Lubbock’s Best Things Ever: The Kettle Restaurant At 2:00 a.m.

There is a place that was almost as legendary as the clubs of the time.

I'm almost in disbelief that this legendary place didn't advertise as the clubs, because their success seemed to go hand in hand. I am talking about the Kettle Restaurant.

I don't know the exact address of The Kettle, but it kind of shared a parking lot with Speeds Billards which was at 4009 19th. The bright blue and yellow lights of The Kettle were a beacon to those of us who had filled our bellies with alcohol at a show or dance club for five hours.

So, what did The Kettle have that no other did? The answer is simple: A midnight breakfast buffet.  Just imagine, you've drunk beer until you were bleary-eyed, you're coming off that buzz and you go to a place where there are pounds and pounds of all-you-can-eat bacon, ham, and sausage. How about unlimited hot gravy to completely line your belly and biscuits to soak up that beer. Of course, there were scrambled eggs galore to anchor everything.

All of us party hounds shared that space with 3rd shifters, the police, and other people of the night. It was a place of few hassles and a place where the party kept raging on, but it became a bacchanalia of breakfast instead of booze. Nights at The Kettle were legendary because, quite frankly, you remember them because you were coming off your concert buzz. Yes, there's that too, while sitting at the table you could talk about the amazing bands and artists that you just saw (some of which would also show up for a late-night feast.

It's for all of these reasons that The Kettle Restaurant wasn't one of Lubbock's Best Things Ever.