Daily Demolition Report: Chicken and Egg Roll

Whichever came first, it sure looks like they’ll be shoving off together.

***

Commercial Structures

Residences

Photo of Chicken N Egg Roll Restaurant: City-Data Forum poster jfre81

15 Comment

  • Awww… That joint kept me fed as an undergrad, about a million years ago.

  • Has anyone notice a plethora of Japanese restaurants in the area now? Now another one? Well, I guess I’ll never be to far way from some sushi.

  • I agree with RWB; that place was an institution to me when I was in college and lived down the street at Shepherd @ Westheimer. I was sad to see it close and am sad to see it go (even though I know it needs to be torn down). Maybe they’ll add some decent parking this time.

  • i always liked chicken and egg roll but i wasn’t satisfied with the quantity of food for the price. i leave the montrose to get my cheap chinese fix though so i guess they were priced accordingly for the area.

  • My memory of the place was going there to get egg rolls while my friend held our place in line at the Alabama theatre waiting for the first showing of Empire Strikes Back. Kinda sad that none of that experience is repeatable.

  • You got eggrolls? Lucky – we just got Dunkin’ Donuts and played Pente’ on the sidewalk with some guy who worked at the Gulfgate Mall game shop.

  • I, too, ate at Chicken n Egg Roll back in the late 70s through early 90s, when it was an excellent place to eat. At some point during its early incarnation, the food was actually prepared in front of you on an oblong cooking surface Benihana-style while you waited. But it was originally a Toddle House Coffee Shop, which were very popular in the D/FW area.

  • P.S. Just check the Toddle House listing in Wikipedia for reference. They had counter seating only, no tables.

  • I’ll miss the roll. I had a buddy that always ordred special #1 with white meat. He went there so often that the chinese lady behind the counter would smile and shout “Special White Meat!” when he came in. To this day his nickname is, you guessed it, “Special White Meat.”

    And I second the thought on Japanese restaurants in the area. I was joking with someone that I’m glad a Japanese place is going in because I’m tired of the other 35 in the neighborhood. The per capita consumption of edamame around there must rival that of any city in Japan.

  • Agreed with RWB and the other old-timers. This place was an institution. I am genuinely sad to see it go. Well, there’s always Chapultepec if we need to conjure ancient memories…

  • Anyone else remmeber that just after it was the Aluminum Room at the El Toddel it was Houston’s first “slider” joint- Myti-Byte?

  • @Ryan: Special White Meat! Oh… my… gawd… If there is a better nickname, I have not heard it.

    @Miz Brooke Smith: Chapultepec! Is it still there? The salsa would always leave a chemical burn on my tongue and gums– but it was so good, I’d eat it anyway!

    Man, Chicken and Egg Roll’s demo is yet another sign of impending apocalypse. Way back in the early 80s, when the world seemed bright and new, Men in Medicine (a scandalous BCM posse) held many a dinner meeting there. If you could eat an entire plate of shrimp fried rice, they’d serve you another plate for free. When the wok chef’s son got into med school, we ate for free. (Another lost art: professional courtesy. Sigh.)

  • Eric–I’m sure current BCM, Rice and St. Thomas kids have their own hangouts that they’ll feel plenty nostalgic about in 20 years. My buddies and I (80s-era Rice undergrads) frequented Chicken n Egg Roll, Star Pizza, and House of Pies… It’s amazing that 2 of the 3 are still there!

  • Montrose just won’t be the same without the Chicken and Egg Roll. It was popular in the KTRH newsroom, too, back when KTRH was on Lovett and broadcast actual news rather than right-wing talk shows. Add in the closing of Cafe Montrose and I think it will be too painful for me to make a visit to Montrose the next time I am in Houston.

    Where are the cockroaches of yesteryear?

  • Yay, Swamplot picked up my picture.

    Actually had no idea that place had been around that long.