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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 1984)
Arts and Entertainment Back-to-School Edition The Battalion/Monday, August27, 1984/Page IB Pigging out — an Aggie tradition By RENEE HARRELL Reporter If you’re looking for a good res taurant with new and different en trees you might have overlooked some restaurants that have been around for a while. Bryan-College Station’s finer eating places are add ing new entrees and changing some of the old ones on their fall menus. Hoffbrau Steaks, 317 South Col lege Avenue in College Station, has been in business for two years. This fall Hoffbrau has added a few new items to its menu. One is the ‘soon- to-be-famous’ enchiladas. They are stuffed with marinated ftyita meat, covered with gaucamole and sell for 54.95. “We’ve got some super appeti zers,” says owner/manager Jack Miesch. “We have a new item called fajita skins for $4.25. Its potato skins filled with fajita meat. Of course we have our chicken fried steaks for 54.95, but we are trying to convince people that we’re expanding. We are going to have a Sunday brunch with E rime rib and champagne. We also ave individual deep dish pies.” Hoffbrau Steaks is open Sunday through Wednesday from 1 1 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Thursday until 12 p.m. Friday and Saturday it closes at 1 a.m. Fish Richard’s Half Century House, 801 Welborn Road., special izes in steaks and seafood. Prime rib is $10.95 and a lunch entree with a vegetable and salad costs $3.95. Owner/manager Bill Perry says Fish Richard’s is an old remodeled house with early 1900 deacor. He says the seven-dining room restaurant also has an extensive wine list. The well-established College Sta tion restaurant is open for lunch Monday through Friday from 1 1:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. and for dinner Monday through Saturday from 5 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. Another College Station restau rant is Interurban Eating House, 505 Universitv Drive. Steaks range from $6 to $12 and burgers and sandwiches range from $3.75 to $5.25. Interurban is open from 1 1 a.m. until 12 p.m. weekdays and un til 1 a.m. on weekends. New restaurants in the area also could be possibilities if you’re looking for something new and dif ferent. JJ. Muggs Restaurant Bar and Grill, which opened in mid-August, is one of the newest dining places in College Station. One house special is the baby-back pork ribs which are slowly cooked for about eight hours. The cost — $6.95. Another JJ. Muggs specialty is the philly cheese steak, which is thinly sliced steak, Thursday 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. and until 12 p.m. on Friday and Satur day. Freddie Fuddrucker’s, 2206 Texas Avenue South in College Sta tion, is a unique restaurant specializ ing in self-service hamburgers. Cus tomers line up to create their own hamburgers at the condiment bar. sauteed mushrooms, cheese and a hilly-style roll for $4.25. Manager teve Whitis says everything is homemade. He says the casual atmo sphere of JJ. Muggs makes it a “fun type place” that plays vintage rock ’n’ roll from the late ’60’s to the mid ’70’s. “The enthusiasm of our staff is what makes us stand apart from the rest,” Whitis says. JJ. Muggs, 1704 Kyle Avenue South, is open Sunday through “We grind our own beef here,” manager Gene Rouner says. “We have a glass-encased butcher shop where the customers can watch. Ev eryday we make our own buns. We have hamburgers, red wurst hick ory-smoked sausage, hotdogs, sau teed onions, a bowl of pinto beans and jalepenos. That’s our entire menu. We also have a bar here with all call drinks for $ 1.50.” Fuddruckers is open Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. and Sunday, 12 a.m. until 10 p.m. If you’re hungry for Chinese food, one of the options in College Station is Hunan Chinese Restaurant, 913-G Harvey Road. Manager Howard Chiu says Hun- ans uses the Hunan cooking styles from midwest China to make their Chinese food unique. “It makes a spicey hot dish, sau teed with hot peppers,” Chiu says. “We have 14 new dishes out right now.” King crab legs with scallops cost $7.95. The Hunan smoked duck half is $9.25. Hunans also serves “shrimp crystal,” a lightly fried shrimp dish. Business hours during the week are from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m. Weekend hours are 12 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m. The China Restaurant, 803 South Main in Bryan, serves the “aggie special” for $3.95. This includes, wonton soup, sweet and sour pork or chicken, chicken chow mein, fried rice and an egg roll. ‘Precious shrimp’ is another specialty at The China Restaurant. The shrimp are fried and cooked with Chinese vege tables and sell for $5.75. This Chinese restaurant is open everyday for supper from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and everyday except Tuesday and Saturday for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. If you’re in the mood for seafood, Padre Cafe, 1601 Texas Avenue South in College Station, is open da ily from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. Al though Padre Cafe is known for its fajitas, the fresh seafood is also a specialty. “We get fresh seafood everyday from Shreveport, Louisianna,” man ager Ricky Martinez says. “It’s very nutritious too.” The baked haddock with vegeta bles sauteed in butter and wine sauce is $4.55. Shrimp and oysters are big sellers too, Martinez says. He says ev erything is made fresh daily at Padre Cafe. “We have a pretty lively atmo sphere,” Martinez says. “We play ’50’s and ’60’s music and occasionally somejazz.” The specialty at Pelican’s Wharf, 2500 Texas Avenue South in Col lege Station, is mesquite broiled fresh fish. The cost of this with a baked potato, a salad, ice tea and a bar drink is $9.95. Pelican’s Wharf has homemade desserts such as cheesecake and black russian cake. Prime rib is also a house specialty. Pelican’s Wharf is open from 5 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 11:30 p.m. Fri day and Saturday. In Bryan, Maxi’s, 112 South Main, specializes in crepes. Ranging in price from about $2.75 to $3.50, the crepe entrees include, creamy chicken, country beef, broccoli cream sauce and mushroom. Two dessert crepes are ‘crepe suzette,’ which is oranges, cinnamon and brandy for $3.25 and ‘bananas fos ter’ for $2.75. This restaurant has live mellow music, says Diane Thornton, assis tant manager. Maxi’s is open from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Sunday. J.T. McCords, 2232 Texas Ave nue South in College Station, serves seven different burgers. The price range is from $3.75 to $4.25. J.T. McCords is also known for its fried vegetable basket. Rib eye steak and potato skins are other specialties at J.T. McCords. Happy hour is 11 a.m. to 7 p m. everyday. Business hours are from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. With the abundance of fine eating places in Bryan-College Station, resi dents shouldn’t have a problem find ing a restaurant to suit their taste. ...or the more affordable Charlie’s grocery on University Drive, where a scoop of Bluebell ice cream is always served with a friendly smile. Cafe lost in time warp Cookie companies battle over America’s sweet tooth By ROBIN BLACK Senior Staff Writer The clock with the blue neon halo around its face reads 12:28 — lunchtime. People shuffle in and out of the restaurant while over in the corner the old Wur- litzer jukebox cranks out strains of Bing Crosby and Glenn Miller doing “Moonlight Cocktail.” In another corner, an aquar ium full of goldfish gurgles away as groups, couples and loners are led to tables by menu-toting wait resses. Beer coasters line the floures- cent lights. Three ceiling fans whim overhead and a lighted sign by a cooler full of beer tells the crowd that Hires Rootbeer is the best in the world. What seems like a scene from a 1950s B-movie is just everyday traffic in the Deluxe Burger Bar. The Deluxe is a semi-fast-food restaurant with a flavor of some decade past, although it’s hard to tell if that decade is supposed to be the ’40s, ’50s, ’60s or ’70s. By KAREN GILES Reporter It’s easy to miss, but well worth noticing. It was renamed the Hempstead Inn 50 years ago, but it’s not an inn at all. The dark blue, white trimmed, wooden framed two-story structure was once a country boarding house until about two years ago. Now it is noted for its country style cooking. In 1901, the Hempstead Inn, originally named the Pecan Inn, was built facing the railroad tracks. The locals say the town of Hemp stead was nicknamed Six-Shooter Junction, because whenever the train approached, the conductor would insist that the passengers duck down since residents at the inn liked to lean over the balcony and shoot at the train windows. Since then the inn has been moved to a nearby location in Hempstead, but assistant manager, Holly Joy, says it looks just the same. With a little imagination, you can The song list in the old Wur- litzer — no quarters, please, all plays are free — boasts a reper toire of selections spanning half a century: Glenn Miller and the Andrews Sisters representing the 40s; Sam Cooke and Elvis Presley from the 50s; Sam the Sham and Bob Dylan bringing back the 60s; Bruce Springsteen for the 70s and Cyndi Lauper and the Thompson Twins for the 80s- minded crowd. The customers, too, seem to range in variety as much as the music. Two old men sit at a table by the pink neon-bordered win dows, one sporting a new-looking straw cowboy hat, looking quite the part of the rancher or some facsimile thereof. Over at the fountain counter, a young couple is oblivious to ev erything but each other and their cherry cokes. At another table a group of five Young Urban Professionals enjoy their lunch hour and each other’s company. picture yourself approaching a home right out of Huckleberry Finn, but don’t take the front walkway be cause it drops off onto U.S Highway 6. The entrance is easier to reach from the small worn dirt path lead ing from the parking lot around the side. There are vines entertwining the rungs of the little white picket fence that frames the front porch. Within the two whitewashed wooden front doors, there’s a wait ing room-gift shop available for guests to browse in if the tables are filled. The shop includes a postcard stand featuring various sites in nearby towns, shelves filled with ce ramic and fabric hens, wire and wicker baskets, colorful canisters, and bears, bears, bears- ceramic, plastic, big, and little, dozens and dozens of teddy bears. Visitors can also catch up on their history reading since there’s an enormous book resting heavily on the coffee table in the center of the room, filled with yellowed N.Y Times newspapers from 1949. Still other people dash hur riedly in and out, taking advan tage of the take-out counter. An old wooden Richardson Rootbeer barrel squats on the take-out counter by the compute rized cash register, which seems alien to all other decor save the vi deo games that sit unplayed, beeping to no one in particular. Sitting under the menu on the counter by the computerized cash register is a glass case displaying the endless variety of English, German, Argentinian, Australian and other exotic beers. The bottles are laid out on a bed of ice cubes reminiscent of the way fresh fish are displayed in the seafood section of a super market. Things start to slow down a little and the take-out counter waits for business as the wait resses catch their breath. As the blue-haloed clock points out that it’s almost 1:30 p.m., the crowd thins noticeably as the Beatles echo “Nowhere Man” from the old jukebox. A red carpeted staircase leads up to eight unoccupied bedrooms, but Issa Ghazi, the owner, says that sometimes he likes to stay overnight. The seating arrangement at din ner is family style. Tables accommo date from 12 to 16 people, and the menu features country cooking, all you can eat, and you can shop while you eat, since the walls are decorated with prints that are for sale. Once you’ve had your fill, a cash ier will be waiting for you near the front door, under a mirrored sign that reads “No smoking, spitting or cussing.” You’ll find that the meal will not pinch your pocketbook too much. Lunch is $6, dinner $8. Children un der 10 eat for half price. A faded plaster frog sits patiently by the two front doors, just as the regular customers do on the two whitewashed swinging chairs and the two benches. “After eating, it’s sort of a ritual for customers to sit out here one the benches and enjoy the breeze,” Joy said. By RENEE HARRELL Reporter Soft cookies — chocolate chip, al mond fudge, butterscotch, mint chocolate chip, peanut butter ’n fudge, coconut, iced oatmeal... You may have tried one or all of the chewy homemade-tasting coo kies that are finding their way into Bryan-College Station supermar kets. You also may have noticed the increasing shelf space the new soft cookies are getting. It looks as if three consumer product giants are bringing a cookie war to Bryan-Col lege Station. Soft cookie manufacturers fight ing for shelf space are the Keebler Co., which makes Soft Batch cookies, Nabisco Brands Inc., which makes Almost Home cookies and Procter & Gamble Co., which makes Duncan Hines cookies. P&G has filed suit against Keebler, Nabisco and the Dallas- based Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo. Frito-Lay does not distribute its Grandma’s Rich ’n Chewy line of cookies in Bryan-College Station. P&G is charging its three rivals with stealing the patented secrets of its Duncan Hines cookies. “The secret behind our soft coo kie is the crispy outside and chewy inside,” says Linda Appleby, public relations manager for P&G. “It’s a mixture of two different sugars. They form two slightly different doughs and one is wrapped around the other. The outer dough turns crispy while the inner dough stays soft and chewy.” Appleby says P&G filed the law suit last June. “We filed suit for a patent in fringement immediately upon rec eipt of the patent,” Appleby says. “We’ve had a patent pending since 1979, but just received the patent in June.” A spokesman for Nabisco says a denial of the charge was filed on July 19. “We have denied all of the allega tions in the law suit brought by P&G,” says Caroline See, a Nabisco public relations manager. “We filed a denial concerning the patent in fringement and unfair competetion on July 19.” Keebler has not yet filed a denial. “We’ve been served with a copy of the complaint,” says Craig Stevens, general counselor and secretary for Keebler. “We find it backs no merit, therefore, we’ll defend it vigorous- iy-” A Keebler spokesman tells Keebl- er’s baking secret. “They are made with Elfin mag ic,” the Keebler spokesman says. “You know they’re made by Elves. We have eight soft cookies out right now. I think our experience with the product is just too brief at this time to be expanding. The soft cookies are a rather new phenomenon.” A Safeway assistant manager says the three rivals have been strongly promoting their products. “All of them have been promoting their soft cookies,” says K.C. Mitch- Soft cookie manufacturers fighting for shelf space are the Keebler Co., which makes Soft Batch cookies, Nabisco Brands Inc., which makes Almost Home cookies and Procter & Gamble Co., which makes Duncan Hines coo kies. ell, assistant manager of the College Station Safeway on South Texas Avenue. “All of the soft cookies have been on sale at different times the last three or four weeks. They’re giv ing us in-store specials to put up somewhere else in the store, not just in the cookie section. Keebler has made a successful attempt at getting their stuff on the shelf. Archway is starting to get pushed out, but I don’t think they will. We put up an Archway display last week.” Some of the traditional “hard” cookies are loosing shelf space. Con sumers may have noticed that Moth ers Cake and Cookie Co. cookies and Archway cookies have lost shelf space in most local grocery stores. A Bryan Safeway assistant man ager, Dan Feldman, says all tradi tional cookies have been cut back in his store. The Kroger Family Center on South Texas Avenue has removed the Mothers line of cookies. At a Bryan Safeway that carries all three of the soft cookie brands, manager Rick Colby says Mothers and Arch way have both lost shelf space. “We recently re-did our cookie section,” Colby says. “Archway is just about down to nothing. The Safeway brand cookie has lost a lot of space. We only have one shelf left for Arch way. Just looking at the prices and shelf, I bet Duncan Hines is the best seller here.” Archway has begun the fight for more shelf space too. It has started putting up separate displays in some locg.1 stores where it isn’t able to to get shelf space. While Duncan Hines and Almost Home cookies go through distribu tors, Keebler is a “store-door” dis tributor for itself. Local distributors say they haven’t stopped carrying any of the traditional cookies yet. Brenham Wholesale, which serves areas of Bryan-College Station, hasn’t discontinued any traditional cookies. Head buyer John Schaer says some stores have just added to their cookie sections. Brenham Wholesale has been carrying Dun can Hines about two months and Al most Home about two weeks. “They were new products so I went ahead and got them,” Schaer says. “We’re real successful with the Duncan Hines. We really can’t tell with the Nabisco yet because we’ve just been carrying them about two weeks. The movement has been more than I thought it would be. They’re ordering every week. I know my sales have tripled on the Duncan Hines.” Promotional measures being taken by Nabisco, Keebler and P&G include coupons and free mailing samples. All three are putting out coupons. Duncan Hines is the only one of the three that has sent out free samples. “We have a sampling 2.3 ounce box of plain chocolate chip cookies that have been sent to a percentage of homes,” Appleby of P&G says. In most Bryan-College Station su permarkets, soft cookies cost be tween $1.49 and $1.79 for a 12 ounce bag. Soft Batch is presently having a special for $1.49, Duncan Hines’ regular price is $1.69 and Al most Homes’ regualar price is $1.79. Nearby inn has down-home food, down-home service for small cost