Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part I (Donna: camper, clubs)

[Willsatx]

The product gets worse and worse, i avoid them as much as possible.

[Macgrad89]

Even though Taco C seems to be lacking in quality right now, there are MANY days when my wife and I wish we had one in Nashville. There simply is NO decent Tex-Mex around these parts. In a perfect world, we'd have Chacho's and a Whataburger near us (closest Whataburger to us is in Birmingham, Alabama, three hours south on I-65.)

Now, the Chacho's at I-10/Callaghan - is that an old Naugles chain outlet? Anyonre remember Naugles (or however it's spelled?)

Macgrad89

[Willsatx]

I miss Ninfa's in San Antonio, they chips and salsa was awesome.

[tketexas]

Originally Posted by irnag

The things I remember best about Central Park Mall was a place called Lox and Bagels. First time I had ever heard of a bagel. And then years later spending many nights chasing the local women at Broad Street.

My father in law owned that place back! small world!!!!

[irnag]

Originally Posted by Willsatx

I wonder what year the gibson's closed in SA? I remember the flea market on eisenhauer being there since the early 80's.

If I had to guess, I would say around 1978. I don't remember them around once I had my license to drive. Also, once the government and medical community made them stop selling the track shoes, they were done for.

[irnag]

Originally Posted by tketexas

My father in law owned that place back! small world!!!!

That was a cool store. I think it was ahead of it's time.

[Willsatx]

I asked this question before, but what was the name of a restaraunt that was next to sears at central park? I think it was the lower level, as soon as you walked out it was on the left. Wondering if anyone knows the name?

[Macgrad89]

Willsatx,

As one went out of Sears into the lower level of Central Park, there was a mall entrance to the immediate left. The restaurant which was there was Jim's Frontier. Best I remember, it closed in the late 80s or early 90s and became Petland before the mall closed for good in 2002. The Frontier had GREAT char-broiled hamburgers.

Macgrad89

[Willsatx]

Originally Posted by Macgrad89

Willsatx,

As one went out of Sears into the lower level of Central Park, there was a mall entrance to the immediate left. The restaurant which was there was Jim's Frontier. Best I remember, it closed in the late 80s or early 90s and became Petland before the mall closed for good in 2002. The Frontier had GREAT char-broiled hamburgers.

Macgrad89

I remember there was a place that was attached to the wall of sears when you exited, it was in the early 80's. Was that the Frontier? I am sure it was on the lower level.

[Quigmomma]

Originally Posted by 940

This thread is for those who have lived in SA for some time now or maybe just have memories of places that no longer exist. It might be interesting to some of the newer folks who have no idea what used to be here, whether it was a beloved place or just something different that you can't find anymore.....

I'm in my early 40s but I remember all the old movie drive-ins that used to be everywhere in the city. We used to frequent the old Bandera Rd Drive-In that used to be located at the SE corner of Bandera and Loop 410 where the old Target building sits empty. We also used to go to the Fredericksburg Rd Drive-In about a mile past Crossroads Mall (the old Wonderland Mall) just south of Loop 410. I remember the Woodlawn, the Mission and the Valley Hi theaters also.

For those that live on the far west side near Potranco Rd, there used to be a business just about 1/2 mile south of Potranco outside 1604 where you could drive back into the woods and target shoot. It was called appropriately enough "A Place to Shoot"...original, eh?! That wouldn't go over so well now with all the new homes being built, of course.

Also, at the eastern corner where Potranco Rd and Talley Rd deadends, was an old country gas station and store named "Reds" with old 1930s or 1940s gas pumps. It was owned by Mr and Mrs Red Laidley and they stocked everything from some basic groceries to farm and ranch equipment and feed for livestock. Most people don't know this but if you can find an old scary movie entitled "Race with the Devil" starring M*A*S*H TV star Loretta Swit and also starring Peter Fonda, you can see just how rural Potranco and that area used to be. The film was made around 1973 and the premise of the film involved two couples trying to get away from devil worshippers who caught them spying on one of their sacrifices..anyway..the scene shows them driving on Potranco towards Talley Rd in their RV and stopping at Reds for gas and information. You get a great shot of what the interior of this old country store looked like and you see both Mr Laidley and his elderly wife who had bit parts in the film. In the distance, you can see empty farm land and not the sea of homes that inhabit the view now.

The old gas station there off Culebra just to the west of 1604 that I hear was finally demolished for a new Jim's was called "Dan's"...it was similar to the store just mentioned above..Red's...everything seemed to have just one name! It serviced all the farms and ranches on FM 471 from where the old Grissom Rd intersected to the east all the way west towards the county line.

Anyone else have any old memores? I'll add some more later!

This is my first time posting on this forum but I was browsing around and found this older post. Mr. Red Laidley was my great uncle. (Red was his nick name because of his flaming red hair.) I grew up in a subdivision called Hilltop Acres (though NO one really know that’s the name)off Deer Oak and now live further down Talley, but my Mom has lived in this same area all her life (since 1963). I have lived here since I was six (now 24)so I have seen quite a bit of development in this area, though I have heard MANY stories from my mom.
My Uncle Red and his wife lived just a little ways down Talley from the old store. They owned a lot of the land that is now High Point and the newer subdivisions of West creek. When the land was bought the new owners bulldozed their old house but I can remember going back to the old foundation as a child with my mom to dig up Aunt Leela’s irises (Red’s wife). Now there are a bunch of houses there, but I was amazed to read this post. I had heard stories about my Uncle Red and Aunt Leela, but to hear about it from a historical view point on a random website made me feel proud. My Mom still has the ‘diamond A’ sign that used to hang in front of Reds store. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!