Instabooze

H-E-B and Favor launch free one-hour booze delivery service in Houston

Get your favorite local beers on the quick with H-E-B and Favor's new alcohol delivery service.

Courtesy photo

For Houstonians, throwing an impromptu Fourth of July cookout just got a whole lot easier. Keeping up with Amazon’s recent addition of beer and wine delivery through its Prime Now service, H-E-B and Austin-based delivery service Favor are jumping into the insta-booze game.

On June 29, the San Antonio-based grocery chain announced it is now offering free deliveries of beer, cider, sake, and wine within an hour to customers in the Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi metropolitan areas through Labor Day. That means you'll have delivery within three innings of Astros baseball, one episode of your favorite streaming episode, or the early stage of your cookout.

To order, click on the “H-E-B Beer & Wine” banner in the Favor app or order online. Free delivery will automatically applied, but orders do require a $2 or more tip for runners. No order minimum is necessary and available selections vary by city.

Currently, the app lists craft beer selections ranging from Texas favorites like Live Oak, Lone Pint Brewing, and Saint Arnold to beer nerd standbys like Two Hearted Ale from Michigan’s Bell’s Brewery. There is also a good selection of domestic and international wines grouped by category.

Local selections will include craft brewers, like Buffalo Bayou Brewing, No Label Brewing, Lone Pint Brewery, and 8th Wonder Brewery, and wines from the Texas Hill Country. (And if you must order a secret six-pack of Smirnoff Ice, Favor is more than glad to accommodate.)

Beer and wine delivery in Houston and Pearland will be available 7 am to 11 pm, Monday through Friday; 7 am to midnight on Saturday; and noon to 11 pm on Sunday.

Beer and wine delivery in Katy, The Woodlands, Sugar Land, and Lake Houston areas will be available 11 am to 10 pm Monday through Saturday and noon to 10 pm on Sunday.

And to those college freshmen hoping to throw a dorm room rager, do note that valid ID proving you are 21 or older is required at the door.

The service is the latest move to compete in an increasingly competitive market dominated by giants like Walmart and Amazon, who purchased Whole Foods Market in July 2017. Since acquiring Favor in February, H-E-B has added curbside pick-up and a grocery delivery service to its growing list of services..

In a release, H-E-B chief operating officer Martin Otto teased more delivery news may be on the horizon.“This is only the beginning of what’s to come from our powerful partnership,” said Otto.

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sudden cupcake shutter

Cupcake pioneer Sprinkles shutters all locations, including one in Houston

Photo courtesy of Sprinkles

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A nationwide cupcake bakery has shuttered all of its locations, including in Houston. Sprinkles Cupcakes closed all of its locations on December 31, according to multiple media reports.

The company provided a brief statement about the closures to TV station KTLA: “After thoughtful consideration, we’ve made the very difficult decision to transition away from operating company-owned Sprinkles bakeries.”

Founder Candace Nelson shared her own thoughts about the news via a post on Instagram. After noting that she sold the business to private equity in 2012, Nelson stated she was disappointed by the decision.

“Even though I sold the company over a decade ago, I still have such a personal connection to it, and this isn’t how I thought the story would go. I thought Sprinkles would keep growing and be around forever,” she says in the clip.

The bakery had 20 locations in six states. In Houston, Sprinkles had one location in Rice Village that opened in 2021 (2563 Amherst St.). A Highland Village location that opened in 2010 had already closed.

It also operated stores in Austin (3120 Palm Way), Dallas (4020 Villanova), and Plano (7500 Windrose Avenue) and cupcake ATMs at other spots statewide, including one in The Woodlands Market Street district.

Sprinkles was widely credited for creating the cupcake craze of the late aughts and early 2010s. Founded by Nelson in 2005, the shop's treats elevated the form with high quality ingredients, a wide range of flavors, and the sort of eye-catching designs that would be now be described as Instagram-worthy — but Sprinkles predates the app’s creation. It introduced a number of innovations, including a cupcake ATM to satisfy cravings 24-hours-a-day.

As for Nelson, she pivoted to Pizzana, an Italian-style pizzeria she co-founded with her husband Charles, actor Chris O’Donnell and his wife Caroline, and chef Daniele Uditi. The restaurant, which holds a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide for its original outpost in Los Angeles, has a Dallas location that opened in 2022 and a Houston store that opened in 2024.

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