Fast forward to 2018, no crunch which is fine with me but no heat which is not.
I quit ordering them and save 50 cents.
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Can you be more specific and narrow it down to an exact date?:
That’s Brucesw saying that. It’s me that is shocked and saddened. 
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As a matter of fact … 
. Well, no.
But it was just a few weeks before I retired, which is why I can pin it down at all. Would have been a weeknight, probably early in the week. At the W on the SW Fwy across from Greenway Plaza, between 11 pm and 12 M.
I was going in late at night to wrap some things up before my last day that I didn’t have time to get to on the clock.
I pulled into the driveway, right up to the squawk box, no cars in front of me waiting, and was greeted immediately. I placed my order and drove around to the window. The only car in front of me was just pulling away; I pulled up to the window and in less than 15 seconds, the guy was asking for my money and handing me by burger. I pulled away, less than 60 seconds after arriving.
It was probably either a Double Meat Cheese Whataburger with jalapenos or with bacon, which were my regular orders. And it was awful.
The advertising for Whataburger used to claim they didn’t make your burger before you ordered it; that burger was not only cooked before I ordered it, it was cooked before I pulled out of my driveway, 8 miles away.
I can remember making the mistake of going to a Whataburger on Murphy Rd on a Friday or Saturday night in the 80s. It was 25 minutes before I got to the squawk box and more than 45 minutes before I got to the window.
Somewhere along the way they decided speed - getting more people in and out and therefore making more money - was more important than quality. And that was when Whataburger started going down hill. IMO.
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Roughly 13 years ago. Remind me not to ever irritate you. 
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There are few things worse than a cold Whataburger.
I gave the Wifeacita Whataburger once for Christmas, okay a stocking stuffer gift card.
We went to the one on Longpoint, ordered, she mixed a drink concoction, we sat down and bam there was our order for two cold burgers before we could say Merry Christmas n January.
They still advertise freshly made orders to this day so I ratted them out with an email to corporate. The manager called the next day with an offer for a replacement meal.
I got burned again with a pre-cooked burger there but a co-worker likes the speedy version.
I’ve found a way around it and that’s a triple junior, always hot.
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I had a dream last night that we shut this page down because there’s only really 3 of us here. I wonder what that means?
When a Whataburger is done well, it is very very good. It’s all up to the manager of each location, they can widely vary in quality.
Uh, nothing other than that you’re concerned? I have great respect for your educated and discriminating palate (sharper than mine), your willingness to keep showing up and helping to carry the load here, your knowledge of cuisines and places to eat that are not within my regular grazing grounds and habits, but I don’t give your sleeping mind credit for being able to foresee the future 
. You, too, Sr. Ostiones (and Wifeacita, Jaymes, etc.)
I don’t know what’s going to happen here. Hell, I don’t even understand what has happened in the recent past. I don’t know why DBW de-welcomed himself, but there is no such thing and it’s been made perfectly clear that he can un-de-welcome himself anytime he wants to.
I assume he had a very good reason so I’m not going to criticize or make fun of him (like maybe a serious health issue affecting him or a dear one). I wish he’d come back but it’s a free country and he can make his own decisions.
There are at least as many HO members signed up over in Austin as we have in our core group, but they can’t get anything going. Why? Well, all of us here are willing to carry the load and keep something going, maybe not daily but not many days go by without somebody posting something that sparks an exchange. People over there seem to give up after one or two posts. If I knew why or what to do about it, I would have told sck long ago and we’d have thriving communities in Houston, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio going here.
But I will really miss this group if - IF - it goes away.
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Whataburger commercial at 1:36 PM 30 seconds long with four mentions of hot and fresh plus one shot of a sign out front showing always hot and fresh.
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Went old school with the numero quatro at the “soon to be closed but not yet” 1308 El Tiempo. Not many people there so I guess word did not get around that they are open at least through August. This is parte dos of my order, taco, chilada, refrieds. Parte uno was queso puff and “smashed avocado.” All good.
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I am discouraged I guess, and I would implore @DoobieWah, and brother, mother and grandparents come back, but whatever. I will miss his odd attention to Pappy’s that never captured my imagination, but has now moved to an new location on the ever changng I-10 route to Katy. I think our long gone @texasredtop also liked that place, but since I am now actually friends with that person I no longer feel the need to challenge her fondness for that place. It is what it is. I think I’ll try the new Pappy’s and. reprort sometime soon.
Thanks, y"all.
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I remember @texasredtop. She always had some good recs for Cajun. I went down to Abe’s in Clear Lake a couple times on her rec; I enjoyed it. Never made it to Tommy’s, though.
Yeah, I get that way, sometimes too. Just go out and have some great food and come back here eager to share it.
I think that qualifies as a nightmare.
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A friend’s 95 year old mother passed recently and they told me they would celebrate her life at her favorite restaurant. I hadn’t heard of it, even though it’s on the west side where I mostly hang.
Today I was driving around San Felipe area looking for the new location of Piola. I really like the pizza at the midtown location and was happy to hear they opened one closer. But I passed it up following Google maps, and turned down a side street to back track, and there was Joyce’s Seafood and Steaks, Neighborhood Bistro Dining, my friend’s mom’s fav. So on a whim I turned in.
Opened since 1997, I would have guessed more like 1970s or 80s. They have a crab, corn and poblano soup that was really good, and worth another trip. I passed up the lunch specials of salads, poboys and some heavier meals for the blackboard fish of the day, rainbow trout. We started with the stuffed jalapenos, stuffed with cheese and crab stuffing. The rainbow trout was cooked well, the side of pasta was a little blah, but the mushrooms on it were very tasty. My friend ordered the greek salad and selected fried oysters to top it from serveral options.
We will return. The owner is friendly, the Russian server was very familiar with the menu and cooking method for each dish and answered all of our questions without hesitation. That alone was pleasantly surprising. The prices at lunch were reasonable.
It’s not a fancy place. Pretty basic decor and some carpet that has seen better days. For some reason, it seems as if it is a favorite among the gray haired crowd.
On the way out, I saw a sign for Piola in the large shopping center at Voss and San Felipe. Still didn’t see the actual restaurant though. I recommend that place for pizza though.
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brucesw is mia so it’s sorta just you and me and on occasion some notperson and even less the Wifeacita.
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I really like this place but haven’t been in years.
It was once Joyce’s Oyster Resort and occupies a former Panjo’s Pizza place.
I miss Panjo’s but they soldier on in Rockport and survived Hurricane Harvey and no trip down there is complete without a stop. Back in the 80’s a friend of mine from Jersey said it was the best pizza he’d ever had.
Thanks for the tip on Piola and if it’s as good as the pictures on Yelp I’ll ad it to my regular rotation of Antonio’s, Brother’s, and Romano’s.
I don’t buy bad chain pizza but will choke down some freebie hunks when they buy it for us at work.
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I remember Panjo’s I think from a stint in St. Louis and somewhere in Texas long ago. I remember the festive atmosphere and great pizza. I saw it on one of the Texas travel shows sometime ago. I’d like to get to Rockport soon to support their re-building efforts. They were smashed by Harvey. There’s a place called Shempy’s that is well loved and opened up ASAP to bring back normalcy, I’d like to try it too. My sister road tripped to Rockport the weekend before Harvey for some seafood and brough me two lbs of jumbo lump crab, 1/2 of which was still in the freezer when Harvey hit.
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After Panjo’s and before Joyce’s Oyster Resort, it was a Niko Niko’s. (Note the link is to Page 4 of the History on their website. The story is a hoot.)
We used to eat at Joyce’s for lunch meetings once in a while, but I never fell in love with it. It wasn’t terrible or even bad, but I always thought it was kind of bland.
It just wasn’t a place I looked forward to visiting. That said, if Lambowner likes it, I’m probably wrong.
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