BUVA said:

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I ate there a lot my freshman year, they were always handing out coupons. It was a Sunday night staple when dorm cafeterias were closed. The old building was two stories; they'd show old movies on the walls.

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The old building is still Poppa Rollos. Unless you are talking about the original location from the late 60s--late 70s?. I think it has been expanded in fact. Because I remember PR's in the 80s only being that main room with the loft style second floor and the game room area which I recall as being smaller than now. However it has a lot of secret doorways to other rooms. Maybe I just did not know about those in the 80s.

I was at BU 1972-76. Maybe it was just a loft but there was an upper level.

You must be taking about the original location then. I think they moved to their current "old location" in 79: so we must be talking about different buildings. I never went to the original location. It was before my time in Waco.

PartyBear said:

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You must be taking about the original location then. I think they moved to their current "old location" in 79: so we must be talking about different buildings. I never went to the original location. It was before my time in Waco.

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The original was at the golden triangle at Waco drive and valley Mills. It had a loft

The main room at the current old location has an upstairs loft as well. The bar has one as well. That main room is what I remember Poppa Rollos being in the 80s. Perhaps the bar was always there and I don't remember. Nevertheless PRs at that location seems to be about 3 x the size of what it was then. I don't think they were using the whole building as the restaurant in the first several years they were at the current old location.

I keep calling that old location because it really isn't the original location. I should call it primary location perhaps. I'm doing so because they opened a Hewitt location in 2015. That location is different in that it has a nicer setting like the neighboring Hewitt George's does as well but still tries to imitate some of the quirkiness of the primary location.

So my favorite Waco za was Bluto's...does that age me?

The bar at the original location was hidden to the left of the entrance and through the phone booth. Yes, the same phone booth that hides the secret entrance to the current bar.

I wonder if this used to be a speakeasy during Prohibition! It seems farfetched since Waco was not that large of a city back then and I don't know if there were many speakeasies in smaller cities, but hidden entrances seem to cloak-and-dagger. Maybe I'm letting my imagination get away with me.

N. Valley Mills was cow pastures and cotton patches during Prohibition, "historian."

historian said:

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I wonder if this used to be a speakeasy during Prohibition! It seems farfetched since Waco was not that large of a city back then and I don't know if there were many speakeasies in smaller cities, but hidden entrances seem to cloak-and-dagger. Maybe I'm letting my imagination get away with me.

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The Sanger/Valley Mills/New Road triangle was the site of the Westview Drive-In in the 50s. It was long gone before my conscious memory and the property developed up in the late 50s/early 60s. Dont recall what the Poppa Rollos building was originally but the pawn shop to its left was a Rambler/AMC dealership, and the GENCO credit union was a nightclub. Arbys next door opened in about 68 or 69. Poppa Rollos moved from its original location in Golden Triangle when that property was bulldozed for the United Bank Plaza in about 1978.

Nothing out there dates back to prohibition days.

Thanks for the info. I should have known. It was my imagination after all.

They had pizza? I only remember, vaguely, yards.

When I was a teenager, us youngsters would usually go to one of three places after church on Sunday nights: Pizza Inn, Taco Torch or Poppa Rollo's. All three were within spitting distance of each other.
Loved the atmosphere at PR's, sitting on the first or second level and watching Little Rascals and such. The pizza is indeed a different style, but it seems to have changed little over the years. I thought the place looked really old 45 or 50 years ago. Part of the charm.

whitetrash said:

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historian said:

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I wonder if this used to be a speakeasy during Prohibition! It seems farfetched since Waco was not that large of a city back then and I don't know if there were many speakeasies in smaller cities, but hidden entrances seem to cloak-and-dagger. Maybe I'm letting my imagination get away with me.

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The Sanger/Valley Mills/New Road triangle was the site of the Westview Drive-In in the 50s. It was long gone before my conscious memory and the property developed up in the late 50s/early 60s. Dont recall what the Poppa Rollos building was originally but the pawn shop to its left was a Rambler/AMC dealership, and the GENCO credit union was a nightclub. Arbys next door opened in about 68 or 69. Poppa Rollos moved from its original location in Golden Triangle when that property was bulldozed for the United Bank Plaza in about 1978.

Nothing out there dates back to prohibition days.

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You have a good memory of that area! The nightclub was called the "PeachTree" Lots of memories in that establishment ! Before that, the Colias Bros. opened the Elite Steak House there in the 60's.

Pizza House in West is good. Love the skunk eggs and their chicken salad sandwich is very good too.

BaylorGuy314 said:

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If you dont like Poppa Rollos, we can't be friends. I can't say it's the best pizza in the world but that's only because I haven't eaten all the pizza in the world.

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BaylorGuy314 once again with nothing but the truth.

I think I'm gonna go right now to cure this hangover

I loved the place as a student at BU (70-74).
Thought the 16mm movies were greatness, and I liked their pizza.
Best thing about it back in the day was that they gave you a FREE pitcher of beer on your 21st birthday.
Most likely that doesn't happen anymore.

Pecos 45 said:

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I loved the place as a student at BU (70-74).
Thought the 16mm movies were greatness, and I liked their pizza.
Best thing about it back in the day was that they gave you a FREE pitcher of beer on your 21st birthday.
Most likely that doesn't happen anymore.

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Free beer still applies on your birthday, at least it did pre-COVID

What if you don't drink beer?

historian said:

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What if you don't drink beer?

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Free water

historian said:

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What if you don't drink beer?

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I didn't know such a sin existed.

historian said:

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What if you don't drink beer?

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I bet youre a lot of fun at parties

It's pretty bad when some people think that you cannot have fun without booze.

Some of us are just more fun when we have booze.

Pecos 45 said:

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Some of us are just more fun when we have booze.

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And some of us need to booze to be around those who don't!