Leslie’s originated in Waco, and that location seems to be famous for being the place where Billy Joe Shaver’s mom was a waitress. The first mention I find of Leslie’s in Dallas is 1939, when the Dallas Morning News mentioned it in a “Where to Go When You Eat” column. This postcard is from a few years later, when there were a whopping 9 locations around Texas. Leslie’s was at 2700 Ft. Worth Avenue, which would have put it almost directly across the street from Roth’s Cafe.
Leslie’s is listed in the Dallas phone book for 1951 but not for 1957. The site is now an empty lot.
Go here for a larger view of the building illustration from the postcard.
To see a larger view of this old sign now residing in the back lot of the Green Fiber plant in Waco go here and here.
F
We don’t mean to CROW but We Know Our Chicken
I found mention of Cliff Chicken Shack as early as August 1936, which means it may have pre-dated the more well-known Leslie’s Chicken Shack by several years. It may have been the first drive-in fried chicken joint in Oak Cliff. In 1942 the proprietor was listed as J.B. Cohen (or J.R. Cohen). By 1951, the Shack was out of business, and the building at 519 W. Davis (at the northeast corner at Llewellyn) had become Laden’s Food Market. The location was by turns a wholesale sandwich company, hardware store, carpet company, and an auto paint & body shop. The unlucky site is now home to Honduras Tire Shop.
photo courtesy of Steve Bonner
South Loop Drive-In opened March 31, 1950, with two showings of “On the Town” starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. The theater was located at 3030 Ledbetter, on the north side of the road, just west of Bonnie View and southeast of the Veterans’ Hospital. The drive-in was part of the Adelman theater circuit, which operated movie houses in Houston, Fort Worth, and Tulsa, as well as the Delman Theater (not a drive-in) in Dallas. Cost of construction was $150,000, which included innovations such as indirectly lighted walkways, a patio with lounge chairs, and a playground for children. I don’t think they would have got away with that Snow White mural on their theater today!
Both the South Loop Drive-In and the Delman Theater closed about 1968, and no obvious trace remains of this theater in the field that still fronts Loop 12.
Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection
Just north of the “T” at the intersection of Cockrell Hill Rd. and Fort Worth Avenue,
Chalk Hill Drive-In opened in early July of 1941 and was the second outdoor drive-in built in Dallas. The setup was identical to its sister, the Northwest Drive-In, which opened two weeks earlier; a huge screen faced a 12 1/2 acre field arranged in graduated ramps. 204 loud-speakers were set in the ground with space for two cars between all speakers with a capacity for 408 cars. The opening attraction was “The Invisible Woman” with Virginia Bruce, John Barrymore, and John Howard.
The theater was in operation as late as 1976 but has since been demolished. Chalk Hill is now a Chalk Pit.
unknown photographer
