DOWNTOWN BURGER GUYS CLOSES DOWN 
There’s one fewer restaurant along the light rail line: Culturemap reports that the Burger Guys spot at 706 Main St., on the ground floor of the Great Jones Building at the intersection of Main and Capitol, closed on Friday. Owner Jake Mazzu seems to believe that this particular address might be the victim of some bad karma: “[Mazzu] notes that the location . . . has housed ‘four restaurants in seven years.’ Asked if he believes in cursed locations, Mazzu says ‘completely, now. Never would have before.'” [Culturemap] Photo: H-Town in Pics
Sign up for the Newsletter
Openings and Closings
Looks like Weingarten has lured another tenant into the Kohl’s-anchored Tomball Marketplace at the southwest corner of the Tomball Pkwy. and FM 2920: Super Yummy Mongolian Grill. The somewhat self-aggrandizing chain restaurant is expected to open in Suite 160 in early October or November, according to Community Impact News.
- Coming Soon: Super Yummy Mongolian Grill [Community Impact News]
Photo of Tomball Marketplace: Weingarten Realty
LA FENDEE TRYING TO FEND OFF ENDING 
Reports of La Fendee’s demise — and Tacos A Go-Go’s emergence — here at 1402 Westheimer might have been hasty: A tweet from freelance writer Amber N. Ambrose suggests that the owners aren’t going gentle into that goodbye: “Man on the phone says they’re ‘fighting it.'” And a manager tells Swamplot this morning that the stories about the restaurant’s closing “aren’t right,” though declined to elaborate. [Twitter; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Trip Advisor
TACOS A GO-GO GOING IN NOW THAT LA FENDEE’S ENDING Culturemap reports that La Fendee, the Mediterranean restaurant at 1402 Westheimer in Montrose, will be closing by the end of the month and will be replaced soon thereafter by another Tacos A Go-Go. This new spot — right across Westheimer from the former Wendy’s that’s being renovated into Doc’s, the Austin sports bar — would be the 3rd location in Houston. Elsewhere, the Tacos a Go-Go owners have said they plan to open Retrospect Coffee at that artfully abandoned gas station near HCC in Midtown. [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Trip Advisor
Retail on the Morningside side of Hanover’s Rice Village mixed-use complex seems to be filling up: A reader sends this photo of signage for Cyclone Anaya’s, the Mexican kitchen named for the Mexican wrestler. It appears that the local chain restaurant will go in a few doors down from the walk-thru pizza window of Coppa Osteria, now open on the corner of Morningside and Dunstan, and, as this photo shows, right next to Chris Leung’s not-quite-ready Cloud 10 Creamery.
RICK’S CABARET REVEALS PLANS FOR REVEALING RESTAURANT NEAR JOHNSON SPACE CENTER 
The owners of that family of strip clubs, Rick’s Cabaret, plan to build a new restaurant called Bombshells in Webster near the Johnson Space Center. The pun-intended eatery appears to bring together army surplus and boobs; this would be its second location; the original, shown here, can be found up in Dallas. Culturemap’s Tyler Rudick reasons out how Rick’s chose the new suburban spot: “With both Bone Daddy’s and Twin Peaks thriving in Webster, Rick’s Cabaret president Eric Langan explains . . . that the area was a logical choice.” [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Bombshells at 7501 N. Stemmons Fwy.: Facebook
APARTMENTS COULD REPLACE CLOSING LANDRY’S ON WESTHEIMER 
The Landry’s Seafood House at 8816 Westheimer Rd. has lost its lease, apparently, and will close: This Sunday, reports Food Chronicles, brings the restaurant’s 20-year run in this spot to an end. But it doesn’t appear that the 4.5-acre site at Westheimer and Fondren will remain without activity for very long: “The landlord . . . sold the property to an apartment builder. According to Landry’s, the restaurant and other buildings . . . are slated for demolition.” [Food Chronicles] Photo: Landry’s Seafood
Since many of the big-headed attendees here at David Adickes’s former SculpturWorx compound are already dressed in formal wear — well, except for the Beatles — it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch for the Vanderbilt, the new event space with the highfalutin name being prepped for an opening later this month. A reader reports that the Vanderbilt has applied for its liquor license, and you can see one of those telltale TABC signs hanging beneath the plywood in the window at the top of the stairs.
- Previously on Swamplot: An Alamo Drafthouse at SculpturWorx? Not So Fast, David Adickes’s Big-Headed Summer Street Studio Getting a Redo
Photo: Allyn West
That slow-to-develop retail district on the old prison farm in Sugar Land, rehabilitated into The Crossing at Telfair, appears to be locking up a new occupant. This sign, says the reader who snapped the photo, recently popped up behind the Whataburger and the H-E-B on Hwy. 6, just to the north along University Blvd. of the site where that new 6,500-seat performance hall is planned to be built. No opening date for the Austin Tex-Mex chain has been announced, though the Sugar Land Sun reports that the place should be good to go by the end of the year.
- The Crossing at Telfair [Rubicon Realty]
- Houston Area Locations [Chuy’s]
- Chuy’s to open Sugar Land Telfair location by end of 2013 [Sugar Land Sun]
- Previously on Swamplot: What Sugar Land’s New Performance Hall Might Look Like, Sugar Land Officially Released from Prison
Photo: Swamplot inbox
Justin Turner of the cheddar-colored, school-themed burger bus — a frequent visitor to the can-you-hear-me-above-the-generators Houston Food Park in East Downtown — tells Eater Houston that he’s planning to open 3 non-wheeled restaurants in the next 5 years. That’s in addition to the stand he set up at Sections 114 and 115 inside Reliant Stadium to cook patties while the Texans play. Bernie’s will still operate 3 buses to serve close-in ’hoods, but it appears that all the restaurants will be outside the Loop: The first to open, says Turner, will be on Bellaire west of 610, the second in Katy, and the third “another place out in the ‘burbs.”
- Bernie’s Burger Bus to Open Three Brick-and-Mortar Spots in the Next Five Years: An Interview with the Owner [Eater Houston]
- Previously on Swamplot: East Downtown’s Food Truck Parking Park
Photo of Bernie’s Burger Bus at Inversion at 1953 Montrose Blvd: Yelp user Jason T.
Here’s a look at Houston’s next Trader Joe’s, set to open in Cinco Ranch sometime next year. It’ll be at 2643 Commercial Center Blvd., right in the center of all that commerce just west of the Grand Pkwy. This new 12,500-sq.-ft. store will be the 4th in the area. The last to open was the one on San Felipe and Voss in January, across the street from the Randall’s that has since been torn down to make way for a new Whole Foods.
- Trader Joe’s to open 4th Houston-area store [Houston Business Journal]
- Previously on Swamplot: Whole Foods Building New Store at Former Flagship Randall’s S. Voss Spot, Yes, the Voss Rd. Randall’s Is Closing, Pix of Trader Joe’s Lonely Voss and San Felipe Landing Site, The 3 Trader Joe’s Grocery Stores Coming to the Houston Area, Sure Looks Like a Trader Joe’s Is Headed for Voss and San Felipe
Rendering: Trader Joe’s
It appears that some of that hallowed ground-floor retail space in the funeral-home-exorcising Gables Tanglewood will be given over to Dish Society, a casual farm-to-table joint. No opening date has been set; apparently, the restaurant just started looking for an executive chef. The photo above shows the construction progress of the Ziegler Cooper-designed 8-story, 304-unit apartment complex at the corner of San Felipe and Bering.
- Dish Society [Facebook]
- Previously on Swamplot: Funeral for a Funeral Home: Earthman Hits the Dirt on San Felipe
Photo: Going Up! City
Royce White might never have suited up for the Houston Rockets, spending most of his rookie season toiling in the D-League with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and — umm, tweeting, but it appears he has found a way to contribute to the city. Last week, White — who suffers from generalized anxiety disorder — announced that his foundation, Anxious Mind’s, which he started when he was playing college ball at Iowa State, will partner with Bee Busy Wellness Clinic to open a free mental health facility on W. Bellfort. The clinic will also provide dental services and primary care and will open this January inside the Rubik’s Cube-like former Frank Neighborhood Library at 6440 W. Bellfort, shown here, just west of Westbury and Meyerland. White played in only 16 games last season; he was caught up in disputes with Rockets management about travel arrangements — he hates to fly — and team doctors. In July, he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.
- Royce White to open mental health center in Houston [Ultimate Rockets]
- Royce White (@Highway_30) Is Saying Weird Things On Twitter Again [Hair Balls]
Photo: Allyn West
A reader sends this photo of the work in progress at the former Blockbuster at 8001 S. Main St., which in September will open as Jollibee Chicken & Burgers, the first Texas location of the largest fast-food chain in the Philippines. It will be located right next door to the Jersey Mike’s there in the crotch of S. Main and O.S.T., just northwest of Reliant Park.
- Jollibee Houston [Facebook]
Photo: Swamplot inbox
It appears that this former caterer’s at 3030 Audley St. and Sul Ross is being converted into a restaurant. Photos of the building show that permits for the Upper Kirby location on the other side of W. Alabama from Lamar High School have been acquired to rebuild the roof, which, according to info on NuHabitat, was damaged by Hurricane Ike. The name of the new restaurant will be the Audley Street Cafe.
Photos: Swamplot inbox
