Congratulations Brownwood Native & Restauranteur Gene Street
Restaurant celebrates 30th year
Original Black-eyed Pea opened on Cedar Springs Road in 1975
By Tammye Nash
Staff Writer
Original Black-eyed Pea opened on Cedar Springs Road in 1975
By Tammye Nash Staff Writer
The original Black-eyed Pea restaurant, located in Oak Lawn, will roll the clock back to 1975 to celebrate the restaurant’s 30th anniversary for five days beginning on Monday.
Chad Francis, general manager, said the chain’s founders, Gene Street and Phil Cobb who opened the restaurant at 3857 Cedar Springs Road in 1975, will be on hand to help celebrate.
The celebration includes prices rolled back to 1975 levels, with a different entrée featured each day. Ben E. Keith Beers, a distributor for Anheuser-Busch beers, is participating in the anniversary party, Francis said. The restaurant will offer special prices on all Ben E. Keith beers throughout the week.
The big parties are set for Aug. 19 and Aug. 20, Francis said.
The restaurant have a guest DJ playing 70s music; the staff will all be dressed in 70s clothing, and the restaurant will be decorated with a 70s theme, he said.
Street, Cobb and their wives — Leisa Street and Janet Cobb — will be special guests for the celebration from 7-9 p.m. on Aug. 19, he added.
“We are throwing a big party all week, and those two days especially. It’s what we do best,” Francis said. “Anyone who has ever been in here on Pride Parade Day or Halloween or New Year’s Eve knows we know how to throw a party.”
Francis said Cobb and Street opened the original Black-eyed Pea in 1975 when the Cedar Springs strip was “a different place than it is today. Back then, there were a lot of pool halls and bars and nightclubs. It was kind of like Harry Hines is today.”
Over the years, the Oak Lawn area has come to be the heart of a thriving GLBT community, and Francis said his restaurant has always maintained close ties with the community that has helped make it successful.
“Our two main philanthropic efforts go to Bryan’s House and to the AIDS LifeWalk. I would say we have raised more than $15,000 overall for Bryan’s House, and we have been recognized multiple times as a major donor to Bryan’s House,” he said.
“Last year, we received a glass sneaker from LifeWalk recognizing our participation,” Francis continued.
The restaurant has also helped organizations and events including Sequoia, which works with developmentally challenged adults, the Women’s Chorus of Dallas, Turtle Creek Chorale, the Big D Classic bowling tournament and the Miss Gay Texas pageant.
“Basically, any group around here that asks for our help, we help them if we can,” he said.
Francis said the restaurant appreciates the recognition and honors it has received because of its contributions and its unique status as the only national chain restaurant located in Oak Lawn.
D Magazine listed having a chicken-fried steak at the Black-eyed Pea on Cedar Springs on its list of 50 things all Dallasites should do earlier this year, and in the past it was declared one of the “gayest” restaurants in the country by Genre magazine.
“It is nice to be recognized as a Dallas institution,” Francis said. “At a time when a lot of restaurants, especially a lot of chains, are really struggling to get by, we are seeing a 10 to 20 percent increase over last year, just in this location. I think that says a lot about the restaurant, and about the community we serve.”
source: http://www.dallasvoice.com/articles/dispArticle.cfm?Article_ID=6441
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``I am one of the only people who left there and became successful and I guess they don't like that."
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