Bush's Chicken at Tower Point

It certainly wasn't invisible from the highway but how did you get to it? (Google Maps Street View, c. 2018, with edits for brightness)
I've never covered Tower Point before, partly because it's a sprawling development (separated by a huge detention pond) rather than a cohesive shopping plaza, and mostly, hasn't seen many dramatic changes. Some spaces adjacent to H-E-B have gotten evicted for an expansion (might be worth covering that at some point) but the subject to cover is Bush's Chicken - Tower Point (4344 Highway 6 South). I've enjoyed Bush's Chicken in Waco-Temple-Killeen over the years (still do), but for whatever reason the local locations flopped.

Bush's Chicken operated from January 2016 to October 2017 (around the same time the Texas Avenue location closed).

After sitting vacant for nearly two years, the space was filled in with Conroe-based Pie in the Sky Pie Company, which tried its hand at a second location.¹ Unfortunately, PITSPC became another victim of COVID-19, closing permanently in October 2020.

After a more extensive renovation (mostly painting the building black and removing the drive-through), Le Petit Cochon² opened in November 2022. A French restaurant with decidedly fancier food (though still with a "casual restaurant" vibe), but just before its two-year anniversary (something neither Bush's Chicken nor PITSPC could manage) in August 2024, Le Petit Cochon rebranded itself as Napa Flats Bistro, a "French-inspired American Bistro".³ This French restaurant has some decidedly fancier food than either of the two spaces before it. As of August 2024, it's been open for close to two years, which is already something Pie in the Sky Pie Co. and Bush's Chicken couldn't manage.

When it was approaching its two-year point (something that neither Pie in the Sky or Bush's Chicken could manage), Le Petit Cochon rebranded as Napa Flats Bistro, calling itself a "French-inspired American Bistro".

Nearby: Spice World Market, The Sandstone Center, and Rock Prairie Crossing<sup>4

1. This was not PITSPC's first attempt at a second location. One had existed in Houston proper in the early 2010s.
2. Lit. "The Little Pig"
3. I don't remember the exact arrangement but it definitely was connected to Napa Flats' ownership in some way from day one.
4. Much like these footnotes introduced in the Texas Hall of Fame entry, this is a new feature I'm adding to new or significantly updated posts. It is all written manually.</sup>

Goodbye, Mr. Hamburger

Picture by author, 12/23 Mr. Hamburger is dead once more. The lone pad site at 3706 South Texas Avenue, once rumored to be developed as a Hooters, of the mid-to-late 2000s NorthPark Plaza strip center (I've attached an out of date PDF here, as seen on Carbon-izer), the restaurant at 3706 S. Texas Avenue opened as Bush's Chicken in August 2016 but closed by October 2017. The follow-up operation, Huntsville-based Mr. Hamburger, opened August 2018. Shortly after opening a pizza restaurant-within-a-restaurant ("Doh! Pizza Rolls"), Mr. Hamburger #2 closed on or around December 1, 2022 "temporarily" and was made permanent before the end of the month. Nearly a year later, Mr. Hamburger reopened in late September 2023 but closed in early December. (See Carbon-izer for the post this was based after).

Finally, I know it's been a fairly quiet year at Brazos Buildings & Businesses, and I know I still have a convenience store at Leonard to deal with soon per request...and the top five posts of the year in terms of views are all older posts.

Texan Restaurant was #1 followed by The Burger King Near Blinn, then Post Oak Mall Stores, 1982-1992 (really should get the 2002-2012 post up on of these days), Connecting Point Church / Former OfficeMax as #4 and at #5 Culpepper Plaza / Central Station (which needs an update). Speaking of updates, all sorts of other updates were done this year—one thing that happened is we now have a picture of the College Station H-E-B Pantry AS AN H-E-B PANTRY, and photos of any H-E-B Pantry as an H-E-B Pantry are hard to come by these days. There was the demise of the George Bush Drive and Marion Pugh McDonald's, the former JJ Mugg's/Rita's/Garcia's/Fuddruckers reopened as its sixth restaurant, iWon Korean BBQ & Hot Pot, and a number of other updates such as more accurate openings, banner changes (The feature of Fairfield Inn Bryan is no longer a Fairfield Inn), found images like the H E L L gas station and other stuff. Can't say that next year will be better but we can try.

UPDATE 03-26-2025: Two more things.
- A business that appeared to be a gas station (formerly?) was here from 1974 to 2005, C&L Tire Service Center, was in the spot and address that Bush's Chicken / Mr. Hamburger later replaced. Further digging shows that it was still a Texaco in 1976 (as the service center) and was first built in the late 1950s. I don't know how long C&L did gas.
- Hooters did indeed intend to locate here with tax filings and TABC filings alike, yet never broke ground anyway.