GROWING UP WITH MCDONALD’S 
If it seems like there’s a McDonald’s on every corner in Texas, it’s because the hamburger giant keeps building 40 to 50 new pad sites a year, says the company’s regional real estate manager. Reporter Catie Dixon explains: “The company isn’t increasing its density; it’s just trying to keep up with Texas’ rapid population growth.” [Real Estate Bisnow] Photo of McDonald’s at 1421 Nasa Rd.: Hua Bao
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Franchises and Chain Stores
MORE HOUSES WANTED FOR MORE PIES 
HBJ food-beat reporter Allison Wollam, who’s heard recently that “pies are the ‘new cupcakes,’†reports that San Antonio pie chain Tootie Pies is scouring Houston for locations to build 8 new Tootie Pie Gourmet Cafés here over the next 2 years. That would more than double the new chain’s current lineup: The sixth Tootie location recently opened in Austin’s Westlake Village; other stores are in San Antonio, Austin, Fredericksburg, and the Dallas area. [Houston Business Journal] Photo of Austin store: Dan B.
NO, DUNKIN’ DONUTS IS NOT COMING TO THE CORNER OF WESTHEIMER AND DUNLAVY 
Did yesterday’s announcement that Dunkin’ Donuts plans to open 16 new franchises in Houston over the next 5 years add fuel to the persistent rumor that one of them is headed for the recently cleared northwest corner of Westheimer and Dunlavy in Montrose? A leasing agent who says he’s negotiating with “a couple of very strong retailers” to get them into the new 4,829-sq.-ft. center planned for the site by owner SFT Investments is ready to quash it. “I will tell you that at no time were we in negotiations with Dunkin Donuts,” Jed Mandel of Edge Realty Partners tells Swamplot. “I do not know how that rumor was started but I still get phone calls on the property begging us not to put them in.” [Swamplot inbox] Rendering: Edge Realty Partners
DUNKIN’ DONUTS’ BIG TEXAS PUSH 
Franchise group 521 Interests plans to open 16 Dunkin’ Donuts stores in Houston — as part of plans by the nation’s largest bagel retailer to double the number of U.S. locations over the next 20 years. No rush, though: The first new Houston store won’t open until next year; the 15 others should all be open by 2018. Five Dunkin Donuts locations are already open in the Houston area. Also coming to Texas: 9 new franchises in San Antonio, as well as 50 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area over the next 5 years under a limited partnership agreement with the family of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Troy Aikman. [Dunkin’ Donuts] Photo of Bellaire location: Jimmy W.
FUDDRUCKERS GROWING INSIDE LUBY’S 
Seven months after converting a Luby’s takeout room on the I-10 East Fwy. into a Fuddruckers Express drive-thru (shown in the photo at left), the company behind the 2 chains is building its first-ever combo restaurant from scratch, Catie Brubaker reports. Construction will begin next month on a new 12,000-sq.-ft. Luby’s-and-Fuddruckers hybrid on a 2-acre site at 11023 Shadowcreek Pkwy., at the northern end of Shadow Creek Ranch in Pearland. This time the Fuddruckers will be a bit bigger, though, taking up a full 2,500 sq. ft. of the building, plus an additional 1,000 sq. ft. of shared kitchen-and-storage space. Expected opening: August. [Real Estate Bisnow; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Luby’s
The folks at the Chick-fil-A rising at the corner of Spring and Sawyer in the First Ward (across from the Sawyer Heights Shopping Center) aren’t quite ready to take your order, but judging from this photo it looks like they might be sometime soon. The fast-food drive-thru is going up on the site of the former Riviana Foods warehouse at 2222 Shearn St., which was demo’ed last fall. Now if they’d just add a second Starbucks somewhere near the giant parking lot, comments Twitter photographer knittykat (there’s one inside the Target already), the area would truly fulfill its destiny as stay-at-home mom mecca of the Heights.
- Previously on Swamplot: Daily Demolition Report: Chicken and Rice
Photo: Twitter user knittykat
COMMENT OF THE DAY: EASIER TO CONCEAL THOSE SECRET YOGURT BEHAVIORS “I prefer the self-service kind of yogurt place. That way I can put blueberries, white chocolate chips, cap’n crunch and cheesecake bites on my chocolate and pistachio flavored froyo mix – and not get that judgement from the person making it.” [Britt A, commenting on Rice Village TCBY Leaves Franchise, Avoiding Self-Serve Fro-Yo Redo]
TCBY Rice Village owners renewed their lease at 2518 Rice Blvd. but dropped the franchise affiliation of 15 years when that agreement recently came up for renewal — a 10-year commitment. Instead, the owners launched their own ice cream and frozen yogurt shop, Purple Vanilla — not be confused with nearby retailers Purple Mango (a children’s store) and Purple Glaze (a design-your-own ceramics studio).
Newer players in the frozen confection industry such as Red Mango and Swirll are typically self-serve shops, with some charging by the portion. TCBY, founded 30 years ago, has taken notice and incorporated self-serve into the new store model it recommended for the Rice Village store. Meanwhile, its existing locations with traditional counter service are considering whether and when to retool. Or, as in the case of Purple Vanilla, whether and when to leave.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: MORE EXPERIMENTS ON WHEELS, PLEASE “so what if it’s a passing fad? i don’t see anything wrong with that. if/when the food truck era passes, we won’t be left behind with a bunch of crappy ass buildings that no one knows what to do with. if we don’t like their food or their business, we can just wheel ’em away. wish i could do that to a few mcdonald/king/fil-a/aburgers round here . . .” [cooperella, commenting on Comment of the Day: Can’t You See Where This Is Headed?]
PINKBERRY HOUSTON CAMPAIGN: WEBSTER AND THE WOODLANDS FIRST Beachhead for the inevitable local invasion of second-wave frozen-yogurt pioneer Pinkberry: across I-45 from Baybrook Mall in the Baybrook Passage Shopping Center. The location, at 19325 Gulf Fwy., is scheduled to open on September 30th. The second of the dozen spots planned for the greater Houston area by the regional franchisee will be somewhere in The Woodlands, but won’t open until next year. [Houston Business Journal] Update, 11:30 am: That Woodlands location will be in The Woodlands Mall.
NOW POPPING OUT BURRITOS 
Jack-in-the-Box-owned Chipotle competitor Qdoba Mexican Grill has opened its first Houston-area location (in a little while, at least) — in a former Hollywood Video location near Home Depot at the end of a strip center at 17400 Spring Cypress Rd. in Cypress, just northwest of Hwy. 290. Last year Brij Agrawal, the owner of 75 local Subway franchises, signed an agreement with the fast-casual chain to open 15 new Houston Qdobas within 7 years. [QSR] Photo: Qdoba Mexican Grill Houston
COMMENT OF THE DAY: REMEMBERING BENNIGAN’S “It gets me thinking. I don’t remember when the original Bennigans closed. I can’t say I remember ever missing Bennigans. While I admit I ate at Bennigans a few times, I don’t remember a thing about it. It was neither good or bad–a remarkably unmemorable experience. I’m not sure about the new ones. . . .” [Will, commenting on The Texas Bennigan’s Begin Again]
The new owners of the Bennigan’s restaurant chain are hoping to get as many as 10 new Bennigan’s franchises opened in Houston, and they’ve hired a broker to scout for sites. All 20 Bennigan’s in Houston (as well as 6 Steak and Ale restaurants) closed in 2008, after their parent company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Bennigan’s Franchising Co. is also searching for as many as 10 locations in its Dallas-Fort Worth home base and 5 each in San Antonio and Austin, as well as single locations in other Texas cities. New restaurants will likely look something like the new 4,200-sq.-ft. prototype the company built last fall in Appleton, Wisconsin (above), but don’t necessarily have to be stand-alone buildings, says Daniel Harris of Henry S. Miller Brokerage. Also in development: a fast-casual “Bennigan’s On the Fly” for airports and colleges.
- Bennigan’s To Relaunch in the Lone Star State [Globe St.]
- Previously on Swamplot: Bennigan’s Rides into the Sunset
Photo: Real Points
A DIFFERENT KIND OF MEDICAL TOURISM 
How did Rockport, Texas, couple Karl and Carol Hoepfner get the idea to eat meals at all 722 Whataburgers in 10 states? It all started with a visit to the Texas Medical Center: “Carol, 73, was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer in her eyes, which eventually sent her to Houston for 23 days of radiation earlier this year. All of the appointments were late in the day, and Karl wanted to do something other than spend the rest of the time in their apartment.” The Hoepfners used their free time to visit all 90 Houston Whataburger locations first. They’ve reached 225 so far. [Corpus Christi Caller] Photo: Ivan Campos
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE VALUE OF A NEW CHAIN STORE, IN SMALL BILLS “But don’t yall think having a Kohls nearby is well worth the price of a few ducks?” [Joe, commenting on Comment of the Day: Mystery Neighbor for the Meyer Park Walmart?]