Wendy's "Tiger Town"

The Wendy's/Exxon signs are original, but are unfortunately getting faded. (Photo by author, 5/25)
With this post we'll cover all of the local Wendy's restaurants, the first one in Bryan (since closed), the College Station location (still open), the Holleman/Harvey Mitchell Pkwy. location (now closed), and finally the combo gas station one.

In 1998, a combination Exxon/Wendy's opened at the corner of Highway 6 and William Joel Bryan Parkway (initially as "2000 South Highway 6" but 891 North Earl Rudder Freeway within a year). This was the very first combination true gas station/fast food restaurant in the Bryan-College Station area (if you don't count stuff like that Subway inside the Texaco in south College Station, among other oddities).

Wendy's served nachos?! I guess they still had access to Superbar-type ingredients...but pitas too! (source)
It was always an Exxon, and initially the convenience store was "Tiger Town" but in 1999 was bought by Kolkhorst and ended up being Rattlers' Country Store #3 when the chain was rebranded as such around 2003. Basically it was the twin of the Holleman/Harvey Mitchell store (except with an Exxon). While the Wendy's roadside signage has yet to receive the 2013 logo (phew!) the convenience store hasn't been as lucky. It became Stripes in 2015 (officially) which got bought by 7-Eleven a few years later, but rather than convert the stores (it never even got Stripes' version of the ICEE) it ended up becoming a "zombie" Rattlers with no 7-Eleven association.

Saenz Tamales

Extant Saenz Tamales sign.
It's the Christmas season here at Brazos Buildings & Businesses, and while it hasn't been a big tradition from my family, it's tamale time. What better way to mark the occasion with a walk-up shop known for tamales? Located at 1410 William Joel Bryan Parkway, the building today is a broken-down abandoned building.

The aforementioned sign is just off to the right out of view.
The building appears to have been built in the 1950s as Dairy Treat (also known as "Pat's Dairy Treat" in the late 1950s and "Bill's Dairy Treat" in the early 1970s). It wasn't the only Dairy Treat, there was "Buccaneer Dairy Treat" at 1400 S. College Avenue, but by the early 1970s, this was the only "Dairy Treat" in town, also known as "Bill's Dairy Treat". It was "Hargett's Family Smokehouse" in the early 1980s, and it's not known if anything else occupied the spot.

Saenz Tamales moved here in 1984 from 1418 Sandy Point Road (practically behind the later restaurant and also still has signage there), which still has a commercial building with a sign for Saenz Tamales along with a sign for Nesbitt's Orange soda and closed sometime in the early 2000s (when exactly, not sure). I remember a long time ago I went with my dad to get tamales here (back in the late 1990s), and they even had bumper stickers, a yellow one with red text reading "I ♥ Saenz Tamales", which was stuck on an outdoor trash can for years before sunlight and wear eventually ruined it. In its last days, this appears to have gone under the name of "Saenz Tamales & Bar-B-Q".

While the Saenz family still owns the land and building, it has been abandoned since its closure and is considered to be a "Dangerous Building" by the City of Bryan.

That whiteboard might not have been touched in well over a decade. Also note the "Wehrman's" sign, that's for another day.

"Unsafe Building" notices.

Located to the right side of the building, this appears to have been the interior dining room area.

Outside seating area. You can sort of see the original Saenz building from here.

Editor's Note: Check out "Defunct Madden Concepts", an older post recently refurbished as a full post. Just in case you missed it. Also the pictures in this post are by me, taken November 2021.

UPDATE 12-28-2021: Well, it turns out that I couldn't see the old Saenz Tamales building, because the building was actually demolished several years ago! Street View was very out of date.
UPDATE 01-13-2023: Sometime in 2022, the 1984 location of Saenz Tamales was also demolished. Nothing remains of it except the driveway outlets.

Former Square One Bistro

Picture taken by author, 2013.
This historic building was built circa 1924 as the McCulloch-Dansby Funeral Home and by 1940 was known as the Hillier Funeral Home after the director. (The first floor was the home of the business, with second floor used as a small apartment for the family and presumably extra storage)¹ having just added air conditioning a year prior.

In 1945 it moved out and the McCulloch-Dansby name was revived as it reopened a few years later as the McCulloch-Dansby Appliance Store which by 1949 was going as McCulloch-Dansby Complete Home Furnishers Company (specializing in small appliances).² Around 1957 McCulloch-Dansby Complete Home Furnishers Company moved out and The Scribe Shop, a shop specializing in writing supplies and printing, moved in by May 1957.

In 1965 the business was renamed "Wallace Printing Company and the Scribe Shop", reviving the former name which was previously used as a different business by the same owners prior to the company. The Scribe Shop name was dropped by the late 1960s, but the owner, Madge Wallace, kept the store. She later sold the business (but kept the building) until it closed in spring 1985. From then on appears to have been vacant until January 1996 when Square One Bistro (serving primarily Italian cuisine) opened (by now the address was 211 W. William Joel Bryan Parkway, the road was renamed in the late 1980s or early 1990s). In early 2009 by local restaurateur Charles Stover purchased the restaurant as was what he wanted, a small fine dining establishment.

However, as it turned out, the Square One Bistro building in horrible shape: wiring was antiquated (the building was built in the early 20th century, expansions to the building were powered with extension cords) and the plumbing was in poor shape (pipes went up before going down--which has all sorts of potential problems, including grease build-up and sewage backups), and Stover had to spend an astronomical amount to fix those problems.

Unfortunately, this renovation marked the beginning of the end. While Stover Boys and Square One were both profitable (Square One's wine list grew from 10 to 110, and offered class and variety like no other area restaurant did), the problems stemming from Square One's renovation caused the owner to go into debt and it just got worse. Instead of turning profits and fueling what could be a prosperous chain bound for great places, the profits were funneled into debt payoffs. According to an old The Eagle newspaper, in October, Square One closed down and converted to the lower-end but more profitable Stover Boys brand, but it was far too late. Stover Boys was crushed under debt by late 2010, and the Westgate and Downtown Bryan location shuttered.³

After the shuttering of Square One Bistro, the building was reopened in Summer 2011 as Square 1 Art Studio with lofts above. It appears that the art studio closed around 2020, but it reopened as The Tipsy Trinket (a wine bar) a few years later, though that also closed in December 2023...and today is the Bryan location of Elevated CBD Smoke Shop.

1. This was according to a comment I got in the old version of this page and corroborated with newspaper archives.
2. The name appears to be a coincidence, as the store had existed since 1919.
3. From personal interviews.

UPDATE 05-15-2025: Massive post overhaul done (slight update to the name, used to be just called "Square One")