Tony's Blue Oyster Bar
Rebecca
I-10. I've been there during happy hour for the oysters, but didn't
look at a menu. My in-laws have asked me where I'd like to go for my
birthday dinner, and since we usually go to Christie's, I thought I'd
ask after another seafood restaurant for a change. I'd like to know how
the food is and what the prices are like for dinner, as well as if there
is a live band or anything like that on a Saturday night. My in-laws
aren't much into live bands. Thanks in advance.
Becky
RonDL
(Nino's, Vincents, Damians, Carrabas).
Although I have never eaten at that location, his other location (Tony Mandolas
Blue Oyster Bar in the River Oaks Shopping Center on W. Gray) is absolutely
fantastic. I would recommend any Mandola family restaurant.
Steve
on Valentine's Day this past February. It turned out to be a terrible
experience. To start with, we were not attended to, even for drinks or water,
for nearly 20 minutes after we were seated. Once we did order, our food (and
everyone else's around us) took nearly 40 minutes to arrive. My crawfish
ettouffee was OK, but portion of fried crawfish with it was very small, dry,
and well overdone. The chicken dish my wife ordered was good, but also
overdone, in addition to being a bit small.
For the price, there are plenty of other restaurants around town where the
service is better, the food is much better, and the portions are larger.
Although I can't speak for Mr. Mandola's restaurants, we definitely won't be
patronizing this Mandola establishment again.
Steve
In article <19990715172537...@ng-ck1.aol.com>, ro...@aol.com
Professor Vonroach
wrote:
>My wife and I had reservations at Tony Mandola's Gulf Coast Kitchen on W. Gray
>on Valentine's Day this past February.
Is this the same place mentioned in River Oaks shopping center, also
on W. Grey? Could someone fill me in - who is Tony Mandola? Seems
like he has a lot of eggs in many baskets. Is there an original Tony
Mandola's where one could sample the basics of this restaurant
builder? Is he from Houston? I've just managed to never run across
the name in 50 yrs. of dining in Houston. Think I've seen a sign `The
Blue Oyster Bar on Greenbriar near 610, but the thought of a `blue
oyster' (my favorite delicacy) makes my blood run cold - Vonroach -
fighting nausea.
Jeremy Goodwin
serious about restaurants would venture out on that day as the resources of all
eateries are stretched to breaking point. I would try the same place again at a
normal time.
Jeremy
Steve wrote:
> My wife and I had reservations at Tony Mandola's Gulf Coast Kitchen on W. Gray
> on Valentine's Day this past February. It turned out to be a terrible
Jack Sloan
holiday crowd then they can't handle an everyday crowd . Do you think
they didn't know it was gonna be a holiday? Most places plan ahead.
Jack
Jeremy Goodwin wrote:
>
> I would reserve judgment on a single experience on Valentines day. Few people
> serious about restaurants would venture out on that day as the resources of all
> eateries are stretched to breaking point. I would try the same place again at a
Bryan Williams
(Professor Vonroach) wrote:
>On Thu, 15 Jul 99 21:43:58 GMT, ols...@NOSPAMswbell.net (Steve)
>wrote:
>
>>My wife and I had reservations at Tony Mandola's Gulf Coast Kitchen on W. Gray
>>on Valentine's Day this past February.
>Is this the same place mentioned in River Oaks shopping center, also
>on W. Grey? Could someone fill me in - who is Tony Mandola? Seems
>like he has a lot of eggs in many baskets.
***SNIP***
The Mandola family is huge and several of the guys have restaurants. I
went to college with Frankie Mandola in the late 60's and recently saw
him at his burger/steak place on Kirby near Sunset. He has a picture
on the wall of a bunch of folks filling a set of bleachers. They were
the 650+ members of the Houston branch of the Mandola family!
Bryan Williams
Veni, Vidi, Velcro.
I came, I saw, I stuck around.
Professor Vonroach
wrote:
And what are these `blue oysters'? Crabs are blue but oysters should
not be. Had some `pacific oysters' at a joint on Fisherman's Wharf in
San Fran. once that were _black_ and inedible. Had some Chesapeake
`blue point' oysters that were flown into Chicago loop restaurant that
were nearly edible. _Good oysters_ are found two places on earth:
the Louisiana Gulf Coast (sadly the best - easy to find in New Orleans
and occasionally imported into Texas) and the Texas Gulf Coast (second
best. but damn good - particularly if harvested from better cleaner
waters below Galveston on south towards Mexico) Prof. Vonroach -
shellfish specialist.
Tyler Hopper
>
> On Thu, 15 Jul 99 21:43:58 GMT, ols...@NOSPAMswbell.net (Steve)
> wrote:
>
> >My wife and I had reservations at Tony Mandola's Gulf Coast Kitchen on W. Gray
> >on Valentine's Day this past February.
> Is this the same place mentioned in River Oaks shopping center, also
> on W. Grey? Could someone fill me in - who is Tony Mandola? Seems
> like he has a lot of eggs in many baskets.
This surprieses me Prof. The Mandola family has many, many restaraunts in
Houston. My favorite is Vincent's on W. Gray. Most of the time you'll see one or
more of the family wandering the floor watching the service and chatting with
guests.
Damian's is also excellent. Carrabba's is their chain and it's all over the
country I believe.
It's a very large restaraunt family.
__________________________
Tyler Hopper
Tyler Hopper
>
> Professor Vonroach wrote:
> >
> > On Thu, 15 Jul 99 21:43:58 GMT, ols...@NOSPAMswbell.net (Steve)
> > wrote:
> >
> > >My wife and I had reservations at Tony Mandola's Gulf Coast Kitchen on W. Gray
> > >on Valentine's Day this past February.
> > Is this the same place mentioned in River Oaks shopping center, also
> > on W. Grey? Could someone fill me in - who is Tony Mandola? Seems
> > like he has a lot of eggs in many baskets.
>
> This surprieses me Prof. The Mandola family has many, many restaraunts in
> Houston. My favorite is Vincent's on W. Gray.
Oops. Make that West Dallas.
__________________________
Tyler Hopper
RonDL
the past several years and have never had a bad experience.
I agree, one bad experience in a restaurant should not mark them off the list.
Like everyone, restaurants have bad days also, short staffed, larger than
expected crowds,...
That is why professional reviewers always eat at a restaurant at least twice
before making a decision.
I am not in that category, but I follow their belief also.
Professor Vonroach
<tho...@postoffice.swbell.net> wrote:
>Professor Vonroach wrote:
>>
>> On Thu, 15 Jul 99 21:43:58 GMT, ols...@NOSPAMswbell.net (Steve)
>> wrote:
>>
>> >My wife and I had reservations at Tony Mandola's Gulf Coast Kitchen on W. Gray
>> >on Valentine's Day this past February.
>> Is this the same place mentioned in River Oaks shopping center, also
>> on W. Grey? Could someone fill me in - who is Tony Mandola? Seems
>> like he has a lot of eggs in many baskets.
>
>This surprieses me Prof. The Mandola family has many, many restaraunts in
>Houston. My favorite is Vincent's on W. Gray. Most of the time you'll see one or
>more of the family wandering the floor watching the service and chatting with
>guests.
>
>Damian's is also excellent. Carrabba's is their chain and it's all over the
>country I believe.
>
>It's a very large restaraunt family.
>
>__________________________
>Tyler Hopper
The only Vincent's, I can recall, was Vincent Vallone's Sorrento, near
downtown. Vincent, member of a big Italian family, died
gangster-style after a family falling out. I believe his son, Tony,
took over the restaurant, moved to Galleria area and changed the name
to Tony's. But that was way back before Chocolate Bayou Rd. (site of
gunplay) became ML King Blvd. (Did you know that Cullen Blvd. was once
St. Bernard St. - and passed by Buff Stadium - we bus riders joked
that no one would ever call it Cullen after the name change, then time
sped on by us. - Ta ta -Kid Vonroach (Still hard for me to think of
the Gulf Freeway as 59S, I recall it has just opened when the NY
Giants and Cleveland Indians played an exhibition game at Buff
Stadium, and Houstonians unused to `freeways' parked all over the
shoulders of the new highway. Larry Doby hit a 400+ homerun, Johnny
Mize and Whitey Lockman also rattled the outfield boards. Satchel Page
came in for relief at one point garnering games toward his
retirement.)
Professor Vonroach
<tho...@postoffice.swbell.net> wrote:
>Tyler Hopper wrote:
>>
>> Professor Vonroach wrote:
>> >
>> > On Thu, 15 Jul 99 21:43:58 GMT, ols...@NOSPAMswbell.net (Steve)
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> > >My wife and I had reservations at Tony Mandola's Gulf Coast Kitchen on W. Gray
>> > >on Valentine's Day this past February.
>> > Is this the same place mentioned in River Oaks shopping center, also
>> > on W. Grey? Could someone fill me in - who is Tony Mandola? Seems
>> > like he has a lot of eggs in many baskets.
>>
>> This surprieses me Prof. The Mandola family has many, many restaraunts in
>> Houston. My favorite is Vincent's on W. Gray.
> ^^^^^^^
>Oops. Make that West Dallas.
>
>__________________________
>Tyler Hopper
Tyler - There was a day when mistaking West Dallas, known as
Houston's undeclared war zone, where army doctors trained in JD Hosp.
ER, for West Grey the up-scale street leading from Main to the River
Oaks gate with several well-known clubs including the Southern Dinner
Club featuring legendary Peck Kelly at the keyboard.
Tyler Hopper
The embarassing thing is the area you speak of was my neighborhood only about 2
yrs. ago (Shepherd@Westheimer).
__________________________
Tyler Hopper
claudius
tries. Probably fewer than 5%. Most have been very good to excellent. If I had
had a rotten experience my first time, it would have been a bummer, because
they are one of my favorite upscale restaurants.
In article <19990716130215...@ng-ck1.aol.com>, ro...@aol.com
says...
Dennis Keim
Professor Vonroach wrote:
>
> The only Vincent's, I can recall, was Vincent Vallone's Sorrento, near
> downtown. Vincent, member of a big Italian family, died
> gangster-style after a family falling out. I believe his son, Tony,
> took over the restaurant, moved to Galleria area and changed the name
> to Tony's. But that was way back before Chocolate Bayou Rd. (site of
> gunplay) became ML King Blvd.
Actually, MLK used to be South Park. I vaguely remember, as a kid,
Chocolate Bayou (no Rd.) as extending south from Almeda-Genoa Rd. It
still appears on the Harris County Key Maps as an extension of Cullen
Blvd. southward from about the county line through Manvel. I don't
recall Cullen (I think it was St. back then) extending to Almeda-Genoa
Rd. The only real intersections that I recall were Hwy. 3 at one end,
the future Gulf Freeway, Telephone Rd. (where it jogged to the south),
Mykawa Rd., and Almeda Rd.
> (Did you know that Cullen Blvd. was once
> St. Bernard St. - and passed by Buff Stadium - we bus riders joked
> that no one would ever call it Cullen after the name change, then time
> sped on by us. - Ta ta -Kid Vonroach (Still hard for me to think of
> the Gulf Freeway as 59S,
That might be because it is I-45 South :>)
Dennis Keim
I particularly like the stuffed jalapenos. On one visit several years
ago they had seafood lasagne for the special for the day. That has been
at least ten years ago, but I still remember it. Absolutely delicious.
I always go back hoping lightning will strike twice.
Dennis
Rebecca wrote:
>
> Just wondering if anyone here has ordered off the menu at Tony's on
Professor Vonroach
<tho...@postoffice.swbell.net> wrote:
I'm further embarrassed to say I can't see much difference in the two
streets anymore. -Vonroach
Professor Vonroach
wrote:
>
>
>Professor Vonroach wrote:
>>
>> The only Vincent's, I can recall, was Vincent Vallone's Sorrento, near
>> downtown. Vincent, member of a big Italian family, died
>> gangster-style after a family falling out. I believe his son, Tony,
>> took over the restaurant, moved to Galleria area and changed the name
>> to Tony's. But that was way back before Chocolate Bayou Rd. (site of
>> gunplay) became ML King Blvd.
>
>Actually, MLK used to be South Park. I vaguely remember, as a kid,
>Chocolate Bayou (no Rd.) as extending south from Almeda-Genoa Rd. It
>still appears on the Harris County Key Maps as an extension of Cullen
>Blvd. southward from about the county line through Manvel. I don't
>recall Cullen (I think it was St. back then) extending to Almeda-Genoa
>Rd. The only real intersections that I recall were Hwy. 3 at one end,
>the future Gulf Freeway, Telephone Rd. (where it jogged to the south),
>Mykawa Rd., and Almeda Rd.
Cullen has had so many names, you could be right. Whatever is the case
an old road started at OST and ran through to Telephone Rd. way out
beyond Hobby, and was called Chocolate Bayou Road. There is a
Chocolate Bayou and this was one of the ways of getting to that area,
though Telephone (Corpus Cristi Rd) was much more frequently used.
There was a time when Telephone was an upscale neighborhood without a
single bar, lounge, or saloon - then Houston kinda moved in the other
direction. South Park was a new road with `GI Housing' in the post
war house building boom (note many of streets are named for great WW2
battles) starting at OST near McGregor Park. Outside OST, Cullen and
MLKing sorta run parallel for a while and I don't travel that area
enough to keep them straight. Cullen Blvd. and M. l. King Blvd
running parallel - there may be a parable there, but I won't touch
that one. All this is between Almeda Rd. and Mykawa (named as I
recall for a japanese family that ran a nursery out that way).
Almeda-Genoa Rd. not surprisingly connects Almeda with Genoa and runs
more or less perpendicular to others. It was a good shortcut to Gulf
Freeway :) and industries on Laporte Rd. at one time. Unfortunately,
nothing of much culinary interest survives in that area.
Pat McCarley
in the restaurant business in Houston. I would recommend giving him another
try.
A side note on the family thing, Tony's wife, Phyllis, is Ninfa's daughter.
--
Pat McCarley
pm...@ranchotejas.com
www.ranchotejas.com
RonDL wrote in message <19990716130215...@ng-ck1.aol.com>...
Rebecca
Bar. My folks used to take me to the one on the Gulf Freeway back when we
lived in Galveston (1986 or so) and I always loved their gumbo. Since there
were both good and bad experiences, and rather than mess with good thing, I
chose Christie's, which was absolutely incredible as always. I didn't want to
get to Tony's and have a bad experience (since my in-laws were paying, and it
would have been their first time there), but we will definitely have to try it
out on our own sometime, perhaps on a Friday night when they have a live band.
Christie's really rocks my world anyway... great fried shrimp and onion rings,
wonderful oysters, and remoulade to die for!
Becky