Daily Dose of Sultnpapper 10/16/18> “Will Eat BBQ 4 U” Vol. 12 Strack’s Family Restaurant & BBQ, Klein, TX.
This makes volume number...
How about it, this makes volume number 12 of the Daily Dose’s Texas BBQ review. It is hard for me to imagine that a full year has gone by already in doing these Texas BBQ reviews. I double checked though and sure enough even though I failed to number last month’s BBQ review in the title of that edition it was number eleven and so that makes this number twelve.
Last month the...
Last month the 15th fell on a Saturday and that meant having to split the day with the SBI Saturday initiative that we have had working for several months now. There is only so much you can put in a title of post so the volume number got left out of it. I ended up looking all the way back to August so that I could make sure that I had the numbering correct and didn’t end up screwing things up.
A little logic...
Things have been a little screwed up in my world lately and so the less I can screw up the better off I will be and I think you can agree with that logic.
Normally the BBQ review is held on the 15th of each month and l will be damned if today isn’t the 16th, so that was a major screw up in and of itself.
Closed on Mondays...
To compound matters even more, most of your real good family runs small BBQ joints that find their way into the “Will Eat BBQ 4 U” headlines are closed on Mondays. Seeing how today is Tuesday; that made things even more difficult so that I could make good on the promise in yesterday’s Daily Dose when I told you come back tomorrow.
So today we...
So today we are going to talk about my all time favorite rib joint and how this place survived for the better part of sixty some odd years.
In Klein, Texas...
Until the 1970's...
The Strack Family Restaurant did not serve BBQ over in the sit down restaurant side in the beginning. That wouldn’t start happening until the 1970’s when oil prices were really climbing and the oil town of Houston was booming.
This was also the...
Some of the executives of those oil companies elected to live out in the country and Klein, Texas was out in the country. This was also the time when corporate aviation was also taking off, (like that pun?) and so the major oil companies like Exxon, Pennzoil, Shell and Conoco had purchased corporate jets and helicopters.
These head honchos...
These head honchos with these oil companies liked good BBQ and loved to feel important, so when it came time for lunch they were headed to the roofs of their buildings instead of the parking lot to get in their cars to go eat somewhere in the downtown Houston area.
One destination on the lunch trips became Strack’s. Strack’s had plenty of room and ample parking so it made it easy to find a place to park a helicopter.
Those executives didn't...
Those executives didn’t care much for eating outside under the oak tree so they would get their BBQ from the BBQ stand and walk in next door and get a table and order some fixings to go along with their carried in meat.
It didn’t take long for the Strack family to figure out that they just needed to put a door in between the two businesses since they shared a common wall and put the BBQ on the menu of the sit down side.
They even constructed...
They even constructed a helicopter landing pad right alongside the building complete with a wind sock so the helicopter pilots could see exactly what the wind was doing at ground level making it easier for them to land more safely.
The full bar...
Since the restaurant also had a liquor license and a full bar area this place became a regular lunch spot for the high flying execs from the oil patch.
A little history...
A little more history...
Mr. Strack was a pretty damn good cook himself; when it came to smoking meats and so that is how the out BBQ place came about. Since they were married to each other it only made sense that they would end up combining the two places or least putting the door in that connected the two kitchen areas.
The damn kids...
The Strack’s had some kids too, and as the Mr. & Mrs. got up in their years the kids took over running the place and the made a pretty good go of it. The land out in this area also was shooting up in value and so it was just a matter of time before the kids decided to pull the plug on the food service businesses.
The sold sign went...
Their parents had worked pretty much their entire lives building up the business and I guess that didn’t mean squat to the kids, it wasn’t six months or so after the Mrs. was laid to rest that the sold sign went up and the doors were locked for the last time. A Circle K convenience store and gas station now sits on the corner where the old Strack place was located and I am forever saddened that it has happened.
Grilled hot dogs...
So I won’t be recommending stopping by that corner to pick you up something to eat, unless you like those hot dogs that are grilled on those little electric grills that rolls the hot dogs as they cook. My oldest kids really enjoyed the ribs from Strack’s along with the smoked baked potatoes and I did as well.
Dedicated to the memories...
So this edition today is dedicated to the memories of good BBQ, and I can tell you that there are plenty of those when it comes to Strack’s , the ribs, the helicopters, the drunken oil execs and the old oak tree.
Please forgive me...
Please forgive me for not having a place to recommend with this edition, the last week has been pretty trying for me and I am sort of in a reflection mode right now. I promise though that next month on the 15th I will be bringing a review of a place you can enjoy, in the mean time try a little reflection for yourself.
Until next time,
@sultnpapper
Note: Thanks for reading the Daily Dose.
Photo Credits : All photos are the property of @sultnpapper.
I remember Mom's Restaurant. It was north of Moses Lake (the lake) but still in Moses Lake, the town.
Built in the 50's when the area was just starting to take off due to irrigation water arriving from Grand Coulee Dam. It was out near where you turned to go to the Air Base, which survived WWII closures and became a SAC base, with B-52s and Titian ICBMs in the command. Times were pretty good for a Mom and Pop restaurant.
The base closed in 1962 (I remember. My Dad and Grandfather and I went to the closing ceremony) and the whole area went into a pretty bad tailspin.
Fast forward to 1975 or there abouts. My brother and I had discovered Mom's Restaurant. By the time we found out about it Mom (and Dad) were pretty old, but still running the restaurant with only a couple of waitresses for help at breakfast. Breakfast and lunch only, they were open until the 'special' of the day ran out and they headed home.
That special was. Special. Randy and I tried to meet there at least a couple times a week for lunch. The only time I ordered off the menu was when the special was liver and onions. Then I'd have a CBB (cheese burger basket) cooked by Dad. Otherwise I'd eat what Mom had. And you better be hungry. It was served on a platter and was a full meal with lots of meat and potatoes and vegetables. If you didn't clean your plate Mom would give you hell (and I don't mean sorta) and accuse you of not liking what they cooked.
They fought like a cat and a dog sometimes, and weren't a bit shy. We walked in one day and there were only about 3 people in the place which was really abnormal. Turns out that Mom had picked up a cleaver and threatened to alter Dad's skull. The police had been called and they both promised on their honor that they were done.
I did not care, long as they were still serving. We ate in what could only be described as a tense situation. But the food was as good as ever :) Some time in the early 80s Dad died. (Randy and I always wondered if Mom might have had a hand in that). The restaurant closed and it just wasn't all that long and a K Mart was there. Turns out they had come to Moses Lake to try their hand at farming and bought a shitty unit (that was cheap) and realized they couldn't possibly make a living farming it. That's when the restaurant was built. They held the unit while the town grew around them and when Dad died Mom sold and headed off for the Caribbean. At least that was the story.
I miss that place yet today.
And about that base, Larsen Air Force Base. After it closed the gumment sold lots of the housing. Randy bought a 3 bedroom place and had it moved for less that 10k. Anyway, it was maybe 10 years until Boeing moved all their ice testing there. Good access to the Cascade Mountains and continuous icing conditions with the warm wet air blowing off the Pacific. The 747 (and all subsequent models) were tested there which led to the Concorde being tested there, so we got to see the Concorde before it was air worthy.
Today, JAL (Japan Air Lines) does all their jet training there, Boeing still has a huge presence and the whole base is at 100% business occupancy. It's an incredible economic generator and probably has caused the population to increase about 200%. A 20,000 ft concrete runway that was a designated Shuttle Landing area will do that for you.
JAL is incredibly active in the community. The Little League complex where the State Tournament is held every year is part of a park donated by JAL. The Olympic grade swimming pool is from JAL, and other stuff. Japanese language is offered at the High School.
Sounds like Mom's was quite the place, and she was quite the character. JAL might as well take care of the community and invest in it, between the Japs and the Chicon's they damn near own everything here as it is and so they should invest in the communities.
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At least you have good memories and I am sure you will find many new places to enjoy. Things come and go in life, right? ;) I trust in your resourcefulness, maybe you will find something even better.
I am sure working on it. I will keep you all posted as things unfold. Thanks.
Ah mr Papper, it's always sad to see something good dying a sudden death, sure that place made many fond memories!
You take it easy too, things will work itself out :)
I have been hustling all my contacts and right now I am pretty confident that I will come out better in the long run from this forced changed.
No taking it easy though right now, not until I get things nailed down.
Excellent to hear that, I've seen that happen time and time again throughout the years! Often when we're taken out of our comfort zones, better things come our way especially those that are passionate about their work!
You're right, not the time to take it easy just yet, but go easy on yourself at least!
Thanks Lizelle.
It happens all over, we had a really good flower and plant nursery near us. Even became renowned for their rose collection.
He was also well known for staying closed on Sundays and the business gained credit for that.
But the founding father got to retirement age and the children ran the business and soon were tempted to sell off to a large chain.
Since then of course it now opens on Sundays and the whole outfit has drifted down to mediocre.
It is hard to replicate small business caring with big business work policies.
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:) Love Good BBQ. Some pretty good places in North Georgia: )
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I will try and remember to give that a look. Thanks.
Well I guess the kids hated the restaurant business...having grown up in it myself, it is indeed a tough business to be in. Can't believe they put in a helicopter pad, that is crazy. I guess that shouldn't be a surprise in the big state of Texas. Too bad the place sold...but then I guess there are more than a few rib places in Texas...looking forward to your next review!
Some days there would be as many as three helicopters there at one time, those oil execs liked to spend the company money for sure.
We have plenty of places for good ribs but I just loved their Sunday all you could eat brunch it was a little pricey, but I never went away disappointed or not full.
Hang in there, and just keep writing. Doesn't matter what it's about on what day (or it doesn't matter in my world, anyway), always fun to read your posts. And just the mention of BBQ made me hungry. wanders off to the kitchen...
Thanks. I intend to keep writing but right now I am pretty well spent by the the end of the day and not sleeping good during the night.
That's a sad story – though a very common one. Where I live it's usually corner shops that sell up when the parents retire, because the kids don't want to take it on – and you can't really blame them, when they've seen their parents work their butts off for most of their lives. But it just helps the march of the supermarkets.
Here the corner stores make about 90% of their money on tobacco products, beer, coffee, and gasoline. Everything else makes up the other 10%. So they really good get rid of over the majority of things they carry to sell and never really see a change in their revenue stream. As long as they keep those top sellers.
It's the same here, plus newspapers and minus the gasoline. They can't compete on the "healthier" products and the margins on fuel are so tight due to taxation etc, that it can be difficult to find a fuel station. Cigarettes are being regulated almost out of existence, which is a good thing, and alcohol is also so highly regulated that most off-licenses have closed down, pubs are either closing or selling up to the big chains and the only outlets making money from alcohol are supermarkets and multinational brewing groups like Whitbread, which also owns Costa Coffee chain.
Here there are gasoline station / convenience stores everywhere it seems, but most of those are chain type stores, the Mom & Pop ones are fast dying off.