Citgo Southwest Parkway

Picture from June 2025 by author On May 31st, I removed five pages from Carbon-izer.com: Southwest Parkway, Harvey Road, Texas Avenue - Bryan, Other Bryan Roads, and Wellborn Road (FM 2154). Since I covered Archie's Taco Bell recently, I thought it was only fair to cover some of the other roads that were removed, and today we're doing one of the things on Southwest Parkway that has curiously never been covered (other than in passing); the Citgo at 101 Southwest Parkway (not to be confused with the other Citgo on Southwest Parkway).

Directly at the northeast corner of Southwest Parkway and Wellborn, this was originally a Citgo/7-Eleven when it opened in June 1986 (7-Eleven stores, at least in this part of the country, were paired with Citgo gas). In 1993, 7-Eleven left the area but the stores (now under E-Z Mart) kept the Slurpee machines (later rebadged as ICEE), so this was the cold slush drink headquarters growing up. Unfortunately, the machines later broke down and the owners did not replace them, ending it as a place to get frozen Dr Peppers. In 2004, the store converted to Zip'N, and I remember when the store's name was a ground display surrounded by bushes (this was done away with in a station renovation). Later on, the gas station parking lot was integrated with Southwest Crossing around it.

The intersection has evolved--the once-quiet southeast corner has turned into not only parking lot access for a large apartment complex, but a number of other establishments (Starbucks, Chipotle, Whataburger, Wild Pita, and Andy's Frozen Custard), but the Citgo continues to age. While it's still technically signed as a Zip'N, there's a sign above it saying "Ricky Food Mart" or something along those lines, and it's a bit depressing to see a gas station once a family favorite for gasoline fall into disrepair, but that's life, I guess.

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Post Oak Village

A selection of Post Oak Village tenants from December 2007 including Fantasy Lingerie with a SFW outfit.

Much like covering Cow Hop the other day, it's time to examine another piece of a road that was covered heavily in the past—Harvey Road, this time Post Oak Village. You may remember back when I first posted Post Oak Square, I had mistakenly called it Post Oak Village. This is the real Post Oak Village (at 900 Harvey Road) and something that previously slipped through the cracks when I added a bunch of Harvey Road entries in late 2019. It was later posted on Carbon-izer before the whole Harvey Road section got broomed, so it's being reposted here with updates.

This shopping center opened circa 1984 and until 2012, the east end of the shopping center had a larger footprint to accommodate a larger end anchor. This was later reconfigured to be the same profile as the others in the strip. Originally, the center had about 17 suites numbered 1 (on the Dartmouth side) to 17 (on the mall side) but over the years the spaces have been reconfigured, so it's difficult to gauge the timeline over the years.

This is the current layout of the center, archived from this page at press time. There's unfortunately no tenants listed, but I'll try to list them below.

1. The biggest store, Giddy Up Glamour Boutique, open since 2015. The first store here was flooring chain Color Tile and from 1996 to 2007 was Catherine's, which in turn was replaced with "The Greek Boutique", which moved into the space, with store-within-a-store Old Army Spirit Co. opening soon after. (I'm not sure when The Greek Boutique closed.) Interestingly, GUGB also has the alt. address of 1903 Dartmouth.
2. This was most recently the home of 2014-2017's "Kie Men's Shop".
3. As of 2007 this space was a Sprint store but by the early 2010s it was divided between Cupcakes Couture and Mong Chon Korean Takeout. The latter used to just have a sign with some Korean characters and a red sign that said "Korean Takeout" (Mong Chon Korean Takeout), now it's known as "Mong Chon Grill" above a larger "Taste of Korea" sign. It has been here since 2009. About three or four years after Cupcakes Couture closed (around 2017), Mong Chon expanded.
4A. Fashion Nails & Spa. Despite the leasing plan using 4B, Fashion Nails & Spa uses "4A".
5A. U Paint-It has been here since 2004.
6. Domino's (an entirely new store, requiring redistricting from other stores) opened in early 2020 in what used to be Perrine Winery, which moved to Dowling Road in the mid-2010s. It also absorbs the space of 5B (ScentChips).
7. Edible Arrangements moved from 1505 University Drive East, suite 420, as seen (currently) at this page. The local store closed in 2024, a few years after the chain changed logos (goodbye, Papyrus!)
8. Pro Cleaners is on the sign but Google says its "Pro Eagle Cleaners". (As of 2007 that seems not to be the case, an advertisement just says "Dry Cleaners & Alterations").
9c. As of 2021 this was Eye Candy Salon but in 2022 had become All Star Fadez Barber Shop. (Eye Candy Salon goes back to the early 2010s at least). 9b. ProActive Chiropractic. Formerly home to Names & Numbers, and Aggieland Depot from 2004 to 2009.
9a. Sometime between 2017 and 2021 (not there in June 2017, closed by April 2021) was a Farmers Insurance office (Kathy Giese, main agent). Before that, it was last home to "World Finance Loans & Taxes". It was Fantasy Lingerie in the latter half of the 2000s, though wasn't related to an earlier Fantasy Lingerie in Westgate Center (on Wellborn).
10. There's no "suite 11" as some of the numbers have been reconfigured but it's likely this was the original Suite 11. This served as Tiki Tan from 2007 to 2019, and is currently vacant.
12. Post Oak Florist has been here since 1986, though seems to be calling themselves "Postoak Florist" these days (trying to de-associate from the mall?)
13. Board & Brush Creative Studio, a "DIY Wood Sign Workshop" chain opened a store in College Station in August 2018 (closed sometime in the early-to-mid 2020s). Before that, it was Tres Chic Boutique (store number two), whereever the first one was, roughly from 2012 to January 2018.
14. Yummi Yummi Mongolian Grill & Sushi is the last tenant before suite 17. Has been here since 2015. From 2006-2009 it was Let's Go Dreamin', a baby furniture store. It was nothing in the early 2010s except a temporary "Wicked Wally's" Halloween store.
17. Leslie's Pool Supplies opened in March 2012 after redevelopment of the plaza. Before redevelopment, the last tenant in 17 (though I've also seen 16) was The Exchange, a clothing reseller. Throughout the late 1990s and before its move to Lone Star Pavilion, this was Card & Party Factory.

Finally, I've got some cool news--the Post Oak Mall page on Carbon-izer is now up! You can see it at this this page (not at this blog). It's not 100% comprehensive with every single thing but it's a great page with lots of information.

Former Cow Hop

Putting things into perspective. 317 University is El Jefe in this shot. (March 2020, by author).
In our most recent excursion to the Northgate drag, we covered the areas to the east of this building (currently home to Freebirds as it has been for the last 30+ years) and to the west, currently Whisper Sister Shots. We've never covered 317 University in detail, though.

The oldest record I can find for the building is "Smittys Grill" at 317 Sulphur Springs Road, as University Drive was known back then, and by 1964 Lew-Ann's Restaurant (which made doughnuts in the morning) and per the Battalion it was still open by 1970, but by 1971 it was gone and to be replaced with another restaurant, The Burger Hut. (You can see a bit of Burger Hut in the background of this photo). Burger Hut sold out and in 1978 became one of Northgate's most fondly remembered defunct establishments, the Cow Hop. From a few articles the Eagle published, it opened under the ownership of Al Scazerro. It changed hands to Wes Gideon in 1985, and again to Jim McGuire in 1989 (even opening a second restaurant at Culpepper Plaza, the Cow Hop Junction). At some point it expanded to 319 University next door.

In 1993 it moved to a stand-alone location at 317 College Avenue and the combined spaces became The Bullseye, but by 1995 it had divorced from 319 University and became King of the Roadhouse (see 319 University article). A new "Cow Hop" opened in 1996 following the closure of the original restaurant and purchase of the name, but the "new" Cow Hop closed by 2001. Following this, it became a bar, Big Pauly's (full name of "Big Pauly's Garlic Room" in business records) but that was short-lived, with Mad Hatters opening in 2002 and operating until 2019 (longer than the Cow Hop had ever been there—if you don't count the revival). El Jefe (aka "El Jefe - the Tequila Boss") opened in the fall of that year but closed after spring 2023. Freaky Tiki opened in August of that year, and that's what it still is today.

Editor's Note: For a very long time there was a sidebar in this site that read: "This is a one person site and I make no money off of it. You can help by doing the following: Commenting! It's easy, it's free, and helps this site feels more lively. Share memories, ask questions, or just post something positive about the site. It will be approved shortly." It has been removed as I am changing the format slightly to allow actual donations through Ko-fi. It will be active through at least a trial run.

Max Food Mart at Deacon

The old frontage road right of way can clearly be seen. (Picture by author, June 2025).
Max Food Mart/Texaco at 3300 Texas Avenue South opened in 1996 (part of a small chain of convenience stores in the area).¹ I should note that as part of this post, originally, the frontage road in front of some of the businesses just north of here connected to the frontage road of Highway 6 South. Since the Highway 6 bypass was built in the 1970s, prior to around 2006, there was an intersection here with the southbound one-way traffic from the bypass intersecting with Deacon. To the south was Texas Avenue turning into an entrance for Highway 6 south with the northbound lane going from Highway 6. To the south at Deacon was a two-way frontage road that paralleled Texas Avenue up to Wal-Mart and became the southbound Highway 6 frontage road for the section south of Texas Avenue. Yes, for a time, you could drive straight from Nantucket Drive to the Wal-Mart parking lot and back without making a single turn or getting on the highway.

Around 2006, that all changed, and the set-up was altered. The road that paralleled Texas Avenue was cut off just past what was Petal Patch at the time, redirecting all traffic down an alleyway that had access to Pepper Tree Apartments (in the early 2020s these were fenced off) and Wings 'N More, with the two lanes from Texas Avenue went to the frontage road south (now all one-way) or the highway. As a kid, the frontage roads meant that we were getting close to the highway, and at that time if we were going that far it meant a trip out of town. Even into the early 2000s when there was commercial activity at Rock Prairie (most notably the Kroger shopping center) and Greens Prairie Road (the school, the McDonald's/Exxon), that was pretty much it, and nothing much until you got to Navasota.²

In any case, the other thing that made this Max Food Mart unique was a Subway counter inside the store, which remained up until 2010 when it was relocated to Tower Point. The space has been partially gutted for a beer cave but most of it just remains boarded up as a poorly-utilized backroom. The Max name had already been dropped by 2007 (and had converted to Shell from Texaco in 2003).³

1. I don't know what happened to Max, as late as around 2019 they built that new Chevron in Wellborn, but have since removed that branding. The only one I know of that still uses the name is the one at FM 2154 and Rock Prairie Road.
2. Some of this was taken from this post, though has been updated. As of this writing, that post is to receive a major re-do.
3. You may also remember that Max Food Mart had a deal with Krispy Kreme to provide donuts in their stores around 2003-2005. This stopped when franchisee Lone Star Doughnuts collapsed. More information on Houston Historic Retail.