Tag: Restaurants

Demolitions
04/26/12 10:27am

The Restaurant Replacing Ruggles Grill on Westheimer

by
Houston Architects, Lower Westheimer, Montrose, Proposed Developments, Restaurants
5 Comments

Fresh off its work transforming the former Monarch Cleaners/Fox Diner/Cafe Serranos Cantina/Crome/Pravada building on Shepherd into Triniti Restaurant (with the help of some colorful perforated metal), Houston’s MC2 Architects is now designing its second restaurant — this time from scratch. It’s a “contemporary building with a rustic farmhouse feel” that’ll take the place of the shuttered and soon-to-be-dismantled Ruggles Grill at 903 Westheimer, just east of Montrose. Inside will be a new (yes) rustic American restaurant for the same owners — called Brande, Triniti chef Ryan Hildebrand announced yesterday. All that rusticity will take time, of course: The scheduled opening season is a far-off fall 2013.

Photo: Candace Garcia

, , , , , ,
Nightlife
04/25/12 4:47pm

A New York Post Reporter’s Lost Houston Weekend

by
Quicklink, Restaurants, Shady Acres, Tourism
12 Comments

A NEW YORK POST REPORTER’S LOST HOUSTON WEEKEND “Exhausted and content, I retired to the patio at El Gran Malo, a cool but divey tequila bar on a superbly awful corner facing a shoot ’n’ stab gas station, a Mexican restaurant and other assorted random Houstonia; I went here because every chef I encountered during my visit told me that this was the spot. I absolutely had to go, they said. So I went and I drank tequila, because that’s what I saw everyone else doing. A lot of it too, apparently — by the end of the night, I vaguely remember being on the other side of town stalking a food truck selling lobster that may or may not have actually existed. Which was fine — it would be days before I was in a position to eat a proper meal again.” [New York Post] Photo of El Gran Malo: Almost Veggie Houston

, , , , ,
Franchises and Chain Stores
04/25/12 1:48pm

Growing Up with McDonald’s

by
Quicklink, Restaurants, Uncategorized
14 Comments

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

, ,
Comments
04/24/12 11:46pm

Comment of the Day: Would’ve Knocked It If I Hadn’t Tried It

by
Quicklink, Restaurants, Retail
1 Comment

COMMENT OF THE DAY: WOULD’VE KNOCKED IT IF I HADN’T TRIED IT “Normally, I’m all for jumping on the ‘this is why we’re fat’ bandwagon, as well as the one that’s opposed to Austin imports. But having sampled a Tootie Pie, they are dang good. I’m actually excited about this one.” [MJ, commenting on More Houses Wanted for More Pies]

, ,
Franchises and Chain Stores
04/24/12 12:57pm

More Houses Wanted for More Pies

by
Quicklink, Restaurants, Retail
11 Comments

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.

, , , ,
Franchises and Chain Stores
04/24/12 9:26am

No, Dunkin’ Donuts Is Not Coming to the Corner of Westheimer and Dunlavy

by
Leasing, Montrose, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Restaurants, Retail
12 Comments

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

, , , , , , ,
Cancellations and Delays
04/23/12 4:46pm

A Museum District Restaurant Conversion Cut Short

by
Museum District, Quicklink, Restaurants
6 Comments

A MUSEUM DISTRICT RESTAURANT CONVERSION CUT SHORT How far along did Randy Rucker get turning the 3,624-sq.-ft. former doctors’ office directly behind the Asia Society Texas Center into a restaurant — before the plug was pulled? Restaurant conāt will not be opening at 5219 Caroline St., the lone holdout on the Museum District block demolished for architect Yoshio Taniguchi’s first freestanding new building in the U.S., which opened officially earlier this month. Rucker writes he’ll “continue to search for a location to help give life to restaurant conat & make it a reality”; he’d been working on the project with pastry chef Chris Leung. The partnership with building owner Balcor Commercial, announced last August, has been called off. [29-95; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Candace Garcia

, , ,
Franchises and Chain Stores
04/23/12 12:13pm

Dunkin’ Donuts’ Big Texas Push

by
Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Restaurants
45 Comments

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.

, , ,
Downtown
04/19/12 4:58pm

Toddler’s Foot Gets Stuck in Rotating Spindletop Restaurant

by
Hazards, Lawsuits, Restaurants
40 Comments

A 4-year-old child got her foot stuck in the open, unmarked 3-inch gap between the rotating floor and stationary wall at the Spindletop Restaurant atop the Hyatt Regency Hotel Downtown, according to a lawsuit filed by her parents earlier this week. The incident, which took place last October, resulted in several deep lacerations and “likely permanent disfigurement” of the child’s foot, according to the complaint. Her parents were able to pull the girl’s foot out of the gap and trapped shoe after a minute, but only seconds before the floor rotated far enough to push her in front of a pole supporting a handrail along the window.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

, , , ,
Lower Westheimer
04/18/12 1:56pm

Another Turnover in the House of La Strada

by
Montrose, Openings and Closings, Quicklink, Restaurants
7 Comments

ANOTHER TURNOVER IN THE HOUSE OF LA STRADA The Don Julio’s in Montrose will serve its last margarita this Sunday before retreating to a new but more familiarly suburban location in Missouri City, reports b4-u-eat. The Mexican restaurant took over last year from Caffe Bello, which took over the previous year from La Strada in that restaurant’s custom-built building at 322 Westheimer, at the corner of Taft St. Taking over this summer at the same spot, reads the report: “a steak house.” According to Eating Our Words, though, it should be a “high end Mexican” steakhouse, run by Don Julio’s investors. [b4-u-eat; Eating Our Words; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Don Julio’s

, , , ,
Crime
04/13/12 2:06pm

How Late Nite Pie Got Burned

by
Fires, Midtown, Restaurants
5 Comments

Surveillance video from a car lot across the street showed 2 men removing a long object — later identified as a bench — from Late Nite Pie not long before the Midtown pizza joint at 302 Tuam St. went up in flames in the early morning hours of February 8th. 10 minutes later in the video footage, after the bench removers had driven off and as smoke rose from the west side and southwest corner of the building, a man is seen exiting through the front door, hesitating, then driving off in a Chevy Astro van. Police have now charged that man, identified as Raymond Pecher, the restaurant’s former day shift manager, with arson.

Photo: Candace Garcia

, , , , ,
Development Regulations
04/09/12 11:24am

Moon Tower Inn’s Bicycle Parking Score

by
Parking, Quicklink, Restaurants, Second Ward
9 Comments

MOON TOWER INN’S BICYCLE PARKING SCORE Whenever it gets around to reopening as a brewery, Second Ward hotdog HQ Moon Tower Inn will still have only a single off-street parking spot — thanks to an accommodation agreed to by the planning commission. Owner Evan Shannon agreed to provide rack space for 40 bicycles instead of the 5 additional car spaces that would have otherwise been required at 3004 Canal St. Helpful in securing the exception from the city: a few bike-riding employees — and plenty of on-street parking in the food stand’s mostly industrial neighborhood. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Marty E.

, , , , , , ,
New Construction
03/26/12 12:44pm

Joining the Ella and 610 Fast Food Nexus

by
Restaurants, Shepherd Forest
26 Comments

That’s a Raising Cane’s joint going up at 3007 Ella Blvd. just north of 610, soon to become the closest location of the Louisiana-born chicken fingers chain to Houston’s Inner Loop sanctum. Formerly on that site: the Ella Square Apartments; the city forced the owner of the derelict apartments to tear them down 2 Decembers ago. Next door to the Raising Cane’s construction site is the just-opened Carl’s Jr. built on the north side of the same property. Not enough Oak Shepherd Forest drive-thru action for you? They’ll be joining the McDonald’s, Taco Bell, KFC, Burger King, and Popeye’s already on that short stretch of Ella south of Stonecrest.

Photo: DC from Houston, via Swamplot inbox

, , , ,
Economic Conditions
03/23/12 12:43pm

Bike Racks for Inner Loop Eateries

by
Hyde Park, Montrose, Quicklink, Restaurants, Transportation
24 Comments

BIKE RACKS FOR INNER LOOP EATERIES Buried in Anvil owner Bobby Heugel’s long complaint about Houston Press coverage of possible neighborhood opposition to an application for an on-street valet parking zone for the Hay Merchant and Underbelly in the former Chances Bar space on Westheimer at Waugh: News of a new initiative sponsored by OKRA, the restaurant advocacy group he helped found. “We’re going to start providing complimentary bike racks to small restaurants and bars inside the loop, at our cost, to encourage alternative transportation in Houston. This is for OTHER restaurants and bars, not our own, which already have bike parking.” [Eating Our Words] Photo of Underbelly, 1100 Westheimer: Vinson

, , , , , , , ,
« Previous Page Next Page »