Category: Restaurants

Buh-Bye 7Pie & What happened to Church’s Chicken?

Everywhere you look in Houston, there are empty buildings. Even in a crunch for real estate as a city, we’re constantly cycling tenants, primarily commercial tenants in less prosperous areas. If you’ve done any driving around the surface streets of our fair city lately, then you’ve likely noticed at least a few vacant fast-food restaurants. Chances are they’ve all been or at least mostly have been Church’s Chicken locations. The downfall of Church’s Chicken all …

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Retail News: River Oaks Ex-KFC to house another fried chicken joint

According to permits filed recently, Layne’s Chicken Fingers appears to be headed to River Oaks. The new restaurant will rehab a former KFC located at 2359 S Shepherd Dr, Houston, TX 77019. The KFC, which closed in 2016, long enough ago that Swamplot covered it, has sat continuously vacant for nearly seven years. College Station-based Layne’s Chicken Fingers (LFC) is being franchised locally by the Houston franchisee of Halal Guys and has collocated their two …

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Why Fuddruckers days may be numbered

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today, we’re taking time for a sad topic: the slow and agonizing death of Fuddruckers. The downfall of Fudds is not new content here on HHR. My first hint that something was seriously wrong at the chain goes all the way back to 2018 and the failure of the chain to re-franchise a popular West Houston location before shutting it down. My naivety of the conditions …

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Slim Pickens at this former Carl’s Jr.

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re taking a look at a Carl’s Jr. turned Slim Chickens and discussing some shared problems. Starting off with some history, the restaurant building currently standing at 9599 S Main St, Houston, TX 77025, was constructed in 2015, replacing an older structure on the same site. The building was initially constructed as Tinsley’s Chicken ‘n Rolls in 1983. In 1985 Church’s Chicken purchased Tinsley’s, and …

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Retail News: Trill Burgers work shows on former James Coney Island

The former James Coney Island, located at 3607 S Sheperd Dr. Houston, TX 77098, has been slated to reopen as local rapper Bun B’s Smash Burger concept Trill Burger since closing last year. Work started on the interior earlier this year, as reported here on HHR. However, this last week the first stages of exterior change began. A new black and gold paint job, in addition to updated signage, has all been applied. Photos from …

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Fuddrucker’s Houston outlook is mostly grim

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re trying to figure out What the Fudds is going on at Houston’s remaining Fuddruckers. Things began first publically to unravel for Fuddruckers towards the end of 2017 when parent company Luby’s Inc posted one of many continuous losses in sales. To help abate this, Luby’s Inc. would begin closing locations nationwide. Throughout 2017 and 2018, a number of low-performing Luby’s and Fuddruckers locations would …

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Demolition Watch: McDonald’s on Main Street, could we be getting an automated location?

Howdy, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! Today we’re covering a topic that has had social media in a frenzy. The infamous Main Street McDonald’s is coming down. If you’ve never humbled yourself with a visit to the lowliest burger joint this side of the Pecos, well, you may be out of luck! For those unaware, the McDonald’s at 2017 Main Street has quite a reputation. Situated just between the Greyhound Bus Station and …

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The choice of this as the cover image is for your Jason!

Retail News: Krispy Kreme Closes Katy Location

In our second doughnut-related news piece in a row, Krispy Kreme closed their Katy location sometime last week. The store, which was at 1815 Mason Rd, Katy, TX 77450, is part of a larger retreat of the company from Houston. The chain returned to Houston in 2015 after a rogue franchisee lost their license in the early 2000s. The comeback has been marred with issues from unfinished stores to running the locations through multiple operators. …

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This failed Hartz’s Concept Restaurant has worn many hats

Howdy, folks, and welcome back to HHR! Today we’re doing a deep dive into a restaurant space on the Westside that can’t seem to keep a tenant. The space started out as the second location of El Papo, a small chain along the Northwest side of Houston. While far from being the first Tex-Mex chain in Houston, El Papo was pretty early on the Northwestside first opening in 1977 and making it up to three …

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An unknown Shoney's location in 2009. Photo: Quinn Dombrowski

Shoney’s Houston Experiments from Church’s Chicken to Cheap Pizza

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re taking a trip down a rabbit hole that starts back in the late 80s. We’ll talk about how Shoney’s presence in Texas has evolved over the years and what the future holds for a company that no longer operates any of its namesake restaurants within our state. To start, here’s a bit of history on Shoney’s. The company was started by the West Virginia …

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