Front Page
Welcome! This site is dedicated to memory of my grandfather, Andrew A. Brockles Sr., his family, and the Dallas restaurant and salad dressing business he founded with his brother Basil A. Brockles.
There are many in the Dallas area who remember Brockles Restaurant and the signature Special Dressing which were locally popular from the 1940’s through the 70’s. Unfortunately, their memories are likely becoming as poor as mine. So this site will be a place where my brothers, the Brockles aunts, uncles, and cousins can help me get my facts straight as we reminisce together.
I hope to collect and present info here on the Restaurant, the Dressings, our Greek heritage, and other memories. Comments are welcome, especially from extended family and friends.
Above is a picture of the entance to the Restaurant at 817 South Ervay in downtown Dallas. This looks like it was taken in about 1952.
Below is a picture of the company truck with Andrew Jr. (my uncle) behind the wheel. This picture was taken at the old Belmont house probably around 1949-50. Thanks to cousin Maria for this picture of her Dad.
Following is a picture from a trade magazine showing the the two Brockles brothers with their oldest sons taking a look at a new menu in 1952. Get a load of the waitress uniforms.
Below is a picture of the whole Andrew Brockles family in 1962. Grandad and Nena are seated in the middle. I won’t give names of everyone else, but I’m sure you family members can find yourselves.
Jimmy, what a great idea to have a Brockles blog! It is looking great and your grandfather would be pleased. It’s fun to share our memories!
I remember in the late 1930s riding the streetcar downtown with Mama, then walking several blocks south on Ervay Street to the Brockles Club Café. We would sit at the counter and eat ice cream while my dad busily waited on customers. As I remember, the floors were black and white tile, there were tables with bentwood chairs, and large ceiling fans (no air conditioning).
Margaret
September 8, 2007 at 10:28 am
Is there any news about having the salad dressing produced in at least limited release?
Karol Wilson
September 21, 2007 at 9:14 am
This is something we have looked at recently, but doesn’t appear likely for various reasons. Thanks for asking.
Jim
September 21, 2007 at 10:16 am
Our Pastor, Arge Brockles, looks more like this picture of his dad, Andrew, every year! And we all knew their mother, Ola, & loved her (& her dry sense of humor) tremendously! Over the years I’ve known him, Arge has told us many Andrew Brockles and Brockles family stories. They are SO enjoyable, but I haven’t been able to talk him into writing them down. He says they’re all in his head & that he won’t ever forget them. But maybe you could get him to write one or two for this blog. (He even knows some that Margaret didn’t include in her delightful book.)
Ann Moore
September 24, 2007 at 4:38 pm
I live in Waco, Texas and our family always kept a supply of Brockles Special Dressing on hand. At one point it was distributed by Specialty Foods in Irving I believe, but it disappeared in the early 1990’s . I have tried unsuccessfully to duplicate. Please Oh Please help save this younger generation from death by Ranch Dressing and give them something real like Brockles Dressing.
Bobby Andrews
September 25, 2007 at 2:01 pm
I’m a 61 yr. old “Cowtown” girl & boy do I remember Brockles dressing! Never thought I’d taste it again, but have found copy cat recipe on line. Hope it’s at least similar.
Sandy
September 26, 2007 at 6:14 am
Sandy,
If it’s the one I have seen, the copycat recipe won’t even be close. It may be good, but it won’t taste like Brockles Special.
Jim
September 26, 2007 at 7:20 am
This looks great. I have an old 1920 photo of my father in the old Club Cafe if you want I’ll get it copied for you.
Alethia Brockles Alt
November 3, 2007 at 4:24 pm
Dear Jim,
I am 55 now and I can still remember the days at my grandmothers where she would pull out the Brockles and crackers. I have longed for that taste again. Is their any hope of a recipe or a chance to buy it again?
Deborah Landrum
December 18, 2007 at 1:19 am
This is the most wonderful website in years and I’m proud to be here. Brockles Restaurant brings back such happy memories to me from childhood to adult. I used to go to your families restaurant when I was a child with my parents and then later after I was married. When my parents moved out of state they used to have me ship Brockles Special Dressing to them.
Oh how we loved eating at the restaurant and the waitresses would bring the jar of dressing and Euphrates Crackers to us and that wooden spoon. Thank you for the wonderful memories.
Teresa
January 11, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Thanks Teresa,
I followed you back to the Dallas History Forum and commented on the Thread you started there.
http://dallashistory.freeforums.org/viewforum.php?f=6
Jim
January 12, 2008 at 8:26 am
I have a family recipe which calls for Brockles Special Dressing. Is there such a thing anymore or will there be? Just found this website today. Several recipes here, are they close? I remember bits of pickle which isn’t in the recipe I saw today. I would absolutely love to make my shrimp and cream cheese dip again.
Marsha
February 17, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Sorry, Marsha. There are no plans to produce the special dressing again.
Jim
February 18, 2008 at 6:51 am
My cousin, Thomas Brockles, sent the link to this website. What a wonderful idea. Between my brother and I we may have additional pictures you may want of our grandfather Basil A. Brockles and his immediate family and pictures of the restaurant.
I miss the Brockles salad dressing as well and wish it would be marketed again. I also remember going to the restaurant on Ervay Street, sitting in the booths and watching my grandfather Basil work with my mother Elaine Pandora Brockles Doty.
George Doty
March 21, 2008 at 8:00 am
Thanks for letting us hear from you, George. If you have a picture of your grandad you could email to me, I would be glad to post it for you.
Jim
March 30, 2008 at 12:16 pm
I want my Brockles. I agree with Bobby don’t let my children and grandchildren never taste Brockles. Even my old Okie husband has never had a chance to taste it. I am 48 and my friend and I were talking tonight about that dressing. My step mother always used it. It was wonderful.
Kim
April 2, 2008 at 12:15 am
Hello family! This is so much fun to read and learn from. Thank you for putting together such a wonderful tribute to our family.
Julie
April 3, 2008 at 2:11 pm
If you ever decide to make the dressing again I will order a case. My life has not been the same since it went out of production.
Jim M.
April 5, 2008 at 5:51 am
I too loved the Brockle’s special dressing as a youngster back in the late 40’s and early 50’s in Denton, texas . I hope you will produce it again, or make a limited supply that could be ordered. I really miss it. My grandfather lived on South St., not far from the restaurant, and we ate there often.
david davis
April 5, 2008 at 1:52 pm
I am another one that loved the Brockle’s special dressing, I am now 70 and remember many times at the Restaurant on South Ervay. I have looked and looked for the “Brockle’s Special Dressing” I remember the wooden spoon and fresh crackers. Wish you would be able to produce it again or allow someone to do so.
Shirley
April 7, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I, too, am a lover of Brockles Special Dressing. My husband and I were both born in Dallas in 1944. Our parents introduced us to the dressing as youngsters. Many of our dates were at the restuarant on S. Ervay. I remember the crackers and dressing and then a wedge of lettuce….looked like 1/4 of the head. Don’t remeber the entree, but I do remember the dressing. Then we woould go to the “show” aat the Majesstic or Palace.
We raised seven children on that dressing. Saturday’s lunch was “things” on crackers. Brockles was at the top of the list.
We live in Garland and we used to get it at Tom Thumb. It was a sad day when we found out it was no longer available. I even stopped by the shop on Buckingham to inquire about it. We heard it was offered to Kraft but they said no. Little do they know how much it is missed. Please find some backers to help keep this memory alive.
Connie Allen
May 8, 2008 at 5:44 pm
I really enjoyed reading through you site here and feeling the family pride you have in having such a legacy in the Dallas area. I myself know that feeling as my family, and myself, have been business owners in Dallas with the most famous being my uncle, Dewey Groom, owner of the Longhorn Ballroom.
I now live out of state but will be in town soon and yesterday I sent my mother on a mission to see if she could find some Brockles Dressing. She contacted several Minyard’s grocery stores (another great family business in Dallas) but they said it is no longer available.
Of interesting note, about 2 years ago I was in a Albertson’s in Colorado and I saw a dressing that looked just like Brockles Special Dressing, and the label said it was made in a surburb of Dallas, so I bought it and gave it a try. It did not taste 100% like Brockles, but really close. A few weeks later it disapeared from the shelves.
Brockles Special Dressing is such a very special product and it would be a real shame to see it lost to future generations. I do come from a family of business owners and my wife is a real mover and a shaker who seems to be able to get the impossible done. If ever you would like to see about producing the Brockles Special Dressing again, let us know, we will help in any way we can to make it more than just a pipe dream. I believe very strongly in preserving our heritage, and when it comes to the name Brockles, that dressing says it all.
J Groom
June 2, 2008 at 10:09 am
My grandmother made absolutely the best avocado dip using Brockles as the base. We have never been able to reproduce the taste of the dip without it! I would love to be able to purchase it again. She is gone now and we never have a family meal without reminiscing about Nana’s avocado dip made with Brockles!
Judy McCampbell
June 9, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Jim …
Back in the Fifties, I worked for Zale Jewelry Company and Commercial Metals Company, both of which were located on South Ervay near the old Brockles Restaurant. We would eat with your family at least once every week, The special dressing was the key to keeping us coming back. After moving from Big D, I bought your dressing in several grocery store for years, but all of a sudden one day, “poof” it was gone. I have tried for years to find it or to get the recipe to no avail. I located many recipes from many people, but none of them had the original taste.
Listen to the otherss responding to this website — PRODUCE IT AGAIN or sell the recipe to someone who will! It’s simply to good to let die!
Charles L. Gafford
June 25, 2008 at 1:26 am
My mother and I were just talking on the phone about “what ever happened to Brockles Dressing”. I was happy to see this website and cannot wait to tell her about it! She and my dad ate at the restaurant but I guess I was too small to remember. I sure do wish it was still around because my mother and dad would like to eat there again….ME TOO!!!
Suzi Thomas
June 28, 2008 at 7:23 pm
I worked for Standard foods in the 50s. My wife did demos at State Fair. Is Chester Ellis still living?
bob holton
July 15, 2008 at 10:17 am
Chester Ellis Sr. was my dad. He passed away in 1991.
Jim
July 15, 2008 at 10:55 am
Add me to the list who wants the recipe, or a case if you start making it again. My Dad is looking for it, but I don’t remember it that well, except that it was good, and I loved going to that place. What happened with the guy who was interested in marketing it again? If it didn’t work out, let me know why, I might be able to help, too.
Doc Neaves
July 30, 2008 at 5:49 pm
I just left a comment on the shortcut recipe section, not realizing it is a special section of the site. Anyway, I was Margaret’s roommate at Warm Springs and just ordered her book. I’m SO glad to read of this wonderful family after 50+ years.
Jeanne Clements Hall
September 4, 2008 at 6:39 am
Thanks, Jeanne, for visiting and commenting on our website. I have informed aunt Margaret of your visit.
Jim
September 4, 2008 at 1:09 pm
what a great page!! Love the old pictures of the family!!
Emilie Brockles
September 8, 2008 at 9:28 pm
I distinctly remember the entrance, the round window and the waitress uniforms. It was always my mother’s favorite restaurant when we were little, and she always had the special dressing around. Too bad the old place is now a parking lot for city hall. Great picture of the family – it’s nice to see all the Ellis boys and Mr. & Mrs. Ellis, my parents away from home. They were always really nice to me, except for the time Mike and I accidentally dropped a lit “punk” into a FULL grocery bag of Black Cat firecrackers – indoors on the side porch. Let’s just say that after the chaos of hundreds of firecrackers exploding around us, and Mike and I realized we were still alive and had not burned the house down, Momma Ellis had a few choice words for both of us! And we earned it. I loved both of them and miss them and Billy alot…jab
Jay Ballou
September 11, 2008 at 8:52 am
Oh PLEASE consider marketing Brockles again. When I would visit my grandparents in Beaumont, we always bought several jars, since we couldn’t find it in Louisiana. We didn’t use it on salad–we ate it on crackers or just with a spoon. I can taste it now!
Betty Marks
September 25, 2008 at 4:44 pm
If you ever do market it again, I want to know. Would love to buy a case of it myself. Like several of the other people, I ate it on crackers more than salad. Thanks for the memories.
Judye Ann Brown
September 26, 2008 at 8:28 am
Oh I love finding this site, I thought I was the only one longing for a taste of Brockles! My parents are from Dallas and had MANY cases shipped to Tennessee in the 60s. At one point my mother had maybe 15 cases shipped with the thought of distributing it in Tennessee. She stored it down in the cool basement……where we would sneak and snitch a bottle at a time. And we were TEENAGERS! Our friends were hoping to swipe a beer and here we were going after salad dressing. Needless to say, not many other Tennesseans got the chance to develop a taste for Brockles.
Mimi Cat
November 14, 2008 at 7:14 pm
I can’t believe I found this site! I am another Texan who grew up with Brockles Dressing. We always had it during the holidays and made smoked (Greenburg-we’re from Tyler) turkey on fancy rye bread sandwiches. It hasn’t been the same since we couldn’t find it anymore. I bought the last 6 jars I could find at a Brookshires years ago and guarded it like gold! I too want to know if you ever make it again, it would make the holidays like I remember growing up.
Sherry
November 23, 2008 at 12:18 pm
What a cool website… what an honor to your family.
Merilee
November 25, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Thank you so much for the recipe. I have truly missed Brockles special dressing. It has now been over 58 years since our family dined in your family restaurant and over 55 years since I have had the pleasure of buying the special dressing. But, I have thought about both often. Thank you,
David B Davis, II, MD Camas, Wa
david davis
December 10, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I and my family also miss the salad dressing, we used it as a dip for chicken, potaotes, and a whole lot of other things. Im in for a couple of cases if reproduced, that should last about a month.
angela
January 4, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Oh boy! I was so thrilled over this Brockles Special Dressing recipe that is now released by the family. Thanks! I still remember this taste which was so delicious. I often put it on the crackers while waiting for the ordering at the restaurant in Dallas way back in 1955 or so when we used to live in McKinney, Texas. Thanks with Winks!
Minnie
January 5, 2009 at 11:38 am
Thanks for the follow-up eMail that let ne know about your release of the old Brockles salad dressing recipie. What brand of sweet relish would you recommend? I’m close to gettin the taste right, but I am not quite there yet. Also, do you have the old Brockles Thousand Island salad dressing recipe that you used. Pete and Mario, two Greek brothers who owned the old 505 North Ervay Building coffee shop in the 70s and 80s in Dallas, had a Greek version of Thousand Island salad dressing that I dearly loved, but I lost touch with them. It tasted nothing like that which is sold in grocery stores today. I’m hoping that the Brockles version might come close or be even better.
Charley Gafford, Santa Fe, NM
Charles Gafford
January 9, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Charley,
I don’t think the brand of sweet pickle relish should make much difference. I have tried several. I might only suggest you make sure and drain the relish juice before adding to the dressing. I use a fine mesh strainer and press the relish with a paper towel to minimize the juice content.
Jim
January 10, 2009 at 8:27 am
I am 87 and was raised in Wichita Falls, later moving to Fort Worth where I discovered the best tasting salad dressing in the entire World .. Brockles special dressing! I moved to San Antonio in 1967 but have not been able to find that delicious dressing anywhwere. PLEASE GIVE THE EXACT RECIPE FOR BROCKLES SPECIAL DRESSING ON YOUR WEBSITE SO THAT ALL FUTURE GENERATIONS CAN TASTE ITS SPECIAL FLAVOR. Thank you.
Charlie Butts, San Antonio, Texas 1/10/09
Charlie Butts
January 10, 2009 at 10:43 am
I share alot of the same memories of brockles special dressing. I love it on crackers as it seems, does the rest of the world. I would like to find the original recipe some how.
tonya
February 11, 2009 at 9:59 am
This is just another note to thank you and your family for what you gave to me and my family. Brockles was always in the refrigerator, on the shelf, in the ice-chest. I recal it fondly, as I do my dad making his sandwiches with it. There are naught but pale imitations out there now.
My grandfather was in the Dallas restaurant biz for a good long while, too. I wonder if he ever crossed paths with your dad. I’m sure he did — it was a pretty tiny world, though it seemed enormous back then.
Scott
April 26, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Does anyone know the Belmont address for the house where the truck is pictured? The house in the background looks exactly like the one my grandmother and two aunts lived in from the late 1940s until 1960. I think the address was 5819 Belmont. The 58 part is right and the last two digits were odd numbers.
If this is the place, what a find !
Mike Thomasson
Austin.
Mike Thomasson
May 10, 2009 at 7:56 pm
My name was Sue Gibbons when I knew and lived with theBrockles family. I was 18 at the time and Margaret was in her early twenties. I was her best friend and caretaker. I have such wonderful memories of that time with the Brockles and Maragret. We went to Europe together to meet her relatives whom she had never seen. I loved everything about that family. I would have converted to being Greek if I could have. I just learned of this site from my sister. Have not read Maragrets book yet, but I intend to get it today. I have a picture of our trip together and will try to find it and post it to this website if you would like it. I would love to have Maragrets address so that I could write her. I am sixty seven now so we are both getting on in years.
Sue Weis
June 5, 2009 at 11:05 am
Sue,
Thanks for leaving your comments above. I am sending you Margaret’s email address. I’m sure she would love to hear from you.
Jim
June 5, 2009 at 11:20 am
Jim,
I dont know if Margaret has made you aware that she has emailed me and I have emailed her about the last 50 years of my life. I ordered her book and waited a week to get it. I read it cover to cover in 2 days. It brought back so many memories about our trip to Greece. There were so many more mishaps and adventures that happened to us that it would take another book and not just a chapter. I cant wait to hear back from her after my email to her.
Have a blessed day
Sue
Sue Weis
June 15, 2009 at 11:24 am
please please make some of your famous dresssing so that my grandchildren and great grandchildren can taste the fabulous treat that we all loved to use on our sandwiches, salad, crackers, and anything else we could put it on!!!!
jeanie trent
June 28, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Jeanie,
You can make some for yourself. The recipe is easy and may be found by clicking the label in the right sidebar.
Jim
June 29, 2009 at 8:39 am
Our family never went out to eat, so we missed out on the eats, but my memory of your family and how they welcomed every guest at your house still warms my heart to this day. I actually loved the dressing without (at the time) knowing that it came from a good friend’s family. Great blog Jim.
Bill Short
July 23, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Good to hear from you, Bill. I hope all is well with you. Let me know what you think if you try the recipe.
Jim
July 24, 2009 at 5:37 am
Although I’ve never visited USA even if I have a lot of reasons to (margarita, gella and family I’m sure I don’t know), I was really touched to see these pictures.
I’ve grown with my mom telling me about the Brockles Restaurant! And I think Jim this is a great blog!!!!
Greetings from Greece!
maria brakoulia
August 4, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Thank you so much for sharing the recipe with we folks that are old enough to remember it. I grew up eating at the restuarant and buying the dressing. We put it on everything, salad, crackers, sandwiches. It is like an old friend from my youth. I missed it when it was taken off of the market. Once more, Thank You for bringing back an old friend.
Richard Morris
August 8, 2009 at 11:50 am
I want to thank you so much for this wonderful website. I grew up on Brockles dressing in Wichita Falls, TX..even loved just Brockles on bread…on anything and I have really missed it over the years. We loved Pioneer restaurants who always had a squeeze bottle of Brockles (1/2 Brockles plus 1/2 buttermilk to thin it down) on the table (with the hole cut larger for the pickle relish to make it through). It was best put on top of a tortilla chip and salsa. Perfect taste! I am definitely making this recipe as soon as possible. Thank you…thank you!
Janey
August 8, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Janey here again…I couldn’t wait to try the recipe and you are right. Made two jars today and then to half of one I stirred in buttermilk to get a thinner consistency. You are right on with this homemade version. Delicious….
Janey
August 9, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Thanks Janey. We find the recipe very close to the original taste and consistency. If you simply must thin it, then a little buttermilk is probably the way to go.
Jim
August 9, 2009 at 7:34 pm
I grew up on Belmont next door to the Brockles family in Dallas. Andrew and I were friends and Arge and my deaf brother Thomas were friends. I have lived all over the world but my memory of the family is strong. I live in Virginia now but for thirty years I lived two blocks from the Hart Senate Office building on Capitol Hill. The Brockles are a fond memory of my early life.
Frank Withrow
August 31, 2009 at 3:02 pm
In reply to Mike Thomasson:
The correct address of the house where we lived till 1946 on Belmont is 6015. It is between Skillman and Concho. Before Skillman was paved my siblings and I would catch crawdads there in the roadside ditch.
Margaret Smith
September 16, 2009 at 8:20 am
I remember the craw fish in the creek where Skillman is today. When I was about ten I got in a terrible fight with Charlie U., my best friend who lived in the apartment house next to what is now Skillman. We were very mad at one another and used some profanity which the ladies of the neighborhood took up with our mothers. Charlie became a POW in Germany in WW II. I always thought it was ironic because Charlie’s father was a German and had been an American POW in WW I. Belmont was an interesting street.
Frank Withrow
September 16, 2009 at 8:54 am
Bet I drove by that house a hundred times. We lived on Prospect (two blocks south) at the end of the first block east of Skillman and as I said my Grandmother and aunts lived on Belmont (5800 block) about six houses from the streetcar line.
Mike Thomasson
September 16, 2009 at 9:19 am
T0 Maria Brockoulia, Are you Kiki’s daughter? If so I am your cousin Alethia Please email me and tell me about the family in Melissi and those in Athens
Alethia Brockles
September 21, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Dear Jimmy, Please email me Maria Brockoulia’s and George Doty’s email.
Alethia Brockles
September 21, 2009 at 6:02 pm
I remember going with my father and mother to California with a case of dressing in the trunk of the old cadillac my dad drove. The idea was to see how well it lasted in the desert heat and how long it would remain stable withou refrigeration. That was before 1950, I think.
Connie Brockles McNabb
September 22, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Please forward Alethia Brockles Alt’s e-mail or give her mine. Thanks.
Done,
Jim
Connie Brockles McNabb
September 22, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Brockles Dressing……what warm and comforting memories it gives me….walking home from school, sittng on the back steps with crackers and a jar a Brockles Dressing. Fond memories of eating them with my now deceased father also come to mind. My husband and I were both raised in Dallas and remember Brockles fondly and have tried to reproduce the taste with several recipes that have tried to mimic Brockles. Since there are no plans to have it massed produced or no restaurants that look like they will be open anytime in the near future, I would absolutely love to have the recipe. It is something I would love to pass on to my daughter and her husband. My daughter vaguely remembers it as a young child, but her husband has never had it. Not sure if sending the recipe to me is possible, but as my father always taught me, it never hurts to try. Thanks, Kathy Miles
Kathy Miles
October 5, 2009 at 8:11 am
So glad to finally find this site and get the recipe for Brockles to eat on crackers. Yum!…the best. Love that stuff and miss it terribly. Thanks
D'Ann Carpenter
October 6, 2009 at 9:16 pm