The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 28, 1993, Image 9

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hursday, October 28,1993
The Battalion
Page 9
ed Press
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An Acotf Tradition in Barbfcuf
Martin's Place stands alone as
the oldest restaurant in town
By Dave Thomas
THt BArTAUON
A ggies aren't particularly
known for embracing
change. And not too far
from the heart of Texas A&M
stands a lone, red-brick building
that hasn't changed much in 54
years.
Inside the building is a restau
rant, complete with a horseshoe
bar and a half-dozen wooden ta
bles. A pool table, television and
domino table all hoard separate
corners. The smell of barbecue
lingers in the air.
The decor is varied: old farm
implements, horse-show rib
bons, Parsons' Mounted Caval
ry mementos and Aggie football
memorabilia compete for atten
tion. Several different brands of
beer all try in vain to drown out
Lone Star's claim as "the Na
tional Beer of Texas." Old
wooden signs advise customers
"No Credit" and "Saw Varsity's
Horns Off... Short!"
Martin's Place is a standout
in the world of "here today,
gone tomorrow" restaurants and
fast food joints. Martin’s, the
only family-owned and oldest
restaurant in town, has been
serving barbecue since Martin
Kapchinskie moved from Marlin
in 1925.
Third-generation owner
Steve Kapchinskie said his
grandfather settled right there
on the corner of 3403 South Col
lege where Martin's Place
stands today.
"This area used to be dirt
roads and fields. The original
Martin's was an old wooden
building," Steve said. "It had the
barbecue pit on the outside. If
you look in the parking lot, you
can still see the bricks from the
old pit."
Back then, the farmers would
all drive their wagons into town
on Saturdays, and they would
stop by to get barbecue on their
way to Bryan.
The original Martin's building
lasted 14 years, until the business
grew to the point where a bigger
building was needed.
"Two good things happened
in 1939," Steve said, "A&M won
its only national championship,
and a bigger Martin's was built."
Things have stayed pretty
much the same since then.
Ada Holler, Steve's sister-in-
law and a Martin's employee,
said the only changes she can re
member are paneling the walls
and buying matching tables.
"We used to eat off beer cases
or whatever else we could make
a table out of," she said.
Other than barbecue plates,
Martin's offers sandwiches,
chicken fried steak, chicken
strips, catfish, cheeseburgers,
beans and hunks of cheese.
And beer.
About 6:00 or so, the after
work crowd begins to wander in.
Ada is there to greet them with
their favorite brand of beer. But
this is a quiet crowd, and they are
content to watch Wheel of For
tune and talk about the lottery.
"We do get a lot of characters
in here, but this is a very family-
"Two good things
happened in 1939,
A&M won its only
national champi
onship, and a bigger
Martin's was built."
-Steve Kapchinskie,
third-generation owner
of Martin's
oriented place," Ada said. "Peo
ple bring their children in here."
Ada said the "rough crowd"
are the older men who play
dominoes in the afternoon and
especially on Saturday.
"They play for blood. Not all
of them get along so well, but
we always have a good time,"
she said.
Steve agreed, "The domino
table gets pretty intense, but it's
all in fun. There's no gambling
or anything."
Besides the beer and dominos,
what brings the regulars back
time after time is the barbecue.
Kyle Burneti/THt BaTTAUQH
E.D. Lambert (right), a retired postal worker, and H.O. Canty, a re
tired carpenter, play dominos in Martin's on Wednesday afternoon.
Lambert (who is 82 years old) and Canty (who is 86), meet at Mar
tin's six days a week to play.
Steve is proud to explain
how he has achieved such cus
tomer loyalty.
"I'm still doing everything the
way my granddad did. I still cook
the old-timer way. I put the fire
on one end, and 1 take the coals
and shoot 'em under the meat. I
don't do the modern stuff where
you just walk off and leave it. I
have to watch it every minute."
He said he first started cook
ing nearly 25 years ago when he
was a boy.
"My first job was cleaning out
the pits, and I hated it. T still do."
Those pits were built in 1939,
and Steve still uses them today
although they're beginning to
show some signs of age.
"People often ask me,
'When're you going to build an
other pit?'" Steve said, "Well, the
only way I'll build another one is
if this one falls in; there's lots of
flavor in there."
The flavor isn't limited to the
food.
Perhaps the most colorful fig
ure in Martin's history is Steve v s
uncle, Steve Holik. A true Aggie
fan, Uncle Stevie worked in the
campus mess halls from 1936 un
til 1946 and would ride on the
train with the football team to
away games.
"My uncle told me that 'Bear'
Bryant used to come and eat
here, but l can't remember that
for sure," Steve said.
In 1946 Uncle Stevie began
working at Martin's and soon be
came a 'living legend' there.
Some people say that it would
only take one visit before he
could remember what you liked
to drink.
Ada has fond memories of her
uncle, "We still have Aggies come
through here and have to leave
when they find out Uncle Stevie
died, they get so choked up. Un
cle Stevie never let an Aggie leave
here hungry; he'd give him a bowl
of beans or something."
Steve said he'd still like to
feed the Aggies.
"We're getting a lot of busi
ness people during lunch, but
we're not getting as many stu
dents as before," he said. "A lot
of them just don't know we're
here."
"Lots of people drive by and
nothing stands out," Steve said.
"T don't know what to do. I'd
hate to do any changing on the
outside of the building because
that'd kind of ruin the history of
the place."
Glancing back into that histo
ry, Steve still has one of the origi
nal menus his grandfather used
when he opened Martin's Place
67 years ago. Back then a T-bone
steak was 45 cents and goose liv
er on toast was 15 cents. You
could even get breakfast back
then; pancakes and bacon were
only 20 cents.
Steve said he doesn't think
he'll sell goose liver on toast
again. And he doesn't think he'll
return to the original prices.
GlLzJOs
COSTUME RENTALS
Rents
Costumes & Accesories
RESERVE NOW!!!
Sells
Makeup & Accesories
779-4444
1901 Texas Ave. Bryan fTownshire
Shopping Cntr. next to Blinn College.)
Party Time
Rents
Halloween Decorations
Sells costumes
& Accessories
1901 Tx. Ave. Bryan
(409) 779-0094
l^ilWAUEHOIJSr,
WE BUY USED
CD'S FOR
$4.00 or trade 2 for 1
USED CD'S
$8.99 or LESS
268-0154
(At Northgate)
PICK UP
YOUR COPY.
If you ordered a 1993-94
Campus Directory, Stop by room
230 Reed McDonald Building
between 8:15 a.m. and 4:45
p.m. Monday through Friday to
pick up your copy. (Please bring
ID.)
If you did not order a Campus
Directory as a fee option when
you registered for Fall '93 classes,
you may purchase a copy for $3
plus tax in the Student
Publications office, room 230
Reed McDonald. The Campus
Directory includes listings of
students, faculty, staff and other
information about A8cM.
’93-94 Campus
Directory
Study Abroad in
London!
King's College of
London is offering a
reciprocal exchange
program especially made
forTAMVJ students who are
science and life science majors.
Participants receive TAML/
credit for all classes!
INFO MEETINGS
Monday, Nov. 1, 3:00 pm
Tuesday, Nov. 16,11:30 am
£51 Bizzell Hall West
Sttuiy Ahroini Croizrums. 161 Hizzcll I lull West. N-U-O.UV
Camp
Continued from Page 2
rest resources to offer graduate
Hudents and how we should ap-
|proach them."
Dumas said he and Faw are
considering structuring Grad
7amp to fall over a football week
end early in the semester so the
graduate students might attend a
Midnight Yell together.
According to Dumas and Faw's
tentative plans, the graduate stu
dents will break off into their re
spective colleges with older grad
uate students as counselors. Pro
grams will be presented concern
ing issues such as traditions, fi
nancial aid, interviewing skills
and finding a job.
Dumas said Grad Camp hopes
to invite professors and former
graduate students to talk to the
graduate students.
"One thing that will be really
beneficial to the students at Grad
Camp is the opportunity to form
friendships with the people they
will be working with throughout
their graduate studies," Dumas
said.
He said Grad Camp will be sim
ilar to Fish Camp in that it pro
motes friendship between the stu
dents, but will be structurally dif
ferent in order to cater to graduate
students.
"We can't exactly play 'chubby
bunny' with a group of graduate
students," Dumas said. "We know
that and are looking at things that
will best suit their needs."
However, Faw said Grad
Camp is seeking ideas from peo
ple with experience in Fish Camp
and T-Camp.
"We need enthusiastic people
who are really excited about this
program," Faw said. "It would
help to have ideas from people
involved in Fish Camp or T-
Camp who have peer counseling
experience."
Walker said he has received
support for Grad Camp from the
administration, but funding is still
a concern. He said Grad Camp
will begin in the fall, providing no
major problems arise.
Off Campus Aggies
10th Annual Aggieland Spooktacular
Sponsors indude:
Copy Corner
Urst American Bank
Manpower Temp Services
3rd Floor Cantina
Java City
Amber's
Furrow
Northgate Cafe
Fuddruckers
TCA Cable
James Coney Island
Molly's
Young Contractors
LosNortenos Cafe
U-Rent-Em
Bell-Barcelona Concrete Accessories Inc
October 31,1993 6:00 p.m. -12:00 am
114 South Bryan Ave.
(next to 3rd Floor Cantina)
HauntedHouse Admission:
$5.00 adults $4.0012 & under
$1.00 off with nonperishablefood item
(benefiting Brazos Food Bank)
formore info call O.C. A.
office at 845-068 8
r:00&
r :00
ented in
mum
reen in
alley!
: $2.50
liable for
ox Office
11...
15-1234
ns Office
nt Center
Committee
ease callus!
ilm to enable
of our ability
/A\
/A
A\
HSniMNT
Buy one entree and get
ONE OF EQUAL OR LESS VALUE
FREE!
To be used Sun. - Thur. 5-9 pm
Please present to waiter when ordering
Expires Nov. 15
•nee
MBIA
URES
Jose's
ZARAPE
New Location
Restaurante
268-0036
779-8702
3824 S. Texas Ave.
308 N. Main
1 1 mile North University Dr.
Downtown Bryan
L- — — — —i — -
mm bmbmi mmm mmmm mmm mm* tmmmm hh mmm ■
SPECIAL OFFER - $2.50 with this ad!
Advance or at the door.
are a
H THURSDAYS ^ ^ .
MOT HI
The Comedy Club
8 PM - 10 PM
1/2 price Pile Drivers
Tickets $4. in advance, $5. at the door
Listen to KTSR for more details.
XCOLLEGE STATION HILTON
and Conference Center
801 University Drive East, College Station, Texas 77840
409/693-7500
E.S.L.
Conversational
English Classes
Day and evening
classes
•
Beginning-
advanced levels
Individual and
small group lessons
For information
call or visit
Noon to 5:30
Monday-Friday
707 Texas Ave.
Suite 303 Bldg. C
(Across from Bonfire
behind A R Photography)
696-6583
KORA
98.3
BREAKFAST WITH TONY BARONE
Saturday, October 30, 8 a.m*
The First Day of Basketball Practice
G. Rollie White Coliseum
Come looking your worst for the
’’Look Your Worst Contest!”
Food, Contest and Prizes
Aggie Basketball
DONUTS, COFFEE
AND ORANGE JUICE
-+- ‘T'ziarorRjzNiG
260-2660
Tickets will be on sale Sunday 10/31, 4-7 p.m.
Bill’s
Classes
Sun. 10/1
Mon. 11/1
Tue. 11/2
Wed. 11/3
Thr. 11/4
5 p.m.
PHYS 201
CH 13 &
Practice Test
PHYS 201
Dr. Ham Exams
PHYS 201
Dr. Ford Exams
7 p.m.
CHEM. 102
CH 28 &
Practice Exams A
CHEM 102
Practice Exams B
9 p.m.
PHYS 218
CH 10
PHYS 218
CH 11
PHYS 218
CH 12
PHYS 218
CH 13
John’s
BIOL. 113
Tue. 11/16
7:30 - 10:30 p.m.
CH 11, 12, 13
Wed. 11/17
7:30- 10:30 p.m.
CH 13, 14, 15
Sat. 11/20
3-6 p.m.
CH 15, 16, 17
Sun. 11/21
3 - 6 p.m.
Practice Test Review
Sun. 10/31
MATH 142
Test 2 Review