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What is the oldest bar in Houston, now?

8,813 Views | 44 Replies | Last: 8 yr ago by killbutchereat
Tom Hagen
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http://blog.chron.com/foodchronicles/2015/01/leons-closes-after-owner-opts-not-to-renew-lease/#29891101=0

It's hard to believe that we have nothing older than 60 years.
jetch17
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i thought la carafe was the oldest?
BarryProfit
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quote:
i thought la carafe was the oldest?


As did I.
Furlock Bones
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Warren's has the oldest patrons.
grizzo
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quote:
quote:
i thought la carafe was the oldest?


As did I.


me too
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Panama Red
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La carafe opened in 1950s

ChipFTAC01
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quote:
quote:
quote:
i thought la carafe was the oldest?


As did I.


When I saw the headline I thought the same thing.
Yeah.
The Blue Goose
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So it's apparently been established that Leon's did a really ****ty job of marketing the fact that they were Houston's oldest bar.

I also thought Carafe was oldest
Stan Crowch
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La Carafe resides in the second oldest building in continual use. I believe.
agz win
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Current Warren's is not in original location.
Diggity
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looks like they both opened in the 1950's, but Leon's was a few years earlier.

La Carafe gets confused as the oldest bar because it's in one of Houston's oldest buildings.
The Milkman
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But what about La Cafafe?
Fall92
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Kay's opened in 1939.
"I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything that I thought it could be."
Serotonin
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West Alabama Ice House, 1928.
http://houston.culturemap.com/guide/bars/west-alabama-ice-house/
Diggity
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They aren't talking about beer joints.
Serotonin
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Hey man, it's listed as a dive bar on it's facebook page and on yelp, and has been featured as one of the best dive bars on the Chronicle, Houston Eater, the Sun Times.

Southern Living has it and Anvil listed amongst the South's best bars.

But if you don't consider it a bar then Kay's would be the oldest bar. And WAIH would be the oldest place where they have a counter across which alcoholic drinks or refreshments are served.
Diggity
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it has nothing to do with being a dive. Kay's didn't start serving liquor until a few years ago and WAIH doesn't at all.

The reason why "full bars" didn't really exist until the 50's era is because Texas had very strict laws about establishments serving liquor until that point.
Milwaukees Best Light
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Get the f outta here with your historical and logic filled argument.
DrZ
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Original Warrens was far better than the one now. Always been a little sketchy but had a personality. Good food back in the day
Diggity
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Where was it?
dreyOO
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bummer
ChipFTAC01
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Directly across from where it is now. In the lot that currently has a new high rise being built on it.

http://swamplot.com/the-real-estate-secrets-buried-around-market-square/2014-09-19/
agz win
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Yes, the original Warren's was in the surface lot (now with new tower being constructed) across from the Market Square dog park. it was in Houston's original opera house and had a balcony, red velvet curtains and two story high hanging gilded mirrors. It was lovely and a low key hang out.
Diggity
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When did they close that one?
agz win
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If I recall correctly, late 1987 or early 88. They received notice the lease was ending and the building would be coming down and closed not too long before then.

It was a solemn time those last few visits, and frustrating with the feeble attempts to rescue some of Houston's history.

I think the building on the corner next to La Carafe was torn down over night around the time, too. It used to have pool tables but I don't recall the name.
ChipFTAC01
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'88

http://www.downtownhouston.org/news/article/back-future/

quote:
But the demolition that causes the most pain today is probably that of Warren's Inn (316 Milam) in 1988. Warren was Warren Trousdale, whose first downtown bar was called Ali Baba (823 Congress). According to his sister, Carolyn Wenglar, who now owns and manages both La Carafe and the current Warren's Inn, Trousdale managed to buy the Bethje-Lang building (where Warren's was located), after the Ali Baba building was demolished.

As the owner, Trousdale was probably feeling safe operating the old building he loved so much. But as early as 1982, the Chronicle reported that a development company that wanted to build an office building and parking garage was attempting to buy the property. Trousdale is quoted as saying, "I told them they'd have to build over me because I won't sell. We need some old buildings left, something for future generations to see besides steel and glass something old and dear, like these buildings."

With its large statues representing the four seasons (left over from the previous occupant, Les Quatre Saisons) and its beautifully aged atmosphere, Warren's Inn was a building that many Houstonians held close to their hearts.

That's why the news that Trousdale had finally sold the property to Guardian Savings came as an unwelcome surprise. Why had he sold? Those closest to him said that he had been the subject of a campaign of harassment.

"Somebody we don't know who was putting t-shirts in his toilets (to clog them). They even put cement in his sewer," says his sister. She's kept the current Warren's Inn alive "in a little bit of tribute" to her brother, who was "quite a guy."

Ultimately deprived of a sewer connection, Trousdale sold the property and moved across Market Square. He died in 1988, not long after Guardian Savings demolished the building without taking out the proper permits.
BBRex
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That's a damn shame.
agz win
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Some nuggets in here from a quick Google search...

Dan and the Urban Animals. Rudyards on Kipling.

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/10189-oldest-bar-in-houston/
Diggity
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Rudyard's has changed locations...so it's a no go.
Jock 07
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quote:
it has nothing to do with being a dive. Kay's didn't start serving liquor until a few years ago and WAIH doesn't at all.

The reason why "full bars" didn't really exist until the 50's era is because Texas had very strict laws about establishments serving liquor until that point.
Didn't you have to be a card carrying "member" of a bar to drink in said bar back in the day? I seem to recall my dad explaining the whole concept to me before.
ChipFTAC01
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Probably in a dry area at the time. Basically you join a "club" and they're allowed to serve you drinks. Down House does it that way because they're in a dry area of the Heights. I grew up in a dry town and the Mexican food place was like that for margaritas. Until recently there were places like that all over in Dallas as there are large swaths of the city that used to be dry.

It's basically just a wink and a smile to get around stupid blue laws.
malenurse
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quote:
Until recently there were places like that all over in Dallas as there are large swaths of the city that used to be dry.
Actually, there are numerous, smaller cities surrounded by Dallas with their own laws. Some were dry until recently, like Addison.
T Durden
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Hmm I wonder if these guys are related to Zach Trousdale...current Houston bar/club owner.
byfLuger41
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