron
- abacus
- Agnews (the original)
- Andrews
- Annie’s Santa Fe
- Atlantic Café
- August moon
- Aurora
- Baby Doe’s
- Baby Routh
- Balls Hamburger
- Barbec’s
- Beats Cookies
- Birraporettis
- Black Sea Pizza
- Black-eyed bean
- Blue Goose
- Bob White’s BBQ
- Bob’s big boy
- Brass rail
- Gold bars
- Cardinal Puffs
- Casa Milagro
- Casa Rosa
- Casa Rubia
- Chateaubriand
- Chez Girard
- Clare de Luna
- Club Schmitz
- Crazy Crab
- Cry Wolf
- Daddy Jacks
- Dad’s money
- Dalt
- Deep Ellum Cafe
- 8.0 bars
- Fishmonger
- Flora Street Cafe
- French
- Frankie’s little Europe
- FT33
- Gershwin’s
- Goff’s Burger
- Good 2 Go Tacos
- Enjoy your meal
- Great American Hero
- Greenville Avenue Bar & Grill
- Gus’ BBQ
- hibiscus
- Highland Park Cafeteria
- Hofstetter’s
- Home
- Hotdog House
- Houston’s
- Humperdinks Brewery Inn
- Il Sorrento – Old Italian cuisine
- Hunter’s Room
- Jamie’s Hamburger
- Jay’s Marine Grill
- Jennivine
- Judge Bean’s
- Kathleen’s Art Café
- Khao Noodle Shop
- Kips
- La Duni
- La Trattoria Lombardi
- La Tunisia
- Lakewood Yacht Club
- Laszlo’s
- Best Prime Rib in La Lawry
- The seasons
- A little piece of Sweden
- Little Gus
- Loma Luna
- Lucas B&B
- Moon of the Noche
- Mariano’s Mexican Cuisine
- Mario and Alberto’s
- Mario’s Chiquita
- Incomparable mines
- #18 of 21 places to eat in El Rancho
- Monica’s Aca y Alla
- Mr Pepe’s
- Nazca Cuisine
- Black
- Never eat anything bigger than your head Sub Sandwich Shop
- Ninfas
- Nosh
- External kitchen
- Old San Francisco Steakhouse
- Postage
- Orleans
- Our house
- Ozone
- Pancho’s
- Paul’s Porterhouse
- Peggy Sue’s BBQ
- Pizza Inn
- Pizza-Village
- Ports of call
- Prince Burgers (Prince of Hamburgers)
- Pyramid room
- Raphael’s
- Rapscallion
- Ratcliff’s
- Red Barn
- Red Bryan’s – is it the same as Red Barn?
- Remington’s
- Restaurant La Piazza
- Routh Street Cafe
- Ruggeri’s
- ointment
- Sam’s Cafe
- Sambuca
- Samar
- Snookies
- Sol’s BBQ
- Southern cuisine
- Spaghetti Warehouse
- Mexican Restaurant
- Stampede66
- Star Canyon
- Steak and Ale
- Steve’s Ice Cream
- Schwanenhof
- Sweet endings
- Taboo room
- The Bronx
- The Dixie House
- The French Room (old version)
- The GACC (Greenville Avenue Country Club)
- The grape
- The Green Room
- The magic pan
- The Mecca
- The original gas station
- The Prohibition Room
- The track head
- The horny tar
- The rib
- The Riviera
- Three Vikings
- Dealer Vic’s
- Vehon’s half shell
- Victoria Station
- Vincent’s Seafood
- Wild About Harry’s
- Windjammer
- York Street Cafe
- Youngbloods fried chicken
- Yutaka
- Zuiderzee
- To
