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.

West Villa Maria Shell

The station following "renovations" in 2013. Picture by author.

I snapped a few pictures of this gas station recently (as of 2013). First off, it's old, from 1982, with one of the earliest references with the food mart (at 1439 West Villa Maria Road) being Nash's Food Store in 1984, and by 1989 it was a Zip'N, which it remained until around 2006-2007 when it just became "Villa Express" (which is there in the pre-renovation picture, albeit quite faded). There was a minor upgrade in 2003-2005 as well, where it kept the Shell station designation but upgraded logos to keep the brand.

Also originally, it did not have access to 2818 at all, the west "exit" to the gas station just went onto a power line right of way, which was unpaved and just dumped you on back on Villa Maria. The snow cone/smoothie shack was there as long as I can remember, and the gas station has two other spaces, including 1437 and 1435. From archives, 1437 was Beetle's BBQ (though occupied 1435 as well), and I've hear people tell me that there was a "music/drum shop" at one time as well. In the picture below, you can see Xtreme Hitz, which is at 1435 and according to Facebook, opened March 2012 (but I never saw them going to summer classes at Blinn that summer), so maybe they opened in October. They appear to carry hip-hop related clothing and clubwear. In any case, I don't remember anything in my travels about a clothing store co-habitating with a gas station (mostly banks, restaurants, and aforementioned dry cleaners).

Early 2013 car shot. Because it was taken out the car window, it reflected my shirt. Oops.

For years, the Shell has had for years a billboard near the Exxon at La Brisa announcing the prices. Over the years, I've sadly watched the prices climb (and the sign fade, get repainted, and fade again until vanishing for good).

After a few years running under the "new" facade, the gas station closed up shop for good by 2018. However, the Shell signage still towering over the station. In 2019, it slowly started changing over to a Citgo station and reopened.

UPDATE 03-31-2021: Minor updates. I should mention the new convenience store is "Pit Stop".

Classic Homes

Taken by author in 2013.
It's unknown when this was built (no records on BCAD) but as far back as 1980 this business as photographed in 2013 was in business as Classic Realty (later Classic Homes) at 1700 Barak Lane, so I'm assuming 1970s for build date (Loopnet says 1970, though it's often inaccurate). Recent research shows Classic Homes has permanently closed.

UPDATE 05-20-2021: After the last update in August 2019 which showed Classic Homes as being permanently closed, this business is now serving as the home of D&S Community Services. The current Google Maps Street View as of 2018 has the Classic "signage box" but the D&S logo on the side (also, "REAL ESTATE" has been removed).
UPDATE 03-11-2025: D&S has since closed (hence [defunct] added). 1970 has been confirmed with the first tenant being Vance & Thurmond General Contractors, but Classic Homes by 1973.

The Lost Buildings of Villa Maria Road and Texas Avenue

The Walgreens replaced a corner of several businesses before. (Picture from 3/30/20)

Most of the things that were torn down in my youth were usually buildings that were not particularly large or old buildings from decades before. Rarely was something that came and went in my youth, particularly a building that was less than a decade old being torn down. It did happen, however.

For a brief time between 1999 and 2005, there was a Texaco station ("Aggieland Texaco"), which became a Shell station a few years later, following an agreement with the merger of Chevron and Texaco which would see the Texaco brand almost vanish from Texas itself. This happened with a number of stations around town. 2907 Texas Avenue was the address based on pre-2005 "restaurant report cards" and 2909 based on tax documents. There were also some other stores in the strip, but I wasn't able to find out what they were, nor do I know what the Texaco station replaced.

From The Eagle, though I remember that they had another aerial with the buildings still intact.

One of the things I do know was that many of the newer Shell stations (including this one) had started offering Krispy Kreme doughnuts, which were shipped in from the Houston locations at the time. Of course, Krispy Kreme donuts aren't all that after they turn cold, and the novelty probably lasted for a year at most before they were removed (the Houston stores closed soon after). It also had brown brick on the outside.

The buildings as they appeared in 2004

I was relieved that when they took out the block, the Golden Chick (blue roof in the picture above, and outside the red outline above) was not torn down, but by that time it was already closed.

Articles at the time mention a furniture store also biting the dust, but (and I assume it's the house-like building, possibly converted, on the Dellwood side) I wasn't able to find any information on it.

Soundwaves (2919 Texas Avenue) was the blue-roofed building: based on what I could find, it moved to Post Oak Mall after demolition before disappearing for good, but it was not part of Soundwaves of Houston, even before it was torn down (Soundwaves existed at that spot as far back as 1980). Other residual information says that Soundwaves did home theater installation, but in 1980, it did car audio installation. I read somewhere that the building was a head shop back in the '70s, but that's for another time (when Carnegie reopens, perhaps).

The building toward the back was China Garden (2901 South Texas Avenue), which had two levels, though the Chinese buffet had closed prior to being demolished. According to MyBCS, the rumor was the woman who owned it committed suicide, but I don't put a lot of stock in that (being a rumor and all). It was previously a Mr. Gatti's location before it closed at an unknown date.

This other new building has a Dellwood address. (Picture from 3/30/20)

What replaced it was a Walgreens and a smaller building that was mostly vacant for years following, with a UPS store coming in first, then Little Caesars about five years later (opened in fall 2010), then a Boost Mobile a few years after that. Even though I did miss the Shell/Texaco station out of nostalgia (and it would be nice to have a modern gas station on that side of the road), the stores that replaced it had more usefulness. The building(s) that the Texaco replaced I also don't have information on. Remember, if you know something I don't, feel free to contact this site at admin@carbon-izer.com.

UPDATE 03-26-2021: New address and more accurate dates found! Also Golden Chick had closed by that time. (The post had previously received a new title and update 4/1/20)
UPDATE 04-20-2025: From 1947 to 1956, the address of 2919 Texas Avenue was for McCormick Sign Company (manufactured neon signs) before being destroyed by arson/vandalism, then replaced by a restaurant called "Dairy Kream" starting in the late 1950s, before becoming a real Dairy Queen franchisee by 1971. The Dairy Queen moved catty-corner in the 1970s where it still exists today, and became El Caribe in 1977, which despite being described as a Caribbean restaurant, was a Venezuelan restaurant, serving more authentic food (arroz con pollo, yucca, plantains, etc.), a far cry from the "Mexican" (Tex-Mex) food that was commonly available in the area. Within a matter of months, the owners closed the restaurant and converted the restaurant to retail, Fantasy World, featuring an eclectic assortment of imported foods, head shop items (mentioned in original post), clothing, incense, and music. Soundwaves opened around 1979.

Additionally, it seems some of the Dellwood businesses are wrong. The UPS Store opened in 2006 (same as the Longmire store), Little Caesars opened in 2011, and Boost Mobile opened sometime around 2017-2018. ([Dairy Queen] added as a post tag).
UPDATE 04-23-2025: I almost forgot—Mr. Gatti's opened in December 1977, sometime around 1986 it became The Pizza Pub, and after closing, in 1987 it reopened as Pizza Inn (the College Station location had closed by that time). This only lasted a few years. China Garden opened in 1991. ([Mr. Gatti's] added).

Former Cooks and Kroger Family Center

Did I mention I have an ad for ammunition sold here?
Most of the modern Kroger "Marketplace" stores in Houston and Dallas (as well as beyond, and including other Kroger brands including King Soopers, Fry's, and Smith's) all come from Fred Meyer, a company based out of the Pacific Northwest Kroger bought in 1998, featuring a full line of merchandise, including clothing, hard goods, jewelry, and of course, food.

Years before Kroger even involved itself with Fred Meyer, Kroger began an experiment to make a true "supercenter" with a full line of products including apparel and sporting goods. Most of the early of the early stores were closed or converted by the early 1970s to traditional Kroger stores but the Houston-area stores were an exception, with Kroger Family Centers going all the way down to the border.

Before we get into the history of this Kroger, the store at 2104 South Texas Avenue opened in 1969 as Cooks Discount Department Store, owned by Cleveland-based Cook United. Due to CU's rather spotty growth across the nation and already distracted with diversification ventures, Cooks closed in the late 1970s and was renovated into Kroger Family Center in 1977. (Cook United would file for bankruptcy in 1984 and cease to exist by 1987).

The Kroger Family Center replaced a smaller store at Manor East Mall with the store opening in 1977. with a wider selection of merchandise.

Store facade as it appeared in 2004, featuring the modified facade

While the "full line" continued into fall 1985 (and long after many of the other Kroger Family Center stores had closed, like Victoria's), it wasn't too long after that the store remodeled to resemble the then-common "greenhouse" facade and the merchandise mix altered to have the basic Kroger "food and drug" mix, much like what the College Station store had.

The strangest fact is that there appears to be a significant gap between the closure of this store and the opening of the next, a Kroger Signature store at 2303 Boonville Road. Usually when a store moves, either both remain open (briefly), it can open next day, or a total closure for two weeks. But from the way it looks, it looks like it was closed for about three months.

The new Kroger opened in April 2006 but no mention was of the older store, because when the news came when the short-lived Bryan Albertsons closed, it was mentioned that the Kroger had closed in late 2005. Combined with the fact that the new Kroger isn't meant to really appeal to the same crowd as the Kroger it replaced, it suggests that the Kroger was a loser store but Kroger still wanted to stay in the area.

A few years after the store closed, it was renovated into "Bryan Square Shopping Center". The "fake greenhouse" was retained for the 99 Cents Only Store but the rest of the facade was remodeled. Other stores added in front of the store were Citi Trends and the Dollar Floor Store. Interestingly, a small building on the south side (at Post Office Street and Cavitt) with some smaller tenants still remains, as well as part of the original Cooks/Kroger facade next to it.

UPDATE 04-21-2024: Sometime between 2022 and 2023 99 Cents Only Store departed (just as well since as of this writing they're closing all their remaining stores, and definitely those in Texas) and A&M Furniture replaced it (relocating from their location at another defunct supermarket. (A previous article overhaul was done in 2020). This update also changed the name ("Kroger Family Center, Bryan" to "Former Cooks and Kroger Family Center")

Der Wienerschnitzel

This picture is taken June 2019, the other menu shots were taken around 2012.

The Wienerschnitzel (called "Der Wienerschnitzel" in the early days) at 501 South Texas Avenue (Bryan) is definitely a relic, dating back to the late 1960s. That is a good thing: there are simply too few A-frame Wienerschnitzels left in the wild. I don't know this particular restaurant's opening, but I saw it in local newspapers (The Eagle, of course) back in the early 1970s, and this type was no longer built after 1973. However, all building searches mention elements built in 1992 (the oldest being 1982), which indicates that the rumors I've heard of this building burning down at some point and being rebuilt are true. There's no interior seating (only a few concrete seating benches inside), the drive-through is low and narrow, and the storeroom is accessed on the other side of the store (they load food supplies in the second level).


This ad comes from 1970, which proves that the Wienerschnitzel has been operating at this site for over 40 years.






There used to be a Wienerschnitzel in College Station, near Walmart as well, but it no longer exists. Rumors exist of Wienerschnitzel returning to south College Station.

Update 8/2019

Fajita Rita's, The Building of Which Eventually Burned Down

One of the phone books I have shows it has simply "Fajita Rita", then was reverted later.

Located on 4501 Texas Avenue South, Fajita Rita's opened in a building near the intersection of Rosemary and Texas Avenue in 1984 (some sources say 1983, but a 1984 The Eagle mentions their grand opening was in November 1984), right on the College Station-Bryan border (but on the Bryan side). It wasn't the first restaurant in the spot. First, Chelsea Street Pub was here in the late 1970s and early 1980s (it later reopened in the mall), but by 1983 it was a place called Rebels Restaurant & Bar (sounded like "student food", the phone book mentions it had steaks, burgers, nachos, happy hour), then briefly Fari's Restaurant & Bar. (It's important to note that sometime in the early 1980s, the address changed from 4425 to 4501).

Fajita Rita's did well but faltered in the 1990s as more chains and restaurants began popping up. Fajita Rita's closed sometime in the early 2000s (2003, likely) and was replaced with Fredriko's (moved to Northgate in 2005). It soon became a restaurant called "Las Fuentes" for a few years (and it's entirely possible I'm missing one more), then ultimately Las Lomas Mexican Grill. Las Lomas did last for a while: it did offer more of the same from FR (margaritas, decent but average Mexican food), but the building started to fall into disrepair. Its popularity was never very high, and apparently never even turned on its roadside sign for most of its existence from 2008 to its closure in late 2011. A few months later, in February 2012, lightning struck an air conditioning unit and burned the restaurant to the ground in a spectacular fire. That same night, the YMCA Building flooded (it was quite a storm). What was left of the building (Las Lomas, not YMCA) was razed a few months later.

In 2014, a new somewhat non-descript building was built on the site, and in 2016 gained both First Watch (the first in Texas, and a very popular breakfast spot) and a second Hungry Howie's (first one in ten years since Southwest Crossing. One thing remains from the Fajita Rita's days...the signage predates the building.

UPDATE 10-27-2020: Hungry Howie's closed earlier this year (2020) with reports that First Watch will expand into their former spot.

UPDATE 05-10-2024: Updated the post to reflect that it was the same Fredriko's as the one at 303 Boyett. The original link ("In brief", 4/25/2004) misspells it as "Fredricko's".

Chicken Express, Downtown Bryan

The Chicken Express here didn't look much different from the Burger King it replaced (you can see that picture on Yelp). This picture is from August 2019 by the author.
The Chicken Express at the corner of South Texas Avenue and East 29th Street is rather pedestrian, and probably would not have been covered had it not had a previous tenant that had fond memories for me. As a kid living and growing up in College Station (this was originally named "College Station Roads & Retail", after all), going to downtown Bryan was a fairly rare occurrence. Of these trips, most of them were to the downtown Greyhound bus station where relatives would often come down by bus (Waco or Houston), including cousins and my grandfather. This is why Chicken Express is covered, is because of that bus station (located at 405 East 29th Street).

Granted, it was dirty and run-down especially by the late 1990s and early 2000s, and I've been told the building started out as a UtoteM (and that may have had Amoco gas, from what I've heard) and became a bus station by 1980. I don't think it was remodeled much at all between tenants, and it had a drop ceiling, florescent lighting, really worn tiles, possibly dated from 1960s to 1970s, some rather drab and cheap-looking chairs, and the like. There were a few vending machines, including some candy dispensers and (if I remember right) even a coffee vending machine. While it was a miserable place that seemed to be falling apart, it had charm (though I'm sure I'm the only one that thinks that) as a wonderfully grungy place that was a gritty time capsule of the 1980s.

After it was torn down in the late 2000s, the replacement of the store was a Burger King with the address of 401 South Texas Avenue (ironically, despite the new Texas Avenue address, the site was rebuilt to not allow access to Texas Avenue), part of a proposed bunch of new stores as part of a new franchisee. The new Burger King opened around April 2009 and closed in January 2011 (but not reopening). Reason was probably because B-CS just isn't a Burger King town (the one at Texas and Deacon seems to get pretty low volume). It reopened as a Chicken Express some months later (2012 I believe) which did little to the restaurant except give it red trim instead of blue (and serve an entirely different menu under new ownership and a new name, of course).

The redevelopment into Chicken Express also demolished a building (built as a house, though it likely was no longer serving as residential by the time it was torn down) at the corner of 29th and South Houston Avenue. This may be researched in a further update.

Updated in July 2020 to further expunge the original "downtown Bryan memory" format

Foxhole Lounge

The red, white, and blue paint was probably more vibrant back in the day. (Picture by author, September 2019)

A while back, I used to have a post called "Stories of the West Loop", half actually describing some of the things on 2818 I was too lazy to write a full post on, and half a piece on the nostalgia I had for going north on 2818 to my grandfather's place in Waco. During streamlining, it was removed but an older post, originally called "Turkey Creek: The Old FM" remained.

When I was a kid, there was basically a "border" of places we did and didn't go in town. I'm not talking about anything based on socioeconomic lines or city limits, it was the places that were not part of the regular rotation (dentists, doctors, grocery stores, churches). Roughly the southern line of this was Rock Prairie Road (not that there was much beyond it, even in the late 1990s and early 2000s), the eastern line was the freeway and the things bordering it, to the west, FM 2818 (and FM 2154 at the crossing), and to the north, Villa Maria Road.

Naturally, any venturing north of Villa Maria was a rare occurrence. First would be the actual Villa Maria intersection, which had an Exxon built in the late 1990s with a Shell on the east side, hidden by the trees. The stoplights around the year 2000 had what a lot of other Bryan stoplights had, as the technology wasn't there yet to only show up when you got close to the light, louver shades on the lights. To the north of the Villa Maria light was a divided highway (2818 remained divided until north of 21), and had blinking lights at Turkey Creek Road, which was the north end of Turkey Creek. The south end of Turkey Creek Road closer to F&B Road was (then), a small, poorly paved road heading out to the airport. From what I had found in old maps, Turkey Creek Road (prior to most of 2818's construction) was FM 2513, but the designation disappeared many years ago.

While some trips north on 2818 remained as family still lived in the Waco area, many things about the road changed. The Turkey Creek lights were removed in early 2012 in part due to the extensive construction around the intersection that would eventually include an overpass over Villa Maria and replace the Texas Hall of Fame dance hall structure with a huge Walmart, a stoplight at Shiloh Avenue and the extension of Beck Street, and many others.

Of these, one thing never really changed, the Foxhole Lounge. Also known as Brazos County VFW Post 4692, Post 4692 was established in 1945 but did not move into their current location until 1975, and the events hall has not had much alterations since, at least exterior-wise.

The day this signage is replaced will be a sad one. (Picture by author, September 2019)
UPDATE 05-07-2021: The article was completely re-done in September 2019 but I wanted to mention the address is 794 N. Harvey Mitchell Parkway.

Briarcrest AppleTree

Village Foods back in the AppleTree days. (Picture from Holcombe of Hidalgo, used with permission)
In the late 1980s the Houston Division of California-based Safeway Stores began planning a new larger, store to replace store #720 at Briarcrest and East 29th Street (located catty-corner to it). Less than six months before the store opened, however, it was announced that the Houston Division of Safeway was spun off as a new company (officially management-led but in reality highly leveraged) licensing the Safeway name and products. It was under this arrangement that Safeway #1193 (1760 Briarcrest) opened in November 1988. Less than a year later, it was renamed as AppleTree, becoming one of the largest and best-looking stores in the chain at 55,000 square feet (it seems it was based after the "Food Emporium" prototype, based after a similar Safeway at 2300 Gessner in Houston).

The new AppleTree chain's issues with debt, the unions, outdated stores, and the lack of financial stability (Safeway held most of the real estate) caused the new company to suddenly face death, just five years after the opening of the new supermarket the whole chain was being dismantled and looking for buyers.

The Bryan-College Station stores were unusual in that they were the last six stores remaining and operated as an independent supermarket chain. By 2003, that was knocked down to just three stores. In 2008, with the Culpepper Plaza store long since closed as well as an abortive attempt at a new store in Spring¹, the store was sold to its landlord Jim Lewis². Once again it would keep the name it had before before renaming officially to Village Foods in spring 2009. The store was also kept open with city benefits, with the City of Bryan promising a 50% sales tax rebate if Lewis employed a minimum of 30 employees.

Under Village Foods, interior upgrades were made as per agreement (the c. 1988 big glossy photographs of food were replaced with Benjamin Knox paintings, with other upgrades happening during the store's lifespan). New gluten-free items and organics were added to differentiate it from H-E-B and Kroger, but that created a problem with long-time customers, believing that it might be too "fancy" and upmarket for regular shopping, while creating a disappointment for everyone else. (Village Foods didn't have a bulk section) and mostly relied on the "local" store schtick (complete with all the problems of a "local" store from higher prices to nepotism hires³). Despite trying to improve some of its features, after the collapse of Stover Boys in 2011, Charles Stover was brought on to manage the luncheon and deli area, which was merged into "Stover Bros. Café".

I only went to the pre-Stover deli once—it originally offered "Blue Plate Specials", which were things like lasagna, but Stover soon expanded the menu to include gourmet hamburgers and fries (carryovers from Stover Boys) but unfortunately wasn't able to use/brand everything due to complications from the Stover Boys bankruptcy. Stover changed some things in the deli, including vastly expanding the deli meats and cheeses to the standards of other supermarkets (I remember the part that originally faced the front of the store, which now featured Boar's Head deli meats, originally had things like chips, including a brand of tortilla chip I enjoyed). While much of the traffic from Stover Boys was gone except for a small band of loyalists, Stover Brothers eventually built up a new following, enough to talk about expanding the seating (which never happened). Stover Brothers eventually deteriorated over time, by 2013 a number of items had been discontinued, such as a milkshake made with homemade Mexican vanilla ice cream (replaced with stock Blue Bell) and a great pastry called the "White Trash Donut" (later rebranded to "Southern Fried Doughnut"), basically a beignet with tres leches sauce (and I think vanilla sauce as well). Despite Stover's departed presence after a few years, many items remained permanently changed, like the potato salad. (Possibly the rotisserie chicken as well--unlike the greasy mess of other roti chicken, it was a rich recipe that involved a citrus/garlic marinade)⁴. In 2013 there was even a return of Hebert's Cajun Food, having been evicted of their shack at University Square, and briefly operated out of the "Southern Comfort Road Trip" food truck Village Foods had.

Despite the City's subsidies and Lewis' own subsidies (reducing Village Foods' rent by a third by 2015)⁵ the store was a loser⁶ and Village Foods was closed permanently in February 2016. Over 2016, the building was slightly altered, including removing the peaked roof for what would be the Urban Air Trampoline Park, but also adding ALDI to the eastern third of the ~50,000 square feet building (on the left side if you were looking at it head-on), though it completely gutted the building, down to removing even the concrete floor. The only thing really left is the columns, and despite ALDI's fairly bare-bones nature, it is much cheaper and much nicer than Village Foods ever was. Urban Air opened over a year later in January 2018 with the new 1758 address and ironically retained more of AppleTree's architecture. I took a look into Urban Air's re-use of the upper level of AppleTree, which used to have restrooms (nominally for employee use, but was often used by customers; the ground-floor restrooms were much smaller), a break room, and offices, but it was completely gutted. There was a new staircase where the restrooms were.

<sup>1. See Houston Historic Retail.
2. There were other stores in the center including Pro-Cuts (later "Brazos Cuts" and currently "Level Up Barber Salon") at 1770 Briarcrest, Clinica Hispana (there in 2013; 3410 East 29th Street), Austin Driving School (3412), and Molly Maid (3414).
3. I held off on a LONG time about this but there were nepo hires who were wildly unqualified for the job they were given.
4. I have no idea if Safeway was doing rotisserie chicken in the late 1980s, and what was the program before. Was it a carryover from an AppleTree initiative from the early 1990s? Was it put in under Kubicek's ownership? Who knows!
5. I think this was mentioned on TexAgs as to why the store was closed and leased to ALDI instead.
6. There were a variety of factors working against the store but the biggest hit post-sale was the construction on Briarcrest in 2012-2013 that added medians but also permanently sealed their main entrance off of the road.</sup>

UPDATE 03-23-2025: The last update was in 2019 but it was revamped again with less emphasis on Village Foods itself (despite being closed by 2019 the post STILL read a bit like an advertisement) and more as the history as a whole. There's a few pictures more of VF as AppleTree from Holcombe of Hidalgo as seen here (for instance); the forest green color was AppleTree's efforts. You can also see another page with some Village Foods pictures I took in the early 2010s with (mostly) my old cellphone camera here. Removed [2010s], added [29th street], [barber], [retail].

UPDATE 06-09-2025: Pro-Cuts opened in January 1990 per newspaper.

Around Tejas Center

May 19, 2012 Note: This will remain until I get the new post about Manor East Mall up.

New storefront colors

To the left of Jo-Ann, the former JCPenney


There's a cinder-blocked entrance here. Don't worry, it's much easier to see in real life.


Back of old Wal-Mart


This is the current The Theater Company. Not much activity here now.


Former JCPenney interior entrance.


Looking back toward Montgomery Ward. You can see the old E-W corridor roofs, which have been renovated into in-line space. On my only trip to Manor East in 2000, this area was closed off, and there was a bench right about in front of me.

Settling with our new name and focus, I'll be steadily adjusting some of the older posts (and getting rid of the index page) to fit the new feel of the site. I might change the background picture too, to something more Texan. Anyway, I drove around Tejas Center on April 7, and took these pictures.