Hooper’s is a casual restaurant and pub in Central Texas that offers a truly buzz-worthy experience.
Guests are served inside a Victorian home that also just happened to be where a 1974 horror flick about a chainsaw-wielding fiend and his cannibalistic family was filmed.
Hooper’s is a business venture led by Simon Madera, the owner of the Austin-based franchise Taco Flats.
Together with his wife Hobie Sasser and another husband-wife team, Courtney and Mike Rhodes, Madera bought the restaurant to pay homage to its unique cultural heritage, per The Dallas Morning News.
In 2012 the establishment was named the Grand Central Café by its previous owners, Drew Gerencer and Rick Gregory. They remodeled the house and opened its doors to customers but avoided leaning into the horror theme.
As Gerencer told 101 Highland Lakes in an interview in 2014, the choice was “because of the appetite, I guess.”
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) is a cult classic film that fueled an entire franchise centered around the unstoppable villain Leatherface. It features many gory scenes as Leatherface captures and slaughters a group of trespassing teenagers one by one.
The home itself, where many of the film’s most gruesome scenes were filmed, was built around 1909 on Quick Hill in Round Rock. It was eventually cut into seven pieces and moved to its current location at 1010 King Ct. in Kingsland.
The house was reassembled with finer touches, including a white porch, and was named a Texas Historic Landmark, per the DMN.
In contrast to its previous owners, who had simply hung up some movie posters in the bar, Madera and his fellow investors wanted to shine a light on the house’s history.
“There was no real nod to it,” Madera told the DMN. “One of the things that we wanted to do is become a little bit more respectful [to the movie]. Part of it is Hooper’s, the last name of Tobe Hooper.”
Hooper was the filmmaker from Austin who directed the original film.
Madera and his team plan to engage with the community by turning donated chainsaws into art installations that will be displayed at the restaurant for one year. Each saw will showcase the owner’s name and history.
“We’re going to put a little shrine upstairs where people can kind of come in, go up the stairs and see fun interesting movie shots from originals that we purchased from the company that has the licensing,” Madera continued, speaking with the DMN.
The deal for the home went through on November 3, and now a series of renovations and upgrades are underway that should be completed by summer.
Nonetheless, the restaurant is currently open and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner — rest assured, no bloody fingers made it onto the menu.
Instead, customers are offered typical southern-style fare and pub grub such as chicken-fried steak and shrimp and grits.
The bar is also prepared to serve up an array of craft beers and specialty cocktails. Some are inspired by the film, such as the rye-whiskey-based Grandpa Sawyer or the gin-based Re-Animator.
Although the exact cost of the 7-acre-plus site that includes The Antlers Inn is undisclosed, Madera revealed that it is in the seven-figure range, per the DMN. Guests can also spend the night at the property, making it a popular spot for weekends away.
The renovation plans include building a sort of town square that will act as a community space for the residents of Kingsland to enjoy concerts and group celebrations.
“I love the potential of the property and the opportunity to bring my experience here,” Madera told the DailyTrib last year.
I wonder what that famous Dallas area journalist, Joe Bob Briggs has to say about how the Drive-in meets southern cooking.
Of course, in this era Joe Bob would be roasted for his ‘Drive-in news’ articles.