I saw a recent conversation on Facebook in which Albert Henry asked if anyone remembered The Red Barn Cafe. I remember it well. I also have a few pictures of it. I've posted very early photos of Sugar Land's commercial district, which show the two separate buildings which were joined to make the cafe. I don't know the date when this occurred, but I think it was before WWI.
Maybe someone can help me with this, but I think the cafe was known at various times as Pike's Cafe, the Imperial Coffee Shoppe, the Crown Cafe, and possibly the R&R Cafe. Some of these may have been informal names, or possibly the names of other establishments.
Here's an undated photo of the building when it was known as the R&R Cafe. I presume this was before it was known as The Red Barn Cafe.
Here's a photo of the same building when it was known as The Red Barn Cafe.
(Update) I received the following note from Judy Harrington Diamond (SLHS '59):
Thanks for posting the photo of the Red Barn Cafe. I have such good memories of it.In high school, my first "real job" was as part time cashier in the cafe and clerk in Bill (Sweetpea) Gandy's Justice of the Peace office, which was in one end of the building. I ate many wonderful meals and felt very important, meeting all the handsome highway patrolmen and collecting fines from local lawbreakers. Most were ticketed for speeding on Hwy 90.The most memorable was when a patrolman brought my Daddy into the office! He was returning from an afternoon of socializing with some buddies and didn't take kindly to being stopped, so the officer "hauled him in!" Of course, JUDGE Gandy waived Daddy's fine in lieu of months of ribbing. I was very amused also, but had the good sense, for once, to keep quiet about it.
Maybe Travis Gandy or one of his siblings can supply some information. His father ran the cafe for a time.
