Southern-tinged Korean restaurant Anju closed suddenly last week in the Midtown Crossing strip center, following the latest in a chain of break-ins to its space. Owner An Vo tells Swamplot that the spot near the corner of Webster and Brazos streets, on the eastern end of the strip at 510 Gray St., was broken into “like 5 times” in Anju’s roughly 4 months of operation there; Vo says the last incident forced the shut down.
The now ex-Anju space previously held  beer bar Gray’s Public House, which opened there after the departure of The Good Life. Around the corner along Gray St., the strip center currently hosts Buffalo Wild Wings, perpetually probing sandwich shop Which Wich?, River Oaks Cleaners, and Gyu-Kaku:
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The shot above comes from last summer, when the strip center was listed for sale. Behind the strip on Webster at Smith St., law firm Hawash Meade Gaston Neese & Cicack occupies the building previously employed as a Houston Works employment center.
- Restless Palate Opens In Katy, Anju’s Shutters Unexpectedly In Midtown, And More Intel [Eater Houston]
- Korean concept from Dosi’s owner to join Midtown’s mix of Asian restaurants [CultureMap]
- Midtown Beer Bar to Replace Shuttered The Good Life [Eater Houston]
Photos: Swamplot inbox (Anju, top), Loopnet (Midtown Crossing)
Buffalo Wild Wings, you mean? Or ironic allusion to Buffalo Whing Wings?
Oops- thanks, Gisgo! Fixed now!
Wow, that’s pretty crazy. Im surprised the security isnt better there with all of those restaurants. I personally never liked that shopping center anyways. It looks like it should be in Katy or something. Maybe we will get lucky and the whole block will be redeveloped.
That place seems to be cursed. Nobody survives in that spot for long, but I always figured it’s because BW3 takes all the parking. Surely that spot is has too large a footprint for the parking they have access to? They can’t possibly get enough seats filled to make it cost-effective, whoever ends up there.
But I have to wonder why it’s just that place that gets broken into? Seems a bit suspicious, doesn’t it?
I work nearby and frequently eat at various BWWs around town, but I haven’t been to that one in a few years. Too many con artists, beggars, etc. A couple times, there were bums INSIDE THE RESTAURANT going from table to table openly begging for money. Almost every time I went there, there was another bum loitering in the parking lot pretending to be an attendant. The last time I was there, I was accompanied by a friend who happens to be a federal agent. As he approached our group, my friend warned him to leave the car alone and shifted her jacket to reveal what it was concealing, and the “attendant” magically changed course. Complaints to the management about the situation never seemed to have any effect, so I started taking my business elsewhere.
Midtown is pretty overrun with beggars and con artists.
Houston needs to stop growing and annexing if it cant properly police it’s current city limits. Way too much land and too few police!! This problem will only get worse until the businesses band together and hire their own security like many neighborhoods are starting to do. It sux as I see this as double taxation paying for a service we should already be receiving.
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Speaking of the Midtown BW3 stories… The last time I ate there around 5 years ago, some strung out girl came up to our table and just started eating our wings without saying a word! My buddies and I were speechless so I broke the silence by asking her how they tasted. She didn’t respond and just finished up her final wing before walking over to another table to do the same thing. Manager was called and she got kicked out but what the heck…
Re: BWW
Went there with a friend last year – some big game was on – I was there for wings, not the game, unaware that it would be crowded. No lines to get a table – we ask to be seated, cause the bar area is full – still several tables and booths available. Hostess tells us this is an “open seating” time because of the game. What does that mean, I ask? It means we reserve the right to seat other people at your table. Ok, then we would like a booth please (seats 4 normal sized people, 2 larger people comfortably). Those are open seating, too. You mean you would actually put strangers in our booth? Yes. Goodbye.
If you don’t like the beggars, homeless, drug dealers, con-artists, hookers, and other assorted wildlife, the stay out of the urban jungle. I bet Cinco Ranch or the Woodlands has a pretty nice BW3 or Twin Peaks or sports bar where you can watch the game and be utterly safe in your sub-sub-urban cocoon.
BTW next time at least buy that poor woman a few wings and a drink; give her a chance at some dignity and humanity. She clearly was In need of the simple things that make us human. But for the grace of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Invisible Pink Unicorn go I.
@In the Doghouse again
I call bullshit on that thought process – and call you out on being a bad citizen. The worst thing for our city is when people insist that we just accept the status quo as it is and don’t try to change anything. I run into this all the time in my neighborhood that is transitioning. Some people are glad that crime is dropping and neighbors are banding together more. Yet some get angry and tell the newcomers that you should just expect dead bodies to be dumped there, hookers to give BJ’s in your back yard, your private property rights to be consistently violated by theft, and for your kids to drop out of school and join a gang. After all, that’s just part of life in the city.
While I agree that blind bitching about bums is not going to solve the problem, acknowledging that there is a problem and discussing it are great first steps. Stealing someone’s food does not make this lady more human, and I strongly suspect that providing alcohol for her (many street folk have substance abuse issues) would be a bad idea. Here’s an idea…how about trying to solve the problems that plague our city instead of expecting it to be a shit hole and exiling everyone who gives a damn to the burbs?
@Superdave. Well said.