Restaurant changes but still the same after 25 years

BRYAN KIRK, CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT

Published 5:30 am, Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Photo: Jerry Baker, For The Chronicle

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JERRY BAKER PHOTOS: FOR THE CHRONICLE
READY TO EAT: Neal's still serves a great chicken fried steak lunch and is known for the fried catfish.  The Spring restaurant has been serving up good food since 1986. 

JERRY BAKER PHOTOS: FOR THE CHRONICLE
READY TO EAT: Neal's still serves a great chicken fried steak lunch and is known for the fried catfish.  The Spring restaurant has been serving up good food since 1986. 

Photo: Jerry Baker, For The Chronicle

Restaurant changes but still the same after 25 years

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They go together like peas and carrots, mashed potatoes and gravy and funnel cakes and carnivals, and for Jerry Beeler and Cathy Christie, it has been that way since 1997. 

That's how long the pair have worked together as managers for Neal's restaurant in Spring. 

"We are both the only two managers here," Beeler said. " We pretty much run the place." 

Since the original Neal's opened in 1986, the restaurant has grown from a small counter seating 18 customers to being able to seat 200. 

And both Beeler and Christie have been there through most of those changes. 

From algebra to steaks

Beeler, who is a former combat Marine and retired high school math teacher, tutored Tommy and Teresa Neal's children in math years ago in exchange for a free meal, and from that point their relationship evolved. 

"I thought, for a single man, you can't beat it," Beeler said. 

He started eating regularly at Neal's and in a short time began to notice what a mess the computer system was and offered to fix the restaurant's system. 

Once that task was completed, Beeler said Neal decided he wanted computerized menus. 

Afterward, Beeler became a regular member of the Neal's staff.  As a result, it became pretty common for Beeler to see students and former students walk through the doors of Neal's. 

On one occasion, a Precinct 4 deputy came in and immediately recognized his old math teacher. 

"I reached up and put my hand over his ID and asked his first name.  He said, 'Clayton,' but I could not place him," Beeler said. 

He removed his hand to read the name badge and remembered the young man as a 14-year-old from his Algebra I class at Klein Oak High School. 

"I see those all the time," he said. " I just love, love, love our customers." 

A long family affair

Christie, who has worked for the restaurant for 25 years, has a relationship with the Neal family that goes back even further than Beeler's. 

"Tommy and Teresa were good friends of mine in high school, and he was the best man at my wedding," Christie said. 

In 1987, Christie was a stay at home mom looking for a little extra income. 

One afternoon, Neal called her and asked her if she had ever worked as a waitress, and if she wouldn't mind helping out for a while. 

The job was perfect because it allowed her to drop her kids off at school, work, and come home before they got home, Christie said. 

For years, Christie waited tables and also worked as a bartender before she became the daytime manager in 2008. 

No longer the 'only dog'

Through the years, Christie said she has seen a lot of changes with the growth in the area. 

"In this area, we were the only dog in town, forever," she said. " We were the only place to eat between I-45 and Tomball." 

What hasn't changed much, however, is the menu and the staff. 

Aside from Christie and Beeler, the restaurant manages to hang on to its staff.  And, of course, Neal's still serves a great chicken fried steak lunch and is still known for the fried catfish. 

However, Christie's favorite parts of the job are the customers and friends she has made through the years at Neal's. 

"We still have the same customers we had when we started 25 years ago," she said. " But now, their kids I used to wait on as little kids are coming in with their families.  It has been fun seeing people I waited on for years, and now they are bringing in their kids."