AUSTIN DINING

The Frisco is back

Storied restaurant starts again with a splash of the new and remnants of the old at new location.

By Ricardo Gándara
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, August 07, 2008

The reincarnation of the storied Frisco Shop drew a crowd of longtime, faithful fans for its opening lunch Wednesday, but the restaurant's move several blocks north on Burnet Road also attracted some new customers.

"We had no idea," said first-time patron Brandy Cebula, 22, who walked in with friend Jamie Frazier, 21. "We were just driving by and thought the place looked good. We didn't know we'd be getting a history lesson about the Frisco."

Although the 1950s-style diner officially fires up its grills today, featuring beef tips over rice for lunch and prime rib for dinner, the place was almost full for the "commemoration" Wednesday. Customers had been awaiting the day since mid-May, when the old restaurant at Burnet Road and Koenig Lane was demolished to make way for a Walgreens pharmacy.

"You cantalk about the good food all you want, but it's the people who I've missed," said John McKetta, who's been eating at the Frisco with his wife, Pinky, since 1955. Like clockwork, the professor emeritus and former dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Texas dines on the Frisco burger and a slice of coconut cream icebox pie for lunch each Saturday.

Restaurant owners Bob Cole, Stan Miller, Darin Davis and Tom Burns, as well as minority owners Julia and Harry Akin (he's the nephew of Night Hawk chain founder Harry Akin), leased the old Curra's Grill at 6801 Burnet Road and renovated the 4,800-square-foot building to look like the old one. The Frisco Shop is the last survivor of the Night Hawk chain.

Die-hards have been checking on the restaurant's progress for weeks. Buddy and Shirley McGee walked in two weeks ago.

"I love the shade of the tile and the new woodwork," said Shirley McGee, who before retiring served at three separate Night Hawk restaurants in Austin and San Antonio for 29 years.

"I'm pleased to see more counter space," said Ken Caswell, a former manager of the Austin Symphony Orchestra who has patronized the chain since he was a boy in the early 1940s. "The best thing are the old photos on the wall. They've kept the history."

Harry Akin, mayor of Austin from 1967 to 1969, opened the first Night Hawk at Riverside Drive and Congress Avenue in 1932. The Frisco Shop opened in 1953.

"He was a hero to me," said former Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who was at the Wednesday lunch. "Harry was open and accessible to all, which is what Austin is all about. He was a visionary and with the times," she said, referring to Akins being one of the first restaurateurs to serve African American patrons.

The McGees and Caswell signed off on the new Frisco's improvements, including seating for 142.The brown and off-white checkered tile gives the diner the look of old. The long counter that seats 18 will remind old-timers of "The Number 1" Night Hawk on Congress Avenue that went up in flames in 1986. A separate seating area in the front will allow for tables to be put together for large groups. The kitchen is 1,800 square feet, quite an upgrade from 150 square feet at the old place.

The Frisco gang — including cooks Lawrence Baker and Roy Mallett and waitresses Mary Rodriguez, Margie Vultaggio and Debbie Schroeder — is back. The new owners ensured their return by paying all 31 employees their full salaries during the 12 weeks that the Frisco was closed. An estimate of tips was included for the wait staff.

"That's important, the same faces," McGee said.

The menu is the same, including the strawberry icebox pie. Chicken and dumplings will be featured on Tuesdays like they always have, and fried shrimp on Fridays. The flapping nighthawk on the neon sign remains. There's a spot in the men's room for customers to tack up their favorite cartoon of the day.

Tina Coak, a manager who has been with the Frisco for 22 years, said she thinks customers will be drawn in by the counter space.

Shirley McGee is just glad the world is good again.

"After all these years, a place like the Frisco gets in your blood and becomes part of your family."

rgandara@statesman.com; 445-3632