02/11/13 11:00am

Facing Kelvin St., this franchise of Alabama-based Zoës Kitchen is shaping up to open soon in Hanover at Rice Village, the mixed-use apartments bound by Kelvin, Dunstan, and Morningside (shown at left). The fast-casual restaurant is now hiring, says the vinyl sign hanging from the street-level patio railing. Besides this one at 5215 Kelvin, Zoës Kitchen has 7 other locations in Houston. (Swamplot reported in January that Chris Leung’s dessert shop, Cloud 10, is expected to go in on Kelvin St. as well sometime this spring.)

Photos: Allyn West; Chris Litherland (Hanover)

01/17/13 4:00pm

The four squares that were the Bissonnet Village Apartments are gone, and Hanover Co. has now denuded the site near Bissonnet and Dincans, preparing it for something else “residential,” says a company rep. The site extends along Dincans between Bissonnet and North, backing into the Bank of America that faces Kirby. Swamplot reported last week that Hanover has purchased property on Morningside for Phase II of their mixed-use midrise now under construction, less than a mile away, in Rice Village.

Photos: Allyn West

01/11/13 11:30am

A January newsletter from The Southampton Civic Club informs members that Hanover, building the mixed-use midrise pictured above, has purchased additional property on Morningside in Rice Village “just north” of the current construction site. The newsletter states that Hanover is planning to begin Phase II: a 12-story, 200-unit residential building with no retail. The newsletter’s language suggests that the property is bound by Morningside, Tangley, Dunstan, and Kelvin; that’s where the Village Commons, the Tangley Building, the Village Apartments, and Garden Gate are — at least for now.

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01/02/13 12:59pm

CLOUD 10 HITTING SWEET SPOT IN THE VILLAGE We’re guessing Chris Leung will be keeping his ice cream below 273 Kelvin in the shop and open kitchen he’ll be launching this spring at 5711 Kelvin in Rice Village. Cloud 10 Creamery will be one of the street-level shops in the new Hanover apartments set to open next month. This’ll be Cloud 10’s first storefront; Leung’s ice creams have been available since last summer at a few restaurants and food trucks around town. [Houston Press; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Chris Litherland

10/11/12 3:37pm

OMG! A RICE VILLAGE FOOD TRUCK CLAMPDOWN After receiving complaints from restaurant owners and residents, police have launched an inspection sweep of food trucks in the Rice Village area, an HPD spokesperson tells reporter Terrence McCoy. At least 50 citations for various violations were issued in the last month, and the campaign is scheduled to continue for another month. Recipient of 4 of those inspections: Korean barbecue and taco vendor Oh My Gogi!, which typically parks outside Brian O’Neill’s on Morningside Dr. on weekends. Manager Daniel Davenport says police walked away without giving him a citation last Friday night, but on a previous weekend the truck chalked up 3 infractions for having business permits on hand, but not displaying them in open sight. [Hair Balls] Photo: Houston Food Crawl

03/06/12 11:36am

The Children’s Assessment Center is passing around this sketch showing the huge expansion the child-sexual-abuse resource center is planning at 2500 Bolsover in the Rice Village, just east of Kirby. (The view is along Bolsover, with Kirby at the far left.) The existing 55,000-sq.-ft. building, shown on the far right, opened in 1998. An additional 75,000 sq. ft. of space will go in a 4-story structure that’ll sidle up to it and connect to the existing floors. A new conference and training center will fit inside, along with space for the 44 partner agencies the CAC works with. To make room for the addition, the existing 330-car parking garage will be torn down; a new 420-car garage will go up along the Kirby side, right behind the new Frost Bank built on a portion of the former Village Plaza Shopping Center.

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11/17/11 6:28pm

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.

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08/29/11 12:49pm

OUT WITH THE IMPORTED PO’ BOYS, IN WITH THE LOCAL BOLOGNA The owners of Benjy’s Restaurant next door plan to open a local-foods market in the recently vacated Antone’s Import Co. space at 2424 Dunstan St. Benjy Levitt describes the market, which he’s calling Local Foods in Rice Village, as a local version of its predecessor. There’ll be sandwiches and salads, as well as prepared foods from next door, including Benjy’s beer nuts and cheese crackers. Levitt tells Sarah Rufca the store, expected to open in October, will get its food supplies from 15 to 20 local vendors: “We’re going to be using artisan bread; if there’s bologna in a sandwich, it’ll be house-cured.” [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot] Photo: West U Examiner

08/15/11 6:19pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: LOOKING FORWARD TO MISSING YOU TOO “It’s weird to think that Rice Village had, at various times, a porn theater, a reggae bar, and a former gas station converted into a barbeque place called the Poor Man’s Country Club. A lot of the funkiness has gone, but that’s what the residents in the vicinity want. It’s an upscale neighborhood–and that tends to push out some of the more marginal businesses. But new funky neighborhoods are always coming into existence, so while I mourn the disappearance of great, unique neighborhood businesses, I welcome new ones elsewhere. Who knows — 20 years from now, Radical Eats might be a beloved neighborhood institution in a gentrifying neighborhood.” [Robert Boyd, commenting on Po’ Boys Priced Out of the Village]

08/12/11 11:24pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE LOST SCENT “It broke my heart when they closed down the location near my high school on Hilcroft many years ago. [It] was a great place for ‘off campus’ dining. Don’t even get me started about the closure of the original Taft location without warning. Don’t they know it takes decades to achieve that wonderful aroma from all those imported cheeses, olives, etc.? This is a smell my children (and I) will never experience again.” [jgbiggs, commenting on Po’ Boys Priced Out of the Village]

08/12/11 5:00pm

PO’ BOYS PRICED OUT OF THE VILLAGE The Antone’s Import Co. on the corner of Dunstan and Kelvin in the Rice Village shut down last week, says the Houston Press: “Sources indicate that rent in the space — next door to Kelvin Arms and benjy’s — had increased to the point where Antone’s finally had to close down and reconcentrate on its Stella Link location.” [Eating Our Words] Photo: West University Examiner

06/09/11 12:10pm

Your latest retail edition:

  • Closing and Expanding: New Orleans import Kaboom Books has shut down its Studewood location in the Heights strip center next to Antidote Coffee. Open now: more space for books and readers in the 3116 Houston Ave. storefront at the end of Bayland in Woodland Heights. The expanded store incorporates the north end of the streetfront building, and includes a back yard and reading area.
  • Moving: The storefront division of PH Design Shop, from its Shepherd Dr. hangout next to Sugarbaby’s Cupcake Boutique, to a larger 1,440-sq.-ft. space at 2414 Rice Blvd. in the head-in-parking paradise of Rice Village, later this month. The new store will allow the addition of gifts and tabletop items to the store’s mix of custom mix of funky paper goods and custom design services.

One more:

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06/03/11 10:57am

This drive-by pic of the former Fu’s Garden Restaurant space at the corner of Kirby and University shows what looks to be the exfoliation of some of the building’s 1950s-era accoutrements. The longtime Rice Village restaurant closed quietly several months ago: “They seem to be removing the vertical louvers from the second story and boarding over the windows,” notes the reader who sent in the photo.

Photo: Swamplot inbox

05/02/11 8:23am

BLIND ITEM: “POPULAR PUB INSIDE LOOP” FOR SALE — GUESS WHICH Your clues: “This very popular pub boasts great reviews, has been in business for 16 years and is a big hit with the neighborhood crowd as a place for local residents to gather and enjoy adult beverages in a relaxing atmosphere. It is one of the very few places in Houston that has a bocce court (lawn bowling). . . . The median age of their clientele is probably 30-35 and they enjoy playing bocce in their spacious beer garden, watching the world go by from their sidewalk [cafe], relaxing indoors in air conditioned comfort, watching their favorite sports on any of their indoor / outdoor televisions, playing a game of darts, enjoying their favorite music from the internet jukebox or taking advantage of the free Wi/Fi. They are well known for their great beer/wine selection and friendly service.” [BizBuySell, via Twitter user ucalledthewolf]

04/18/11 10:53am

Opened over the weekend: a 1,500-sq.-ft. space at 6115 Kirby in the Rice Village that its owners are claiming is the country’s first non-toxic retail paint store. The Green Painter, a project of green-building supply house and organic-mattress showroom New Living, takes over a former tile store next door to its parent company. Partner Jeff Kaplan says most of the paint and coatings sold at the Green Painter — including its own NOVOC brand and a lower-priced line of contractor-grade paints — won’t have any volatile organic compounds at all, but the store does carry one line of paints for cabinets, trim, and exteriors that qualifies as a low-VOC product.

Photo: Adam Brackman