Among the number of chains that have failed in Bryan is Steak and Ale, a steakhouse chain that peaked at 280 restaurants before its 2008 bankruptcy1, but the Bryan location spent very little time as one (despite the title of this post). It opened in November 1984 as part of the Galleria Village development and 1710 Briarcrest Drive, and in 1987 was sold to new ownership2, but the agreement let them continue to operate the restaurant as a Steak and Ale until a new name was chosen, and in August 1988, it was renamed as Oxford Street3. Oxford Street operated for nearly another two decades until it closed in September 2008 (beating the failure of Steak and Ale by a few months). Unfortunately I don't have much on Oxford Street as a restaurant. According to The Eagle's Dining Guide, it featured "candlelight dining featuring steaks and seafood in an Old World setting", and because I don't have much familiarity with it or Steak and Ale, I don't know if it actually had a unique interior or remained an ersatz Steak and Ale.
In March 2009, it was renovated and reopened as "Yum Yums Texas Style", which was in fact literally named by a four-year old. I never went to Yum Yums Texas Style but everything I've heard about it has been wholly negative. The Yelp page is still up, two one-star reviews blasting the food, but many of the others have disappeared. 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 online 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~", which is definitely not a real customer and probably the owner. (If it wasn't the owner, a friend or relative.)
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 but that couldn't be helped, as in late June of 2012, the restaurant was gutted by a fire and it did not reopen. By fall, it was razed. The Seafood Mama's sign still remained up for several years after until around 2021 when a retail center anchored by a Frost Bank (opened July 2021) was built in the spot. While a new location of Burger Mojo had been planned to occupy the center, it fell through. By January 2025, OAK Dental had joined the center at suite 111.
1. Steak and Ale had a number of restaurants in Houston, Dallas, and other Texas cities in 2008 when the whole chain failed.
2. At the time, Steak and Ale's parent company, S&A Restaurant Group, was owned by Pillsbury, which also owned Burger King. S&A Restaurant Group closed down J.J. Mugg's but continued to hold onto Bennigan's (see Central Station).
3. This particular scan is from The Eagle's website.
UPDATE 10-10-2026: A major update was done to the post. Previous updates were archived (it last received a full rewrite in 2020). [briarcrest] and [Steak and Ale] were added as labels. Retitled as "Former Steak and Ale" from "Steak & Ale / Oxford Street / Yum Yums Texas Style / Seafood Mama's".
