The sign up at 3401 N. Main St. across from the Hollywood Cemetery leaves little doubt as to who the owner of Casa Grande blames for the Mexican restaurant and dance club’s shuttering. The 18-year-old establishment, which took over the by-then-long-abandoned site of the former Stuarts Drive-in, shut down last month, after several years of slow business. A sign at the entrance (pictured) now reads BANK CLOSED.
CAFE JAPON, MISSING FROM KIRBY DR. SINCE LATE LAST YEAR, DISCOVERED IN FORMER ZUSHI SPOT AT MEMORIAL AND WESTCOTT 
A World of Beer is headed into 3915 Kirby Dr. spot just north of the Southwest Fwy. that Café Japon quietly left near the end of last year, after a $14K-a-month listing for its 4,000-sq.-ft. space went up over the summer. Meanwhile, the exiled sushi restaurant reopened late last week in the slightly larger space formerly occupied by Zushi Japanese Cuisine in the bottom of the small office building at 5900 Memorial Dr. [Eater Houston] Photo: Greenberg & Company
THE THREE NEW HOLES FORMING IN EINSTEIN BROS. BAGELS’ OUTER BELT COVERAGE 
The parent company of Einstein Bros. Bagels (which also owns Manhattan Bagels, Noah’s Bagels, and Peets Coffee & Tea, and Caribou Coffee as well) announced late last week that 3 far-flung Houston-area stores will be among the 39 “underperforming” stores nationwide the chain will be shuttering. Bagel spots at 6261 Hwy. 6 (off Glen Lakes Ln.) in Missouri City, 2121 W. Davis St. in Conroe, and 3375 College Park Dr. in The Woodlands (pictured here) will be closed by tomorrow. [Culturemap] Photo of College Park Dr. store: Einstein Bros. Bagels
32 OF 77 HOUSTON AREA RADIO SHACKS ARE ON THE CLOSURE LIST ALREADY 
Will that Radio Shack near you be closing, now that the electronics chain has declared bankruptcy? Probably. Of its 4,000 U.S. stores, up to 1,750 appear to be slated to become locations for mobile phone company Sprint. Separately, Radio Shack released on its website a list of 1,784 “potential store closures” — without noting explicitly if the identified locations, listed in 3 separate tranches, were headed for rebranding or outright shuttering. 32 of those stores are in the Houston area. [Quartz; list] Photo of Radio Shack at 4367 Kingwood Dr. (not on the closure list): Ms. Ruby O
The new brick building across from the Cavalcade station on Fulton St. that went up next to the former Dairy Queen corner spot known as Dairy Land is meant for Dairy Land, new lettering attached to the recently completed replacement structure attests. The signage went up shortly after the old building at 310 Cavalcade St. (pictured below) was demolished last week.
Last call came for the Mimosa Lane Apartments a couple of months ago — residents of the 1960 garden apartment complex in Avalon Place (along with those of its neighbor, the Argonne Forest Apartments) were given notice in early October of an end-of-November clear-out. That was apparently plenty of time to get word out about a goodbye party or 2.
“What’s up with Julia’s?” writes the Swamplot reader who got a Main St. train to slow down enough to snap the photo of the unlit Midtown restaurant above. “It’s been dark and closed for weeks now. With all the new development and foot traffic from the new apartments across the street and new restaurants/bars in the area, everyone’s wondering: Is something new in the works for this premier midtown corner?” The answer is yes: A “new concept” for the restaurant space is being developed. In the meantime, Julia’s Bistro is closed for lunch and dinner, but available for private parties.
The former Hollywood Vietnamese and Chinese restaurant building just north of Westheimer at 2409 Montrose Blvd. has been turned into a dog adoption facility run by K-9 Angels Rescue. The restaurant closed down in that space last Thanksgiving after developer Jonathan Farb purchased the property and the surrounding parking lots for a new apartment complex on the block, which is bounded by Hyde Park Blvd., Grant St., and Fairview. This isn’t the first last-occupant stint for the K-9 Angels; the nonprofit organization had been operating out of the former Cat Clinic building at 2100 W. Alabama St., before that building was torn down for a new CVS siding up to S. Shepherd Dr. one block south of the Alabama Theater Shopping Center.
Farb donated use of the space to the K-9 Angels temporarily — until he starts construction on the midrise, currently planned for “late spring or early summer.”
The last date to order cheese enchiladas at Los Dos Amigos, the Mexican restaurant that’s stood at 5720 Washington Ave at the corner of Birdsall for the past 39 years, is February 28th. In early December, the longtime owners of an L-shaped group of parcels spanning the entire north side of the Washington Ave block between Birdsall and Malone — along with an adjoining “L” around the corner facing Birdsall (see map above) — sold the whole thing to a developer out of Dallas operating under the name of a partnership calling itself OSF Washington. Among the other entities linked to the buyers: Vintala Partners, which has developed apartments in the past.
Also on the block and going away: the Premo’s Grocery building at 5702 Washington. The entire site, including both buildings and parking lots, measures 26,675 sq. ft.
The latest in a stream of coffee shops to grace the bungalow at 1030 Heights Blvd. will open next month, the owner of the new establishment reports. Equilibrium Social House will serve coffee, teas, and baked goods in a building that’s been repainted (see above) since the departure of Boulevard Coffee. Inside, there’s a new counter and serving area and new furniture. New sliding doors will allow some interior spaces to be closed off for private meetings. The EQ patio will be open to both humans and dogs.
Photo: Equilibrium Social House
Note: This story has been updated.
The Midtown joint long considered to be Houston’s oldest bar — except for that period 5 years ago when it closed for renovations —- closed down for good last night. This morning workers were removing furnishings from the building at 1006 McGowen St. and dismantling the front deck. Leon’s Lounge owner operator Pete Mitchell, who bought leased the establishment from the daughter of Leon Yarborough (the original Leon had bought it, as La Bomba, in 1947), had been arguing with his landlord about the building’s condition: “The sewer line, which Mitchell said he thought it would take ‘massive’ repairs to fix, was a principal sticking point,” he tells reporter Chris Gray.
SORRY, NO MATTRESS STORE CAN SNEAK INTO HIGHLAND VILLAGE WITHOUT SOMEBODY NOTICING 
Here’s a piece of hot retail news the likes of which has not been encountered since . . . well, since Swamplot broke the story that the Walgreens near the corner of Westheimer and Weslayan will be moving across both streets to the former Fresh Market spot: A reader has ID’d a new neighbor moving into the former Rice Epicurean shopping center, next to said future Walgreens. It’ll be . . . wait for it . . . a Mattress Firm going into the 3743 Westheimer Rd. address, as evidenced by the familiar red sign now glowing brightly above the future front door shown above. Intriguing bonus tip, for all you Highland Village area store-opening watchers to chew over: “There were two vacant spots in the center when Fresh Market was there and it looks like the other one is leased as there’s a sign in the window for construction but does not identify who is moving in.” Photo: Swamplot inbox
The last day of business for the original Ruggles Green location, in the Persona Day Spa shopping center at 2311 West Alabama St. east of Kirby Dr. (above), was New Year’s Eve. But the restaurant claims it won’t be gone from the neighborhood for too long. A new Ruggles Green is scheduled to open up in the street-facing retail space on the ground floor of the Gables Upper Kirby apartments going up next door (portrayed above left), once construction on that project is finished. That’ll be this spring, a note on the Ruggles Green website promises. The new address, 2305 W. Alabama St., will be one door down from the former Mission Burrito, recently renamed Ãœberrito Mexican Grill to avoid tortilla torts.
Meanwhile, up in The Woodlands, a brand new Ruggles Green in the shopping center at 2501 Research Forest Dr. is scheduled to open any day now — “whenever the chairs arrive,” the company’s Facebook page declares. Here’s a pic of that standing-room-only (for now) location:
USPS NOW SAYS IT WILL CLOSE AND SELL THE HEIGHTS POST OFFICE 
A new public notice taped to the door of the Heights Finance Station post office at the corner of Heights Blvd. and 11th St. last Friday indicates the U.S. Postal Service has moved on from “considering” moving out of the property and is now prepared for a full-on “disposal” action: “This property has been determined by the Postal Service to be excess and is no longer necessary for Postal operations,” reads the notice, which also indicates that “Postal Service policy requires the property to be sold at Market Value.” Though public comments are still being encouraged, it typically takes more than a few discouraging words to prevent a local post office from shutting down. The 6,161-sq.-ft. building at 1050 Yale St. sits on more than an acre of land. [Previously on Swamplot] Photos: Swamplot inbox (post office); Nick Panzarelli (notice)
Last chance for those seeking to buy pansies, raspberry bushes and fig trees near the corner of N. Dairy Ashford Dr. and the Katy Fwy, as the location of Cornelius Nursery that has stood there for decades is closing down in a matter of days. “Most likely on the fourth,” an employee says, but possibly as early as Friday.
The nursery and parking lot sprawl across about 3 acres of Energy Corridor land at 1200 N. Dairy Ashford Dr. According to online property records, Calloway’s Inc., the nursery company with which Cornelius merged, sold the property to an entity called 1200 North Dairy Ashford LLC earlier this month.
Two Swamplot readers heard differing tales regarding the property’s fate:
