SUDDEN SHUTTERS
Beloved San Antonio steakhouse closes after nearly 60 years
The Hungry Farmer is now closed after almost 60 years in business.
Another vintage San Antonio steakhouse has folded up its checkered tablecloths. The Hungry Farmer Steakhouse at 7015 I-35 Access Rd. has closed following the late September death of its last remaining founder, Jack Garrahan.
Garrahan’s granddaughter, Madison Dunn, announced the closure via a TikTok video.
“Closing the doors on the Hungry Farmer,” wrote Dunn in the caption. “So proud and forever thankful to my grandparents for creating something so incredibly special and legendary. This was a place filled with love, memories, and so many stories, and it will forever hold a special place in my heart.”
Garrahan, along with his wife Verlene and brother Richard, founded the restaurant in 1967. It was the type of steakhouse once common throughout Texas, offering affordable meat-and-potatoes meals in a no-frills environment — and a little Western kitsch.
The atmosphere was pure Texana, mixing tin advertising signs with license plates, a bright-red toy tractor, and hand-painted signs promoting its lunch t-bone specials. Near the checkout, apothecary jars were filled with nostalgic candies.
Jack and Verlene took on sole ownership following Richard’s passing, later opening other locations. The couple remained devoted to it for the rest of their lives, according to Jack’s obituary.
“The restaurant was much more than a business to Jack — it was one of his great passions,” read the notice. “He loved the work, the people he met, and the many friendships and relationships he formed throughout the years.”
The Hungry Farmer’s closure follows the loss of another legacy steakhouse that was in much the same vein. The Bar Door served its last plate on May 10, following more than 70 years in business.
