When I was I a young girl, my dad came to Houston for telephone company meetings. He always brought me doll clothes or a toy from Foley’s. Dad entertained us with stories of dinners at Sonny Look’s Sir-Loin Inn. He told me that in front of the restaurant was Sir Loin, a knight in armor atop a white horse, complete with a lance.
Garret Dawson “Sonny” Look was born on April 21,1919 in Caldwell, Texas. Sonny graduated from Brenham High School before attending the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Florida State University, and Oklahoma State University.
Sonny bought his first restaurant, The New York Café in Brenham, when he was 21 years old. He sold it in 1942, married Mary Reynolds, and joined the Navy as a ship’s cook first class. He served in the Pacific theater until 1945. When Sonny returned to Brenham, he moved his wife and their son Gary, born in 1944, to Houston for better business opportunities.
From 1946 to 1950, Sonny operated the Quitman Coffee Shop, Sonny Look’s at 715 Quitman, and added a building with a larger pit to handle his bar-b-que and catering business. His wife worked with him mainly as a cashier and office manager. Mary Look died of cancer in 1964.
Sonny opened Look’s Sir-Loin House in 1959, at 6112 Westheimer in the Briargrove Shopping Center where The Palm Restaurant is located today. It was at this restaurant that Sonny began wearing brightly colored brocade dinner jackets. Each night when he visited his restaurants, he would wear a different jacket for each stop. Sonny continued expansion of his business by opening The Depot, Don Quixote, and several Bar-B-Q Barns.
Sonny met his second wife, Carole, in 1967. They had a daughter, Elizabeth, in 1972. Also in 1967, Sonny opened at 9810 South Main, Look’s Sir-Loin Inn, a few blocks from the Astrodome. The single-story building was 37,000 square feet and contained 1,400 seats. The Inn was the third largest free-standing restaurant in the U.S. and the largest in Texas. When children cleaned their plates, Sonny gave them and official-looking certificate for their accomplishment.
There was a Look legend that when King Henry VIII of England tasted the loin from a grain-fed steer, he was so amazed at the good taste, that he knighted the loin and called it “Sir Loin.”
Both the Sir-Loin House and the Sir-Loin Inn were decorated in the English theme and each had a knight holding a lance on a white horse standing guard. Sonny kept four white horses that he stabled on Greenridge. One walked to the Sir-Loin House and the other was taken by trailer to the Sir-Loin Inn each day. The horses did two week’s duty at the restaurants and then rested for two weeks while the other two did guard duty.
During his career, Sonny also invested in the hotel industry and formed the Sunbelt group. In many of those hotels he established first-class restaurants.
Sonny promoted Houston and its restaurants by taking part in the founding of many hotel/motel/restaurant associations. He was a co-founder of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitor’s Council (GHCV), and was a lifetime vice-president of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Sonny played an integral part in creating the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston, and also served as an adjunct professor there.
During his career, Sonny Look received many prestigious awards and affected many people’s lives. He called his employees “associates” and knew each of them by name. On Saturday mornings when he visited the restaurants, he spoke to each associate, no matter what their job. Sonny considered himself and each associate as part of a team. Numerous associates worked at the restaurants for years. One chef began as a pantry girl and worked at the Sir-Loin Inn for 21 years until its closing. One of the restaurant managers began as one of the knights at age 12.
After Sonny and Carole married, on Sundays, he would attend his Lutheran church, then hurried home so he could attend Carole’s Baptist church. He later joined her Baptist church. Sonny advised people to be honest and put God first in their lives. He also advised families to join and be active in a church.
Sonny suffered a stroke on November 13, 1991. As a result, Look’s Sir-Loin Inn closed on December 31 of that year, and his other interests were also sold. Garret Dawson “Sonny” Look died on December 29, 2003, at his home. Sonny was 84 years old. He is buried in Memorial Oaks Cemetery. He was a prominent showman, successful restaurateur, and a huge influence in promoting Houston.
