FALLBROOK DRIVE to TOMBALL PARKWAY

Texaco/Hippo Burgers / 8110 N. Sam Houston Pkwy. W.
As of 2008, this Texaco had a Sonic as a restaurant co-brand, from 2014 to 2016 it was Frenchy's Chicken, and after Frenchy's closed, the restaurant side sat vacant for a while until Hippo Burgers opened in 2020. The Sonic canopies were demolished around this time.

Chevron/Jack in the Box / 8055 N. Sam Houston Pkwy. W.
This Quick Stuff/Jack in the Box opened in 2003 (with a Shell, at least that's how it was in the late 2000s). Quick Stuff was a Jack in the Box concept that added a gas station and convenience store to Jack in the Box restaurants, founded by the company itself. In 2009, they divested the chain to other operators (but kept the Quick Stuff name) and the store here was sold to Stripes (also, in the early 2010s, the gas operator converted to a Chevron). After Sunoco sold Stripes to 7-Eleven, this quickly got disconnected from the chain (even in 2018) and was sold to Checkout, though is still branded as Quick Stuff on the outside.

Days Inn & Suites / 8049 N. Sam Houston Pkwy. W.
This hotel was constructed around 2005-2006 as a Best Western Plus (Best Western Plus - Sam Houston Inn & Suites) and became a Days Inn (Days Inn & Suites Sam Houston Tollway) in 2023. It is located behind the Chevron and can only be accessed from North Gessner Road or Saffron Indian Kitchen's parking lot.

Saffron Indian Kitchen / 8045 N. Sam Houston Pkwy W.
This two-story restaurant and events center was the home of Steamboat House, which operated from 2005 to January 29, 2022. Saffron House opened March 2023.

TOMBALL PARKWAY to NORTH FREEWAY

Shell / 6156 North Sam Houston Parkway West
This Shell station was built in 2001. There's been a Krispy Krunchy counter inside since at least 2011. The station was built on part of an abandoned right of way of Cutten Road, even in 1989 it never connected to the northbound 249 frontage road, though the modern station hooks into the back. In 2019 it built Sam Houston Auto Care on the premises (renamed Master Auto Care in 2021). Older tax records show that when the Shell was first built, the tax filing was for 6160.

5100 North Sam Houston Parkway West
This building was built around 2007 and all indications that National Oilwell Varco/NOV has occupied it since it was built. What exactly they do at this particular facility is unknown, however.

Valero / 4919 N. Sam Houston Pkwy. W.
Valero and McDonald's opened here in late 2004 (it's possibly McDonald's opened in January 2005) with a third tenant, a barbershop/hair salon (King & Queen Barber & Hair Studio), as well as a fourth tenant, "Roberts Elegant Doors" (later just Robert's Doors). In early 2015, McDonald's relocated out of the gas station to a stand-alone location across the street (10966 Bammel North Houston Road), and Checkers replaced McDonald's in early 2016. Between 2022 and 2024 Checkers disappeared for Bammel Liquor.

Shell / Golden Chick / 4000 N. Sam Houston Pkwy. W.
This Shell gas station (with "24/7" as the store) opened in 2016 but couldn't fill the food space until Golden Chick c. 2024.

Holiday Inn / 3539 North Sam Houston Parkway West
Holiday Inn Houston NW - Beltway 8 was built around 2019-2020.

Food Town / 2770 N. Sam Houston Pkwy. West
Albertsons (#2757) opened in November 1998 here, and in summer 2002, it closed as the Albertsons Houston division was shut down. It was replaced by Food Town, which opened in January 2003. Food Town would keep Albertsons' "Grocery Palace" décor, which remains today. (According to research by Mike & others, this was the very first Albertsons Grocery Palace store).

2225 North Sam Houston Parkway West
ScreamWorld, a haunted house attraction originally opened in the early 2000s and open seasonally, closed in March 2020 when the owner retired. Within a year or so, the haunted house exterior was taken down and now just looks like an ordinary warehouse.

500 North Sam Houston Parkway West
This office building was demolished in the early 2020s and redeveloped as warehouse flex space. While it owns it, new owner Seojin Global has not yet made the building operational.

NORTH FREEWAY to HARDY TOLL ROAD

Stay Inn & Suites / 6 North Sam Houston Pkwy. East
The first reference I can find for this address was Smuggler's Inn in the late 1970s with a La Quinta sharing the address. As Smuggler's Inn had alternately used the 2 North Belt East address, I believe that this was the vacant space to the west of the current motel, a long-defunct site that's been parking lot ruins since the 1980s. To the east was another restaurant at 10 North Belt East. In 1983 this was to be the fourth area Houston location restaurant concept of Barry's Deli & Hot Bakery, a New York deli concept. I suspect that the aforementioned "nationwide restaurant group" was Associated Hosts Inc., which did a variety of hotel concepts for places like La Quinta Inn. I can't find what it was later, or if changed addresses. It was around in the 1990s (physically) but by 2001 it was torn down.

In any case, around 2006 the La Quinta changed hands to Travelodge. You can barely make it out on Google Street View but I have a 2008 Travelodge directory that confirms it. It also says there are 100 rooms. In 2011 this was Venetian Inn & Suites and in 2019 became Studio 6, but the name only lasted for a few years; by fall 2024 it had assumed its current name.

Further research is needed.

Goodwill / 171 N. Sam Houston Pkwy. E.
Located just outside of Greenspoint Mall (see North Freeway section, below), this was originally a Circuit City with the address of 171 North Belt East. It was one of the five initial Houston stores that opened on or just after August 29, 1991, all of which opened near a mall. In addition to Greenspoint Mall getting a Circuit City near it, Circuit City stores were also built near Almeda Mall, Willowbrook Mall, Baybrook Mall, and West Oaks Mall. Circuit City actually left this location before its 2009 demise and from 2005 to the early 2010s became Bel Furniture Clearance Center. After Bel Furniture left, it became a Goodwill. This was branded as a "Goodwill Select" (and was one of one of Goodwill's "Computer Works" departments) but as of 2022 it has become "Goodwill Outlet".

Whataburger / 181 North Sam Houston Pkwy. East
Whataburger has been here since 1993.

Chevron / 191 North Sam Houston Parkway
I'm pretty sure this is still a Chevron. In late 2024 the convenience store and car wash was torn down with a new store to open to replace it (gas canopy kept) in 2025, but I can't verify it for sure.

198 North Sam Houston Parkway East
This was a restaurant called Clayton's and dated back to the North Belt Drive era, operating approximately from 1986 to 2014. In 2018 the building was torn down.

222 N. Sam Houston Parkway East
While today it's an unused address and just parking lot for Lone Star College next door, this originally hosted a Bennigan's from 1979 to 2008. It was demolished December 2009. The demolition of Bennigan's gave Lone Star College access to Greenspoint Road, and by extension, a much easier way to get in and out instead of using the turnaround lanes.

307 N. Sam Houston Parkway E.
What made the October 2020 closure of Jimmy G's (Louisiana-style seafood restaurant) notable was not just the fact it had been there for decades, it was also the last vestige of restaurateurs Jody Larriviere and Jim Gossen. Gossen and Larriviere opened the original Landry's and Willie G's restaurants (among others), but for years they kept Jimmy G's as independent. With the closure of Jimmy G's, they were out of the business and retired for good.

The archives above say it opened in 1985 but other reliable sources show that it opened in 1986 (at 307 North Belt East, the original pre-Beltway address).

Truist / 323 North Sam Houston Pkwy. E.
This bank was built in 1998, likely as Southwest Bank of Texas, which it was in 2005. Later it was rebranded as Amegy Bank but shut down this branch between 2008 and 2011. In 2013, it was reopened by BB&T. Following the 2019 merger with SunTrust Banks, it assumed its current name between 2021 and 2022.

Sonesta Hotel / 425 N. Sam Houston Pkwy. E.

L'hotel Sofitel (Hotel Sofitel) opened in fall 1982 with three restaurants: Chez Colette, the casual brasserie cafe, La Terrasse, the "sidewalk café" for light food and drinks, and Le Cafe Royal as the hotel's upscale French restaurant. It had eight stories, 341 rooms, 10 suites, and even had a small takeout French bakery. The hotel was renovated in 1995. In 2007 it changed hands to become Crowne Plaza (Crowne Plaza Houston North Greenspoint), with the French restuarants disappearing around this time. By 2012 it had rebranded to Hyatt Regency North Houston. This article refers to the hotel as being "recently rebranded", and in 2024 rebranded again to Sonesta Hotel. The current Sonesta Hotel Houston IAH Airport has only "Sam's Restaurant & Bar" as an in-hosuse restaurant.

The picture up there is mine from some point in the 2010s.

Waffle House / 728 N. Sam Houston Pkwy. East
This Waffle House opened in 2003 and offers 24 hour dining.

HARDY TOLL ROAD to JOHN F. KENNEDY BOULEVARD

TA Express / 1104 N. Sam Houston Pkwy. E.
Opened as Belt 8 Travel Plaza (Beltway 8 Travel Plaza) in 2016, this truck stop opened in 2016 that featured a Denny's and Schlotzsky's in addition to truck stop features. In 2025 it was rebranded as TA Express with Gulf gas.

Nupur Food Mart / 1214 North Sam Houston Parkway East
This name appears nowhere on signage, but this gas station and store was formerly a Texaco until around 2020-2021. It changed hands in 2019 (where shortly after the Texaco brand was dropped). It dates back to 1981 as Stop-N-Serve (#21) and also briefly served under the Stop N Go name in the mid-1980s.

Four Points by Sheraton / 1450 North Sam Houston Parkway East
Four Points by Sheraton Houston Intercontinental Airport opened in 2017. None of these hotels put the number of rooms and all that anymore on their site, but this site does...though unless there's some sort of hidden lower levels, only five floors, not four.

Shell/Burger King / 1950 North Sam Houston Parkway East
This combo convenience store and Burger King opened 2001 but I'm not 100% sure of the original gas brand. Was it a Shell, or perhaps a Texaco?

22Hundred / 2200 North Sam Houston Parkway East
This 270-unit apartment complex began construction in 2019 and finished in 2021.

JOHN F. KENNEDY BOULEVARD to EASTEX FREEWAY

Lions Floor / 4950 North Sam Houston Parkway East
Wholesale flooring headquartered out of California. (Similar warehouses exist in Phoenix, Dallas, and Orlando). As of 2011 this was the home of Gaffney-Kroese Supply Corporation, but they later moved out. As of this writing (July 2026), Google reports their last known location at 14000 Vickery Drive as "temporarily closed".

EASTEX FREEWAY to the Railroad

Walmart / 9235 North Sam Houston Parkway East
This Walmart Supercenter opened in June 2007; it has a McDonald's still and was branded as Wal-Mart Supercenter originally.

Standard on the Creek / 9900 North Sam Houston Parkway East
This apartment complex was built in 2018 and features 120 units. Beyond this point is East Sam Houston Parkway North, which this website does not cover at this time.