By David Simmons
NORCROSS, Ga. | Back in 2015, I was visiting my friend Dave in Galveston, Tex., and for some reason we drove up to Houston and around lunch time I saw this sign (Frenchy’s ) and yelled “Stop! Pull in there!”
Simmons
Frenchy’s brought back some great memories from 1981. I was working as the sales manager at a Remco TV, which was an electronics and appliance rent-to-own store located just 12 blocks south of the “Eighth Wonder Of The World,” The Houston Astrodome. Which was very convenient for the store manager and myself, as we were both huge Nolan Ryan fans. Eight or ten times that summer we would cut out from work and head up to the Astrodome to see Ryan pitch.
Early that summer we hired a new sales associate, a nice young guy who had been a star running back at the University of Houston a couple of years before. Both his sophomore and junior years he had 1,000 yard rushing seasons, but a couple of games into his senior year he blew out his knee real bad, so football was done with him. It was a promising career cut short.
One day during his first week on the job I took him out to lunch, told him to pick the spot and he took us to Frenchy’s. It’s a Cajun style fast food chicken joint. Spicy fried chicken. It was so good. I really enjoyed it, so the next day I invited him out to lunch again. Told him to surprise me.
He took me into neighborhoods I would have never ventured into without armed guards had I been on my own. We went down these little side streets and then finally into this alley where we found a parking space and stopped beside this old dilapidated, run down tin garage.
We walked inside where it was spotlessly clean, and they were offering barbecue. I was glad I was with him, because the folks made a to-do over him as he was a local celebrity, but man o’ man, they were giving me the once over. I didn’t fit in as I was the only one there severely lacking melanin.
He walked up to the counter and ordered and I said, make it two. We each got a barbecued half chicken, a mess of baked beans, cole slaw, and two slices of Rainbow white bread, fresh out of the bag. I had a ten spot out and ready, but the lady said four fitty, no tax, then apologized cause they had just raised the price a quarter. What an experience!
Stuff like that doesn’t happen to you every day. The guy didn’t last long at Remco TV, so I never got a chance to go back there. Lord knows I never could have found it on my own, and needless to say, probably would never gotten out alive, even if I had.
My, my, being in Texas brought back some memories.
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