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"ABOUT US"
Well, the
Parks History goes pretty far back so I'll just provide a short version of
it. The year is 1944. W.C. "Cliff" Park's career is
beginning as he moves his family from the Texas Panhandle to Alvin and becomes a
partner with his brother-in-law, Richard Ford, in Ford’s Café (SW corner of
Sealy & Hardie). Over the years he was owner/partner of at least 5 additional restaurants:
the Lariat, The Club, The Texas T, The Palace (2 locations), and Parks
Restaurant . The year is now 1956. Mr Parks now owns the Palace Cafe. The Palace Cafe was located
across the street from the Alvin Library. Four years later
in 1960, Mr. Parks opens the Palace Cafe in its second location which is now
where Alvin Dodge Used Cars is located.After operating
the Palace Cafe for several years, Mr. Parks in 1967 decided to expand and opened a
new restaurant and rightly named it Parks Restaurant. For those who knew Mr.
Parks, they can attest to the fact that he was one of the friendliest and caring
people you would ever want to meet, always goingIf you ever wondered where the
Western motif of the restaurant came from then wonder no more. Mr. Parks was a
true Texas cowboy. He herded cattle on horseback and believed in the mentality
that a man's handshake was better than a paper contract any day. Up until a few
years before he passed away he was still mending fences and had several head of
cattle that he would tend to every day. As I write this I remember numerous
times of him taking me to the livestock auction with him. I was just a boy
and he would let me make the bid on the livestock; he even smoothed things over when
I raised my hand without him seeing me. I also remember the times of building
club houses out of the numerous hay bales in the barn. I believe my first
driving lesson was behind the wheel of his pickup in the pasture when I was
about 10 years old. I was having lots of fun but I'm not to sure if he was! Now
that I've had a trip down memory lane, on with my story. The Parks history has
had some bad times also. In July 1975, the Parks family was a dealt heavy blow
when a rival competitor committed arson and set fire to the restaurant, thinking
this would put the Parks out of business. Well, there plan didn't quite work out,
the
restaurant re-opened with a totally new concept, being the FIRST "Buffet-Style"
restaurant in Alvin or the surrounding area. The new concept was well liked and
often resulted in people waiting in line outside on the covered sidewalk. The
secret to the success of the restaurant would have to be that it was family run
and operated just as it is today. Mrs. Parks, Vivian, was to thank for the
home-style cooking that could be found on your visit and passed her talents on
to her son Don Parks who in theearly years would get up way
too early and cook breakfast for the town folk.In 1985 the restaurant
suffered yet another fire, this time in the kitchen area. Still the Parks
persevered and rebuilt once again, this time expanding the restaurant even
larger to what it is today. The Alvin fire department was
quick to put out the fire before all was lost and Mr. Parks repaid the favor
with a banquet fit for a king for the entire fire department. Well, not much has
changed today. They still provide home cooked meals just as they always have
with one big exception. Now you can eat all you want for one very low price. We
hope you get a chance to come by and experience some of our Alvin tradition, and speaking of tradition, you can also come to Parks and have a traditional holiday family reunion, lets say Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, why not Valentine's Day, Easter, Mothers Day, you name it, and we'll have a meal that suits your taste.
[ Home ] [ About Us ] [ Staff ] [ Hours ] [ Menu ] [ Testimonials ] [ Directions ] [ Prices ] [ Contact Us ] [ Reservations ]
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