Four nights a week, patrons at the Pompeii Italian Grill dine to the musical styling of...
George Hookings sings standards at Pompeii Italian Grill on Wednesday night. He retired 10 years ago and turned his hobby of singing songs like Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” backed by his laptop computer and a karaoke machine, into a part-time gig.Fifteen years ago, George Hookings accepted a challenge from his daughter Stephanie at a club on San Pedro — his wife, Carole, and their three daughters often dared him at karaoke bars to go up and sing like he did at home.
Hookings’ velvet voice keeps songs of days gone by alive four nights a week at Pompeii Italian Grill on Nacogdoches. Hookings, one of San Antonio’s last restaurant singers, is upholding a long-honored tradition. He’s had a standing residency at the Northeast Side restaurant for the past four years. The only time he was sidelined from performing was during the pandemic.
He grew up in Jersey City, N.J., in the era of tail-fin cars and rabbit-ear TV antennas wrapped in aluminum foil. He was captivated by crooners who sang songs such as “April in Paris” and “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Hookings worked at a UPS call center in Secaucus for 10 years before a transfer in 1995 brought him and his family to San Antonio. After 27 years, he retired from the company. Idle time replaced workdays, and he was in need of a busy pastime.High-flying falcons and hawks regular visitors to San Antonio couple’s high-rise apartment
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