Griff’s Irish Pub’s 101 KLOL Montrose connection
Griff’s Irish Pub, the iconic Montrose sports bar that was heavily damaged in a 2023 fire, reopened at its 3416 Roseland Street location in July 2025 according to its Facebook post.
Former Rock 101 KLOL employees should be pleased. The legendary bar and radio station have a long history together, dating back to when the Houston rocker was located in Montrose at 510 Lovett Boulevard.
“Griff’s it was beer and burgers and patio and smoking and you know it was like ice house,” the Traffic Master Lanny Griffith said in his ‘Runaway Radio’ 101 KLOL documentary interview. “Griff’s did a good job over there by getting all the TV sports guys in and doing the world-famous beauty contest. Every year for St. Paddy’s Day, everyone lived at Griff’s for 10 solid days, you know.”
– WATCH RUNAWAY RADIO
– ‘Runaway Radio’ screening at River Oaks Theatre 10-1-2025
Griffith added that many cast members of “Steven and Pruett” would head over to Griff’s for lunch after the legendary morning show ended. He says that Kevin Dorsey even once worked there.
For those interested, Griffith mentioned that the other popular KLOL lunch spot was the now-shuttered Ruggles Grill, located at 903 Westheimer Road.
“So, I’m telling you, Griff’s and Ruggles, I don’t know if they know what an impact they had on all of our lives, but they really, really affected our lives a lot from so many radio stations,” Griffith remembered. “And then at night time, the TV people would come in, they heard this where all the radio people were, and we’d all be gone by then. We’d all be at Fitzgerald’s or Rockefellers or the Satellite Lounge or something like that.”
Rock 101 KLOL Wake
When KLOL flipped formats to Mega 101 in 2004, the employees had a Rock 101 wake at Demeris Bar-B-Q . Afterward the ex-KLOL staff migrated to Griff’s Irish Pub.
“So it was a gathering of the Mother’s extended family, and of course, as all KLOL parties do, it continued from that venue to where all parties seemed to end up was at Griff’s,” former Exposure host and KLOL music director David Sadof said during his KLOL documentary interview. “And so everyone ended up over at Griff’s afterwards. And of course, you know, back in the days of KLOL when it being on Lovett Boulevard, Griff’s was the neighborhood bar that everyone would gravitate to.”
Griff’s Irish Pub history
The 2003 blaze that tore through Griff’s in the early morning hours nearly two years ago left longtime customers heartbroken. Fire officials described the building as fully engulfed when they arrived. It ultimately declared a total loss. The fire, believed to be accidental and originating near the front of the bar, was intensified by high winds and the structure’s age.
Originally opened in 1965 by Michael Griffith after graduating from St. Thomas, Griff’s became a Montrose institution. Known as Texas’s oldest Irish sports pub, it welcomed generations of Houstonians for everything from Sunday NFL games and Thursday trivia nights to its legendary St. Patrick’s Day parties.
One of Griff’s first performers was Janis Joplin.
“She said the last thing you should hear is a ‘thank you’ from your group. That’s when I turned to her and said, ‘Thank you, what is your name?’ She said, ‘Janis Joplin.’ She said, ‘If you treat people good, I’ll guarantee, you might be here for over 50 years.’ Now, like I said, it’s 57,” Griffin told ABC13 Houston.
In the aftermath of the fire, Griff’s didn’t disappear. While the original site was being rebuilt, the bar kept its spirit alive by hosting events at nearby Velvet Oak Tavern. That even included its annual St. Paddy’s bash.