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Bells & Whistles Cafe At 1501 Texas St.


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The demolished garage adjacent to the Ben Milam is becoming a restaurant, and there's no immediate plan to tear down the hotel building. This is great news. With any luck this will help start more development around Minute Maid Park. :)

After the Ben Milam was sold by the YWCA in the mid-1970s, it was itself done up in a railroad theme. Some of the original benches from Union Staton across the street were put in the hotel, and after the hotel closed, some were stored in the parking garage.

Train-themed cafe is comin' round the bend

Moderately priced restaurant to go up on site near ballpark

By NANCY SARNOFF

Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

After the William Penn hotel was demolished last month, local preservationists got nervous about the fate of other downtown properties.

As the wrecking ball was taking down the Penn, a demolition permit was posted for the adjacent Ben Milam hotel site.

As it turns out, the permit was not for the 1920s tower, but a smaller parking garage on the site at the corner of Texas and LaBranch.

The owner, David Smith, a chemical company executive, owns the property and is planning to build a restaurant there.

The new eatery, which could be open this fall, will be called the Bells and Whistles Cafe.

It will be a moderately priced restaurant with home-style cooking.

There will be a private room for meetings, but no alcohol will be served.

The location is across from Minute Maid Park. The cafe will be open only for breakfast and lunch initially.

Link to full article.

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in response to the woodlands' sales level in nancy's article.......i hardly think that being on a list of "top sales" is something to brag about. it is not good for my community (or others IMHO) to grow at this rate. considering the size of the woodlands.......maybe it's not that big of a deal. it still irks me that people want to brag about top "new home" sales. to me, it seems like "too much, too soon". am i wrong? <_<

Edited by bachanon
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The demolished garage adjacent to the Ben Milam is becoming a restaurant, and there's no immediate plan to tear down the hotel building. This is great news. With any luck this will help start more development around Minute Maid Park. :)

After the Ben Milam was sold by the YWCA in the mid-1970s, it was itself done up in a railroad theme. Some of the original benches from Union Staton across the street were put in the hotel, and after the hotel closed, some were stored in the parking garage.

Link to full article.

that is good news - i just wonder what they're going to do with the hotel in the interim - i mean, most of the windows are broken out, and it stinks to high heaven...

smith has also chosen to sit on the property (twenty years while it rotted, and the last twenty years of its functioning - which wasn't so great from what i have heard...) and let it get in this condition, but i guess i should be grateful anything is happening :unsure:

Edited by sevfiv
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Some of the original benches from Union Staton across the street were put in the hotel, and after the hotel closed, some were stored in the parking garage.

I hope they were removed from the parking garage before it was demolished. Too bad it was off-limits, or maybe someone could tell us... :rolleyes:

smith has also chosen to sit on the property (twenty years while it rotted, and the last twenty years of its functioning - which wasn't so great from what i have heard...) and let it get in this condition, but i guess i should be grateful anything is happening :unsure:

Well, at least he'll have plenty of surface parking just across the street, now that the Penn Hotel is gone. :angry:

On the plus side, it seems like he would have factored in that the new construction would make demolishing Ben Milam that much more difficult, and interfere with the new restaurant's operation as well. Maybe it'll just moulder for a few more decades.

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I hope they were removed from the parking garage before it was demolished. Too bad it was off-limits, or maybe someone could tell us... :rolleyes:

well, i can say that everything in that garage and hotel is/was in awful condition.

there were heaps of doors, chairs (my memory isn't so clear on the benches) in the garage, and all were trashed. :(

Well, at least he'll have plenty of surface parking just across the street, now that the Penn Hotel is gone. :angry:

On the plus side, it seems like he would have factored in that the new construction would make demolishing Ben Milam that much more difficult, and interfere with the new restaurant's operation as well. Maybe it'll just moulder for a few more decades.

can you say biohazard? :unsure:

Edited by sevfiv
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  • 3 weeks later...
that is good news - i just wonder what they're going to do with the hotel in the interim - i mean, most of the windows are broken out, and it stinks to high heaven...

smith has also chosen to sit on the property (twenty years while it rotted, and the last twenty years of its functioning - which wasn't so great from what i have heard...) and let it get in this condition, but i guess i should be grateful anything is happening :unsure:

FYI the Ben Milam is being saved. Replacement of the windows throughout the building, and cleaning of the building is scheduled soon.

It's actually in great shape structurally. The 1st & 2nd floors are being developed as retail.

Keep an eye out, you'll be pleasantly suprised.

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FYI the Ben Milam is being saved. Replacement of the windows throughout the building, and cleaning of the building is scheduled soon.

It's actually in great shape structurally. The 1st & 2nd floors are being developed as retail.

Keep an eye out, you'll be pleasantly suprised.

thanks for the update - i'm afraid that alot of us have/had our doubts about this one, so we may have to see it to believe it :)

that's great that new windows are being put in, but i can't help stressing that i don't think most people know how bad it is inside...

any news on what could be going on upper levels?

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if they dont plan to tear the building down, their gonna do something with it, i mean if we could look into every meeting that goes on with projects dealt for the city, im sure we would feel whats a go and what sint, but in the end something is going to happen to the building, renderings and ideas are always changing

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  • 1 year later...
  • 2 weeks later...

yep - it's coming along. it is not touching the hotel, and the hotel looks the same as always <_<

there is some sort of corrugated/shingled metal going over the structure - i am hoping it will be covered by something else...otherwise, is it supposed to look like a train, because it looks kind of ehhhh so far

milamnewrest002.jpg

milamnewrest001.jpg

Edited by sevfiv
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I would imagine that this can only help promote the Ben Milam site for renovation purposes. It seems like a strong candidate for some residential or hotel redevelopment.

actually, there is a new sign on the crawford side mentioning retail AND residential on that site in the future.

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Is that the Shops at Ben Milam or whatnot sign that has been there for years? Given the shape that the old hotel building is in I would be amazed if they could do much with it. Still, the restaurant here is good news for the neighborhood. For once they avoided the temptation to make yet more surface parking.

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yep - it's coming along. it is not touching the hotel, and the hotel looks the same as always <_<

there is some sort of corrugated/shingled metal going over the structure - i am hoping it will be covered by something else...otherwise, is it supposed to look like a train, because it looks kind of ehhhh so far

I have to completely agree about the metal siding so far... stands out in that neighborhood, and not in a good way. Some nice red brick would be good, but we'll see.

Mrs. CSOM noted that the name (Bells & Whistles) sounds like a gentlemen's club :lol:

Edited by CSOM
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

is the restaurant floundering already? i *think* it looks the same as my pictures from around a month ago

and as far as new windows and such being put in the hotel (post from "thescoop" from March 2006) - yeah right

Edited by sevfiv
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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 5 months later...
I think there is some sort of obligation to not eat there until Mr. Smith does something about his horrible mismanagement of the adjacent property <_<

I respectfully disagree, perhaps if he has any influence on the nearby structure, perhaps giving him business would allow him to show that there is enough business FOR that building to be fully renovated and occupied.

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  • 1 month later...
I respectfully disagree, perhaps if he has any influence on the nearby structure, perhaps giving him business would allow him to show that there is enough business FOR that building to be fully renovated and occupied.

that's the phased plan so far..

i can't go into detail atm & it will take time, but when I can I'll try to provide an update in the appropriate thread

Edited by infinite_jim
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  • 1 month later...

I went by the Bells and whistles cafe before the game last night (they were closed on monday, a stupid move) and me and TIF made a beeline for the bar. Before we could be fully seated, the employee said there is no beer or wine.

I was stunned and asked if they just didn't get the license YET. She responded "The owner is very religious and said that we aren't going to get a license because it is against his beliefs."

My immediate thought was that this guy is going to go out of business quick and she seemed to know what I was thinking (having probably dealt this many times before) and said that he has LOTS of money and didn't really care about the bottom line. But what the employees were doing is getting a list of people they had to turn away and give it to the owner and see if he could change his mind.

The inside looked rather nice and there were people eating there, but we were in the mood for a drink so we sauntered over to Slainte's (Soon to be "Molly's pub") for a drink or 10.

Me and TIF both decided to kick the bells everytime we walk to the game.

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I was stunned and asked if they just didn't get the license YET. She responded "The owner is very religious and said that we aren't going to get a license because it is against his beliefs."

[...]he has LOTS of money and didn't really care about the bottom line.

Oh great - that AND a slumlord :huh:

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