To this day—and I’m 53, so I’ve eaten at a lot of bougie places—Charley’s 517 is what I think of when I think of a nice restaurant. I remember when my first book came out in 2006, my publicist flew down here and bought my wife and me dinner there, and I felt like absolute royalty.

Located at 517 Louisiana Street, Charley's 517 served generations of downtown Houstonians during the city's commercial heyday. In the decades before suburban office parks transformed the business landscape, downtown Houston bustled from morning until evening with bankers, lawyers, oilmen, department store shoppers and courthouse employees. Restaurants like Charley's became neighborhood institutions, where waitresses knew regulars by name, along with their drink of choice. 

The restaurant earned a reputation for dependable classic French cuisine, nouvelle cuisine and New American fare—as well as generous portions and friendly service. It was the kind of place where business meetings were conducted over coffee, courthouse victories were celebrated with a whiskey, and countless Houstonians enjoyed an ordinary weekday lunch that was pretty extraordinary. 

Menu items included purée of asparagus soup, salmon with raspberry butter sauce, veal chop stuffed with foie gras and morel mushrooms, escargots, boned breast of duck en croûte with pâté stuffing, lots of fresh seafood and, of course, chocolate soufflé. This place was a scene. The waiters wore tuxedos, at least in the restaurant’s original iteration. If someone took you to a nice lunch downtown back in the day, it was probably Charley’s. Owner Clive Berkman once quipped to the Houston Press: "Back in the '80s, people used to tell me I had the best restaurant downtown. I would laugh and mutter under my breath, 'I have the only restaurant downtown.'"

And then there was the wine list. Insane. Clive Berkman actually taught a wine appreciation course at the University of Houston; I still have a copy of the textbook around here somewhere, Hugh Johnson’s The World Atlas of Wine. 

Charley’s, of course, closed in 2003—a victim of changing habits, a TON of downtown construction, some bad storms and more than one economic shock à la Enron et al. But a lot of good memories remain, along with this plate. 

Restaurant china was expensive and intended to last for years, which makes surviving examples increasingly difficult to find. Many were discarded when restaurants remodeled or closed, while others were damaged through decades of everyday use. Whether displayed on a wall, in a china cabinet or alongside other pieces of vintage Houston restaurant memorabilia, this Charley's 517 plate offers a tangible connection to a downtown Houston restaurant scene that has largely disappeared.

The piece was manufactured by Shenango China (1901–1991) in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Renowned for its durable vitrified china, the company supplied restaurants, hotels and institutions, producing pieces built to withstand decades of daily service. It even supplied prominent rail lines and crafted custom state china for U.S. Presidents.

This particular plate remains in very good vintage condition, with strong color, clean graphics and light utensil wear consistent with decades of restaurant service. Its distinctive green logo and simple china reflected the practical elegance common to fine dining restaurants like Charley’s: durable enough for daily service but handsome enough to leave an impression. Light wear can be seen along the edge gilding and across the surface patina, but overall the rich green decoration and bright white finish remain well preserved.

• Original Charley's 517 dinnerware

• Downtown Houston fine-dining icon

• Rare collector's display piece

• 10.5 inches in diameter

• Three-martini lunch not included

Rich, layered flavors. Food that demanded precision technique. And, of course, a sense of occasion. All in the go-go 1980s. Raise a glass to Charley's—and display this wonderful collector's plate with pride.