Spanish Village says adiós

This makes me sad:

Alas, another Houston restaurant staple is shuttering—Spanish Village. The Tex-Mex restaurant has been a part of the city's dining scene since it opened 70 years ago in 1953, but the last customer will be served on March 31.

Current owner Steve Rogers promised in a statement that Spanish Village will be honored in an upcoming project that is yet to be announced.

First slated for closure in 2021, Rogers kept Spanish Village open while he worked through redevelopment plans for the property and an adjacent tract of land. Although details on those plans haven’t been made public yet, “the restaurant’s legacy will live on in an upcoming project to be announced at a later date,” according to a release about the closure.

I've been eating at Spanish Village for as long as I can remember; my parents started dining there before I was even born, so the venerable restaurant with the concrete tables and year-round Christmas lights has been a fixture in my life. I've met friends there and taken dates there. There's even a picture of me and an infant Kirby on the restaurant's famed "polaroid wall."

When it was first slated for closure in July of 2021, my parents and I made sure to eat there for what we thought was the last time. That evening we learned from the then-owners that Rogers's offer had been made on the restaurant and it would not be closing after all. We were relieved at the news, but I was suspicious that the developer might only have been keeping the restaurant operational while he made plans to redevelop the site. Turns out my suspicions were correct.

Top be fair, the existing building that houses the restaurant - essentially a converted residence from the 1920s - is dilapidated, while ongoing redevelopment in its neighborhood at the edge of Third Ward and the Museum District is putting upward pressure on land prices. It makes financial sense for Rogers, who owns the restaurant property as well as an adjacent piece of land, to redevelop. Rogers, for what its worth, indicates that his new development will pay homage to Spanish Village.

Which is great, but it won't be a substitute for the sizzling fajitas and knock-you-on-your-ass margaritas that have sustained me for so many years. Needless to say, I have a few final trips to Spanish Village to make before it closes for good at the end of March.

Culturemap and Eater Houston have more.