HOUSTON - In Houston, the battle for breakfast is serious. There are brunch spots everywhere, but now there's one less option.
"It breaks my heart," said Steve Drayer. "I didn't want to close."
The sign is still up at the Fountain View Cafe. It's been there off San Felipe for 35 years, but the doors are closed.
"What I like most about the job was interacting with folks every day," Drayer said. "I'd hear different stories everyday."
Drayer was the owner of Fountain View Cafe. He's done the math. He's served up more than 7.5 million eggs and fried more than 30 pounds of bacon each weekend in three decades. Two weeks ago, he sent out his final Facebook post.
Lifelong customers are still learning they'll have to find a new breakfast spot.
"It reminded them of how diners were when they were kids," Drayer said.
So how does one of Houston's top breakfast joints shutter its doors for good? Drayer says for an old timer like him, the few online negative reviews were just tough to overcome.
"I took it personally. What do you mean that's not fresh? Of course it's fresh," Drayer said.
He never quite knew how to respond to critics online and says he wishes he could have connected more with millennials often leaving a negative comment. The crowds dwindled and sales decreased. He's grateful his diehard customers never left, but regrets he wasn't able to draw in a younger crowd.
"Fresh wasn't the same connotation for them as it was for me," Drayer said. "For them, not fresh meant it wasn't cool, it wasn't cutting edge. That's not what I was trying to be. I want to be old-fashioned."
Drayer isn't sure what's next for him, but he hopes to work on a cookbook with recipes from the restaurant.