Vendors

Last Concert Cafe

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By Greg May
Houston Chronicle
Wednesday, April 3,1991

When 62-year old Elena “Mama” Lopez opened a small Mexican restaurant in 1949 at 1403 Nance, she christened it the Last Concert Cafe to signify this would be her last endeavor.

Lopez, a fragile-looking woman whose photograph hangs in a corner of the restaurant, died in 1985, at the age of 95. But as for the cafe itself, the last concert may be a long time coming.

Every night, the place throbs with live music ranging from gentle folk to gritty rhythm and blues.

In addition, the cafe serves lunch to a crowd that includes burly workers from the warehoused district and corporate executives from downtown.

Under current owner, Dawn Fudge, the rambling, wood-framed establishment has become a venue for local musicians performing original songs. Fudge, 36, agrees to share a cut of bar sales with bands and guarantees a meal for every performer.

Musicians and artists living in nearby warehouse apartments often come to relax on the ripped vinyl seats or on the benches shaded by banana trees in the courtyard. Visitors can include an occasional celebrity such as ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons who sometimes stops to pour a drink or two past his flowing beard…