The Shipley's That Sold Hamburgers

The little "Entrance" sign doesn't light up anymore. When did it ever? When was it installed? (Picture by author, 1/2026)
Picking up immediately after The Now-Defunct Dairy Queen on Highway 21 is another Bryan restaurant that deserves to be covered, 3310 South College Avenue. The first reference I can find for 3310 South College Avenue (subject of today's post) is in 1970 with Shipley Do-Nut Shop, a significant departure from the modern Shipley's in that it had a more complete menu including hamburgers ("Flame Burgers") and milkshakes. This did not seem to be a corporate decision out of Shipley's Houston headquarters (none of the Houston locations seemed to do this, even in that time) and more of a liberty taken by the franchisee¹; continuing to do this even as of 1981. In 1982 Shipley moved out to its current location at Villa Maria and Cavitt and dropped the hamburgers from the menu, with the College Station location opening in 1984.

After sitting vacant for nearly a decade it reopened as Archie's South College Grille. Teaming up with E.C. Archambault of Archie's Hamburgers and Archie's Taco Bell, the restaurants operated as essentially a dual-branded operation...with two restaurants and dining rooms. For whatever reason it did not work out in that form. In fall 1992 this was retooled as The Country Diner (without Archambault) but that too closed within a few years. In August 1994 Wok Express, a Chinese buffet, opened (closed in late 1995). Golden Dragon replaced it in early 1996 but didn't make it more than three months. Bruegger's Spuds opened in 1998 but also failed within a matter of months. Burger House, however, opened in fall 2000 and became far more successful, lasting 25 years and counting, more than any other establishment in the spot combined.

1. As I understand it, this wasn't uncommon for product-based franchisees back in the day. Kentucky Fried Chicken was notably a menu item originally, not a full restaurant, with a lot of variations and options for Orange Julius, too.

Shipley Do-Nuts, Southwest Parkway

Do-Nut You Forget About Me. (Picture from author, 4/20)


If I had to describe "which road best represents my childhood", it would have to be Southwest Parkway. There was the Citgo there at the corner of Southwest Parkway and Wellborn, before Southwest Crossing was built, a common fuel and convenience stop (more will be discussed when the gas station is added), the Texaco station at Welsh Avenue, those weird townhome-style apartments catty-corner to that (Embassy Townhomes), South Knoll Elementary School (where I went to school, and was once covered on this site, though mostly I described its dark, pre-renovation corridors), and small streets where family friends lived.

Further down the road was Parkway Baptist Church and Bee Creek Park, where seasonally Adamson's Lagoon (which I also used to have a post on) would be a great spot to take the family. It's not nearly as good now, I haven't been to it for years (my siblings grew up and left home), but it did decline objectively, with the floating snake and frog eventually being chained to the pool floor (if they're even still there—and I do remember the incident as to WHY they're chained), the crowds increasing (with the price), and the removal of the diving board.

Parkway Baptist Church was where my Boy Scout troop was located (I never became an Eagle Scout) and, it's hard to notice from the street, but a few houses down you can see that there's a duplex with one side of the house having slightly different brick than the other. The reason for this is because around 2000 there was no fence from Southwest Parkway and it was used as a front yard (there's a small alley off Welsh). However, one night a drunk driver careened off of the road and crashed through the side of the house, killing a young girl in her sleep. I don't have the news story with me but that's how I remember it happening. As I passed the area pretty frequently I could see where the front of the house was boarded up, and although it happened gradually over the next 12 years, eventually all the houses between the church and Welsh had fences built along Southwest Parkway.

Finally, there was Parkway Square, featuring Kroger (of course), but also Baskin-Robbins, a video rental store, and a McDonald's that was often visited. I know I've covered Arby's and what I mostly remembered as a vacant building but there was one place I haven't covered yet, haven't even mentioned it as of this writing except for a throwaway line on the Post Oak Square article. That would be Shipley Do-Nuts, located at 1716 Southwest Parkway, originally built in 1984.

The "do-nut" shop is best known before its most recent facade update around 2017-2018, with its appearance which removed the message board as well as changed the main signage piece. The new remodel also removed the tiny marquee lightbulbs around the signage, which used to light up and dance around the sign. I don't know the specific reason they stopped, whether it being too expensive to maintain, machinery got broken down, or ordinances preventing it. (Probably both).

UPDATE 11-03-2025: Removed other update as it opened in 1984 after all (and Carbon-izer.com's pages are being phased out). It was 2008 when a car crashed into the wall of Shipley Do-Nuts, it was relatively minor but you can still see the replaced brick if you knew where to look.