Frenchy's on the Move

Iconic fried chicken restaurant snags new location as historic church expands

One of Houston's favorite places for fried chicken will be relocating in 2018. Frenchy's Chicken and Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church have announced that the restaurant's original location on Scott Street will move to a new nearby site to allow the church to expand. The announcement confirms news of the plans that first circulated last year.

“We agreed to support each other once both of us were ready to expand, and we’re sticking to our promise,” said Frenchy's owner Percy “King” Creuzot in a statement. “We are ecstatic for Rev. Cosby and the Wheeler congregation as they are for us and our Frenchy’s family. As a part of our mission, we’re going to continue to provide that same classic, Creole flavor, but now, we’ll be in a comfortable, more modernized, family setting still within the same Scott Street area.”

The new Frenchy's location will be situated directly across the street from the University of Houston's TDECU Stadium, about 2-1/2 blocks from the current location.

Unlike the bare bones current spot, the new Frenchy's will feature a more elaborate interior and exterior while still preserving the restaurant's iconic Creole-style fried chicken and sides like red beans, dirty rice, and collard greens. Construction is slated to begin in late 2017 or early 2018, and the restaurant's plan is to keep the current location open until the new one is ready, according to a representative.

“Our congregation is deeply rooted in service to humanity, and we are overjoyed to know our expansion will help serve the greater community,” added Wheeler senior pastor Rev. Dr. Marcus D. Cosby. “Our friends at Frenchy’s will be able to serve their customers in a more spacious capacity, and we can continue to express our faith and extend hope to others in our new sanctuary and Christian Education Complex.”

The church, which was founded in 1962, and its pastor emeritus, the Rev. Bill Lawson, were instrumental in leading the fight to end segregation in Houston. It now has a congreation of 16,000 members.

Attendees at the press conference enjoyed Frenchy's signature fried chicken.

Courtesy photo

Attendees at the press conference enjoyed Frenchy's signature fried chicken.

openings

crash landing

Houston's space-themed bar will shutter after 3 years in Montrose

Photo by Becca Wright

undefined

A space-themed cocktail bar will soon fall out of orbit. Roswell’s Saloon will close after service on Sunday, June 28.

Houston entrepreneur Shawn Bermudez explains that he has decided to shutter Roswell’s rather than renew his lease on the space at 1417 Westheimer. Instead, he’ll focus on his growing group of restaurants, which includes four locations each of The Burger Joint and The Taco Stand, as well as frozen dessert and cocktail spot Happy Go Lucky and Montrose taco and tequila concept Pistolero’s.

He and his business partner, chef Matthew Pak, will open a new location of The Burger Joint on Kirby Dr. this fall. In early 2027, they’ll welcome The Pizza Place, a new concept opening next to Happy Go Lucky.

Boondocks, Bermudez’s lively bar that’s next to Roswell’s, will remain open. He also operates Montrose clothing stores Pavement, Leopard Lounge, Money Money, and BINS.

“Roswell’s has been a labor of love, and I’m grateful for every Houstonian who came through our doors and let us take them to another galaxy,” Bermudez said in a statement. “But with everything we have going on right now between the restaurants and the retail side, it’s time to focus that energy where it’s needed most.”

Bermudez opened Roswell’s in 2023 in the former Stone’s Throw space. Designed to be an immersive, otherworldly experience, all of the floors, walls, and bartops are UV-reactive in order to react to the blacklights and neons providing illumination. The bar’s neon sign took inspiration from the Glitter Gulch, a famous Las Vegas strip club. Other details include planets, an astronaut, and other artifacts hanging from the ceiling.

Between now and Sunday, Roswell’s will maintain its normal hours of 7 pm-2 am, including its “Sunset Hour” happy hour specials of $2 off cocktails, wine, beer, and bubbles every day from 7-8 pm.