Davis Street in Conroe (Conroe, Texas)

As we continue to process through Carbon-izer.com's legacy entries, let me introduce Highway 105 to you, once a beloved fixture of Christmas vacation trips as my family passed through it. Based on the Montgomery Co. page on Carbon-izer.com, there's a few items of interest to share. Unlike the Carbon-izer page, it lacks the Home Depot Distribution Center at Porter Road as it has already been covered. It also does not mention the Shell/McDonald's in Lake Conroe (that's for a separate entry). This version does add a few new entries not on Carbon-izer, though...

Wake Church / 3830 West Davis Street
Albertsons (original number unknown but re-numbered as #2734 in the late 1990s) opened here in fall 1996 and was purchased and rebranded as Kroger in spring 2002 when the chain pulled out of the Houston area. The classic Kroger logo disappeared in favor of block lettering a few years later. It closed in 2017 due to a new Kroger Marketplace in Montgomery, probably likely because Kroger already had a Signature store just over a mile away. The space was purchased, renovated, and reopened as Wake Church in 2022. When this space was a supermarket, it also had a gas station in the parking lot that was later demolished.

Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers / 2127 West Davis Street
James Coney Island opened a store here in December 2004 but at some point, probably late 2013 or January 2014 at the very latest, James Coney Island closed.

Unusually for the chain, replacement tenant Raising Cane's renovated it instead of building new, and as a result, when it reopened as Raising Cane's in June 2014, it was the biggest Raising Cane's in the country, though not by much (according to the website, which used to post opening dates and tidbits about each restaurant).

The Catch / 2121 West Davis Street
This was Taco Bueno from 2007 to 2012, then became Einstein Bros. Bagels (opened early 2013 or late 2012). This ended up closing in February 2015 due to underperformance and became a seafood restaurant soon afterward.

1306 West Davis Street
Originally a Randalls supermarket (lasting just three years, roughly from fall 2002 to fall 2005), this later became Hastings, a chain store specializing in music, movies, books, and games. At some point, Gold's Gym moved into the unused space that Hastings didn't use, and after Hastings closed in fall 2016, Gold's Gym continued to stay here. Current tenants include Party City (as of this writing soon to close because of the chain's bankruptcy), 2nd & Charles, and Fitness Project.

904 W. Davis Street
This used to be a Kettle restaurant (#22, 1974 to around 2010). It was later Conroe Café and ultimately El Charrito Restaurant before being redeveloped as a 7-Eleven (opened 2020). In 2024 this closed. For some reason 7-Eleven is struggling in the Houston area.

Fiesta Mart / 210 East Davis Street
This Fiesta Mart (#81) is branded as "Fiesta Fresh Market" and opened in November 2013 and only at 22k square feet. It still has the deli and bakery and displaced the Smith's Tire Shop, which had been there since 1966. Moore Furniture (on the East Phillips) side was also torn down.

Tierra Cuscatleca / 402 East Davis Street
This was Tinsley's from 1968 to 1985, Church's 1985 to 1997, and "Taco Loco" 2001-2002. In the late 2000s and early 2010s it was Taqueria & Panaderia San Luis, then Taqueria La Mision, then starting around 2020 Tierra Cuscatleca.

Speedy Stop / 3900 East Davis Street
A Chevron was here and demolished in 2017, having been abandoned for over a decade (the classic Chevron dark blue/red/gray). In 2020, a Speedy Stop (Speedy Stop #88)/Mobil was built here (the Mobil gas was dropped around 2023 for the Speedy Stop brand). The new gas station faces 105 instead of facing directly toward the intersection like the old one did.

SW H.K. Dodgen Loop (Temple, Texas)

On this site we've previously covered Cactus Jack's (RIP) and 1902 SW H K Dodgen Loop (former Olive Garden/Yank Sing Chinese Restaurant) but now I'd like to cover the rest of the entries that I previously posted on Carbon-izer which started as a dedicated page but later expanded for other Temple-Killeen entries. I went through and made sure everything up to date as of this writing. Additionally, it removes stuff that doesn't have an SW H K Dodgen address, like Bob Mills Furniture, Kohl's, Temple Mall, and the Baylor Scott & White Clinic-South Loop.

In any case, I have some fond memories of this stretch of road, including its circa 2009 re-do which converted it from a divided highway with spotty frontage roads to a modern Interstate-grade freeway, though after the South 5th Street underpass this abruptly ends. I'm afraid I don't have any pictures for this post, either, though do check out Sunny's...and also please visit the I-35 in Temple page which will be updated in the future.

Keep in mind that this is far from a "complete" directory of the freeway, but it covers a number of highlights.

Jack in the Box / 3608 SW H K Dodgen Loop
Jack in the Box was originally at 3606 until the highway was widened to be a full freeway in this section, and the original had to be demolished. The current restaurant was built in 2006.

McAlister's Deli / 2416 S.W. H.K. Dodgen Loop
A former Fazoli's that operated roughly from 2003 to 2014. It sits in the parking of Temple Towne Center, see the PDF here, McAlister's moved here in early 2021 from the shopping center.

Smile Doctors Braces / 2113 SW H K Dodgen Loop
This dental office is in a former Golden Corral, operated roughly from 1995 to 2011 (appears to be a gap before the new Golden Corral was built in 2013 on I-35). Royal Buffet (Chinese buffet) operated from 2013 to 2014 with some modifications to the entrances, but by April 2015 it was Central Texas Smile Doctors (rebranded to its current name between 2018 and 2019).

Applebee's / 1808 SW H K Dodgen Loop
Applebee's has been a fixture of HK Dodgen Loop since 1993.

Casa Olé / 1712 SW H K Dodgen Loop
This opened as Monterey House, later converted to Monterey's Tex-Mex Cafe and ultimately Monterey's Little Mexico. In 2024, parent company Mexican Restaurants, Inc. shut down Monterey's Little Mexico and soon reopened it as their other brand, Casa Olé, moving from Temple Mall.

Taqueria Mexicano Restaurant & Grill / 1704 SW H K Dodgen Loop
Also known as Taqueria Mexicano Grille #2, this restaurant has been here since 2001. Previous restaurants on record include Leo's Coffee Cafe (2000-2001), Keith's R-B Shack (1998), Flashback Barbecue (1996-1998), and Vittlesticks (1994-1995).

Meeboon Thai Cuisine / 1521 SW H K Dodgen Loop
This restaurant has been here since November 2021 (former food truck) but the site suffers from access problems, with no entrance from either the "MarketPlace" shopping center's parking lot, nor Market Loop. The most recent restaurant here, Rice Etc. Asian Kitchen, operated from 2013 to 2021. Other former restaurants here include New Baytown Seafood Express (2007-2013) and Popeyes (1995 to roughly 2006).

Denny's / 1420 SW H K Dodgen Loop
This former Mazzio's maintained their old 1980s logo into the late 2000s. A Facebook question asks why it closed so abruptly, and that's dated to November 2013. Another restaurant, Bay Street Steak & Grille, opened here in November 2018 but closed by the next summer. The new Denny's opened in fall 2020 and is the first in Temple since the one off I-35 (the old Kettle) closed. (See Carbon-izer's I-35 in Bell County page).

Whataburger / 1415 SW H K Dodgen Loop
I remember stopping at this Whataburger sometime in late 2016 or early 2017 after a day of outside work at a ranch. While the cold drink and the protein of the hamburger revived my spirits, I was intrigued by the large, "Playplace" part of the building, as if it had a playground at one point. The room was closed to the public (it was used as employee offices/storage, apparently) and while the thought of Whataburger having a playground wasn't out of the question (I seem to recall a kid's meal mascot, for instance) it hadn't actually occurred to me that it was in fact not a Whataburger to begin with, having been a Burger King opened in 1999 but closed within a decade. It was seized by U.S. Marshals in November 2004 (it did not reopen) and in November 2007 was reopened as a Whataburger. Before Whataburger was built, a Pizza Hut was here from 1991 to 1997.

Wendy's / 1348 SW H.K. Dodgen Loop
This Wendy's was built in 2006 as part of a redevelopment of the block.

Starbucks / 1313 SW H K Dodgen Loop
This Starbucks was opened as a Golden Chick (Golden Fried Chicken) in 1999 and became Starbucks Coffee in April 2004 (probably closing as Golden Chick in late 2003).

Taco Bell / 1201 SW H K Dodgen Loop
The Taco Bell here changed its store number (2308) and address (3002 South 31st Street, the number of the whole plaza) in 2014 to the Dodgen Loop address and a new store number (30125) without rebuilding. Despite looking nothing like the original 1983 store, BCAD indicates the building is original to 1983 (though it likely expanded if that was the case, and the building does tend to suggest that).

Lowe's / 605 S.W. HK Dodgen Loop
The Lowe's here opened in June 1996 and adjacent to its own named road, Lowes Drive, which actually goes into residential neighborhoods and has several houses off of it.

The Barrington / 401 S.W. H. K. Dodgen Loop
The Barrington Suites and Apartments (opened 1984) sounds like it could be a winner in theory, with its close-to-Scott & White location for long-term (month) stays but reviews are mixed. It does not seem to really run with the idea of a motel/apartment hybrid, there's a shared pool but no on-site restaurant/coffee shop (which it desperately needs).

Red Roof Inn / 400 SW H K Dodgen Loop
This motel adopted this name between 2018 and 2019 (formerly Great Western Inn & Suites). At some point between 1995 and 2003, half of the lobby was torn down, probably due to a fire. It lacks access to the side street South 13th Street.

Sunny's / 321 SW HK Dodgen Loop
I'm not sure if it's related to the Sunny's convenience stores in Houston (in fact, I'm not sure if the Houston stores are related to each other) but this gas station, formerly a Mobil, converted to a generic gas station that basically resembles an ersatz Exxon with yellow instead of red, almost like a royalty-free version of more famous brands.

Saigon Cafe / 220 SW HK Dodgen Loop
This restaurant has been Saigon Cafe since 2010. Other restaurants here included Mulligan's Grill (1988-1989), Emperors of China (1992-1993), and Mr. Fajita's Buffet (1994-2004). In the early 2010s I visited it with my brother and father as Saigon Cafe. At the time I thought it was pretty good but otherwise I can't remember much of it, including what I actually ordered. The highway ends here, even though there's a stoplight at Veterans Memorial. It used to have ramps and flyovers, though in both directions, Loop 363 was effectively squeezed into one lane for the bypass part. Even now, the left lane of the freeway becomes a left hand turn lane. At the southwest corner of the intersection is Everest Rehabilitation Hospital with an SE H K Dodgen Loop address...but that's for another post.

Fiesta Mart #17 (Houston, Texas)

Fiesta at night (2017). This is from Google and "Yelper Lou MC". Not mine, fair use.
As part of the on-going reorganization of some of the stuff I've written for Carbon-izer, I wanted to bring up the former Fiesta Mart at 4200 San Jacinto Street in Houston, Texas.

My fondest memories of the former Fiesta Mart #17 (45k square feet) was in 2014 with its distinctive "marquee" facade that lit up the night, and even in 2014 that felt quaint and a reminder of a different time (though it did open in 1988, there were other places from my past that weren't nearly as old as I thought they were). In any case, this Fiesta closed in July 2020. The closure of Fiesta was met by dismay by the neighborhood but there were several problems, including Fiesta's new ownership remerchandising and modernizing the chain, the large homeless population that milled around the area and intimidated shoppers (sometime in 2019 a fence was erected around the property with a gate that closed nightly), the new H-E-B at McGregor Road, and most importantly--the fact that it was connected to Sears' ownership. The store had opened as a supermarket complement to Sears on land it owned formerly used for parking. When Sears closed the store in the late 2010s and handed it over to Rice, Fiesta was on borrowed time and eventually the lease ran out and was not renewed. With the former Sears becoming the core of the new "Innovation District", the former Fiesta reopened as Greentown Labs, a clean energy business incubator. It should also be noted that since at least 2007 to its closure it had a Church's Chicken inside.
Update: I have been informed that the land was originally Rice's, Sears leased it long-term.

Coles Crossing Shopping Center (Cypress, Texas)

Picture of mine from January 2018.
As of this writing I'm redoing the Northwest Freeway - Outer Belt page, and this was eliminated in the redesign, so most of this is a port straight from that site. Coles Crossing Shopping Center is located at 12312 Barker Cypress Road at the southeast corner of Northwest Freeway and Barker Cypress Road in the Cypress/Houston area.

Of note is the main tenant, Star Furniture & Mattress (opened 2019), which used to be a Randalls from September 2001 to June 2018. It was one of the last new-build Randalls in Houston ever built, especially as Kroger and H-E-B (mostly H-E-B) continue to march onwards, and in June 2018 closed permanently, ending the Randalls legacy on Northwest Freeway (the distribution center and Randalls' other store had already closed by this time). The fact that there is a former original Safeway just two and a half miles away, shuttered (or at least built) around the late 1980s shows how lethargic Safeway was the second time around (and Albertsons, its new owner, isn't any better). The Exxon/Timewise gas station and convenience store opened in September 2018 following the closure of Randalls (12220 Barker Cypress)—this used to be the store's gas station and convenience store, and by October 2022, the Exxon had become a Shell (Shell bought the Timewise chain). You can see the PDF perma-linked (2019/2020 version) here, linked from this page. The picture above is mine from January 2015, when I visited the store (it had the "Lifestyle" renovation inside).

Here's some other pictures of the shopping center surrounding it, which is less visible from 290. (Jan 2015)

IMG_1915.JPG - Looking out at the first row of strips, looking east.
IMG_1916.JPG - Looking straight ahead. I was a bit surprised to see an Aggie gear shop in Houston. While these are a dime a dozen in my neck of the woods, it was a bit of a shock to see one here. Must be those graduated expatriates. (Later I found this closed just a few months later)
IMG_1917.JPG - I think these are directly to the west of Whoop U.
IMG_1918.JPG - Looking west. I didn't mean to take a photo of this woman, so I blurred her face out.
IMG_1920.JPG - Looking east, from the vantage point of the previous picture.

Random Locations of Kyle and Buda (Kyle, Texas)

These aren't too random since they're built off this page but they're too insignificant for separate pages so let's take a look at them. I've marked this page as being in Kyle but there are technically two in Buda, which is still reflected in the tags for this post.

98 Dupree Drive
Community Coffee used to operate CC's Coffee House in Texas, which I covered on Carbon-izer but they pulled out of the state years ago. However, they still maintain distribution in Texas, with this location servicing Austin-area grocery stores. It has been in this location since approximately since 2008.
Google Maps Link

575 FM 150 East
This opened as a Family Dollar around December 2006 but in 2019 it was closed and converted to a Dollar Tree. The address is shared with a strip center that has (as of 2022) Garcia's Mexican Restaurant, a chiropractor office, Kid to Kid (children's clothing resale), a liquor store, a martial arts studio, Kyle Donuts, and Lone Star Pediatric Dental & Braces - Kyle.
Google Maps Link

6001 Kyle Pkwy.
Ascension Seton Hays Hospital opened as Seton Medical Center Hays on October 1, 2009 with 112 beds. Following a 2017 merger with Ascension it was rebranded as Ascension Seton Hays in 2019.
Google Maps Link

1301 Old Goforth Road
Tom Green Elementary School is one of Hays County's older elementary schools (at least north of San Marcos), having opened in 1986 (Pre-K through Fifth Grade) and is named after a landowner that had previously owned it...not this guy.
Google Maps Link

270 Old San Antonio Road
This opened as an Arby's in late 2008 but in mid-2022 it was purchased by Texas Sausage Company and shut down, quickly reopening as Big's Meat Market (on July 1, 2022). Based on the article previously linked there wasn't much of a gap between purchase of the building and the opening of Big's Meat Market. Big's Meat Market permanently closed in late March 2023 following a "sudden and unexpected loss in staffing". It reopened as El Pollo Rico by the end of the year.
Google Maps Link

400 Old Post Road
Vertical Chapel was built in 2016 (currently planning an expansion). It was originally the home of Eikon Church. Vertical Chapel acquired the church in 2020 after Eikon vacated it and later purchased it outright. (This blog avoids controversial topics, but for the full story of how and why Eikon disintegrated, you can read up here.)
Google Maps Link

1819 Robert S. Light Blvd.
Bannered as "Poco Loco Market" (also "Poco Loco Market #3"), this gas station and convenience store opened in 2018 at what was the end of Robert S. Light Boulevard. On June 6, 2023, Robert S. Light was extended beyond Loop 4 to FM 1626.
Google Maps Link

850 Veterans Drive
Dollar General built a store on Rebel Drive in 2004 (renamed in 2020 for political reasons), and in 2006 a Golden Chick (830 Rebel Drive) was built off of Dollar General's parking lot.
Google Maps Link

Former Sonic on Mangum Road (Houston, Texas)

A paralyzed restaurant in limbo. (Google Street View).
I was surprised to hear that Piper's Cantina actually opened in October 2024, and I removed my old page for it on The Houston Files for an even more updated version here.

Originally, 1815 Mangum Road was home to a Gibraltar Savings (later First Gibraltar) bank (1976-1990) and in 1993 Sonic Drive-In was built on the site, joining a number of other restaurants (both fast food and sit down) on Mangum Road, creating a bit of a "restaurant row" near Northwest Mall, joining (at the time) Red Lobster, Steak & Ale, IHOP, Taco Bell, Long John Silver's, and others.

Around 2014 Sonic bowed out of the location after twenty years in the spot, with Checkers renovating and reopening the site in 2015, adding a connection to Pizza Inn's parking lot next door.

It closed around 2019 (when it was clear Checkers failed in Houston, though as a gas station co-brand it lives on), and reopened as Smokey Cheeks ("BBQ Butt Tex-Mex"), which operated from 2020 to 2021. After Smokey Cheeks closed, it was renovated yet again as Piper's Cantina, though it never opened after some $80,000 worth of restaurant equipment was stolen around late May 2022, and radio silence for over two years.

It's worth noting that there's a bit of a kerfuffle on Google Reviews. To summarize, a post made sometime in mid-2023 by one Shanna Burrell: "No food, no service, no atmosphere. 2 years and still nothing. And after seeing owners response to potential customers, Pipers might want to pipe down or there will never be any of the above." This was responded with: "Let us clarify something for you Shanna. You were not talking to the owners, You were talking to an individual who responded to you. You might want to do some research next time before you decide to blast a small business. You have zero right to review our restaurant as it IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION and was vandalized several times causing the lengthy delay. Go pipe down somewhere else." ...which is pretty odd as there's no reports since 2022 and has no signs of opening or any press (like a Facebook page). Despite the exceptionally rude and unprofessional outburst, the restaurant FINALLY opened in October 2024. We'll see how long it lasts...

This is an expanded version of what was previously posted on Carbon-izer.