This was previously one of the oldest unrewritten posts on the blog with only piecemeal updates. Located in the parking lot of Kmart, Ira's opened in 1983 as a two-story gourmet foods store, featuring (among other things) wine, chocolate, baked goods, and deli meats, but went under in 1985, likely due to the Texas recession and remained empty until Ferreri's Italian Cuisine opened in 1989, owned by Joe Ferreri who had filed for bankruptcy after losing the beloved Ramada Inn. Probably the red, white, and green striping was added to the building at this point. I just don't have a lot of information on Ferreri's, though, but during this time the address went from 1704 Valley View Drive to 2702 Texas Avenue (which makes sense as 1704 is the wrong side). It appears Ferreri's closed in February 1996 (at which point Ferreri retired for good, though he lived for many years afterwards).1
Later that year, it became Burton Creek Pub & Brewery. The place sold cigars and homemade beer, with décor including a "walk-in humidor, leather sofas, [and] bear skin rugs" (according to a source that doesn't seem to be found by Google anymore). Newspaper articles also mention a dance floor and live music. It closed around mid-1998 and was replaced with Taste of China in December 1999. It was rather forgettable but I still remember getting takeout here—greasy noodles and whatnot, but it was arguably one of the better Chinese buffets in town (not saying much) at the time. In summer 2014 it received a repaint to yellow, previously it was white with red/green/white striping at the top (from the Ferreri's days); however, it closed in spring 2015. In 2016, it became Q Beauty Supply (without fanfare) and C2 Education Centers (suite 200).
1. Ferreri passed away in 2023.
UPDATE 07-20-2025: While this post has received updates over the years, including 2014 (new Ira's ad), 2015 (Taste of China closed), 2016, 2017 (formatting), 2019 (new post header), the most recent update mostly worked on the dates and combined the sections into paragraphs as well as new labels.
