Established Before You Were Born: Over a Century of Christie's
National Trust Grant Helps Revive Christie’s Seafood & Steaks, a Historic Gulf Coast Eatery
The slogan at Christie’s Seafood & Steaks is “established before you were born,” and it is not an exaggeration. As the oldest restaurant in Houston, Texas, Christie's has been serving its famous fish sandwiches and fried shrimp for well over a century, since 1917.
Christie’s is a third-generation, family-owned and operated establishment, and today, General Manager Maria Christie navigates the ship (the 1960s blue-and-white building that Christie’s has occupied for more than six decades has a nautical appearance and is topped with a mock lighthouse).
In 2024, Christie’s was selected to receive a grant through Backing Historic Small Restaurants, a program run in partnership between American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The funding allowed Christie’s to make some much-needed repairs and improvements, which are already bringing new business through the restaurant’s front doors.
We spoke with Maria Christie to learn more about the 108-year-old restaurant’s early days, its signature dishes, and what keeps its regulars coming back for decades.
photo by: Maria Christie
A vintage postcard shows Christie's at a former location. The restaurant has occupied its current building since the 1960s.
When was Christie’s first founded, and what did the restaurant’s early years look like?
It was founded in 1917 by a Greek immigrant named Theodosios Christofidis. He started out selling fish sandwiches on the waterfront in Galveston, Texas. In 1934, he went to Houston, and he built a restaurant with three dining rooms on South Main Street.
As he was growing [Christie's] in Houston, he opened other locations. It was 1965, and he had no children. My dad, a young Greek man, met Mr. Christie and worked for him. After a while, Mr. Christie offered for my father to buy the restaurant from him—on one condition. He said, “I want you to change your last name, as I changed my last name,” because Mr. Christie had shortened his long Greek last name to Christie.
And my dad said yes.
That’s such a fun story. How did Christie’s end up in the historic building it occupies now?
[After] my dad took over the restaurant, over the years they had different locations. This building that we’re in now was built [for the restaurant] in the late 1960s. The other family members who were involved, they retired, so it was [eventually] just my dad. [At that point] we had this one location, and we still do, on Westheimer Road.
That’s how we became the oldest restaurant in Houston, because Christie’s has been continuous from 1917.
photo by: Maria Christie
Theodosios Christofidis, who founded Christie's in 1917, changed his Greek name to Theodore Christie.
What were the dishes that first made Christie’s a local favorite? Are there any original menu items that you still serve today?
When Mr. Christie started, he was selling fish sandwiches. We still have that item on the menu, and they remain one of our best sellers for over a century. Because the Texas Gulf had such an abundance of shrimp, he started doing these butterflied golden fried shrimp, and that’s what really put him on the map—people were coming from near and far for this famous fried, wild-caught Texas Gulf shrimp. A lot of Houstonians tell us that the first time they ever had fried shrimp was at Christie’s. This, too, remains one of our best sellers.
He made a scratch-made remoulade sauce, which is a garlic-based sauce using homemade mayonnaise that we still make today. [We also have] our stuffed shrimp, which is made with a very unique crabmeat and onion stuffing. We still use our original recipe. Our Christie’s Pride is a fillet of flounder with a wine, butter, seafood stuffing. You'll find it on some of our old menus that we have on the walls here, too.
We have stuck to our roots. We have original menu items, but over the years we have added different varieties of fish. We have added other shrimp items. We’ve incorporated some of our Greek heritage into the menu, and we also have some Cajun-inspired seafood dishes.
What was it like growing up in the restaurant? When did you step into your current role as general manager?
All of my siblings, we all grew up in the restaurant. We worked at the restaurant, our life was the restaurant. As a young girl, I remember coming here with my dad. I would be peeling shrimp, or folding to-go boxes, or whatever—I'd just find something to do at the restaurant.
When I was old enough, I could be a busgirl in the front. Then at some point, I was the hostess. As time went on, I moved into more responsibilities. I would take over the ordering for my dad, or when we needed upgrades with technology, I took over that project. I was involved in every aspect of the restaurant.
photo by: Maria Christie
A Christie's menu from the 1960s.
It’s funny. In a family business, you don’t really realize you’re the general manager until [one day] you realize, “Oh my gosh, I’m doing all this stuff, and I’m not going to bother Dad with this, I’m not going to bother Mom with this.” It’s a true family business.
I also want to say that we have really great employees. We have some employees who have been here over 35 years. That has been a huge part of Christie’s success.
photo by: Maria Christie
Christie family matriarch Alexandra Christie, at center, with her children.
Christie’s has been around for more than 100 years now. What stories do you hear from longtime customers about the restaurant’s early days?
From the 1930s all the way up to the end of the ’60s, there weren’t that many restaurants in Houston—not like today where there’s 15 within one block. If you wanted to go out to eat, there weren’t that many sit-down [restaurants] with servers. So these customers tell me these amazing stories. This one customer told me he remembers when Joe DiMaggio was at Christie’s. I just looked at him and I was like, “What are you talking about, Joe DiMaggio?” And he said, “Oh yes, whoever was coming through Houston, everybody went to Christie’s.”
Christie’s [was very close] to a famous landmark in Houston called the Shamrock Hotel. It’s not here anymore, but it opened in the 1940s and they had a huge fanfare, and all these Hollywood celebrities came. Houston was really starting to be noticed. And Christie’s was [one of] their stops every time they visited Houston.
photo by: Maria Christie
The front doors to Christie's before receiving the Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant.
photo by: Maria Christie
The front doors after receiving the Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant.
How did receiving a Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant impact Christie’s?
That grant was such a game changer. We were able to replace our front doors. [The old ones] were weathered, warped—just not functioning. I was paying out the wazoo at least every three months to have somebody replace something or fix a lock.
In the front, we have this huge sign, and there were light bulbs that were out and needed to be upgraded. Some of the signage, the font, the colors—it needed to be more aesthetically pleasing. We were able to make everything match with the background and the font color, we were able to change all the [lights] inside the sign. Then we were able to fix some of the neon that is on the building itself.
We soft-washed the building. We repaved the parking lot with asphalt, we restriped it. There was some broken concrete we were able to fix.
We are so thrilled and so happy with how it all turned out. After we got the new doors installed, I remember this man walked in, and he goes, “Wow, how long have y’all been open? I’ve never noticed this before.” I said, “Just 108 years.” Just the whole refresh of the outside, it really makes you take notice now. This grant was a godsend.
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