for years an Abilene staple stood at the corner of South 1st and highland. Crystal's Pizza Palace was a place where dreams came true. i practically grew up at Crystal's and have many fond memories of that fine establishment. their menu was superb and i bet every kid in abilene can remember getting a mini pizza for just 99cents with a good report card. but Crystal's wasn't just pizza. they also had the best breadsticks ever served with cheese dipping sauce (don't knock it until you try it). their ice cream sundaes were heavenly. i can remember me and my buddies making "suicide" drinks at the soda foutain everytime we were there--we were crazy. the movie room, showing only Looney Tunes, was classic. the game room tough to beat (original ski ball--not ice ball, basketball shoot, Street Fighter, Galaga, and more). they had a piano and magic man there several nights a week. it was a must for team parties and youth group lock-ins. Crystal's was incredible.
then Mr. Gatti's supersized and took over Abilene. sure they had more games, bumper cars, better prizes, laser tag (which was originally an indoor roller coaster). but it didn't have the magic like Crystal's. still, Gatti's ruled and Crystal's was forced to close it's doors several years ago. a little piece of my childhood died that day. but last night...i was resurrected.
last night, thanks to Chad and Sheri, i was able to experience the magic all over again. there's only one Crystal's left, and who knew it was in Irving?! i sure didn't.
from the minute i saw that sparkling sign i was overwhelmed with feelings of nostalgia from my childhood. everything inside--the breadsticks, the tokens, the movie room, the greasy kitchen help--was the same as my youth. last night i was 8 years old again...and it truly was magical.
so if anyone out there shares my love for this childhood wonder, next time you're in the dfw area call me and we'll go.
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pic of the day (from Mize), Rosaly and her dad:
9 comments:
CODY BLAIR! i am NOT kidding...i WILL go with you...my heart swells even at the thought of Crystals...oh, the tales i could tell of that wonderful place, just simply too numerous to write down. i will tell this one, though...we were such regulars that when my family would walk in, the Piano Man would automatically greet us with the theme song to Sesame Street,(my personal favorite request).... seriously though, i could really go for some breadsticks and cheese sauce right now...meet you there! oh, you've made my day!
hey, also...do you remember the little short door handle at the bottom of the door when you first walked in??? just wondering if i'm the only one....
Ok, I remember all of that too Lindsey!! Codyblair, the next time I'm in DFW (which may be sooner rather than later :) we are TOTALLY going for breadsticks and cheese! Man, how I missed that place- when it closed Senior Year I think all of our PALS class cried- especially Ryan Porche!
Cody, Mare and i were just talking about Crystals the other day and how we knew of that one in irving and how we NEEDED to go ASAP! I remeber that being the Sharp's favorite place to eat and we spent lots of Sunday lunches there with them.
Oh you sad small towners, some of us grew up a little harder than others. Melting nails we found on the tracks into bullets to kill rival gang members and then eat them for dinner. Those were the days. I'm not complaining, there were plenty of flavors/gangs: Mexican(the vatos), Italian(Degos), Russian(Mafia), Japanese(Yokuzo Clan), Irish(McLearnans), Sicilian(Mob), Indian(Proud Horse Humper Tribe) and my personal favorite, the Rich Brats(Jets).
Hey Cody, you don't know me or anything, I'm just a random who found your blog through others. Oh my word, I miss Crystal's SO much. We had one in Fort Worth growing up, but it closed a LONG time ago. So everytime I came to Abilene we would go. OH, and the breadsticks with cheese were amazing. I started grad school at ACU a year ago and I was so incredibly disappointed to find that Crystal's is now some chinese food place with karaoke. Crystal's sure made for some great childhood memories. My sister did call me a couple of months ago when she too discovered that DFW Crystal's. Let me just say, we were a little TOO excited to find out about the opened Crystal's. We still haven't made it over there though. Good post, I could've written it myself, suicide, looney tunes, piano guy, gameroom. Fabulous. Thanks for the reminder of the best pizza place EVER. Have a GREAT day!
Found your blog through Katey's. I grew up in Irving (and I'm back there now,) so Crystal's holds a special place in my heart, too. I've not been too happy with them recently, however, since they painted the place bright nasty baby blue. What did you think about that? To this day, I still sit in the movie theatre to eat. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but last time I went, the breadsticks weren't the same. They changed the bread recipe and the cheese is totally different, too. Sad day, I know. Still, it's Crystal's and I love it!
when i was in high school i worked at the Crystal's in abilene. my name was on the employee board.
Sadly, Crystal's in Irving will close on Feb 17th, 2013. The owner is selling signs/decor to, well, anyone. The details are on the Crystal's Pizza Facebook page.
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