I Can Already Taste The Onions

For those of you who live in the Southeast, this probably won't seem like such a big deal. But, for those of us who moved away to settle down west of the Sabine River, the opening of Houston's first Krystal Restaurant is a dream come true. It seriously ranks up there with the first coming . . . of Krispy Kreme a few years ago. I can remember telling un-Kremed Houstonians that the circular bits of heaven were best when eaten hot from the fryer. From then on I was revered somewhat like Yoda, a sort of guru with gourmet wisdom from the far East . . . well, as far east as Biloxi, Mississippi where the closest Krispy Kreme could be found up to that point. And now the second element of my personal holy trinity of finger foods is coming to Houston . The little square burger on an onion steamed bun will be here on Monday and I plan to be in line with several UGA friends to welcome it to Space City USA. As a kid I can remember riding with my folks to the Krystal on Ponce de Leon Avenue in the shadows of the tall gray buildings of downtown Atlanta. On a really good day we'd cruise across the street afterwards to the green neon-fronted Krispy Kreme. Just the thought of that artery clogging combination from 40-years ago can still set off a Pavlov-like reaction. Yes, I'm a happy man; Krispy Kreme and Krystal. The only thing that could make this any better would be for The Varsity to set up shop here. Chili dogs, a frosted orange and a big order of onion rangs . . . whadaya have, whadaya have, whadaya have? I'll tell you what I'll have . . . a sack of little square burgers on Monday when the doors open at 10 o'clock. I can already taste the onions.