Located at 2000 FM 1488 and originally known as Hempstead Truck Stop, this station combined an Exxon sign and a McDonald's on a dual-pronged sign, and for years it was a great reminder to the road trips I took with my family in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including (but definitely not limited to) the Houston area, and since it opened in and opened in November 2000, it opened within a few years of the completion of the US-290 bypass around Hempstead, Waller, and Hockley, so any trips to the Houston area that utilized that route passed by there, and there were many.

It turned out that while there were other Exxon/McDonald's that had a similar sign set-up, in this particular case, the McDonald's actually connected to the station, it was a stand-alone restaurant at 2100 FM 1488, in the truck stop's parking lot that opened around the same time. There was, however, a Denny's integrated into the truck stop, though according to tax records didn't open until 2003 (probably explaining why it didn't share the sign).

From what I'd read on Yelp, the Denny's was bad even by Denny's standards (dirty, poor service, and smelled like cigarette smoke) and downsized in early 2016 (February or March, though construction probably started in 2015) for a Subway in the southeast corner of the building. The Subway shared the convenience store's address but did not open into the rest of the complex. At some point (I want to say near the end, because I didn't really notice it until then) the gas station also had a Krispy Krunchy fried chicken program going on. In spring 2017 the Denny's (already downsized physically) closed and was replaced with "Country Delight Cafe". There's also some evidence that by the time Country Delight Cafe opened, the gas station itself had closed. In November 2017 I noticed that the Exxon and price signage was gone, leaving behind the lopsided lone Golden Arches, and that was a bit sad to me because the signage had been around for much of my life at that point.

By January 2018, the whole building (Country Delight Cafe included) had been closed and gutted (except for Subway), which had its facade missing and could be accessed from Cottonwood. In May 2018, Pilot Travel Center #573 opened in May 2018. The center had a bumpy start (in June, the restrooms were out of service, and they told patrons to use Subway's) and the Dunkin' Donuts that it advertised is little more than a kiosk. (It also featured Pilot Flying J's "PJ Fresh" concept, now "Pilot Eats"). The new center did not connect to Subway and the second entrance on the Cottonwood side was removed as part of the renovations to Pilot (there's only the main entrance now). Pilot did take up Exxon's space on the signage and added new electronic signage, however.

Meanwhile, the McDonald's renovated around 2013-2014 to remove the mansard roof, and a Taco Bell joined in November 2019 at 2150 FM 1488, connected to the McDonald's parking lot.

This page previously covered Highway 6 (US-290) in the Waller County and later revised to just include the truck stop and nearby businesses; this is no longer the case as of September 1, 2026, though the US-290 blog is still operational.

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