Grab a bite at some of Houston's oldest restaurants

PHOTOS: Houston's oldest restaurants

The Rancher Chicken Fried Steak from Hickory Hollow's original Fallbrook location is the largest size of chicken fried steak they serve. Here is comes with a side salad and hot tots, which are deep fried mashed potato balls.

>>>Learn more about some of Houston's oldest eateries... less The Rancher Chicken Fried Steak from Hickory Hollow's original Fallbrook location is the largest size of chicken fried steak they serve. Here is comes with a side salad and hot tots, which are deep fried mashed potato balls. PHOTOS: Houston's oldest restaurants

The Rancher Chicken Fried Steak from Hickory Hollow's original Fallbrook location is the largest size of chicken fried steak they serve. Here is comes with a side salad The Rancher Chicken Fried Steak from Hickory Hollow's original Fallbrook location is the largest size of chicken fried steak they serve. Here is comes with a side salad ... more Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Houston Chronicle Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 35 Caption Close Grab a bite at some of Houston's oldest restaurants 1 / 35 Back to Gallery

Houston is full of old-school eateries still alive and slinging food to the masses. Although 31 years doesn't sound like a very long time, in Houston years that's ancient.

There's Barbecue Inn on Houston's north side which has a chicken-fried steak that some locals say rivals that at Hickory Hollow. Open since 1946, its the interior and exteriors haven't changed much since opening all those years ago.

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Christie's Seafood & Steak has served Gulf Coast seafood to generations of Houstonians since 1917, starting out as a food stand on Galveston's Seawall and expanding into Houston in 1939. By 1979 it had opened up a long-standing spot off Westheimer just past the Galleria.

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Fans of classic, hulking cheeseburgers swear by Lankford Grocery & Market in the heart of Montrose near the corner of Genesee and Dennis streets. Originally opened as a neighborhood grocery store in 1938, these days it serves up breakfast and burgers from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m, Monday through Saturday.

Craig Hlavaty covers Houston history and pop-culture. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | craig.hlavaty@chron.com