Back When
A couple of days ago on the KOGT radio morning show, we started talking about hamburgers. Lawrence Gant called and said he used to love the ones served at the Bengal Cafe and that set us to thinking about burgers we loved. In these days of chain restaurants, every burger is the same. Individual eateries are the ones with the distinct burgers.
The Bengal Cafe owned by the Rhodes family was a downtown fixture for decades. It stood at 202 Green Avenue at the northwest corner of First Street, not far from Simmons Drive. Gant recalls that during the days of segregation, he had to go to the back door to order and wait until the white customers were served. He didn’t mind because the burgers were so good.
Orange was once filled with small cafes where burgers were served. I looked at a 1941 newspaper with ads for cafes and saw Rip’s Cafe, the Oasis Cafe at 1207 Green Avenue and the Capistrano at 1209 Green Avenue, which was next door. Rhodes Sandwich Shop advertised “Deluxe Hamburger” and something called “chicken in the ruff.” I don’t know whether the Rhodes Sandwich Shop later began the Bengal Cafe.
I also recall the old-timers from the 1930s telling me about Azzie Davis’ cafe on Green Avenue across the street from Orange High School, which in those days was the three-story brick building that later became Carr Junior High. The cafe would sell individual cigarettes for a penny a piece. The high school students would go there to get a smoke. These days the cops would shut it down. We’ve learned a lot since then about how bad tobacco is. I hope the cafe’s burgers were good. If I recall correctly from stories, in the 1950s Poole’s Cafe was also on Green Avenue across from what by then was Stark High.
A burger I remember came from the old walk-up Dairy Queen at Park Avenue and 10th Street. Wasn’t the Dairy Queen also owned by the Rhodes family? The burger was a drippy one with shredded lettuce. It was wrapped in paper that was kept together at the top with a toothpick with a green stuffed olive at the top. Even at a young age I loved olives. I can’t recall if the Dairy Queen had French fries. My parents got us a Dentler’s potato chips in the green wax paper bag for a nickel. I think the burger was a quarter. Usually my brother and I got the burger and chips to go to my grandmother’s house when she babysat us.
A lot of the Baby Boomer generation in Orange ate burgers at Zack’s Whopaburger. There was a Zack’s on Second Street near Green Avenue and the legendary drive-in on MacArthur Drive. Other drive-ins on MacArthur included Drake’s and Jim’s. My family went to Jim’s for the fish “basket” that came in a white baker’s box. The drive-ins on MacArthur all had carhops.
Elmer’s was on Simmons Drive up into the late 1980s or maybe even the early 1990s. I didn’t eat there until I was grown but when I returned to town as a young newspaper reporter, I enjoyed a burger there for lunch. By that time, customers walked into the cafe to eat. The days of the car hops had gone. A friend of mine who worked at the Houston Chronicle and traveled a lot declared Elmer’s the best burgers he had ever had.
I have been told that Elmer’s and the Capistrano when they were drive-ins sold beer. Carhops would bring your beer on a tray to the car. Once again, a no-no for today. Perhaps the old days weren’t as good as some things today. Cigarettes for kids and beer served to drivers in their cars. Think about that for your children or grandchildren.
If you have memories of a good burger in Orange County, please let me know at backwhen1600@gmail.com. Also, if you have any photos of some of these old places, send them.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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