Tag: Openings and Closings

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THE ART GUYS SAY BYE, BUY, FOR NOW art-guys-bye Recently dissolved arboreal polygamist duo The Art Guys is holding what it’s labeling a Final Sale through August 15 on its website, which currentlyÂ declares that The Art Guys are not artists. Michael Galbreth and Jack Massing, whose antics under the name have included navigating Houston in various configurations, encouraging visitors to explore a Garden Oaks median strip, and conducting the sounds of the Ship Channel, spoke withÂ Molly Glenzter —Â who writes this week that the pairÂ stillÂ has other plans and ideas, but won’t be executing them under the Art Guys guise. Â The pair mention the possibility of creating a virtual drawing of Houston byÂ sending people walking around town with a specialÂ path-tracingÂ smart-phone app:Â “It’s so poetic,” Galbreth tells Glenzter, but the company that makes the appÂ hasn’t shown interestÂ in sponsoring the project. And their imagined sculpture of aÂ randomly-chosen HoustonianÂ hasn’t gotten funding yet, either —Â “Our culture is just at low tide right now,” Galbreth says. [Houston Chronicle, The Art Guys; previously on Swamplot] Image:Â theartguys.com

Art, For Sale by Owner, Openings and Closings, The Art Guys

07/28/16 1:30pm

This Morning on Memorial: Pollo Bravo’s Last Stand

Rice Military

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Demolition of former Pollo Bravo at 5440 Memorial Dr., Rice Military, Houston, 77007

Here’s the last pieces of the former Pollo Bravo at 5440 Memorial Dr. still holding out against the excavator onslaught today. A reader sends the snapshot above from the Starbucks end of the strip center across the street. The demo permit for the structure came through on Thursday of last week,Â trailing in the wake of the property’s May 2015 sale and the restaurant’s subsequent December departure.

The owner of the Peruvian fusion chicken chain said at the time that she was seeking new locations; a few more Pollo Bravo spots seem to have opened up since then, including branches on Long Point Rd. east of Gessner, and on Mason Rd. south of Kingsland Blvd. Here’s one last look at the rapidly clearing site, between a Chase bank and the Memorial Towers apartments:

Fowl Flattening

77007, Demolitions, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Rice Military

07/25/16 10:45am

Georges Bistro Back Open Again on Westheimer, This Time Without Georges

Montrose

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3rd incarnation of Georges Bistro, 219 Westheimer Rd., Lower Westheimer, Montrose, Houston

3rd incarnation of Georges Bistro, 219 Westheimer Rd., Lower Westheimer, Montrose, Houston Here’s the freshest shot out there of the house-turned-restaurant at 219 Westheimer Rd. between Mason and Helena streets, now open once again as Georges Bistro (but no longer under the management ofÂ Georges and Monique Guy, who previously opened and later reopened the spot with Georges-centric names.) After some months of shopping the place around, theÂ Guys closed the French cafe near the end of March to move back to France. The restaurant has since reopened with a hybrid Mediterranean menu, live music, and an upstairs hookah lounge.

Previously on Swamplot: Off-Menu Special at Georges Bistro on Westheimer: The Whole Shebang; Feasting on the Leftovers at Feast; Bad Places To Start a Restaurant in Houston: A List; Feast: Going Whole Hog on Lower Westheimer

Photos of Georges Bistro at 219 Westheimer Rd.: Swamplot inbox

Bon Voyage and Bienvenue

77006, Montrose, Openings and Closings, Restaurants

07/18/16 1:15pm

Snooze Now Distributing Hair of the Dog from Former Interfaith Ministries Building on Montrose Blvd.

WAMM

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3217 Montrose Blvd., WAMM, Houston, 77006

3217 Montrose Blvd., WAMM, Houston, 77006 Colorado breakfast restaurant and cocktail purveyor Snooze says its Houston grand opening is set for this Thursday at 6:30 AM in the redeveloped office building at 3217 Montrose Blvd. (which hosted Interfaith Ministries before the organizationÂ converted aÂ Midtown bank in 2013). TheÂ locationÂ is already quietly serving some ofÂ Montrose’s early risers (or late ragers) from itsÂ spot next to resale-by-mail used-clothing chain Crossroads.

The ground-floor space in the 2-story building is the first Houston outpost of Snooze, which has a few Austin spots already up and running. Corinthian Real Estate bought the property in 2014 after a bit of redevelopment work by Braun (as shown above) and moved into an upstairs office. Here’s what the space looked like before the pin-striped canopies and painted murals came down:

Dawning on Montrose

77006, Bars, Montrose, Openings and Closings, Redevelopment, Restaurants, Retail, WAMM

Downtown

07/14/16 1:00pm

Time for Thai Moving In on Prince’s Tunnel Territory Near Departed High Tower Deli

Time for Thai, 930 Main St., Downtown Tunnels, Houston, 77002

Swamplot’s anonymousÂ tunnel correspondent sends the following deep-Downtown restaurant updates (and a few other subterranean readers send along photos to illustrate):

The location formerly occupied by Prince’s at 930 Main St., [beneath the] McKinney Place Garage (unoccupied since early March) will soon be home to Time for Thai, whose sign says that they are an offshoot of Thai Cottage:

Coming Up Downtown

77002, Downtown, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Tunnel Correspondent, Tunnels

Quicklink

07/11/16 4:45pm

Nirvana-Nodding Love Buzz Now Pushing Free-Ish Pizza Every Night on Westheimer Street Corner

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NIRVANA-NODDING LOVE BUZZ NOW PUSHING FREE-ISH PIZZA EVERY NIGHT ON WESTHEIMER STREET CORNER Interior of Love Buzz, 408 Westheimer, Westheimer Rd., Montrose, Houston, 77006 The former salon and former bed & breakfast respectively sittingÂ across Westheimer Rd. from Avant Garden and recently relocatedÂ Biskit JunkieÂ have just finished converting intoÂ Love Buzz, a 90s-nostalgia-themed bar put together byÂ some of the folks involved with exotic meat hotdog joint Moon Tower Inn. The shop opened to the public over the weekend with a limited-for-nowÂ menu built aroundÂ pizza from Eatsie Boy-linked not-yet-chain Nice Slice (which,Â according to Craig HlavatyÂ of theÂ Houston Chronicle,Â isÂ already working on itsÂ second distribution point at bar-on-a-stick Raven Tower). Love Buzz’s social media accountsÂ claim it will be giving out a free slice of cheese pizza with every mixedÂ drink or beer sold after 9 pm,Â any night the bar is open. [Previously on Swamplot] Image of 408 Westheimer interior: Love Buzz

77006, Bars, Lower Westheimer, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail

Bars and Clubs

07/08/16 3:15pm

Drag Show Jumps Out of the Way of Bicycle-Themed Parking Garage as Meteor Lounge Shuts Down

East Montrose, Fairview, Openings and Closings

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Fairview + Mason renderings

Meteor, 2306 Genesee St, Montrose, Houston So You Think You Can DragÂ hit the stage at Â South BeachÂ last night — a permanent move for the event in the wake of Â Wednesday‘s permanent closure of Meteor Lounge at 2306 Genesee St. The bar and semi-aquatic drag and dance venueÂ had been renting its spaceÂ back temporarily while developer Fred Sharifi worked on designs and permits for the redevelopment of the East Montrose neighborhood around Fairview Ave. and Mason St.; Adolfo Pesquera noted in early AprilÂ that the project (under the nameÂ Fairview + Mason) had been granted a variance request.

TheÂ application for thatÂ request included the drawing above of the 6-story parking garage that’s planned to replaceÂ Meteor; the exterior, perhaps followingÂ Rice University’s lead on parking garage modesty coverings, appears to be artfully encrusted with bicycles, with the words MONT and ROSE emblazoned beneath.

The variance request asked the city for permission to cross some building setback lines and to add some canopies along 2 different blocks on Fairview — the site plan below points them out, catty-cornered betweenÂ the block holding the Mason St. electrical substation and the block holding Max’s Wine Dive, Cuchara, and Flow:

Farewell on Fairview

77006, Bars, Openings and Closings, Parking-Garages, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment

06/27/16 5:30pm

The Only 2 Houston Abortion Clinics That Would Have Survived HB2 (But Now Don’t Have To)

Maps

Above is Rewire’s interactive map of what happened toÂ most of the abortion clinics in Texas since the 2013 passage ofÂ HB2, parts of which were struck down today byÂ the Supreme Court.Â The 5-3 ruling this morning overturned a sectionÂ of theÂ lawÂ that would have required prohibitively expensive remodeling of many clinic buildings, as well as a section requiring that abortion providers make arrangements that let them personally admit patients to nearby hospitals.

The latter requirement alone, when it went into effect in November 2013, caused more than half of the state’s 41 abortion providers to stop offering the procedure (including 4 out of 10 inside the Grand Pkwy. at the time). The University of TexasÂ saysÂ that the full law, had it gone into effect, would have leftÂ Houston with 2 providers (compared to 33 in New York City, 10 in Los Angeles, and 13 in Chicago). Those 2 — the geometrically questionable Planned Parenthood HQ near University of Houston’s main campus, and the Texas Ambulatory Surgical Center in the Heights — show up on the map in green when the Ambulatory Surgical Center layer is activated:

SCOTUS Rules on Texas

Lawsuits, Maps, Medical Buildings, Openings and Closings

06/27/16 1:15pm

Good Dog Now Occasionally Sitting, Prepping to Stay on W. Alabama

Montrose, Restaurants, Retail

Good Dog, 1318 W. Alabama St., Montrose, Houston, 77006

Good Dog, 1318 W. Alabama St., Montrose, Houston, 77006 The second non-mobile location of Good Dog Â is now hiring, per the signage spotted by a reader at 1312 W. Alabama St. TheÂ food truckÂ that started the chain camped out in the building’s driveway onÂ Father’s Day, butÂ no official opening date for the new space itself has been announced yet.

77006, Food Trucks, Montrose Restaurants, Openings and Closings

Montrose Rollover

06/23/16 4:45pm

Tout Suite Tears Down the Wall at Memorial City Mall

Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail

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Tout Suite, Memorial City Mall, 303 Memorial City Way, Houston, TX 77024

Tout Suite’s second outpost is now open in the pedestrian crossroads atÂ the west end of Memorial City Mall.Â The kioskÂ version of the East Downtown cafe is currently serving drinksÂ and pastries along withÂ at least a few larger entrees. The opening follows the removal of the construction barricades formerly surrounding the space, finishing work previously started by mall vandals or impatientÂ caffeine addicts:

Mall Mini

77024, Memorial City Mall, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail

06/22/16 12:45pm

Tookie’s Now Selling Seafood on Stilts in Seabrook

Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Seabrook

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Tookie's Seafood, 1106 Bayport Blvd., Seabrook, TX, 77586

Seabrook’s Tookie’s Burgers’ new marine-minded companion is up and running this week atÂ 1106 Bayport Blvd.Â The original rural-drugstore-themed Tookie’s opened in 1975 butÂ was destroyed by Hurricane Ike;Â Barry and Melissa Terrell boughtÂ and reopened the 3,800-sq.-ft.-ish burger stand in 2011Â beforeÂ getting startedÂ on an elevatedÂ 12,000-sq.-ft. Tookie’s-branded seafoodÂ spot (shown above in late spring prior to final construction touches) in the lot next door.Â

The new Tookie’s, standing on stilts some 3 blocks from the SH 146 bridge over Clear Lake and Galveston Bay, is more hurricane resistant than the still-functioningÂ originalÂ (or at least less flood-prone). The raised space is designed to hold around 400 people (counting a 100-person banquet space), though the company says they’re running at about half capacity for now while the staff gets the hangÂ of things. Here’s a peek at the building from earlier this year, with the yellow signage of the original Tookie’s just visible in the distance to the upper left:

Jumbo Shrimp Shop

77586, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Seabrook

Downtown

06/21/16 4:45pm

One Last Look from the Chase Tower Observation Deck, Now Closed to the Public

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Sky Lobby, 600 Travis St., Downtown, Houston, 77002 sky-lobby You’ve missed your last chance to catch a view like these from the Chase Tower at 600 Travis St., unless you’reÂ thereÂ on business. Craig Hlavaty reports thatÂ HinesÂ has permanently closed the downtown skyscraper’s 60th floor Sky Lobby to the public, just 3 years after thatÂ 2013 redo by Gensler, to cut down on tenant-bothering “extra non-business-related traffic” on the floor (which is also an elevator swapout zone.) Time to updateÂ that list.

The Sky Lobby at Houston’s Chase Tower is now closed to the public [Houston Chronicle]
Previously on Swamplot: The Best Places To Watch Houston Go By

Photos: Bill Barfield (top) andÂ Russell Hancock (bottom) via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Grounded Downtown

77002, Downtown, Openings and Closings, Skyscrapers

06/17/16 11:30am

A Step Toward Starbucks Infill in Industrial Northwest Houston

Northwest Houston

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Starbucks at 13339 West Road, Houston, TX 77041

Northwest Houston Starbucks, 2016 A Stand-alone Starbucks is now open at West Rd. and N. Eldridge Pkwy. in the parking lot of the Raceway gas station on the southwest corner. The new building appears to be the first Starbucks to encroach into the area bounded by 290, Beltway 8, Hwy. 6, and I-10Â —Â though it still skirts the perimeter of the area. (Roughly halfÂ of that region is occupied by the Addicks Reservoir). The coffee shop joins Hot Donuts in the salon-rich strip center across West Rd.; nearby probable non-competitors include the ITEX Piping InternationalÂ and Berlin Packaging facilities.

Images:Â Randolph Wile (photo), Starbucks (map of area locations)

Still Not Saturated

77041, Northwest Houston, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail, Starbucks

06/16/16 11:00am

B&B Butchers Bull Marking New Territory in Shops at Sawyer Yards

First Ward, Restaurants, Retail

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shops-at-sawyer-yards-rendering
Leasing Materials for Lovett's Sawyer Yards

Lovett Commercial’s latest markup of the warehouse-turning-strip-mall at the corner of Edwards and Sawyer streets includesÂ the B&B Butchers logo, which hasÂ wanderedÂ about a third of a mile from the carve-it-themselves steakhouse’s year-old spot 6 blocks away on Washington Ave. All of the other logos included on the Shops at Sawyer Yards flier seem to check out:Â HairÂ salon Satori and tooth salonÂ Bayou City SmilesÂ are already up and runningÂ in the space, while nail salon Polish Parker & Roe,Â stop-calling-us-Crossfit gym chainÂ Orange Theory Fitness, and Vietnamese noodle shop Local Pho all appear to have at least a fewÂ of their permits in place.

Both the updated rendering of the site (up top, facing southeast) and the labeled plan show a restaurant space at the end of the development with a patio facing Sawyer; the flier also labels the slot as a brasserieÂ (as opposed to a steakhouse). TheÂ shaded aerial view below shows theÂ development (labeled as just Sawyer YARDS) in place amid a few of the nearby artsyÂ redevelopment projects (marked in green), new townhomes (marked in purple), and the Lovett office: