Big Apple (Fort Worth, TX barbecue restaurant, 1941-1968)
“The Big Apple” was the name of a barbecue restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas. It is uncertain when the restaurant started (and if it had that name at the beginning). “Big Apple Club” was printed in the Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram on May 12, 1941, so the name might have been influenced by the 1937 “Big Apple” dance craze. An ad in the Star-Telegram on October 30, 1949 stated “14 years” (since 1935?). The Star-Telegram on January 28, 1968 stated “36 years” (since 1932?). The restaurant did not advertise after 1968.
The Big Apple, located at 706 Cliff Street on the North Side, was run for 21 years by Lucille Hester. The restaurant was known for barbecued ribs, beef and chicken. It often advertised “Barbecue at its best.” In 1961, a combination plate (ribs, beef and chicken) cost $1.50. An advertisement in the June 6, 1957 Star-Telegram stated that The Big Apple was “Nationally Famous.”
Some time in the 2000s, a Big Apple Cafe sports bar opened at 14200 Trinity Blvd #400 in Fort Worth.
OCLC WorldCat record
The Big Apple
Author: Stellmacher & Son; Fort Worth Postcards
Publisher: Fort Worth Public Library Archives 1946; 1947; 1948; 1949; 1950; 1951; 1952; 1953; 1954; 1955
Edition/Format: Downloadable archival material
Summary:
Postcard showing an interior view of The Big Apple barbecue restaurant, located at 706 Cliff Street, near the Fort Worth Stockyards. There are many tables and chairs, with checked tablecloths.
Newspapers.com
12 May 1941, Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram, pg. 9, col. 2:
Exchange Club Meeting Set
The Exchange Club will hold its meeting Wednesday noon at the Big Apple Club, 716 Cliff Street, releasing its usual meeting room at the Fort Worth Club to the woman’s auxiliary of the Texas State Medical Association, George W. Saam, secretary, announced Monday.
Newspapers.com
4 June 1941, Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram, “Where to Go—What to Do?” by Katherine Howard, pg. 14, col. 1:
FOR FOOD ALONE.
Now to the places that specialize in food alone and their specialties:
The Big Apple—On the old Azle Road, just off Clinton Avenue, about four miles from town. Specialty barbecued beef, pork and ribs.
Newspapers.com
24 December 1941, Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram, “Christmas Greetings,” pg. 14, col. 3 ad:
The Big Apple
Sol Pramer
706 Cliff Street 6-0056
Newspapers.com
30 October 1949, Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram, pg. 36, col. 2 ad:
BIG
APPLE
for 14 years
a famous place in Fort Worth
For People Who Enjoy Good Barbecue
THE BIG APPLE
706 CLIFF 6-0056
Newspapers.com
6 June 1957, Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram, pg. 55, col. 3 ad:
THE BIG APPLE
Barbecued Ribs
Beef and Chicken
At Its Best
Nationally Famous
706 Cliff St. MA 4-0056
Newspapers.com
11 September 1960, Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram, sec. 2, pg. 18, col. 4 ad:
There Is Only ONE
Barbecue At Its BEST
In the SOUTHWEST
THE
BIG
APPLE
706 CLIFF
First signal light west of
Intersection of 28th and N. Main
Newspapers.com
8 February 1961, Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram, pg. 14, col. 2 ad:
THE BIG APPLE
FAMILY STYLE
DINNER
COMBINATION PLATE—
RIBS, BEEF and CHICKEN
$1.50 Per Person
Newspapers.com
1 January 1967, Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram, pg. 7-C, col. 8:
35 YEARS
THE BIG APPLE
“Barbecue at its best”
706 Cliff MA 4-0056
Newspapers.com
28 January 1968, Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram, pg. 18-C, col. 7:
36 YEARS
The Big Apple
“Barbecue at its best”
706 Cliff MA 4-0056
Newspapers.com
9 January 1981, Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram, pg. 9A, col. 1:
Cookin’ made her famous
When Lucille Hester died Tuesday at the age of 79, what her friends remembered best were two things: her famous barbecue restaurants and her motherly compassion.
Mrs. Hester ran the Big Apple at 706 Cliff for 21 years, from the 1930s to the 1950s. From 1954 to 1962 she ran Hester’s-on-the-Hill at 2020 Ephriahm Ave.
Newspapers.com
11 April 1983, Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram, “Lifestyle” by Jack Gordon, pg. 6B, col. 2:
In his note, Earl Wilson (syndicated entertainment columnist from New York City—ed.) recalls the barbecued ribs he so relished on a 1949 visit to Fort Worth. he and his wife Rosemary were taken to the Big Apple, then Fort Worth’s most celebrated barbecue haven, located at 706 Cliff St. on the North Side. But now only a piece of Fort Worth history.
“Remember our raid on that rib joint?” Earl writes. He still remembers the Big Apple’s great barbecue after 34 years! Come to think of it so do many others.