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.