Alison tries Houston's iconic Brenner's

[fifi]

This in Friday's Dining Guide: "Fertitta has big plates to fill at Brenner's"

What can I say? Alison says it all. She is more fair than I would be. I am still not over what Fertitta did to The Flying Dutchman in Kemah.

[Dave the Cook]

Thanks for the update on this landmark, fifi. Brenner's is one of my fondest food memories of Houston. (And the "tourists at all costs/Fertitta memorial" homogenization of Kemah -- especially TFD, which was the best of the lot -- is one of the saddest.)

[fifi]

Ain't it the truth, Dave. BF (Before Fertitta) The Flying Dutchman was legendary. We took people there from all over the world, including New Orleans, and it was universally judged the best EVER restaurant for Gulf Coast seafood, or seafood in general for that matter, that they had ever been to. The service was wonderful as well and we had our favorite waiter. Now, well... it is just ok... sort of.

[jess mebane]

Fertitta, man. Such large cajones on such a widdle worm. I admired him at first for attempting to break up the Galveston old guard stronghold, when it seemed like his ambitions were aimed as much at gentrification as tourism for that lovely, neglected town. And then he went to Kemah and turned into a 3rd-rate PT Barnum. The Landry family probably gets some sort of grim satisfaction over his reversal in reputation.....

[pat]

Oh geez, the "Fertitta-ization" of Kemah has been such a disappointment.

I grew up 15 minutes away from the Flying Dutchman, and it was a very reliable place to get a very good white table cloth dinner (upstairs) or a shorts/t-shirts/just off the boat meal on the downstairs deck. Now, the Kemah boardwalk is one big Fertitta Nation, and my family avoids it like the plague. The only time we go to Kemah is to get great raw seafood at Rosie's to cook for dinner and occasionally to eat at Pappadeaux.

It's sad to read about the loss of uniqueness at Brenner's...there won't be another restaurant to replace it, and that's bad for everyone in Houston who valued distinctive dining.

[fifi]

Welcome, pat. I am so looking forward to more of your posts. There aren't many of us who grew up around here. Ever been to Topwater Grill? Maybe we should start a thread on that one.