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")

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.

Shiloh Inn, Now the Days Inn on Texas Avenue

The architecture seems to be original. Taken August 2016, and modified to increase exposure.

We talked about Fort Shiloh, the restaurant, and in the early 1980s, a new two-story motel opened just adjacent to it: Shiloh Inn. Unfortunately, Shiloh Inn didn't actually last long under that name, switching to the nationally-known Quality Inn soon after:

Before Quality Inn switched to the "circle" logo, soon after the Shiloh Inn change
Sometime in the early 1990s, names changed again and it became Days Inn (the first and only Days Inn up until the middle of the 2010s). The motel still has 98 units as always.

Aerial view from Google Earth

By the way, the playground equipment mentioned in the old advertisement does in fact still exist as of summer 2020.

Last updated July 2020

Westgate Center

Westgate Center as it stood in the early 2010s (from an old lease plan)

Westgate Center was off the index for several years, and actually one of the earliest topics I wanted to discuss but was pushed to the backlog to other projects. It was built in the early 1980s but struggled and by 1993 was at 50% occupancy.

The most recent PDF can be found here and archived here. The 2013 version, offline for many years due to the way Dropbox handled the Public Folder, can be seen here. From north to south, here's the tenant directory best I can assemble it: 4201 - Starting with "Building One", this is currently Kai's Doughnut Company since 2013. I can only go back to 1997 for this one, but it used to be The Cork (sold out in the late 2000s to Whiskey Charlie's, like the Parkway Square location) but Whiskey Charlie's closed within a year and became Sunny Food Mart, which operated for just a few years before closing a few years later.

4207 - From 1985 up until around 2019, this was a carry-out/delivery only Pizza Hut, at one point it simultaneously existed with the Northgate location which co-existed with the University Drive East location (I lived in a place once where Pizza Hut was the usual choice for takeout pizza just on proximity—it's nothing to write home about). Since then, it has been the short-lived Yumori (still closed as of 2025, though listed "temporarily")...and between Yumori and Pizza Hut was HeatUps, microwave meals to go. The 2025 says "Jara Pizza", I don't know what that is. Company? Unborn restaurant? Future restaurant? We'll keep you posted.

4223 - DCI Biologicals has been traditionally here at least since 2010 and at some point became BPL Plasma (Wikipedia indicates that they are in fact the same company). Tiki Tan was at 4243 from 2002 to 2019 but absorbed into BPL Plasma.

4245 - Thrift Station opened in 2024 but I can't easily find what it was before.

4309 - Moving onto Building 2, Fat Shack opened in late 2019. Previous business records per tax records and newspaper archives are Ernie's (a bar, c. 1984-1985), the one-time home of StageCenter Community Theatre (late 1980s), several non-retail tenants following (West Oak Baptist Church, Texas A&M Employment Office Service Center), "Slides Express" (1995), and The Ink Spot (2005-2006). I have not researched any of those in detail yet, so take that with a grain of salt.

4315 - Holick's moved here in 2006, the home of the Corps of Cadets' Senior Boots. It moved here from its long-time Northgate home.

Much of the third building was vacant in 2013, but this picked up in the late 2010s before becoming mostly vacant again.

4321 - Bentley's Barbershop opened around 2021 (or maybe late 2020).

4323 - This was "Couture Closet" in the late 2010s, but that didn't last for very long.

4333 - Buddies Boutique, a smoke shop, opened here in the mid-2010s.

4335 - This was last home to Westgate Nails 'n' Spa, which had its sign still up in 2021. Either it closed around 2021 or it was wiped out in 2020.

4337 - The first tenant here was Taxidermy Plus, and became Graphic Impact in 1993. It may have had something else in the meantime, but a few years after the Northgate location closed, a Blimpie operated here from 2005 to 2008, and Stover Boys Burgers opened later that year (moving from a gas station location). The restaurant was popular and plans for a second location near the intersection of Graham Road and Highway 6 were drawn up but scuttled due to CoCS requirements1 and closed in 2010 amidst problems with Square One Bistro. It was picked up by Burger Boy Cafe, the new slightly-revamped version of Burger Boy which had been sold to Ken Simmons earlier that year. After that, it became home to Eatology Paleo-Zone, which made meals catering to the trendy "Paleo" diet. Originally, back in 2013, I made a quip about how "we'll see what happens when the paleo diet goes out of fashion" after a pretentious quote on the website by the owner (something about paleo not being a diet but a lifestyle, or some such). Eatology stuck around in some form (I don't think it had been open to the public for years) and even in 2021 there was signage for "Eatology Kitchen Studios" on the outside. By 2025 Eatology was finally gone-gone and replaced with Aroma Indian & Nepalese Cuisine. All the while there were parking spaces marked off for Blimpie, though every passing year these chip away.

4341 - Majestic Hair Studio. In 2013 this was "Wes-Gate Hair Salon".

4345 - This was last home to "Pin-Toh Cafe" but looks like it's been absorbed by 4353 as of this writing. For many years (1984-2002) it was Texas Burger but I'm not sure if it was the Texas Burger. The one in Bryan wasn't and I can't find a definitive link between it and the modern company out of Madisonville that made its home further down Wellborn Road (FM 2154) in 2017. This one served egg rolls as a menu option.

4353 - This has served a rotating cast of restaurants and bars that struggle to make it. The first reference I can find to the address is Le Cabaret in July 1984 (a nightclub with jazz and occasional comedy performances). There was another nightclub called "Retro" that announced opening in 1993 (I'm not sure if it opened under that name...and what would qualify as "Retro" in 1993, anyway?). There was "Xtreme" in 1995, before becoming Barracuda Bar around 1996, briefly becoming "The Lighthouse" in late 1996 before reopening as the second incarnation of Barracuda Bar in early 1999. It is listed in a newspaper entertainment guide as having as an "authentic Texas coastline atmosphere"². Barracuda Bar (the first incarnation, looks like) was the one that did build an "upper deck" area (basically loft seating), which was still intact as of Swamp Tails. In 2001 Barracuda Bar gave way to The Salty Dog, a similar establishment that had the exact same description ("authentic Texas coastline atmosphere") as Barracuda Bar did. Circa 2010 it was Garpez Mexicana Food and Cantina. In late 2015/early 2016 Swamp Tails opened. I guess it struggled partly because Razzoo's Cajun Cafe had opened around the same time and it folded within a year or two. By 2017 it was Knight Club, which I remember hearing on the news was considered a "nuisance business" and either closed or moved in 2020 (later reappearing in College Station) with its replacement being Toya's Kitchen (there seems to be photos on Yelp) but it closed in 2021. As of 2025, the current contender is "E11EVEN Bar & Grill" (I think it's pronounced "Eleven") which serves hamburgers and Mexican food (I don't know what that literally sandwich soaked in salsa is) as well as a full bar.

I visited the restaurant building once when it was Swamp Tails (roughly 2015-2016), a Cajun restaurant and I seem to remember it having a second-story "loft" with additional seating that was obviously not built by them (and from a previous tenant).

While Westgate has struggled over the years it's not that hard to see why. Wellborn Road in Bryan isn't the major thoroughfare it is in College Station (no turn lane)³, even narrowing down to one lane going north (due to adding a dedicated left turn for F&B Road), and a lack of a major store has likely contributed to its struggle.

1. Per an interview. Apparently the rule about "no visible HVAC systems" was a bridge that could not be crossed.
2. Insert joke about "decomposing fish" here.
3. Also, one of the few roads in the area that ever had permanent Botts' dots, removed in 2017.

UPDATE 10-14-2025: Major rewrite of the page done.