However, take a trip to Magnolia anyway and notice all the opportunities to eat. In the blocks between 8th Avenue and Hemphill there are eleven places to get a meal, and eleven different types of cuisine. My husband, Ted, and I have been making an effort to try out all of them. It is a hard job but someone has to do it. I think his favorite for lunch is Hot Damn Tamales and mine are B.J. Keefer's and Jerry Van Dyke's Soda Shoppe. Of course, the Paris Coffee Shop is a Fort Worth landmark and favorite breakfast and lunch place. I remember in my childhood the Martha Washington Candy and Ice Cream Factory on Magnolia and the New Orleans style restaurant in an old house across the street where my parents loved the oysters and I liked only the oyster crackers. Many summer evenings were spent at the open air watermelon stand further down the street where my sisters and I felt perfectly free to spit seeds at each other. The revitalization of Magnolia Ave. is largely due to the
efforts of commercial Realtor, Joan Kline. Joan helped save Ryan
Place years ago and has been active in preservation ever since.
Linda Clarke in Joan's office, also is a big player in saving
streets, working now on the Berry Street Initiative - more about
that in another newsletter. |