CARBON-IZER PRESENTS FM 1960 WEST

Initially, I didn't want to make an FM 1960 page, mostly on the grounds that the website West Houston Archives did something similar with far more photos than I could ever hope to have.

Unfortunately, John (from West Houston Archives) abandoned his website due to the method he had used (through the way the website editor changed) being outdated, prompting this page. My initial idea was to correct the legacy of a certain restaurant, but it soon evolved beyond that, to make corrections/updates/additions that were not covered in the original version.

While John's website can still be seen here and contain more photos than this page will ever have, this one will continue to be updated. This page is ordered in the same way as John's, with the addresses in reverse order from west to east.

Version 10.0 adds additional information and adds HR tags.

Additions: Whataburger (at Jones Road), Fix Auto, 7115 FM 1960 Rd. W. (former NTB), Cabo Bob's, Prose Champions, Bluewater Seafood, IHOP, 4845 FM 1960 Rd. West (former Arby's), 2103 FM 1960 West (former Woodland House), 2025 FM 1960 West (former Taco Cabana), ACE Cash Express, and Luby's.

Updates: Valvoline Instant Oil Change, Eldridge Town Center & Windermere Village (minor), 10843 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W. (formerly titled as "Whataburger"), 10660 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W. (formerly titled as "Hartz Chicken Buffet"), G Motors (formerly titled as "Houston Used Auto Sales"), Olive Garden, Jared The Galleria of Jewelry, Megacenter Willowbrook, 6705 Farm to Market 1960 Rd W., BlueWave Express Car Wash, and Cypress Pointe (relatively minor).

The icon indicates when there's a picture (or more!) on WHA.

US 290 to NORTH ELDRIDGE PARKWAY

McDonald's / 13145 FM 1960 West
Until I traversed the FM 1960 corridor to Willowbrook Mall in January 2017, I had little experience of FM 1960. I remember stopping at the McDonald's at 13145 FM 1960 West (for coffee and snacks) en route to the Houston Museum of Natural Science in 2008. I remember commenting on the incredible shrinking apple pie (and why they were so cheap). It was also one of the first "new-style" yellow-eyebrow McDonald's I remember going to before they started to rapidly tear down or renovate older "mansard roofs" en masse.

Interestingly, the store was just over a decade old before it was renovated.

Denny's / 13031 FM 1960 Rd. W.
This Denny's opened in December 1995 and is 24/7 again as of 2021. If only House of Pies could get the same idea...

13135 FM 1960 Road West
This gas station opened as RaceTrac #523 in 1996 and converted to RaceWay in 2006. Around early 2018 it closed permanently.

Burger King / 12929 FM 1960 Road West
This Burger King (#9434) originally opened in 1996 and was rebuilt in 2015-2016. Rumors it might close due to a land sale (and the fact that visibility has been reduced).

Country Inn & Suites / 12915 FM 1960 Road West
Officially the "Houston Northwest" location, this hotel (60 rooms on 3 floors), was built as a Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites in 2001. In 2016 was converted to a Country Inn & Suites.

Construction of FM 1960 has eliminated the parking in the front and required a reduction of the swimming pool's footprint.

12901 FM 1960 Road West
The Yelp review for this former Sonic indicates that it closed in early 2021 for miserable service than any other factor. It originally opened in 2006.

Panda Express / 12895 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W.
This Panda Express opened in 2006 not long after the Sonic next door, but has fared better than it.

The Home Depot / 12727 FM 1960 Road West
It apears that this Home Depot store was opened in early 2006.

Target / 12701 FM 1960 Road West
T-2144 opened in October 2006 (source). It replaced an early 1980s location at FM 1960 West and Jones Road.

Valvoline Instant Oil Change / 12611 FM 1960 Road W.
A Steak N Shake restaurant opened with much fanfare here in 2008 but ended up closing in 2015. After more than five years standing vacant, in 2022 it was finally torn down for Valvoline Instant Oil Change, which opened in spring 2023.

Conoco / 12603 FM 1960 Road W.
In lieu of a large convenience store, this Conoco has "Car Spa Car Wash" and an oil change/state inspection center. It has been here since 2000, with the Conoco branding here at least since 2007.

12620 FM 1960 West
This three-building strip center is a little hard to explain in writing. The first incarnation of the property was John Eagle Honda (12602 FM 1960 Road West) from approximately 1984 to 2003. After it moved, two buildings were developed, a strip center at 10311 North Eldridge Parkway, and an Eckerd at 12600 FM 1960 West. Unfortunately, the Eckerd closed in 2004 (operating for less than six months, as it was too close to existing CVS stores when Eckerd was dismantled). Eckerd was replaced by Sound Fitness, which operated from around 2006 to 2013. After closing, the sign of Sound Fitness remained up for several years afterward.

The third incarnation of the property renovated both buildings, and rebranded the former Eckerd/Sound Fitness building as 12620 FM 1960 (Building C) while adding an all-new Building A with the same address. (Presumably, the Eldridge building is "B"). Building C now has Walgreens (which relocated from their larger store catty-corner), Vision Concept, a vacant space, and Charleys Cheesesteaks. Building A features Candila Media Graphics (for a graphic company, the font is awful, the "a"s look like "o"s), The UPS Store, Avis/Budget, Verizon, and Tex Mex Grill & Bar.

More information is available at The Houston Files (back when it was the closed Sound Fitness) or Houston Historic Retail for a more modern look.

ELDRIDGE PARKWAY to JONES RD.

WSS / 12445 FM 1960 Road West
This was a former Walgreens that operated from 2000 to 2020. It relocated to the former Eckerd catty-corner (in a significantly downsized space). WSS opened in 2022.

ELDRIDGE TOWN CENTER & WINDERMERE VILLAGE

Kroger (12400 FM 1960 West) was originally built as an Albertsons (opened in October 2000, relocating from a mid-1990s store at Jones and Bridgedown). I visited the former Albertsons #2790 back in 2015 (covered at my old Albertsons blog) and was pleasantly surprised to find that Kroger still kept a lot of Albertsons' specialty flooring (even if the departments themselves no longer existed in those locations). When the store was an Albertsons, it featured a short-lived "Lawn & Garden" department, which Kroger did not keep upon the store's change of hands in spring 2002. The indoor parts of the garden center became some sort of "dollar store" department but the outdoor parts were never used. At the northeast corner of FM 1960 and Eldridge is a Kroger gas station. It was Albertsons Express originally with a full convenience store (the "Snacks" and "Beverages" signage were original to Albertsons) and for years it was branded as "Kwik Shop" but was re-branded as Kroger following the sale of Kwik Shop and other gas stations to EG Group. The gas station (torn down in 2020 and rebuilt without a convenience store) has the same address of a Kroger practically behind it.
• Kohl's (12330 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W.) opened in March 2002, so it did share some time with the Albertsons, if briefly.
• NTB Tire & Service Centers (12150 FM 1960 West) closed in 2020, current site plans show it being redeveloped as a fast food pad site.
• Panera Bread (12220 FM 1960 West) opened in 2002.
• Pretty much everything at 12020 FM 1960 West (except for AT&T and Edible Arrangements) has passed on from what was photographed back in January 2012.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers / 12407 FM 1960 Road West
This appears to have opened in early 2015 on what used to be Walmart's parking lot (the side closest to the road).

Chick-fil-A / 12325 FM 1960 West
This Chick-fil-A originally opened in 2002 in the parking lot of the Walmart and was completely rebuilt in 2021-2022 with better drive-through capacity.

Walmart / 12353 FM 1960 West
Originally branded as Wal-Mart Supercenter, this large discount store + food mart opened in July 2001.

Regency Inn & Suites / 12349 FM 1960 Rd. W.
This opened as a two-story Americas Best Value Inn & Suites behind the Raising Cane's (described next entry) sometime around late 2016 and early 2017, but between 2020 and 2021 it assumed the current name it has now.

Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers / 12345 FM 1960 Rd. W.
Raising Cane's opened in April 2012 but chose to focus on the fact that it opened on Friday the 13th rather than its ascending numerical address (12345).

CVS/pharmacy / 11600 FM 1960 West
The aforementioned Eckerd probably closed because of this CVS here, built around 2003.

Shell / 11702 FM 1960 West
I'm told this was opened c. 1996 as a Texaco but by 2007 this was a Valero (with a dry cleaner sub-tenant and car wash nearby). It became Exxon by 2011 (the dry cleaner had closed by then) and in 2018 the convenience store (but not the gas canopy) was torn down and rebuilt, adding a Subway inside. It gained the Shell branding around 2021. It looks like there was/is supposed to be a Golden Chick but it seems to have not yet happened (if ever).

11560 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W.
The Starbucks here opened in 2013, along with a Jersey Mike's Subs on the opposite end. As of March 2022, other tenants include Vivid Dental, Top Star Kitchen & Bath (this was "Absolute Vapor" as of 2019), and T&M Dry Cleaners Professional Tailor.

Texaco / 11595 FM 1960 West
This Valero has a generic food store (d/b/a Evergreen Food Mart) but the unique design of the station shows its legacy as a Stop N Go. It converted to Valero in the late 2000s (from what, is hard to tell--it's not Diamond Shamrock) and to Texaco sometime in 2019.

Econo Lodge / 11570 FM 1960 Rd. W
Located between and behind the strip center and Zaxby's is this hotel. This was built in 2016 as a Budget Host Inn (with its dated brown-and-yellow logo) but converted to Econo Lodge (Econo Lodge Inn & Suites Houston NW-Cy-Fair) by mid-2018.

Zaxby's / 11550 FM 1960 West
Zaxby's opened here in 2010. Although it was one of the earlier Zaxby's locations in the area, it was neither the first in Texas nor in Houston.

Volkswagen Cypress / 11411 FM 1960 W.
This car dealership opened around December 2022 or January 2023 (possibly as early as late 2022), moving from a dealership on Northwest Freeway. Back in 1986 it opened as Steeplechase Lincoln-Mercury, 1986, which added Subaru vehicles soon after to be Steeplechase Lincoln-Mercury-Subaru by 1988, and converted to Charlie Thomas Lincoln-Mercury-Subaru by year-end. By 1990 it was Charlie Thomas Lincoln-Mercury-Isuzu-Subaru (adding a fourth brand to the mix) and later that year became Leland-Steeplechase Lincoln-Mercury-Isuzu (dropping Subaru). In early 1996 it changed hands again to become Texan Lincoln-Mercury-Isuzu and closed a few years later. By 2003 it was Northwest Suzuki (operating in the smaller half of the facility) but that closed in 2009. This smaller building was used for Northwest Dodge Certified Pre-Owned briefly in the mid-2010s but it was gone by late 2017. By January 2023, Volkswagen Cypress was open and had rebuilt the lot completely with new parking lots and buildings.

Dairy Queen / 11130 FM 1960 West
Now branded as a "DQ", this restaurant has been here since the 1970s and at one time was the only establishment between the Jones Road intersection all the way to the Hempstead Highway intersection.

Whataburger / 11030 FM 1960 West
Whataburger relocated here from 10843 in August 2023 though there was a full four-day gap between the move.

Black Rifle Coffee Company / 11006 FM 1960 West
This former Taco Cabana closed in January 2021 a year after the big Taco Cabana closures, and reopened as Black Rifle Coffee Co. in September 2022.

JONES RD. to PERRY RD.

For more information on Jones Road, check out the North Houston page.

Big Lots / 10951 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W
Big Lots was built as a Kroger "Super Store" (a model of Kroger, not a branding), originally opening in late 1978 or early 1979. Exterior-wise, this was a "greenhouse" Kroger. Ultimately, the Kroger pulled out less than a decade later (closed by late 1986) and by 1988 it was Pic'N'Save and in 1992 it was Mac Frugal's, the new name of the chain. In 2002, the store was rebranded as Big Lots. More on this former Kroger will be explored soon.

10843 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W.
Whataburger (#279) relocated here from 11035 Jones Road (see the North Houston page) in the mid-1990s and closed in August 2023 when it relocated to 11030 (see above). WHA's picture shows the restaurant (at 10843 FM 1960 W.) with its blue trim, which it had since the late 1990s but changed at some point in the 2010s.

Wendy's / 10953 Farm to Market 1960 Rd W
This 1985 Wendy's was the last Wendy's I knew of in Houston that had the original "solarium" roof. Unfortunately, in 2018-2019 the restaurant was renovated and doesn't look like that anymore. Good thing I took my own interior pictures!

Wendy's exterior, February 2017
Wendy's solarium, February 2017

Fitness Connection / 10920 FM 1960 West
The original tenant here was Eagle Discount Supermarkets from 1974 to 1985, a supermarket chain that was operated by Lucky Stores out of California and was Lucky in all but name. It served as a few other grocery stores afterwards including King Saver Warehouse Foods (1985-1988, though there appears a time when it was closed for a year before reopening with a new store number. In the late 1980s it served as Freshville Foods, a one-off that occupied other former Eagle locations, and from 1992 to 1996 it was now-defunct hobby retailer Crafts Etc. (closing with the chain's bankruptcy), and finally it was 24 Hour Fitness from 1999 to 2015, with Fitness Connection reopening it in 2016. Fitness Connection doesn't use all of the space, there was a restaurant nearby in the same building. It looks like it will reopen as Sleepy's Po-Boys, but in the 2010s it was CiCi's.

Chimac / 10860 FM 1960 West
Formerly a dated Hartz Chicken Buffet (Hartz Chicken) restaurant (#113) that operated here from 1989 to 2016, the space today (opened early 2019) is a Korean chicken restaurant. Hartz is now located a bit down the street (but didn't move immediately, see next entry).

10660 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W.
This was built as a Taco Bell in 1993 and later renovated into a combo Taco Bell/Long John Silvers (the building was later renovated, possibly when LJS was added around the early 2000s). Taco Bell/LJS closed between May 2016 and May 2017, but Hartz Chicken Buffet, its most recent tenant, didn't move here immediately from their old location, opening in 2018 but closing in summer 2023.

TitleMax Title Loans / 10610 FM 1960 Road West
This was a McDonald's (with a Playplace, looks like) from approximately around 1991 to 2001. After that, it was several other businesses including Zak's (~2002), Tio Chucho Ostioneria & Bar (2003-2004), Pete's BBQ (2007-2008), Overtime Sports Bar & Grill (2008-2009), Bikini Wing Bar (2010-2012). In March 2012, Bikini Wing Bar was rebranded as Babe's (aka Babe's North to complement Babe's at 5614 Hillcroft) but was shut down later that year. TitleMax Title Loans opened by 2014 and has been there since.

Buddy's Home Furnishings / 10602 FM 1960 West
This establishment was originally a Wolfe Nursery then "Liquid" in the early 2000s and Bizarre Bazaar sometime until 2017 or 2018. Liquid sold the same sort of stuff Bizarre Bazaar did...smoking accessories, sex toys, the like.

Captain Tom's Seafood & Oyster Bar / 10501 FM 1960 West
This boat shaped restaurant was originally further down the street but moved to this new location in late 2015/early 2016 after moving from its old spot in the strip mall parking lot down the street.

Idlewilde Apartment Homes / 9915 FM 1960 West
This apartment complex was built in 2008.

Circle K / 9403 FM 1960 West
As of December 2007, this was Valero with Corner Store. By 2019 Corner Store had converted to Circle K, and in 2021, dropped the Valero gas brand entirely. It was originally Stop-N-Go (likely self-branded) when it opened circa 1988.

Fix Auto / 9350 Cypress Creek Pkwy.
This was a MAACO when it was built and opened in 2005, though in 2023 it was replaced by Fix Auto (possibly switching franchises). Next door is a vacant space (9306 FM 1960 West) where a Shell most recently operated. The Shell opened around 1990 as a Mobil though became Shell by the early 1990s and demolished in 2023.

PERRY RD. TO SH 249

McDonald's / 9351 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W This McDonald's opened in 2001 to replace the one down the street. While also initially a "mansard roof", the restaurant received an exterior change in 2017.

Exxon / 9275 FM 1960 West
This 7-Eleven/Exxon (includes Laredo Taco Company) was built on a vacant pad that originally housed a Red Lobster, then Prime Time Steakhouse, which operated from sometime in the 1990s to 2013. It was demolished six or seven years later. 7-Eleven opened around January 2023.

G Motors / 8725 FM 1960 Road West
An abandoned Sonic stood for nearly a decade before becoming this used auto lot (Houston Used Auto Sales) in fall 2016. This became G Motors between 2022 and 2023. As Sonic, it had an incredibly short life as a Sonic, opening in mid-2006 but closing up by the end of 2007.

Deseret Industries / 8625 FM 1960 Road West
Formerly a Sports Authority until it closed in the spring 2016 with the chain, this was a former Oshman's as WHA states. However, it was more than just an Oshman's, it was Oshman's SuperSports USA. An ad in a September 1995 issue of the Houston Chronicle showcased all the features of the new store. Sometime around late 2005 or early 2006, it was rebranded as Sports Authority with the rest of the chain (but by its closure, most of those nifty features SSUSA had were gone). In early 2021, it opened as Deseret Industries thrift store, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Notably, it is their first store outside of the western United States.

Jack in the Box / 8603 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W.
This fast food chain has been here at least since 1994, predating Oshman's.

7-Eleven / 8550 FM 1960 Road West
This opened in late 2013 as RaceWay and after RaceWay sold its area stores to 7-Eleven in early 2021, and was operating as such by April 2021, complete with a branded canopy. (It may have even skipped the "Mobil Mart" transitionary phase!)

Burlington / 8415 Farm to Market 1960 Road West
This opened as The Home Depot back in 1985, one of the very first Home Depot stores in the Houston area. In March 1994 it closed and moved to 18355 Tomball Parkway (which has since moved again). Burlington Coat Factory opened later in 1994 and the rest is history (well, aside from dropping the "Coat Factory" from the store name). Behind it is a vacant lot that used to be a scrapyard back in the 1970s and 1980s (see West Houston Archives).

WILLOWCHASE CENTER

• Fiesta Mart opened Store #20 in 1989 at 8320 FM 1960 West, part of a new breed of Fiesta stores that saw it go into the suburbs with larger and slightly more upscale stores, responding to both demographic shifts and trying to reach new markets entirely. This is the same era where an award-winning (but ultimately short lived) store in Webster opened with a hydroponic garden located inside the store, a store at 1005 Blalock at Katy Freeway, and three relatively nice stores along FM 1960, this one, one in Humble (soon bought by Randalls, which closed it very soon after), and 2224 FM 1960 (former Woolco, also bought by Randalls, also short-lived under Randalls).
• March 1990 brought the opening of Weiner's, at 12976 Willow Chase Drive but it appears that this location was killed in a round of 1995 closings. (the company went out of business in 2001).
• Northern Tool + Equipment uses the address of 12950 Willow Chase but as of 1994, it was Ivy Restaurant, a Chinese buffet. It was later named Lucky Royal under new ownership and closed in 2002.

Rooms to Go / 12990 Willow Chase Drive
Rooms to Go was once a Mervyn's department store (#127), opened in spring 1984 with several other Mervyn's stores in the area, until its closure in January 2006 (which was also when Mervyn's exited Houston, among other areas). A few years later, an extensive renovation followed that gutted the building and transformed it into Rooms to Go.

7-Eleven / 8015 West FM 1960
At the southwest corner of 249 and FM 1960 is a 7-Eleven gas station with a Laredo Taco Company (it is self-branded). It replaced a Texas Land & Cattle Steakhouse, a chain restaurant that operated here from 2000 to January 2017. The restaurant building and its adjacent parking lot were demolished, 7-Eleven opened in 2021.

SH 249 TO CUTTEN RD.

They renamed this section of FM 1960 West as "Cypress Creek Parkway" in the early 2010s. As a result, the addresses here as referred to Cypress Creek Parkway, not FM 1960 West or FM 1960 Road West.

Sam's Club / 7950 Cypress Creek Pkwy.
Opening in August 1994 as "Builders Square II" (a larger version of the Builders Square hardware store, owned by Kmart). The Builders Square II name was later de-emphasized—it was not used in advertisements and by the late 1990s it was only Builder's Square no matter what it said on the outside. In June 1999, the company (spun off from Kmart in 1997 and merged with Maryland-based Hechinger) filed for bankruptcy and closed the remaining six stores in Houston (the company would go out of business later that year after unsuccessfully trying to convert Builders Square to their other brand, Home Quarters). In 2001, the store reopened as a Sam's Club.

Kirin II Japanese Seafood Buffet / 7615 Cypress Creek Parkway
This has several other names, such as Kirin Japanese Seafood & Sushi Buffet, but it opened in 1998 in a former Shoney's (#550) that opened in 1993 and closed in 1996.

Willowbrook Mall / 2000 Willowbrook Mall
We have a dedicated Willowbrook Mall page on this very website. Check it out here. (Regrettably, but not unexpectedly, Sears Hometown did not last a year). Back in 2021, "Anonymous in Houston" has written a bit on Willowbrook Mall on Houston Historic Retail.

In-N-Out Burger / 7611 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W.
The Houston area's third In-N-Out Burger opened in September 2020 but the first in Houston proper. Previously, the site held a Chase bank, which I'm told was a Bank One prior to Chase.

El Paso Mexican Grill / 7607 Cypress Creek Pkwy.
Located behind In-N-Out and Kirin, this was Romano's Macaroni Grill from 1993 to around 2017, and has been El Paso since 2018.

Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers / 7535 Cypress Creek Parkway
One of the restaurants that surrounds Willowbrook Mall, this restaurant has its nickname as "The Traffic Jam" and opened December 2014. It was some sort of bank originally, by fall 2008 it was already closed and dismantled.

Olive Garden / 7525 Cypress Creek Parkway
This Olive Garden restaurant has been here since 1989. For years it sat beside a Fuddruckers at 7511 Cypress Creek Pkwy. (FM 1960 West), predating it (Fuddruckers opened in 1983). Just before Fuddruckers was planning to relocate into the mall proper (ultimately cancelled), it burned down in a September 2022 fire and was demolished soon after.

Jared The Galleria of Jewelry / 7400 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W.
This opened in 1999 in a renovated former Two Pesos/Taco Cabana (1988-1996, approximately).

Best Buy / 7318 Farm to Market 1960 Rd W.
From 1976 to 1989 this was 84 Lumber (with its own rail spur) but became one of Houston's first Best Buy stores in 1991. In 2002 the store was rebuilt, going from 27,000 square feet to 44,000 square feet.

7115 FM 1960 Rd. W.
This former NTB Tire & Service Center closed between February 2020 and April 2021 after being open since 1992.

Cabo Bob's / 7103 Cypress Creek Pkwy.
This was James Coney Island (JCI Grill) from 1998 to the early 2020s when it closed and was leased to Cabo Bob's (opened 2022).

Megacenter Willowbrook / 7075 Cypress Creek Parkway
Built as a Wal-Mart in 1995 (store #597) and expanded to a Supercenter within seven years, this Walmart (as it was branded by that time) was marked for closure in January 2016. A few years later it was renovated a "Megacenter Willowbrook", some sort of hybrid office park/self storage center.

Eagle-eyed retail viewers will notice the store number is relatively low for a mid-1990s era store, and they'd be correct...it was originally located at 22420 FM 149 (now 22420 Tomball Pkwy.) and officially relocated to this location, despite being several miles down (a Supercenter at Spring Cypress and 249 did not open until 2003).

I won't link to Bluepages Wiki because it's wrong in this case (as of this writing anyway), claiming the Walmart Supercenter opened in 1999, which is only half-right...it expanded to a Supercenter in 1999, by the late 1990s it had long fled its Tomball Parkway location.

Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen / 7110 FM 1960 Road West
As I've found in writing about Katy Freeway, Loop 610, and Northwest Freeway, this Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen is right next to Pappasito's, in this case across Champion Centre Drive. Pappadeaux #10 opened in May 1994.

Pappasito's Cantina / 7050 FM 1960 Road West
Pappasito's Cantina opened in either December 1993 or very early 1994.

CUTTEN ROAD to CHAMPION FOREST DRIVE

En Vain / 6944 FM 1960 Road West
Restaurant, bar, and hookah lounge En Vain is the latest tenant at this location. Originally Robbins Bros. from 2007 to 2009, and Shannon Fine Jewelry from 2012 to June 2018, this reopened as sports bar Stacked Pickle in mid-2021 but it closed after less than a year. En Vain opened in October 2022.

The building sits on the site of the original 6940, Golden Corral (see "6940 FM 1960 West" below).

6940 FM 1960 West
Home of Freebirds World Burrito since 2007 with Jimmy John's joining it a few years later (in the back half of the building), 6940 was originally used for a Golden Corral where En Vain is now (where 6940 and 6930 now was part of their parking lot), which operated from 1992 to 2000, with Larry's Bar-B-Q replacing it from around 2000 to 2002. From 2003 to 2004 it was the Golden Bean Buffet. The empty building was torn down in 2005.

Target / 6801 FM 1960 Rd. W.
Target store T-2066 opened in October 2005.

6705 Farm to Market 1960 Rd W.
The Mariner was here originally, same restaurant as the one formerly at 5919 Westheimer Road (see our Westheimer Road page for an advertisement) from around 1973 to 1986, and Interior Fabrics from 1991 to 2016.

This currently has two tenants, McCallum's Upholstery (Ste. B) and Bowen Fabrics (Ste. A). Both businesses moved here in 2016, though Bowen Fabrics was originally "House of Fabrics" until sometime 2022-2023.

Prose Champions / 6701 FM 1960 West
This apartment complex was built in the early 2020s but the address originally referred to some small buildings just directly east of 6705 FM 1960 Road West.

They were demolished in 2009 and there were three small house-like businesses sharing the 6701 W. FM 1960 address. These were photographed by John in 2009 but he had no idea what they were. Thanks to state taxpayer resources, we have now figured these out.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car from 1984 to 1993. This was not marked as "A" but rather the "main" building that was demolished first. (Possibly.)

6701 B was Gogi's Hair Styling for Tots & Teens from 1977 to 1983 and ABC Pet Grooming from around 1987-1988. Patty's Country Memories was here from 1992 to 1994, and Window Scenes from 1994 to 1996.

C was Kiki's Hair Place from 1982 to 1985 and Faye's Grooming and Boarding from 1988 to 2004.

Bluewater Seafood / 6107 FM 1960 Road West
This was a short-lived Hartz Chicken (1983-1986) before becoming Discount Carpets & Flooring in 1990, which it was until the mid 1990s. In 1996 it reopened as a restaurant, Bluewater Seafood and the first location of a small chain.

MoneyMax Title Loans / 5918 FM 1960 Road W.
This was originally a Mr. Gatti's Pizza from 1977 to around 1997 (maybe early 1998) and Joey D's Grill & Icehouse from 2003 to 2005. It doesn't look like it was anything in the late 1990s and early 2000s (a 2002 ad mentions a moving sale hosted at that address). From December 2005 (or early 2006) to around early 2009 it was Alma Latina, with Patron Bar & Grill (probably meant to be read as "Patrón") by 2011. Since at least 2013 it has been MoneyMax Title Loans.

Champions Service Center / 5902 FM 1960 W.
This gas station and auto garage lost its Shell branding between October 2019 and March 2020. It may have since gotten a new brand. According to Harris County Appraisal District, the service station dates back to 1967. A banner went up in 2017 celebrating 50 years in business, and has definitely been under that name since 1980 (though the gas brand is unknown).

IHOP / 5790 FM 1960 Road West
This restaurant opened in 1991 and anchors this shopping center. At the other end of the shopping center was another chain restaurant, Outback Steakhouse (5710 FM 1960 Rd. W.--also opened in 1991 when the center was built), but it closed in February 2018 and is still vacant.

Starbucks / 5602 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W.
This Starbucks Coffee location opened in April 2014, replacing a floral shop-turned-Ben & Jerry's (see West Houston Archives link) and a stand-alone Subway (which moved to the adjacent shopping center). For some reason it faces backward, with the drive-through lane and dumpster enclosure facing FM 1960.

CHAMPIONS FOREST DRIVE to STUEBNER-AIRLINE RD./VETERANS MEMORIAL ROAD

Fidelity Investments / 5322 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W.
Steak N Shake's first attempt at FM 1960 West was back in 1976 though it was not long for this world and sold its local restaurants to Grandy's in 1978. In 1993, it closed and was replaced with Houston's first California Pizza Kitchen restaurant in 1994, but it closed in 1996. In 2000, the vacant restaurant reopened as Brendan's Bistro Park, and by December 2001 became Stonegate Prime Steaks & Seafood, run by Jim Kelly of Del Frisco's (but not the one in Uptown today, long story). In 2008 Stonegate closed, and was replaced with Orioli's in 2009, which reused most of the signage to open as "Orioli's Prime Steaks & Seafood" but it closed in 2010. After sitting vacant for a few years, the restaurant was demolished for a Fidelity office.

CHAMPIONS VILLAGE SHOPPING CENTER

• West Houston Archives never mentioned Empress of China, with the way I found it about it via Houston Historic Retail. Mike (of HHR) was doubtful that the restaurant was nearly as good as claimed, as the original author gushed about the restaurant, talking it up as "Houston's most elegant, word of mouth, high cuisine restaurants with extensive wine selection" and how it "truly" featured "culinary art". The earliest reference I could find to Empress of China (5419-A FM 1960) was in 1984. By the late 1980s it was considered to be one of the best Chinese restaurants in Houston with the restaurant also getting named in "Top Wine List" listings. The restaurant was different from other typical Chinese restaurants of the time, emphasizing healthier cooking methods (rarely frying) and other features. The restaurant was renamed Empress in 1996 (though the name Empress of China continued until its closure) and closed in March 2003. The owners reopened as "Cafe Empress" at 17505 State Hwy 249 in 2004 but it closed within a few years for Guayaba Latin Grill (which has since closed).
• Service Merchandise was a former Wilson's store opened in 1977, but it didn't last too long at Champions Village. After converting to the Service Merchandise name in 1985 along with the other Wilson's stores, in 1993 it closed and by 1994 Stein Mart had filled in part of the space. Stein Mart and T.J. Maxx co-occupied the space in later years, but Stein Mart closed in 2020.
• Sakowitz II, a specialty store based after the larger department store, opened in 1978. It lasted until the chain went under in 1990, and even as the chain was in its death throes, was still mentioned as Sakowitz II and not as Sakowitz Destinations, which was the new "specialty store" chain name that new ownership created.
• Randalls (5219 FM 1960 W.) was originally a Handy Andy opened in 1974. In 1979 (or even 1980), the store was closed and soon reopened by Randalls, which later expanded it and briefly had it under the Flagship Randalls name. From the sky, Handy Andy's distinctive design can still be seen; however, Randalls later modified the front.
• Palais Royal (5407 FM 1960 W.) also closed in 2020 (or very late 2019) as part of Stage Stores' last-ditch attempt to convert all of their stores to Gordmans, and was replaced with Painted Tree, which looks to be some sort of upscale rent-by-the-booth market focusing on home decor items.

Shell / 5103 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W.
The most notable change that this Shell station (at Greenwood Forest) has seen since March 2009 is that around 2018-2019, Timewise (which owned the store since at least the early 2010s) removed the canopy between the gas pumps and the store. It also has seen its main road sign changed out to a digital one.

SignatureCare Emergency Center / 5003 Cypress Creek Pkwy.
This was a former Walgreens, which operated from 2002 to sometime around early 2016. The emergency room opened in the building in early 2019. At one point in time relatively recently (captured in Google Street View) they hung a banner clarifying that this was this was an emergency room, not a testing center.

4845 FM 1960 Rd. West
This currently-vacant restaurant first opened as Diego's, a Mexican fast food restaurant, in January 1979 and by Kentucky Fried Chicken by 1984. At some point in the 1990s KFC closed and was replaced by Fazoli's, which it was from about 1998 to 2007. Arby's replaced it, operating from 2007 to about 2022.

STUEBNER-AIRLINE RD./VETERANS MEMORIAL ROAD to KUYKENDAHL ROAD

Gold's Gym / 4425 FM 1960 Rd. W.
Perhaps we can cover the rest of this shopping center someday, but the main tenant was an Albertsons (from 1995 to 2002), and later was filled by 24 Hour Fitness (2006 to 2020, permanently closing during COVID-19 induced bankruptcy). By late 2022 Gold's Gym had moved in.

4220 FM 1960 West
Spring Creek Barbecue opened here in 2007 but it appears they closed around spring 2020 for reasons we're all familiar with.

The Home Depot / 4159 Farm to Market 1960 West
This Home Depot store (#6828) opened in 2005. The entrance to the store is signal-controlled and shares the signal with Gladebrook Drive.

Chick-fil-A / 3655 Cypress Creek Parkway
This was what I originally wanted to cover in this section. WHA purports that the restaurant that was originally here (before Chick-fil-A) opened in 1980. However, that isn't the case, only the original "Hunan Chef" was. In actuality, this was originally a buffet restaurant called "The Covered Dish" which opened around 1989 (one of my friends worked here many years ago) but by summer 1994 it was a HomeTown Buffet (which was later bought by Buffets Inc.), which opened in the spot. The last mention of HomeTown Buffet was in October 2002 (many area groups met there over the years), with the first mention of Hunan Chef (operating as "Hunan Chef III") in 2006. In 2012, the restaurant closed and was torn down. Chick-fil-A was built on the site a few years later.

Walmart / 3450 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W.
This store opened in October 2002 as a "Wal-Mart Supercenter" and has a McDonald's inside (as of late 2022, still open!). It is store #1103 and replaced the store across the street (see below).

Sun's Wholesale Club / 3645 Cypress Creek Pkwy.
Sun's Wholesale Club (the resemblance to a more famous "S__'s Wholesale Club" by its old occupant is surely not a coincidence). It is part of a reconfiguration that reworked the former Wal-Mart at 3275 FM 1960 Road West. It was the original #1103 and operated from October 1987 to 2002, expanding once in the mid-1990s. Other portions of the former building were reworked into other strip mall-like tenants. If you look at WHA's 2012 shot of the building, there's a tenant marked "Treasures of [something]". It replaced Northwest Assistance Ministries, which despite only occupying half of the building, repainted the building with white with checkerboard accents.

The Brisket House / 3301 Cypress Creek Parkway
This was a Fuddruckers from 1993 to 2010 (though could've closed a few years earlier) and became Brisket House in 2016, which repainted the building.

The Pulperia / 3235 Cypress Creek Pkwy.
This opened in 1988 as Quaker State Minit-Lube and later became Q CarCare (the full-service version of Q Lube) before converting to Jiffy Lube in the late 1990s and closing a few years later (this was a result of Quaker State merging with Jiffy Lube's parent company Pennzoil). Later it became Shakes Frozen Custard in the mid-2000s (with a rebuild) and became Texas Car Title & Payday Loan before becoming The Pulperia in 2020.

2907 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W.
This was a Discount Tire from 1988 to spring 1988. Just to the immediate west of here was Games People Play, an outdoor amusement park with mini-golf, a batting cage, and even a few waterslides, though GPP has been closed since the early 1990s. As of April 2022, it has been renovated into a small strip center. Suite A is still vacant, but B is Advance Dental dental implant center, and C is Accent Nails & Spa.

McDonald's / 2424 Cypress Creek Parkway
This McDonald's restaurant relocated here in 2000 from their old location at 15700 Kuykendahl.

Wings-N-Things / 2318 Cypress Creek Parkway
2318 FM 1960 has a build date according of 1970 according to HCAD with the first recorded tenant being Sambo's in 1974, a chain restaurant based out of California. Sambo's (as a chain) collapsed in the early 1980s due to allegations of racist imagery (though those problems really stemmed from the illustrations of the book it was based after being geographically incorrect) and poor corporate planning, though the California restaurant retained its original name until 2020. By December 1981, this location had become an antique store (Antique Gallerie), which lasted at least a few years. It served as Applebee's (then known as T.J. Applebee's) from 1984 to 1988, and very briefly Village Inn (1990-1991). In 1993 it re-opened as the home to sports bar and family restaurant Bleacher's All-American Grill and by 1998 it was Wings N More (so says the Houston Chronicle), yet it wasn't the Wings N More in Houston that later became BreWingz (it's a bit of a long story), and the store flipped back to Wings-N-Things by 2001.

KUYKENDAHL RD. TO I-45

Circle K / 2230 Farm to Market 1960 Rd W.
One of a rare breed of Circle K stores that opened in very early 2015 before the Corner Store acquisition, this Circle K (which changed to the "modern" logo just a few years after opening) replaced a long-vacant lot. Checkers opened here in 1994 but only operated until 1996. Prior to that it was Bammel Service Center (gas brand unknown) from 1979 to 1990. Circle K also replaced two smaller buildings at the shopping center (Corum Shopping Center) that were torn down around the time of the building of the Kuykendahl Road underpass.

2224 Cypress Creek Parkway
Woolco opened at 2224 FM 1960 in June 1979, bringing the total number of Woolco stores in the Houston area (along with a store at 12586 Westheimer) to 13, only to announce its closing a little more than three years later, with going out of business sales underway in fall 1982 with the last of its fixtures being auctioned off in January 1983. Later that year, part of the space (only about 50,000 square feet) became Front Row, which remained through most of the 1980s to move to 2206 FM 1960 to make room for Fiesta Mart #15, which opened in late 1989. The store closed in 1997 for a Randalls which opened in 1998. However, the store appeared to have been closed without much fanfare just a few years later. I previously wrote about this store at my old Albertsons blog.

Additionally, part of the space also became J. Brannam in 1980 (an off-price clothing store owned by Woolworth, often used some excess Woolco space), which closed in 1985.

Bargain Furniture / 2226 FM 1960 West
Bargain Furniture has been here since November 2017. It was formerly Cafe Pappadeaux (I'm not sure of any functional differences between it and Pappaddeaux Seafood Kitchen; in fact, the roadside marquee as of 2010 marked it as the latter) from 1987 to around 2010-2011, when it closed. The Chuck E. Cheese's discussed at WHA was not in this building, it was in the strip center behind it.

2103 FM 1960 West
The blight continues with this abandoned Chinese buffet, Woodland House. It is named as such as the original location was in the Woodlands (355 Sawdust Road) that existed from 1995 to 2003. This location opened a few years later but also stayed open much longer, operating from 1998 to 2013. Originally, this was a location of Chi-Chi's, which opened in June 1984. The restaurant chain pulled out of Houston about 18 months later, but by early 1987 it was replaced by The Olive Garden, which closed just shy of a decade later.

2025 FM 1960 West
While it has not been sitting quite as long as Woodland House, this abandoned Taco Cabana closed permanently in December 2018 and is in horrible shape. It originally opened in 1994.

BlueWave Express Car Wash / 2005 FM 1960 West
This was Black-eyed Pea from 1992 to 2016 (the year when BEP functionally disappeared as a chain). The building was demolished soon after and BlueWave opened in 2019.

Denny's / 1760 Farm to Market 1960 Road West
This Denny's restaurant opened around December 1977, and has been going since.

Pollo Regio / 1623 Cypress Creek Parkway
Krystal opened its only Houston location in 2006 and closed around 2012. It later reopened as Pollo Regio. John's July 2012 picture of the Krystal (closed, but looking largely like it did open) can be seen here.

1602 FM 1960 West
This Jack in the Box operated from approximately 1975 to around spring 2018. WHA has a picture of the restaurant when it was open (with the 2009 logo).

Leslie's Pool Supplies / 1600 Cypress Creek Pkwy.
Leslie's has been here circa 1990, though this started out as Straw Hat Pizza Palace in 1973. Around 1980 it became New Vaudeville Pizza House and afterwards became Daddy's Grub (aka Big Daddy's Cafe) for a few years. In 1985 it was "The Party Tub" (event space, looks like), but other than that information is sparse for this one.

Food Town / 1420 Cypress Creek Pkwy.
The grocery store anchoring this strip center was Eagle Discount Supermarket from 1971 to 1985 and Gerland's Food Fair from 1985 to 2001. It was still branded as "Food Fair" up until 2015 when it was converted to Food Town.

17203 Bamwood Drive
This is a little bit off the beaten path and might be removed in a future update, but it's worth covering anyway.

In 1980, a gymnastics center at 17203 Bamwood was built, known as "Gym-n-i Gymnastics Center". In the early 1980s, recently defected Olympics team trainer Béla Károlyi invested in the gym and ended up buying it in 1982 (renaming it as "Karolyi's Gym") and spurring the creation of many similar facilities in the area. In 1996, the Bamwood facility was purchased by James Holmes of College Station and renamed Acrofit Gymnastics (more on Acrofit Gymnastics can be seen at Brazos Buildings & Businesses). Károlyi continued to operate Karolyi Ranch until it was shut down as part of the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal. Around 2000 Acrofit opened a new facility at 2103 Anders Lane in Kemah, though I'm not sure if both locations co-existed at the same time (probably not) but this location was gone by 2004.

Today, the building houses High Energy Lighting Inc., which has since bought by/merged with Famous Stages, Inc. and is in use as their warehouse (their showroom is elsewhere in town).

Loanstar Title Loans / 1114 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W.
This was Monterey House, which later became Monterey's Tex-Mex Cafe and Monterey's Little Mexico. As a restaurant it appeared to have closed sometime around the mid-2000s.

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen / 1001 Cypress Creek Parkway
Opened late 2020 according to tax records, though as of mid-November 2020 wasn't quite ready yet.

ACE Cash Express / 810 Cypress Creek Pkwy.
This was Church's Chicken from 1977 to 1982, then Kentucky Fried Chicken from 1982 to 1988. From 1988 to 1992 this was Mr. Hoagies (Mr. Hoagies would move one more time before settling in its current home at 2040 FM 1960 West), but has been ACE Cash Express since 1993 (originally at 810 FM 1960 West, the Cypress Creek name came later). The Dunkin' (Dunkin' Donuts) next door at 814 FM 1960 West opened in October 1977 originally and has been there since.

Luby's / 730 FM 1960 West
This Luby's is a bit unusual because it has an office building (736) built onto it (as opposed as an "office tower with a Luby's on the lower level"). This partial upper level has businesses like a "Durrett Chiropractic and Natural Health Care Clinic - A Wellness Center".

Pappas Bar-B-Q / 703 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W.
This was a Luther's Bar-B-Q until around the mid-2000s when it was converted to the Pappas name.

Slim Chickens / 510 FM 1960 W.
Carl's Jr. opened here in 2013 on the site of a Shell station (Shell since 1992 opening), but closed up shop around early 2020. Slim Chickens opened in 2022.

B!G Mart / 475 FM 1960 West
This was built as a 7-Eleven in 1986 (presumably with Citgo as the gas brand) but got sold to Stop N Go in 1988 with the rest of the 7-Eleven stores in the area. Eventually, it was rebranded as Valero/Corner Store (around 2005-2007, replacing Diamond Shamrock/Stop N Go) and ultimately got rebranded as Valero/Circle K by mid-2019. In early 2023, the station was divested to "B!G Mart", which rebranded the store and gas brand.

CYPRESS POINTE

• Chick-fil-A at 430 Cypress Creek Parkway opened in mid-2012. It replaced Hollywood Video, which operated from 1995 to 2009 (it also had the address of 436 FM 1960 West).
• Kroger was the second Kroger Signature store in the Houston area (I believe the Signature signage was taken off in recent years). The store at 360 FM 1960 West had all sorts of features including a food court almost identical to the Champions Forest/Cypresswood location.
• Venture (310 FM 1960 West) was the other anchor in the center (opened 1993). In 1997, Venture sold of their stores to Kmart, and after a brief closure, this store opened in November 1997 as a Big Kmart. In summer 2002, Kmart closed the store in its first big wave of store closures during bankruptcy. From 2007 to 2014, it was America's Furniture Brands, and after that, was divided between Dirt Cheap (closed by 2/2022, before the chain left Texas), Planet Fitness, Fallas, and East Buffet (the PDF is drawn wrong and gives Fallas a smaller space than it actually does).
• Red Lobster (302 FM 1960 Rd. West) opened as China Coast back in spring 1994, a sister restaurant to Red Lobster and Olive Garden. In August 1995 it was closed and reopened as a Red Lobster shortly afterward.

Lucky Penny Cycles / 235 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W.
Part of a larger shopping center, this motorcycle dealership appears to be a former furniture store. Preliminary research shows it was Suniland Furniture from 1987 to 1994 and Louis Shanks Furniture from 1995 to the early 2010s.

Pollo Campero / 130 FM 1960 West
This Latin American fried chicken restaurant chain opened in 2016. From approx. 1986 to 2003 Grandy's was located here. It was torn down by 2005. In the mid-2010s, Granny Dee's Kitchen (similar name, but no relation), a small little shack selling soul food and desserts, was located here.

Hooters / 120 FM 1960 West
Hooters has been here since 1992. Previously it held Two Yen Chinese Cafe (1989-1991) which despite the name and logo was not related to Two Pesos.

JCI Grill / 101 Farm to Market 1960 Rd. W.
The last (first) address on FM 1960 West. This has been here since around 1980, and marks the end of FM 1960 West.

The adventures of FM 1960 continue with FM 1960 proper. It's not full coverage but you can see more at this page.