The original Buffalo Grille has at last identified a fallow shopping-center slot to migrate to, about a mile southwest of its current location. The new brunch spot will be at 4080 Bissonnet, on the far western end of West U’s Montclair Shopping Center (the one with the Randalls) at Weslayan. Last seen in this location: The Candle House, next to one of those old retail storefronts for Countrywide Home Loans.
Buffalo Grille’s current building on Bissonnet at Buffalo Speedway — where it’s been for 26 years — is the only section remaining of the shopping center torn down on that site to build H-E-B’s Buffalo Market. The Buffalo Pharmacy next door to it was demolished in 2008. The following year, an H-E-B representative told West U’s city council that Buffalo Grille would stay where it was, but by this April, the grocery company politely announced that its neighbor would be looking for a new home — to open up more spaces for parking.
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The restaurant’s John McAleer told West U’s city council earlier this year that H-E-B officials were worried a lack of parking spots was causing the Buffalo Market to lose business to the Kroger across the street. H-E-B will likely tear down and pave over the current Buffalo Grille as soon as it’s vacated. McAleer thinks his new location will solve his own parking problems, too: He tells Swamplot the new place comes with more than 60 spaces in front as well as a few more in back, facing Academy St. The restaurant hopes to open in the new 4,200-sq.-ft. spot past Weslayan, 2 doors down from Lee’s One-Hour Cleaners, early next year. Next to the Academy St. side is a little green area that looks like a good candidate for patio seating.
Hey, the new location doesn’t suck. It’s definitely better than being in that HEB lot, which has become a nightmare. Long live Buffalo Grille and their plate-sized pancakes!
Bastards. That’s the spot where I was going to put my retro video game and Peruvian/ Japanese fusion restaurant, “Eatari”. Guess I’ll have to keep on looking.
wilf – genius post…Only thing missing is an EIFS reference.
See, now aren’t all you Heights NIMBYs glad you didn’t have to deal with this disreputable back-stabbing company? But not for Wal-Mart’s high bid, you’d have only empty promises to look forward to.
Niche:
My thoughts exactly
I for one am excited as could be! The Buffalo Grill is one of my favorite breakfast locations and now they are moving within a couple of blocks from me!
Sweet!
Until I read this article I mistook the Buffalo in the window for a new “Wild Wings” location.
If they hadn’t built another ubiquitous bank on the HEB lot, parking wouldn’t have been a problem.
From miss_msry:
“If they hadn’t built another ubiquitous bank on the HEB lot, parking wouldn’t have been a problem.”
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To be fair, Compass Bank was already in that location and they just re-built it to fit the new parking lot layout.
From kilray:
To be fair, Compass Bank was already in that location and they just re-built it to fit the new parking lot layout.
So was the Buffalo Grill. Why does a “another ubiquitous bank” get to stay and the 29 year Buffalo Grill have to move?
I think there is more to this story than meets the eye.
Parking is still going to be crappy….don’t understand why they didn’t add underground parking ala the Downtown Randalls.
HEB knows better than to imitate Randalls’ failed venture. Underground parking is so expensive that it’d make more sense to raise up the whole store on stilts a la their new Dunlavy site.
From Josh Burdick:
I think there is more to this story than meets the eye.
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Most definitely. As I understand it, the parents of the BG owner are on the management team that owns the entire chunk of land. Hard to believe there were any real surprises here.