Former Roy Rogers

Roy Rogers has been gone for a LONG time. (Picture by author, 5/25)
My friend Mike over at Houston Historic Retail has cataloged a bunch of restaurants that tried to make their stand in the Houston area that no longer exist (or at least in the Houston area). Most of these, of course, never made it to the College Station area (or in the case of Wienerschnitzel, never left)—Herfy's Hamburgers, Piccadilly Cafeteria, and Steak N Shake were no-shows in the area. Of course, in Bryan/College Station a number of restaurants have come and gone as well. As B-CS is a small market, most of these had a single location if they came and went. Texadelphia of course counts (their total store count ebbs and flows) and so would Luther's Bar-B-Q (it exited College Station soon after the chain was sold in the mid-1980s—if Luther's stuck around to 2005, we would have had Pappas Bar-B-Q in that space). Beyond that, there's not a lot of good examples, though, as the area isn't big enough to have its own cluster of restaurants try their hand at the area and the chains that have closed (On the Border, Luby's, Red Lobster, Hooters, etc.) have done so as part of larger chain retractions. An early case of this was Roy Rogers, a restaurant chain named after the eponymous Western film star (and today only left with a few dozen locations). It was built when parent owner Marriott was expanding the chain, with the Texas stores owned by franchisee Ram-Hart Systems. The Bryan location at 2706 S. Texas Avenue was one of the stores Ram-Hart Systems opened (opening in 1969)¹ but just a year later, Marriott slammed on the brakes of the chain's expansion due to many locations underperforming (stores like this one, no doubt). In particular, Ram-Hart Systems went bankrupt in 1971 and this was one of the stores it went down with.²

Marriott would eventually sell Roy Rogers (part of divesting their restaurant operations) and today the closest Roy Rogers restaurant to here is in the Washington DC area. There's only one picture of what was once Roy Rogers in Bryan. The picture's a little dark but this is how most Roy Rogers stores of the time looked, and a better picture can be seen here on Reddit (even though that Roy Rogers is in New Jersey, not Bryan). By January 1972, however, less than three years after Roy Rogers opened, a drug store called Discount Apothecary was operating in the space. Within a few years, it had renamed to Ellison Apothecary, eventually becoming Ellison Pharmacy before moving out to East 29th Street around 1998. In 1999, the site was redeveloped as Guaranty Federal Bank (later just Guaranty Bank). With the failure of Guaranty Bank in 2009 (in which it was merged with BBVA Compass), the bank was closed instead of rebranding and reopened as Extraco Bank in April 2011, which it continues to be today.

By the way, the definitive list of "Texas Avenue Restaurants" if you want to explore them all (should be around 60+) can be found here.

1. The Denny's next door opened the same year and fared significantly better. It operates as the Kettle today.
2. The Houston stores got new franchisees, but these eventually closed in the 1980s.

Western National Bank of Bryan

When the bank at Villa Maria and Forestwood opened in 1982, there was not only a full page ad here but a full section of advertisement articles and other stuff. From The Eagle, I just cleaned it up a bit. Western National Bank (not to be confused with others sharing the name—there was another one in Abbeville, Louisiana) was established in 1981 as a bank based out of Bryan, funded by local investors with the office and only branch to be at Forestwood Drive and West Villa Maria Road in Bryan (1001 W. Villa Maria Road), and opening in November 1982. However, by 1987, with banks failing across the state (in part due to the oil crash, in part the S&L crisis), Western, now in deep financial trouble, proposed merging with United Citizens Bank, a local bank operation that was formed after local bank UnitedBank bought the insolvent Citizens Bank of Bryan.

The combined bank would be headquartered at the Western National Bank site, with the site anticipated to be a more happening part of town with the construction of what would be State Highway 47. In October 1987, however, Western National Bank was declared insolvent by the FDIC but quickly reopened a day later as "Villa Maria Bank", a branch of First State Bank of Caldwell (which paid the FDIC $5000 to acquire the accounts) and in November 1987 Villa Maria Bank officially opened after its soft reopening a few weeks prior, just five years after Western National Bank opened. By 1990, First State Bank also had a branch off Harvey Road under its own name (at 701 Harvey Road) and Villa Maria Bank soon changed names to be more like its parent company. While the bank always had a metal roof from day one, at some point during First State Bank's ownership (by 1995), the bank received a small addition to the right side of the building (on the western part).

In 1996, First State Bank was acquired by First American Bank, which used to be called UnitedBank (guess that merger came through after all). Like other First American Bank branches (which we have previously covered) it was converted to Citibank in 2005 after another merger, sold to BB&T in 2014, and converted to Truist after BB&T after they merged in 2022. Except, they didn't, as BB&T closed this branch sometime around 2018. Prior to or during renovations into office space, in late May 2019, a fire burned through the building, creating visible damage on the outside and causing a partial roof collapse. As a result, the building was simply torn down (along with its parking lots) and not replaced.

A "gas station/deli" has been promised per the sign out front but nothing yet, and who knows what that entails (the lot's big enough for a decent gas station, maybe TXB or perhaps we may be lucky and get a QuikTrip...or just a decent fast food co-brand). In any case, one of the things that stuck out to me was how UnitedBank believed that the western part of Bryan would be a bigger thing than it was. Even though State Highway 47 was complete by the late 1990s it still took a long time for that to get anywhere off the ground. Even in much of the 2000s that was still largely open territory and mostly industrial, even when Traditions was starting to build up. (Then again, a lot of the Traditions stuff never really panned out either).

Clayton's Restaurant / Captain's Table

Captain's Table, the second restaurant here, was only open on weekends in October 1974. Bad sign? (Ad from The Eagle)
Clayton's Restaurant opened around 1957 at 2900 South Texas Avenue, and from copies seem to be a family restaurant not particularly specializing in anything based on this 1960s ad copy.

Clayton's had a big menu, but I doubt that most of it was all that good.
In the early 1970s, Clayton's closed and Captain's Table opened in April 1973 in its place, which was a more upscale restaurant with steak and seafood options (among others), including a full bar on the premises. Captain's Table featured a hexagon-shaped road sign that would survive for many years.

In mid-1977 Captain's Table abruptly closed, from still scheduling events in its banquet rooms in April 1977 to a "complete liquidation" of the property by June of 1977. In November 1977, it reopened as First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Bryan, setting a precedent for banks in the building from then to the modern day. First Federal Savings & Loan Association survived the S&L crisis and by 1995 was called First Federal Savings Bank. In 2002 it was acquired by State Bank of La Grange and rebranded by 2003, which in turn was acquired and rebranded as Prosperity Bank in 2006 with other branches in the area.

If I recall, when I first started driving in the area around late 2010 (going to Blinn, of course), Prosperity Bank had recently closed its location here in favor of a nearby location, and The First Bank & Trust began renovations on it, altering and modernizing the facade (mostly adding a new overhang) and getting rid of the distinctive hexagon-shaped sign in favor of a traditional rectangle one. Like the previous bank and its successor companies, The Bank & Trust was acquired by another bank, this time First Financial Bank, causing it to be rebranded to the First Financial Bank name.

UPDATE 03-30-2025: Filled in history of how First Federal Savings & Loan Association became Prosperity.
UPDATE 06-08-2025: It would appear that Prosperity Bank might've closed it after taken over the nearby location at 2807 S. Texas Avenue it inherited in 2008 from First National Bank.

Aggieland Credit Union, Southwest Parkway East

There used to be a sign outside used to feature an electronic display featuring the time and temperature, but today no longer has the electronic component.

Not too much to say about Aggieland Credit Union here at 201 Southwest Pkwy. East beyond opening in 1997. They used to (maybe they still do, but I haven't been inside for a while now for obvious reasons) have pictures of almost every Aggie Bonfire going back years, though there was never a Bonfire after 1998 due to the 1999 collapse. Pictures in this post by author, 6/20.

Editor's Note: I'm going to try to take a brief break after this to get my thoughts back in order, mostly because I don't want to keep posting filler. While I do have some new posts planned, I'm going to focus on closed-down or otherwise defunct businesses, with more love and attention given to Bryan.

Aggieland Credit Union, 501 University Drive (Sulphur Springs Road)

One of my pictures from 2013.
From various sources, this building (501 University, formerly 501 Sulphur Springs Road) was opened in 1950 as a bank, the College Station State Bank, which moved down (what is now) University Drive in 1962 to a new location. This new location eventually was torn down for a skyscraper with the bank (by this point, BB&T) eventually moving in on the ground level. The original location of the bank survived, however, and is still a bank of sorts today.

After College Station State Bank moved out, the Presbyterian Student Center opened in the spot. By 1972, it was serving as The Answer (The Answer is Jesus Christ Inc.), a Christian counseling center. In the early 1980s, The Answer folded and Pizza Hut moved in. Apparently, PepsiCo (or the local Pizza Hut franchise) believed that the Pizza Hut just on the other side of Texas Avenue was doing well enough that a second location closer to Northgate would be a good business decision, and, from the early 1980s to early 1990s, a Pizza Hut occupied the space.

One of the few 501 University-as-Pizza Hut photos that exist (Project HOLD)

In 1994, the building reopened as Aggieland Credit Union, and has been so ever since.

Editor's Note: I'm currently experimenting with a new title format, let me know what you think!

Goodbye to 711 University, So Long to the BB&T...

Since I didn't get a picture of the bank before it became a big hole in the ground, we'll have to do with this, a picture from Google.

Today this is yet another student housing residential tower, known as Aspire College Station with 16 stories (including parking levels) and 800 beds but when I originally added this article in 2016 (here's the old page before I reworked it) it was the recently-demolished BB&T bank (hence the pun title). The chronology of the main bank building goes as such:

1962: College Station State Bank relocates to this building from a previous location.
1963: The name is changed to University National Bank.
1990: After a long run as University National Bank, it is acquired by Don Adam to become First American Bank (officially acquired that year)
2005: Citigroup acquires the bank chain, rebranded to Citibank
2014: BB&T purchases 41 Citibank branches including this one and rebrands them.
2016: BB&T relocates to The Rise at Northgate; building torn down, thus beginning and ending its life with relocation.

There was a second adjacent space (707 University Drive) which was a two-story office building with a small footprint. My records show this was used for non-bank space as early as 1974 (with the Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co.) and my 1989 phone book mentions "The Personal Computer Store" (with the ad mentioning it was "since 1984"). This became MicroAge by 1993, and starting in 1999 moved out to their current home (now known as Avinext) on East University Drive. I don't think anything has occupied the space since.

Because of the relative underuse of the space, 711 University was also where food trucks congregated (or near the now-defunct Notes-N-Quotes next door). Since I graduated back in 2014, I can't list all the more recent food trucks and trailers there, though here are a few I remember:

Wafology - Seen spring 2014, this was a waffle food truck which had chicken and waffles and a few others. The waffles weren't great, they were more of the standard "using pancake batter in a waffle iron" that I've seen everywhere except for home cooking. I think it returned for fall 2014. It is now known as MESS Waffles, but it doesn't even involve a food truck anymore, they opened a permanent location at Century Square.

Vittles - This was seen summer 2014. It was a trailer operated by Gumby's serving sno-cones, pizza rolls, and chicken legs (the latter two obviously prepared off-site).

Chef Tai's Mobile Bistro - Moved inside campus due to a contract.

Southern Comfort Road Trip - The old Village Foods food truck which in fall 2013, was the new home of Hebert's Cajun Food dishes. Their already-borderline prices had gone up, but it still felt like it was putting the universe one step closer to being back in balance. Sadly it didn't last.

Mr. Chinese Burger - I wanted to like it, but the burgers I had tended to be cold..and they were shut down by the health department at least once.They sold pulled pork on chewy steamed buns.

When the tower was built a few years later, BB&T moved back in and by 2019 it had Fajita Pete's, Which Wich, and All Phone Toys, the last one occupying a small suite facing Church Avenue. Unfortunately, both Fajita Pete's and Which Wich have closed, with Fajita Pete's closing in 2021 and Which Wich closing in late 2023. (Also during this time, BB&T rebranded to Truist, following a merger with SunTrust out of Atlanta). On April 20, 2024, Waco viral hit Roni's Mac Bar opened in Suite 200 (the former Which Wich...and Roni's reused much of their fixtures). It is the first branch location and the first not to be connected to a food hall, which the original is.

UPDATE 04-21-24: Full rewrite was done.
UPDATE 04-24-2024: Should've also mentioned Korean chicken chain bb.q Chicken opened in fall 2023 to replace Fajita Pete's.

The Rise at Northgate

Not there yet...this view may be impossible in a few years when the apartments replacing BB&T get built.
I can still remember sitting on the "porch" of the A+ Tutoring and Fat Burger building (profiled here in this post, which is undergoing changes, but that's okay), looking out at the abandoned building that once held a BBVA Compass Bank (formerly Guaranty Bank until they were bought out) and United Realty. United Realty is now on Graham, and BBVA Compass moved out as well. I don't know when or where they took off too, but I'm pretty sure that BBVA Compass disappeared in 2010 or so.

They were to be torn down for a huge building known as 717 University. This was spring 2012. At first, I couldn't really comprehend a building being there. After all, the Plaza was coming down, and the Plaza occupied a much bigger footprint. I wondered if they would close off Church Avenue for additional space. Turns out they didn't. When they filed something in regards to the airport ordinance, I knew it could be good.

Initially, there was talk of a gourmet grocer (Whole Foods was the rumored choice, and supposedly they even signed a letter of intent), but that eventually fell through as the building was renamed The Rise at Northgate and ultimately CVS/pharmacy would take the place of the lower level tenant, which was just as well.


Early concept. It looks substantially different in real life. (snagged from local news site)
Over the fall semester, I watched from the Evans Library them build the large structure, adding a new floor every week or so before it was visible on the skyline.

Anyway, the bank was home Community Savings & Loan Association which surprisingly lasted from the 1970s until 1989. Later, it became Guaranty Bank and United Realty (sharing the bank), the former becoming BBVA Compass and moving out. By 2011, it was boarded up and vacant.

I know I had once parked my bike in the lot in the overgrown grass there, but didn't get any good ground pictures at the time.

Not too long before, this is what was there.
I don't live in the Rise, but a friend and I checked out the CVS and explored around. It's smaller than a real CVS...there's a selection of food that's generally better than a convenience store, and of course a full HBA (Health & Beauty Aids) department, something convenience stores don't have. The best thing, at least to Rise residents, is a little hallway in the back that links the elevator to the complex (and the parking garage) with the CVS, so in theory, you could make a midnight run for snacks...or at least, it would be midnight, if they didn't close at 12 (that might change in the future).

It's a bit of a bummer that they don't carry any fresh fruits or vegetables, as that would round out the neighborhood nicely. After all, just literally outside used to be the old Albertsons which did have not only a pharmacy since the early 1970s but all manners of produce as well. 24 hours, too. A sad day when it finally closed, as for the next 31 semesters, Northgate lacked a pharmacy (that's spring 1998 to spring 2013, for those keeping count).

A few more pictures that I took...

Due to the orientation of perhaps the parking garage ramps above, the CVS isn't flush with ground level, requiring going up a several steps or using a (rather narrow looking) ramp. Still, the potential is great: a huge (at least by College Station standards) apartment building, and streetside retail in a pedestrian area (something the Lofts lacked).

Around spring 2014, they replaced their bike racks with bike racks designed for the MaroonBikes rental bikes, requiring people to hook their bikes to trees or other things (way to screw over your main audience) but you could still hook it on a bench or a tree. As of 2016, they've posted signs not to park bikes in the vicinity but rather put them in bike racks in the upper levels of the parking garage, which made the CVS and its other tenants definitely less accessible.

The first tenant here was CVS/pharmacy (Ste. 101), the largest store, which opened September 29, 2013. It faces University and while it is a smaller CVS than most of its more suburban counterparts, it is merchandised to the neighborhood by having a mix of at least 50% food, though only has a very abbreviated mix consisting of a few dry foods, frozen foods, and a few other items, all priced higher than grocery stores. The best thing, at least to Rise residents, is a little hallway in the back that links the elevator to the complex (and the parking garage) with the CVS, so in theory, you could make a midnight run for snacks...or at least, it would be midnight, if they didn't close at midnight.

The second tenant is "YAKU Japanese Eatery" (Ste. 171), which replaced Great Wraps. Great Wraps opened in spring 2014 but didn't match up with its Houston counterparts. My quest for a good chicken caesar wrap on or near campus was foiled when the wrap was stuffed with croutons, and that was enough to put me off forever. By the end of 2014 it was gone, with YAKU taking its place next year. By the time YAKU opened, I was out of college, and while I was dubious of the sign offering chicken fingers and ramen (having put off by Happy Yogurt and their store-bought garbage), it has lasted until sometime around late 2017 when it was quickly replaced with Shun De Mom, another Asian restaurant.

The third tenant, located at the end, is the BB&T (Ste. 181), which opened August 2016. It has an ATM outside of it. The BB&T moved here after their old location was demolished. By late 2018, however, they moved back to their original address, this time occupying a ground level location.

July 27 2014 - Updated.
October 09 2016 - Updated a second time.
May 16 2019 - Updated a third time to account for new tenants and gone ones.

Steak & Ale / Oxford Street / Yum Yums Texas Style / Seafood Mama's

From Stalworth Online, during its days between Oxford Street and Yum Yums

The late Steak & Ale chain opened at 1710 Briarcrest Drive at some point in the early to mid-1980s before being sold to new ownership in 1987 and renamed as Oxford Street in October 1988 (as Eagle has reposted recently). The restaurant closed in September 2008, and it's unfortunate that I don't have more information on Oxford Street than I currently do, but it was a moderately-priced steakhouse (not to Republic or Christopher's levels) featuring "candlelight dining featuring steaks and seafood in an Old World setting" according to the 2004 Dining Guide.

Oxford didn't stay shut for long, as it was soon replaced with a restaurant called "Yum Yums Texas Style". Already there's problems with that: if it looked like a four-year-old named it, you'd be right. There used to be an article on The Eagle, dated March 2009 titled "Yum Yums owner gets back to roots with eatery", which a lot of the following is derived from (the link is now dead). The restaurant opened with the goal of "upper-end", homemade-style food, but it wasn't to last. The name had problems and unfortunate connotations which were called out in comments, with few defenders. It closed in less than a year. By all accounts from the brief time Yum Yums was on this earth, there were very few things to say. There's a scathing review on Yelp that blasted the food (the employees were nice, but that couldn't save it). One review from YellowPages.com (a "kelsey27") blasted it with "this place is totally DISGUSTING... FOOD SUCKS, STAFF SUCKS" and also the contractor was never paid for work done to renovate the restaurant (this is supported independently by third parties). Interestingly, on the original The Eagle article, there was a comment, and this is unaltered:

I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW RUDE YOU PEOPLE ARE BEING TO A FAMILY THAT IS BRINGING REVENUE AND OPPURTUNITIES TO OUR TOWN! GET OVER YOURSELVES AND GO EAT SOME GOOD FOOD. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HOW WELL THIS RESTAURANT DOES~

I'm guessing this person was the owner, or at least a close family friend.

Seafood Mama's opened in December 2011, painting the whole building a dark blue color and offering seafood and other items. Never went to Seafood Mama's, as it had very mixed reviews (Yelp's "Greg D." gave it five stars, which may or may not have been faked) but that couldn't be helped, as in late June of 2012, the restaurant was gutted by a fire ([archive]) and it did not reopen. By fall, it was razed. The Seafood Mama's sign still has been up ever since, and as of this writing (July 2020) a Frost Bank is rumored to be built in the spot.

UPDATE 12-13-2021: While the text reflects the last update in July 2020, as of December 2021 the pad has been totally rebuilt with a Frost Bank (opened in July 2021), but construction demolished the sign instead of reusing it. Additionally, it should be noted that Steak and Ale opened in November 1984, meaning its life as a "real" Steak and Ale was extremely short-lived. At least sister store Bennigan's in College Station lived a longer life before it closed in 2008 which did in the remaining Steak and Ale restaurants.

UPDATE 01-25-2025: OAK Dental occupies suite 111 now of the bank (there were two other vacant spaces next to the bank). This was originally supposed to be a new location of Burger Mojo but it fell through.

First American Bank at FM 2818 and Texas Avenue

Sorry I don't have a real picture for this one. (Source: The Eagle microfilm).
Part of the Don Adam bank group, First American Bank opened at the northeast corner of FM 2818 (yes, that was the official name at the time) and Texas Avenue (2717 Texas Avenue South) on January 31, 1994, and was converted to Citibank in 2005. In June 2014, the bank was rebranded (again) to BB&T following a sale of some Citibank properties affecting the local stores. In early 2022, it was rebranded once more to Truist following BB&T's merger with SunTrust Bank. Other than the four signs it has worn over the years, it still looks identical as it did to its opening 30 years ago (on the outside, at least).

UPDATE 04-26-2024: Post revived and accounted for Truist.