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Friday, November 20, 2009
November 20, 2009 – 5:19 pm
Unless the owners of the former Tower Theatre on Westheimer just west of Montrose have another feature ready to go, it looks like Houston will soon have a second shuttered and lonely Art Deco theater left to spin its reels. A reader reports:
I went to drop off a video game at Hollywood Video . . . and was told by staff there that they are closing down. I asked the guy there why; he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Bad economy, I guess.” They were clearing the store out and taking down the Hollywood video letters on that Montrose-y iconic sign on the building; I snapped a quick photo while driving away of the letters sitting on the pavement outside the store.
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Read more about: 77006, Montrose, Movie-Theaters, Openings and Closings, Retail
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
November 11, 2009 – 6:50 pm
So much new stuff going on it’s impossible to keep track of it all!
- Opening Soon? A new “Houston Ave. Bar” at the site of the former Farmers Coffee Shop on the corner of Houston Ave. and White Oak. Here’s the evidence: A permit for a “2 story addition” to the property was approved by the city last month. The corner is already a popular gathering place for floodwaters — several commenters on HAIF have posted photos of the intersection after Hurricane Ike (see above) and Tropical Storm Allison.
- Moved: The Central City Co-op Wednesday market, from that Ecclesia space next to the Taft St. Coffee House to new digs at the Grace Lutheran Church at 2515 Waugh, just north of Missouri St. Sunday markets are still at Discovery Green. Next up for the co-op crew: Selling enough veggies to pay off those loans used for the church buildout.
- Opening Softly, Later This Month: A place called Canopy, from the folks who brought you that place called Shade. Claire Smith and Russell Murrell’s new restaurant will go in the spot where Tony Ruppe’s was, in the double-decked strip center at 3939 Montrose, reports Cleverley Stone. Three meals a day, 7 days a week, plus 3 seating areas:
a bright and refreshing dining room, festive bar and side street patio. We will eventually offer curbside “to go” service.
- Opening Early Next Month: The brand-new Dessert Shoppe, in the strip center portion of 19th Streete in the Heights. Fred Eats Houston writes that sisters Sara and RaeMarie Villar will be serving up “whole cakes and pies to individual desserts, along with assorted breakfast pastries, cookies, quiches, cupcakes, and some breads.”
- Reopened, for the First Time Since Ike: The Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Galveston. The combined boards of the International Shriners and Shriners Hospitals for Children had originally decided to close the hospital for good, after 30 inches of water wandered through the building’s first floor during the Hurricane. Shriners voting at this summer’s convention in San Antonio reversed that decision. The new hospital will have a smaller staff and budget. The Chronicle’s Todd Ackerman reports that the hospital should already be open for reconstructive surgery cases; burn victims will have to wait until December for treatment.
And yet even more new stuff:
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Read more about: 77002, 77007, 77008, 77055, 77098, 77520, 77550, Attractions, Baytown, Downtown, East Montrose, Galveston, Houston Heights, Hyde Park, Montrose, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail, Shopping Centers, Spring-Branch, Strip Centers, Upper Kirby, Washington Corridor, West End
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
October 21, 2009 – 5:57 pm
Just a couple items this time:
- Closing: The Dunkin Donuts at 5406 Bellaire Blvd. near Bissonnet, after more than 2 decades in the same spot. When it’s gone, there’ll be just 4 of the chain’s locations left in the Houston area. The Bellaire Examiner’s Steve Mark:
[Owner Henry] Tsao’s current agreement with the donut chain is expiring; the company requires new agreements to last a 10-year duration with a new set of parameters for facility and mechanical upgrades totaling as much as $400,000. Tsao, 62, doesn’t want to make a long-term commitment at his age and isn’t inclined to make the required financial reinvestment, so his store will close Oct. 24.
- Moved to the Rice Village: Dog- and baby-friendly Olivine has taken over the former location of Back Be Nimble at 2405 Rice Blvd. Making the trip from Uptown Park: owner Helen Stroud’s collection of linens, loungewear, and reproduction and slipcovered furniture. In the back: baby clothes. Cote de Texas’s Joni Webb reports:
Helen spent all of September getting the new shop ready – and if you ever wanted to check out wall to wall seagrass, this is your chance – I think she bought out all the rolls of it available in town.
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Read more about: 77005, 77401, Bellaire, Fast Food, Franchises, Home Decor, Openings and Closings, Retail, Rice-Village
Thursday, October 15, 2009
October 15, 2009 – 3:13 pm
Updates on a few restaurants Swamplot has been following:
- Reopened: Azzarelli’s, an Italian-American restaurant that began the year in Cinco Ranch’s Tuscan-themed Villagio Town Center, then (after a notable exit) camped for a while (as Azzarelli’s Corner Café) in another center at 6455 South Fry Road, opened last week in its 4th location within just a couple of years: 17754 Katy Freeway, Suite B, I-10 at Barker Cypress. “With this great location, I will be open 365 days a year,” owner Frank Triola tells his press-release copywriter.
- Opening Soon: The restaurant going into the former Cue & Cushion pool hall at 510 Shepherd that Swamplot reported on earlier this fall now has a name: Branch Water Tavern — and a more palatable label than “gastropub.” Try “Modern American Tavern.” Chef David Grossman says it’ll open later this month, but the Houston Press’s Robb Walsh, who’s toured the construction site, thinks Christmas is more likely.
More eats:
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Read more about: 77007, 77008, 77094, 77494, Barker Cypress, Brunner, Cinco Ranch, Houston Heights, Openings and Closings, Retail
Thursday, September 17, 2009
September 17, 2009 – 11:00 am
Yes, the Alabama Bookstop carved out of the former Alabama Theater on South Shepherd closed down for good earlier this week. But a few miles to the north, another new business has opened in a reformed movie house. Tonight’s open house at the Heights Theater celebrates its latest incarnation: as a 7,000-sq.-ft. event space.
A quick tour of how the interior looked a year ago, before the latest round of renovations:
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Read more about: 77008, Adaptive Reuse, Event Spaces, Houston Heights, Movie-Theaters, Openings and Closings
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
September 15, 2009 – 2:11 pm
The Penthouse Club just off Westheimer at 2618 Winrock — shut down by the city a year ago for violating the city’s sexually oriented business ordinance — is reopening this Thursday! But . . . there’ll be no nudity this time, promises the club’s global licensing director. Who owns the club? According to KPRC Local 2 Investigates reporter Robert Arnold, that would be admitted murderer turned government witness Vincent Palermo, the former acting boss of New Jersey’s DeCavalcante crime family: “In addition to the mansion on Memorial Drive, Local 2 found Palermo, now using the last name Cabella, also owns the property that is the Penthouse Club on Winrock Boulevard near Westheimer Road. Harris County records show he also owns the Mexican food restaurant [Ruchi's Grill] in front of the Penthouse and the [Super Clean] car wash behind the club. State records show a company called “Hereweareagain, inc.” owns and operates the Penthouse Club, and another company called “6430 Westheimer, inc” owns and operates All Stars Cabaret across the street from Penthouse. Palermo’s wife and son are listed on corporate filings for these companies.” [Click2Houston; previously on Swamplot]
Read more about: 77057, Briargrove, Crime, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, SOBs
Monday, September 14, 2009
September 14, 2009 – 12:10 pm
A reader snaps this photo of the former pink Taco Cabana drive-thru at the corner of Montrose and Westheimer, “now painted white w red stripes at the bottom” — and asks if we know what’s going in there. Fortunately, another reader has the answer:
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Read more about: 77006, Fast Food, Lower Westheimer, Montrose, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail
Friday, September 11, 2009
September 11, 2009 – 2:44 pm
Former chef Robert Gadsby had named his new Heights restaurant after his hometown, in England. But that was so late-last-year. Here’s the latest: “Partners Bryan Caswell and Bill Floyd announced Friday afternoon they signed papers to take over the Heights restaurant Bedford and will turn it into a modern Italian restaurant. Think Texas toast meets Tuscan steak, Caswell said. ‘We’re trying to draw the similarities between the rustic-oriented qualities of the Tuscan region with the rustic qualities of the Texas region,’ Caswell said.” Caswell and Floyd own Reef and Little Big’s. [Cook's Tour; previously on Swamplot]
Read more about: 77008, Houston Heights, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Theming
Thursday, September 10, 2009
September 10, 2009 – 11:58 am
On the list of dealerships General Motors intends to shut down: Knapp Chevrolet, at 815 Houston Ave. just south of Washington. Back in May, GM notified the longtime Downtown dealership of its intent to terminate its franchise agreement as of Halloween 2010.
Since then, the dealership’s owners have been trying to get the decision reversed: President Robert G. Knapp presented his case to a congressional subcommittee in July, after several appeals to the company were rejected. Knapp claims his dealership has been profitable, and that closing the dealership would significantly hobble GM’s local market share. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has gotten involved, introducing a bill in Congress that would make it easier for dealerships to appeal franchise terminations in court. Knapp is also collecting a list of supporters through an online petition to GM. More than 6,200 supporters have added their names to the list so far.
One of those supporters: The Greater Houston Preservation Alliance, fans of Knapp’s moderne corner building, completed in 1941, 2 years after the dealership was first established.
Photo of Knapp Chevrolet: Chris Adams
Read more about: 77007, Auto Dealerships, Downtown, Historic Preservation, Old-Sixth-Ward, Openings and Closings, Retail, Washington Corridor
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
September 8, 2009 – 9:22 am
A reader who’s been intermittently monitoring the vital signs of the DNR European Cafe and Deli in Chelsea Market on Montrose reports that the restaurant has closed: “There is a sign out front announcing the impending opening of a new restaurant called ‘Chelsea Grill.’” Meanwhile, a notice on DNR’s listing at restaurant website B4-u-eat notes that DNR will be opening “soon” at 10400 Harwin Dr. [Swamplot inbox]
Read more about: 77006, 77036, Harwin, Montrose, Openings and Closings, Restaurants
Friday, September 4, 2009
September 4, 2009 – 11:24 am
What’s new to eat?
- Opening Soon: Lola, a diner-ish spot serving “American comfort foods” — in the restored and refashioned former Eckerd Drug across from the Heights Post Office on Yale and 11th. This’ll be the third Heights restaurant venture from Ken Bridge, who also runs Dragon Bowl and Pink’s Pizza.
- Opened This Week: From famed New York, Las Vegas, and Dallas chef John Tesar, Tesar’s Modern Steak and Seafood, directly across from the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands. You’ll certainly want to eat everything on your plate when you visit: “Tesar’s entire menu will be one hundred percent sustainable created with a zero-waste food ethics in mind,” declares the restaurant website. Whole fish will be a specialty. Outside: a burger bar.
- Closed: The Texadelphia in the fast-food-friendly strip center on Memorial Dr. and Asbury, across from Otto’s — reportedly on account of the parking lot being too darn clogged. No worries: You can still get your cheesesteak fix at 3 other Houston locations, and it’s now a bit easier to find a spot in front of the Kolache Factory.
More food fun:
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Read more about: 77007, 77008, 77024, 77027, 77056, 77098, 77380, CityCentre, Galleria, Houston Heights, Memorial, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, The Woodlands, Upper Kirby
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
September 1, 2009 – 4:31 pm
This doesn’t sound so much like a deli now, does it? How long ’til they start calling this part of Shepherd The Gastrow?
A little birdie points Swamplot to more info about plans for the former Cue & Cushion pool hall, hiding on the uh . . . secret Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau website:
510 Shepherd, designed by award-winning hospitality designer Joel Mozersky, will be a unique neighborhood restaurant concept reminiscent of a traditional London gastro pub, yet modernized in design and updated to take into account American tastes.
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Read more about: 77007, Brunner, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Washington Corridor
September 1, 2009 – 10:44 am
“At 510 Shepherd, the old Cue and Cushion Pool Hall has been sold and is seeing some major changes. The billiards tables are gone and a dining room is under construction. The new place will be Cue Restaurant. Though unconfirmed, the on-site rumor is that it will be a New York style deli - something like Katz’s or Kenny and Ziggy’s, I am told.” Also, photos of the future locations of BRC Gastro Pub across the street and Burgerzilla in the Heights. [Fred Eats Houston; previously on Swamplot]
Read more about: 77007, Adaptive Reuse, Brunner, Openings and Closings, Restaurants
Friday, August 28, 2009
August 28, 2009 – 9:45 am
Here are your clues: It’ll be “downtown” in a 1928 “warehouse,” and have twice the floor space of the current Walter’s at 1425 Washington Ave. It will have free parking and will be “removed from residential areas.” Beyond that, owner Pam Robinson isn’t saying — until TABC approves the new location: “The venue has shows booked deep into the fall. There will be no cancellations. As soon as the new space — which Robinson hopes to announce in the next week or two — is ready, Walter’s shows will move there.” [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
Read more about: 77007, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Washington Corridor
Thursday, August 27, 2009
August 27, 2009 – 12:18 pm
Live-music maker and fan Jeff Balke gets worked up over the rumor that Walter’s on Washington will be closing its doors after its Halloween show:
At one time, Washington Avenue was home to Rockefeller’s, The Fabulous Satellite Lounge, Club Hey Hey, the Bon Ton Room and The Vatican. Other notables including Walter’s, The Rhythm Room, Tones, Cosmo’s and others had their moments along the popular corridor. When Walter’s closes, that will be that for live music having been replaced by red velvet roped drinking spots that serve over-priced alcohol to those allowed in by bouncers.
Balke blog bonus: A blow-by-blow what-are-they-now guide to Washington Ave live-music venues gone bye-bye.
Houston Press music blog Rocks Off has this vague report: “The building has reportedly been sold and, we hear, Walter’s owner Pam Robinson is looking to relocate.”
Photo of Walter’s on Washington, 4215 Washington Ave.: Yelp user mark s.
Read more about: 77007, Attractions, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Washington Corridor
