Barbecue Inn

Picture from author, March 2019
With the recent passing of Barbecue Inn (closed the first weekend of August 2026) I wanted to take another look at this post and expand it somewhat. To start off, let's take a look at what Fearless Critics: Houston Restaurant Guide said about this restaurant in 2008 that convinced me to try it.

Click to enlarge. Sorry about the quality, it's not my scan.
When I visited in March 2019 I was happy to see that most of that held true. The fries were good (but best in Houston? Hmmm...) and the chicken fried steak was excellent. And they did have that little thing for the baked potatoes. But at the same time the restaurant seemed largely stuck in the past, and its time was ultimately coming to a close.

Barbecue Inn's closing made the Houston Chronicle (7/31/2026).
Now, it's talked about that it's 80 or so years but how old is it really? Well, Barbecue Inn's current building, according to both HCAD and newspaper records, was built in 1965. As of 1961, the 116 West Crosstimbers address that Barbecue Inn called home for decades was a private residence, with a fire reported in 1961 that damaged the roof, and it's likely that this house, whether repaired or not, was the one that was torn down.

The first reference to Barbecue Inn in the Houston papers appears here in 1931 as a restaurant opening at 242 West Gray. There were references to an "Eddie's Barbecue Inn" in 1942, an "Avalon Barbecue Inn" in 1947, and "Casey's Barbecue Inn" on Market Street in Baytown. Louis & Nell Skrehot opened the restaurant back in 1946, and in 1948 there's a reference to a Barbecue Inn at 4400 Yale, which is the same business, but located across the street where the gas station is currently, but no references to its current address exist prior to 1965, which is what HCAD says. Of course, it's possible that HCAD guessed from the newspaper archives and is just as wrong, but aerials back up the current building not existing prior to 1965, and another similarly-sized (non-residential) building being across the street.

I didn't take any pictures of my meal, unfortunately. (3/2019, by author)
When I originally posted this back in 2020, my Crosstimbers page looks nothing like it does today (and for some reason, as of this update—September 7th, 2026— it somehow is missing the link to the page, which will be fixed by the end of the month.

Jack in the Box in The Heights

Photo by author, March 2019
Built in 1977 but replacing an older restaurant dating back to at least the mid-1960s, this Jack in the Box closed September 2018. The restaurant was poorly run, with employees actually refusing to serve hamburgers after around 7 pm citing the grill being shut off (likely a reason for its demise, as Jack in the Box stores usually thrive on night traffic). After a major renovation inside and out, it reopened as Velvet Taco in January 2021, their third location in Houston at the time but the first with a drive-through. Jack in the Box's "box" signage was kept and reused, however.

UPDATE 08-25-2026: Article touched up for better integration with Carbon-izer

1317 Telephone Road

1317 Telephone Road

When this post was added in early 2019 it simply read "HCAD puts this at being built in 1927, and it has not changed hands since 1992. It likely has been a law office since that time, and no further information is currently available. Photo from author, December 2018."

What we do know is that in the late 1920s it was Cohen's Barber Shop with the other storefront being M.V. Pickett Meat Market. In 1940 one of those storefronts became home of Collins Cleaning and Laundry Service (replacing the meat market as Cohen's continued).

By 1948 the laundromat gave way to Poe & Son Hardware. Following the death of the older Poe in 1959 the establishment became Poe Electric Company in 1963. Meanwhile, that same year, Cohen's Barber Shop closed when Cohen retired after thirty-four years. In 1969, only references for "Myers Business Machines" (calculators, typewriters, etc.) could be found, followed by a similar business (currently unnamed) that added office furniture to the mix by the mid-1970s but the trail ran cold after 1978. Maybe it was abandoned until 1992.

Crain's Garden Center

4511 Highway 6 North

Today, this is a Discount Tire, with Discount Tire's store being built in 1989. Based on aerials, the original garden center dates back to the 1970s. From The Houston Post, June 12, 1985.