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Phoenicia Specialty Foods Grocery Store At 1001 Austin St.


kevbo

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Your mention of it is the first I've heard of any retail component at Park Place.

I don't know if this is still relevant since it's from a 06 press release, but for what its worth...

The Park Tower will not only attract residents to downtown, but with a total of 21,800

square feet of retail space in two sections on the pedestrian level, plans call for a specialty

gourmet grocery store, wine merchant, specialty coffee shop and sidewalk café.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Rumor has it that a locally owned retailer is using that space for a new specialty foods/deli/wine shop. I think it will be a welcome addition to that area, and certainly an added benefit for the residents of that building.

Spec's is the obvious candidate, but a new Leibman's Wine & Fine Foods would be appropriate to the space.

...of course, the leasing staff has been spreading rumors since before the place even opened. I don't put much stock in them.

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  • 4 months later...

I heard rumblings a few days ago that Phoenicia was coming to downtown and was hoping it was there. Awesome.

That is great! I drive out there from Montrose to eat and shop sometimes. I'll go downtown now. What a great call. I realize this will be smaller store, but assuming the selection is still solid they will draw inner loopers to shop. I couldn't imagine a scenario where I would drive downtown to buy groceries but this just created one. Great pickup.

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That is great! I drive out there from Montrose to eat and shop sometimes. I'll go downtown now. What a great call. I realize this will be smaller store, but assuming the selection is still solid they will draw inner loopers to shop. I couldn't imagine a scenario where I would drive downtown to buy groceries but this just created one. Great pickup.

Ditto here, from Eastwood. I hope that they can keep their prices reasonable.

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They released a "press release" to the residents last week that revealed Phoenica Specialty Foods to be the new grocery store. It said that in addition to some of their standard food offerings, they are going to focus on prepared meals (a'la Central Market/Whole Foods), and they are going to add many household goods like soap, laundry detergent, trash bags. I was told by mgmt today that after the grocery construction crews leave, a cafe style restaurant will be moving into another corner of the building, probably on the Discovery Green side. I just hope all these awesome additions don't cause my rent to go up drastically when I renew. Being able to take an elevator to go grocery shopping is going to be great.

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I think they'll also capitalize well on catering for downtown companies. They'll need to find as many revenue streams as possible, because parking could be a challenge for people other than me who don't mind walking a couple blocks. :)

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Don't shoot me for being the first debbie downer, errr, devil's advocate, but should we start a poll to see how long we think it'll last?

It's got a pretty good shot. They have an awesome greek/middle-eastern deli and bakery at the west Houston location that will go over well with the lunch crowds downtown. It's one of many reasons why life outside the loop on the west side of town is good.

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It's got a pretty good shot. They have an awesome greek/middle-eastern deli and bakery at the west Houston location that will go over well with the lunch crowds downtown. It's one of many reasons why life outside the loop on the west side of town is good.

From the video, it looks like they might make gyros, do they? I hope their better than Niko Niko's.

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From the video, it looks like they might make gyros, do they? I hope their better than Niko Niko's.

I'm probably in the minority here but I think everything about Phoenicia is better than everything about Niko Niko's. I've been to Phoenicia dozens of times. I went to Nikos Niko's twice and never had the urge to go back. The Shawarmas at Phoenicia are awesome and cheap too. I might walk the 20 blocks from my office to the new location a few times.

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From the video, it looks like they might make gyros, do they? I hope their better than Niko Niko's.

Shawarma.

Originally Phoenicia was just a deli and it's still in operation across the street from the big warehouse store.

Phoenicia Deli

I buy lots of things at Phoenicia - meats, cheeses, breads, dips, fish, spices and imported foods - but I seldom eat in the deli in the store. I think there are better shawarma in town. As far as I know the menu at the two is the same and I imagine the menu will be the same downtown.

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Shawarma.

Originally Phoenicia was just a deli and it's still in operation across the street from the big warehouse store.

Phoenicia Deli

I buy lots of things at Phoenicia - meats, cheeses, breads, dips, fish, spices and imported foods - but I seldom eat in the deli in the store. I think there are better shawarma in town. As far as I know the menu at the two is the same and I imagine the menu will be the same downtown.

I have been looking for a place to have a Shawarma in Houston since I first had one in Dubai in January. I am glad this new place has them, but since you know where are other places I can get one? I doubt it, but are there any on the north or near west side of town?

I'm probably in the minority here but I think everything about Phoenicia is better than everything about Niko Niko's. I've been to Phoenicia dozens of times. I went to Nikos Niko's twice and never had the urge to go back. The Shawarmas at Phoenicia are awesome and cheap too. I might walk the 20 blocks from my office to the new location a few times.

I have only had the gyro at Nikos, but am also dissapointed in the lack of authenticity in their gyros. Fries go INSIDE.

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I have been looking for a place to have a Shawarma in Houston since I first had one in Dubai in January. I am glad this new place has them, but since you know where are other places I can get one? I doubt it, but are there any on the north or near west side of town?

Yeah, Shawarmas are awesome, IF you can find a good place. The best I ever had was in Kuwait City back in ’02. Tried Shawarma King on Hillcroft and couple other places, I have given up trying to find a place here.

I’ve been to Phoenicia Foods on Westhiemer (haven’t tried their shawarmas) I liked it. Great variety of foods, I can see them being really successful there. I’m excited

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Never had the shawarmas here, I assume they have them.. but the gyros are pretty damn good...

The Greek Gas station on Richmond...

http://www.datasegura.net/~ekkosdel/

It used to be called Stelios.. but now it goes by Ekko's...... Better than Niko Niko's anyways.

Thanks, I'll try to check it out one day. But honestly, I am not sure I can take any place seriously if they don't even put the fries inside; maybe they're just catering to Americans.

greek.jpg

Edited by lockmat
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I've never seen a place that has the fries inside the gyro.. Where in town are they like that ?

I've never considered the fries instrumental to the gyro..

I never ate a gryo in Greece that the fries were not inside.

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I have been looking for a place to have a Shawarma in Houston since I first had one in Dubai in January. I am glad this new place has them, but since you know where are other places I can get one? I doubt it, but are there any on the north or near west side of town?

Well I like the ones I've had at Shawarma King on Hillcroft but I've never had one in Dubai or Kuwait or anywhere in the Middle East so maybe I've got it wrong. I prefer to get a plate rather than a sandwich. The meat in the one I had at Phoenicia was dry as was the pita and it was pretty skimpy.

I've never had a gyro here with fries on the inside either. Ever tried One's a Meal Greek Village on Westheimer? I've never had a gyro there but I know people who claim it's better than Niko's. That and Niko's and Stellio's are all Greek owned, I think.

Here's a link to all the mentions that come up on a search for shawarma on b4; maybe there's one near you. There's also a place called Cafe Beirut on Hillcroft @ Richmond that may have them.

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Well I like the ones I've had at Shawarma King on Hillcroft but I've never had one in Dubai or Kuwait or anywhere in the Middle East so maybe I've got it wrong. I prefer to get a plate rather than a sandwich. The meat in the one I had at Phoenicia was dry as was the pita and it was pretty skimpy.

I've never had a gyro here with fries on the inside either. Ever tried One's a Meal Greek Village on Westheimer? I've never had a gyro there but I know people who claim it's better than Niko's. That and Niko's and Stellio's are all Greek owned, I think.

Here's a link to all the mentions that come up on a search for shawarma on b4; maybe there's one near you. There's also a place called Cafe Beirut on Hillcroft @ Richmond that may have them.

Thanks! I don't live on that side of town but I go over there every so often.

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I never ate a gryo in Greece that the fries were not inside.

A Gyro and a Shawarma are not the same thing. I've never heard of fries being served with or inside a Shawarma but there's a lot of things I haven't seen.

Shawarmas are kind of like the "tacos" of the middle east. How many different kinds of tacos can you think of? I'm sure somewhere there's a guy making them with fries inside. :) The ones I've had in Europe were really good but different than what you get in Houston. I like the ones in Houston better.

The ones at Phoenicia are usually served with potatoes, tomatoes and chicken or beef inside with some kind of garlic sauce. When I go there it seems like at least half the people there are ordering the Shawarma.

Being able to get a good shawarma near Discovery Green will make the park much more attractive for me.

Edited by jgriff
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A Gyro and a Shawarma are not the same thing. I've never heard of fries being served with or inside a Shawarma but there's a lot of things I haven't seen.

Shawarmas are kind of like the "tacos" of the middle east. How many different kinds of tacos can you think of? I'm sure somewhere there's a guy making them with fries inside. smile.gif The ones I've had in Europe were really good but different than what you get in Houston. I like the ones in Houston better.

The ones at Phoenicia are usually served with potatoes, tomatoes and chicken or beef inside with some kind of garlic sauce. When I go there it seems like at least half the people there are ordering the Shawarma.

Being able to get a good shawarma near Discovery Green will make the park much more attractive for me.

Right, I know they're two different things, haha. I've only had two shwarma's (never with fries inside). One with beef and one with chicken. I can't remember which one I liked more, but I think it was the beef.

The gyro thing, I was in Greece for two weeks and ate them every day at different places and they always had fries in them. Might seem weird, but they were awesome. Also, they always soaked the bread in olive oil first; not sure if they do that here or not.

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