Garth Road in Baytown (Baytown, Texas)

This page is another import from Carbon-izer.com dismantling the "East Houston Roads" page with a focus on Garth Road. It features a few updates that were not included on the page. The old page went from north to south, this re-orients the addresses in sequential order, ending at Interstate 10. Future Garth Road entries will likely go on their own page.

3203 Garth Road
Former Sonic closed in the mid-2000s, Texas Car Title & Payday Loans moved in around 2006 or 2007 but left the building abandoned sometime in the first half of 2016. It was demolished soon after.

3422 Garth Road
This was originally Krispy Kreme, which opened April 2017 but closed in November 2018. In 2020 it reopened as a Taco Bueno but closed about two years later.

Joe V's Smart Shop / 3500 Garth Road
This store opened in January 2012 as the fifth Joe V's store ever built. This store, a division of H-E-B, had to gut an old Kmart (1992-2003) to build it, most notably replacing the original facade and carving out a notch in the back to stick the new loading docks in.

Hibachi Grill & Buffet / 3703 Garth Road
This has been here since 2009. This was Ryan's from approx. 1993 to 2007.

Taqueria Arandas / 3912 Garth Road
This opened as an Arby's in fall 2008 but closed in early 2011. It has been Taqueria Arandas since 2013. Later on, Taqueria Arandas built an addition in front of the store.

Target / 4510 Garth Road
Baytown's lone Target store opened in 1994 and has been updated several times since its opening.

AR's Entertainment Hub / 4533 Garth Road
AR's Entertainment Hub opened January 2021 inside this former Kroger (branded as Kroger Signature during the 2000s and 2010s) that closed in March 2016 (replaced with a new Kroger Marketplace up the road at 6351 Garth). The Kroger originally opened in 1982 though looks like it expanded over the years.

4553 Garth Road
This was Venture from the early 1990s to 1998 (it was one of the three stores in Houston not sold to Kmart in 1997). After it closed, the former Venture #143 was later divided between Hobby Lobby and Ross Dress for Less.

Starbucks / 4557 Garth Road
This was Boston Market from 1995 to 1997, then Taco Cabana for a few years (1999-2003) before becoming Starbucks Coffee in 2004.

4610 Garth Road
This former Golden Corral operated from 1995 to 2020.

Captain D's / 4910 Garth Road
This location of Captain D's has operated since 1987. It is the only 1980s-era Captain D's seafood shops in the Houston area that hasn't closed down over the years.

Taco Cabana / 6311 Garth Road
This was built as a Pollo Tropical in 2016 but lasted a matter of months, and in 2018, it was reopened as sister chain Taco Cabana, which it still is.

H-E-B / 6430 Garth Road
After Baytown's lone H-E-B (former Pantry) closed in January 2012 for a Joe V's, Baytown regained a new H-E-B in December 2017. It's about 94,000 square feet.

Dairy Queen / 6431 Garth Road
Former Carl's Jr., opened in 2013, closed in 2018. Dairy Queen opened around 2019.

Exxon / 6525 Garth Road
This used to be a RaceWay (originally opened in 1995 as RaceTrac, converted to RaceWay in 2005) and sold its area stores to 7-Eleven in early 2021 (this one gained the Exxon name as a gas brand). When it was converted, the sign was also shortened...it used to be twice as tall.

6900 Garth Road
After a long pronounced decline, there is nothing left of San Jacinto Mall, located at the southwest corner of Garth Road and Interstate 10. It opened in 1981 with two overlapping wings (a little hard to describe, you'll have to look at a map to see what I mean), featuring five department stores, Mervyn's, Sears, Montgomery Ward, Foley's, and JCPenney, and four junior department stores, Bealls, Palais Royal, The Fair (replaced by Marshalls later), and Wilson's (later Service Merchandise). Eventually, all of these closed. Montgomery Ward closed with the chain's bankruptcy in 2001 and Mervyn's closed in January 2006 (when the chain pulled out of Houston), but ultimately the remaining three anchors closed as well: Sears (2018 as part of the chain's bankruptcy reorganization), JCPenney (2020 when that chain declared bankruptcy), and finally Macy's in 2021 (having converted from Foley's in 2006). During all this time, various redevelopment plans were circulated around, starting with one wing being redeveloped as apartments or outdoor retail. By the early 2010s, two of the wings had been demolished and eventually the whole thing was demolished. A closer look at this defunct mall is planned for this site with other links, but that's in the future for now. For now, there is an old Labelscar post, which is where I first learned of this mall. The DeadMalls.com entry is less helpful, though it does include a YouTube video that at least is entertaining to the halfway point. I hope to cover this on Carbon-izer soon.

McDonald's / 7000 Garth Road
Originally built in 1986, this McDonald's as I remember it had a nautical theme inside (basically blue walls and a few paintings of boats) with an outdoor playground. Around 2012 it was demolished and rebuilt to what it is today, a "yellow eyebrow" McDonald's with an indoor Playplace. The restaurant faces Garth Road but the sign is for highway drivers and the parking lot connects to the eastbound frontage road of I-10.