Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part I (Mission: hotspots, letter)

[GWhopper]

This has nothing to do with anything, but we did discuss this place earlier in the thread. While looking up stuff for King Wah, I found an add for the old Turtle Creek Country Club. Kind of cool if you grew up near the area.

[GWhopper]

I just had to post this pdf. Not only does it give a full review of the old and famous Big John's Steakhouse at Harry Wurzbach, which my parents would always tell me about, but if you scan down the left-hand side of the page, you see write-ups for Christie's, the old Crystal Baking Company, Hung Fung, King Wah, and just for Primo, a little restaurant called the Millard Fillmore Grammer School and Grille that features a 1937 Chevy Bus sticking out of it. It was located right where you said it was, were the Hungry Horse Cafe was on Wurzbach passed the medical center.

[GWhopper]

Now that I have a proper name, I was able to find out about the place with the bus.
It was opened in October of 1976 and was owned by a man named Jim Honigblum (that name sounds familiar). It was designed to imitate a 1930's school house, he based it on his own experiences as a kid going to school at Milam Elementary School in the 30's. It had sheet music on the ceiling, giant crayolas, actual school desks and at that time one of the two last remaining soda fountains in San Antonio. It was also chock full of 1930's memorobilia that the owner got by running newspaper ads in newspapers all over the country. The building itself was designed to look like a school house from the 1930's period and even had a play ground outside. The owner chose Millard Fillmore as the name of his "school" simply because as a president he was not dramatic or spectacular, but "did maintain an attitude of dignity, high-minded integrity, and intense earnestness."

This place sounds so cool. I don't remember ever eating there, but I will ask my mom tomorrow if she remembers us ever going there.

[Primo]

Originally Posted by GWhopper

I just had to post this pdf. Not only does it give a full review of the old and famous Big John's Steakhouse at Harry Wurzbach, which my parents would always tell me about, but if you scan down the left-hand side of the page, you see write-ups for Christie's, the old Crystal Baking Company, Hung Fung, King Wah, and just for Primo, a little restaurant called the Millard Fillmore Grammer School and Grille that features a 1937 Chevy Bus sticking out of it. It was located right where you said it was, were the Hungry Horse Cafe was on Wurzbach passed the medical center.

That is a great find...what is the date on it? I noticed it mentioned Icabods on the corner of Wurzbach and Fredericksburg? Was that where the present day Aldos is? Or where was that? Anything above Sizzler was considered high dollar back in those days and we didn't go there.

[GJTexas]

The Castle was on the north side of Wurzbach between Vance Jackson and LockHill Selma, east and uphill of the railroad tracks. If you drive up Elm Creek at the crest of hill into the subdivision remnants of the foundation remain. In the 60s, it was owned by Doug Saunders, who built the subdivision. I always got a kick out the overgrown remnants of the golf course which stretched to LockHill Selma.[/quote]


There used to be a castle on Vance Jackson Road also if anyone remembers it. It was right beside St Marks Methodist church. This was right across from the Gillespe (sp?) house with all the horses.

[GWhopper]

Originally Posted by Primo

That is a great find...what is the date on it? I noticed it mentioned Icabods on the corner of Wurzbach and Fredericksburg? Was that where the present day Aldos is? Or where was that? Anything above Sizzler was considered high dollar back in those days and we didn't go there.

June 24, 1977.
I missed the location of Icabod's. I'll see what I can find out about it. Does anybody on the board remember this place?

[GWhopper]

Originally Posted by Primo

That is a great find...what is the date on it? I noticed it mentioned Icabods on the corner of Wurzbach and Fredericksburg? Was that where the present day Aldos is? Or where was that? Anything above Sizzler was considered high dollar back in those days and we didn't go there.

Primo, looks like you are right, it was where Aldo's is now. This ad has it listed as 8539 Fredericksburg Road, which on Google Maps shows up as the address of present day Aldo's. Odd how the little drawing of the restaurant in the ad doesn't look like the building today. The second picture also looks like the current "Porch" dining room of Aldo's.

[Primo]

Originally Posted by GWhopper

Primo, looks like you are right, it was where Aldo's is now. This ad has it listed as 8539 Fredericksburg Road, which on Google Maps shows up as the address of present day Aldo's. Odd how the little drawing of the restaurant in the ad doesn't look like the building today. The second picture also looks like the current "Porch" dining room of Aldo's.

Now, what is the history on the Aldo's/Icabods house? Was it part of the Wurzbach or Wolff estate, possibly the "mother-in-law cottage"?

[georgepwebster]

Originally Posted by Primo

Since we are on the topic of GBNF on Broadway...Naples which is where the present day Tomatios. Anyone remember when it closed down and if that building was anything else?
Is the Naples on NW Military and Huebner somehow related to it?

There was a jewelry store in the building with Naples. I wish my daughter could've metRalph Broncusio in a white T-shirt and apron and a slab of raw meat, "Is this lean enough?"

[georgepwebster]

Originally Posted by Primo

Since we are on the topic of GBNF on Broadway...Naples which is where the present day Tomatios. Anyone remember when it closed down and if that building was anything else?
Is the Naples on NW Military and Huebner somehow related to it?

Originally Posted by GWhopper

Nope, that Naple's, which is called Naple's Pizza (and dam* good New York style Pizza btw) is from a family that owned a couple of successful pizza places in Connecticut, one most notably on or near the Yale campus. I don't know if the whole family relocated here or just a part of it. They originally had some sort of partnership with the family that owns Sorrento's, but had some kind of falling out. An Italian friend of mine from Boston once asked one of the people at the NW Military location what was their relationship with Sorrento's and the guy just looked at him like he was going to jump over the counter and rip out his throat. He said something like, "that was a long time ago", but his tone was like "it's none of your effen business. These are not the droids you are looking for. Move Along."

The original Naples on Broadway was owned by an Italian couple who shut it down when they got too old ( or one of them sadly died, I can't remember which). My parents, who grew up in New Jersey, would take me there all the time when I was kid. To them, it was the closest italian food to what they got back home that they could get in San Antonio. My mom still tells the story that when I was a toddler, still sitting in a high chair, I decided for some unexpected reason, to pick up my kiddie-menu spaggetti bowl and dump it on my head. My dad used to complain about having to take me to the bathroom to clean me off, and having to explain to the other men in the bathroom why he was cleaning spaggetti sauce and noodles out of his kid's hair, like I was retarded or something. He then apparently had to actually "use" the bathroom, so I took the opportunity to escape and run through the dining room where my mom saw me, grabbed me, then started yelling at my dad for losing me. Growing up, I was reminded of this incident frequently. I have no memory of any of this, so I have to decided to believe they were just screwing with my head. That's my story and I am sticking with it.

In the mid to late 1990s, the grandchildren of the original Naples owners, opened up Naples again on Babcock near Huebner. They used their Grandparents recipes. I used to eat there all the time when I worked at Billing Concepts after they relocated to the medical center. Primo, I think you even joined us there once. Regardless, that restaurant was a success, and the grandchildren eventually parlayed that to a move back near the original location. Sadly, the new location failed and they went out of business in less than 2 years.

Once at Naples, Ralph Broncuzio (sp), sat down to visit with my father. I dropped an Adam's plastic-fly-in-an-ice-cube in my dad's water. He took a drink, and told Ralph, who in his customary fashion, loudly berated the entire wait staff. I didn't know until then that a customer service problem was Ralph's short fuse.

Rehash: Ralph was chief chef at Valerio's. They had a culinary "disagreement", Ralph quit, opened the first Naples in the 3600 block of Broadway. If you parked in the lot in back, you entered the dining room through the kitchen. I don't know what year Naples opened, but my dad said the first time he walked in from across the street, he asked for a cheese sandwich, and Ralph yelled at him about dining neapolitan. That may be a stretch, because my grandfather would often ask if a diner had "pie like my mother used to make". When the waitress replied, "We sure do, Hon.", he would ask for a cheese sandwich.

I took my first dinner date there in high school. Called and made reservations for two. When I stepped to the register to pay, I was told by the cashier (maybe Ralph's wife or sister?), that "it was taken care of". I thought my father had done it. But later he denied it. Ralph must've seen the last name on the reservation list, thought my parents were dining, and seeing me and my date realized it had been many years since the fly-in-the-plastic-ice-cube.

I believe at one time Ralph's son was a school teacher.

Is The Barn Door still open? And is anyone old enough to remember Tom's Tackle Shop on Blanco (I think) south of Basse, later in a strip mall on San Pedro. Run by a letter carrier named Tom Culwell.