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    diner cake heads north

    Beloved Houston bakery and cafe rises with new Woodlands location

    Eric Sandler
    Mar 24, 2023 | 11:18 am

    One of Houston’s favorite sweet shops is coming to The Woodlands. Dessert Gallery has claimed a prime spot in The Woodlands Waterway for its second location.

    Located in a former Nestle Toll House Cafe at 25 Waterway Ave., the new Dessert Gallery is expected to open in late summer or early fall. Owner Sara Brook tells CultureMap that she’s had her eye on The Woodlands for a couple years and is pleased to have found a location that’s close to the Marriott hotel, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, and Cinemark movie theater.

    “I’d love to say it was something very scientific. Really, it just feels like the right place at the right time,” she says.

    “A lot of our corporate customers are popping up out there. I had occasion to visit and do some work at the Exxon campus. I was blown away by everything that’s happening. I wanted to be part of it.”

    For almost 30 years, Dessert Gallery has been serving nostalgia-inspired cookies, cakes, and other sweets to Houstonians from its location on Kirby Drive. While previous satellite locations in Sugar Land and the Galleria area have closed, Brook says the time is right to grow. Dessert Gallery’s business increased in the last couple of years, fueled by people turning to sweets for comfort and the convenience of third-party delivery apps.

    “We were one of the lucky ones. For once, we were in the right place at the right time with the right software,” Brook says. “Everybody was hungry and drowning their sorrows in chocolate. The delivery companies came on big. We were ready for all of it.”

    At only 1,100 square feet, the new Woodlands location won’t have quite the same inventory as the larger Kirby store, but it will be stocked with fan favorites like the Chocolate Chunk cookies, Apple Brown Betty, and the Old-Fashioned Diner Cake. It will also offer a limited amount of both indoor and outdoor seating.

    “For almost 30 years, people have been driving in from all over to come to Dessert Gallery. I think our Woodlands and Spring clientele are going to be super excited to find us in their backyard,” Brook says.

    Dessert Gallery joins a growing movement of Houston-based restaurants and bars that have opened or are coming to the northern suburb, including Bosscat Kitchen, Kirby Ice House, and Niko Niko’s.

    Dessert Gallery Sarah Brook

    Courtesy of Dessert Gallery

    Sara Brook is the founder of Dessert Gallery.

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    one last hurrah

    Staple downtown Houston bar announces imminent closure

    Eric Sandler
    Apr 24, 2026 | 4:18 pm
    Dean's bar downtown
    Dean's Downtown/Facebook
    Dean's is closing this Sunday, April 26.

    One of downtown Houston’s favorite casual bars will serve its last drink this weekend. Dean’s will close after service on Sunday, April 26.

    First opened in 1999 as Dean’s Credit Clothing, the bar rebranded as Dean’s when current owner Bobby Stark took over in 2013. He tells CultureMap that Notsuoh owner Jim Pirtle, who also owns the bar’s building at 316 Main Street, offered to buy out the last two years of Dean’s lease so that he could open a new concept in the space.

    “[The buyout] allows me, my partners, and my employees to do something else,” Stark writes in a text. “Some staff want to get out of the business. Some want to start their own bars and restaurants. Some just want to continue, and Jim’s new bar will be mostly the same vibe — maybe just a little bit more low-key.”

    Dean’s opened at the same time as other game-changing bars and restaurants such as Goro & Gun, the Original OKRA Charity Saloon, and Captain’s Foxheart’s Bad News Bar & Spirit Lodge. Stark says he’s watched the area evolve from an area that people viewed skeptically into one of Houston’s most popular nightlife spots.

    “Back then, downtown still had the perception that it was dangerous somehow. I don’t know why,” he says. “Now, it’s more mainstream. In a way, I think Houston is becoming more metropolitan as opposed to just a car city.”

    Dean’s will celebrate its last night with “Party Like Its 2013.” Expect a soundtrack powered by songs from the era from artists such as The Weeknd, Rihana, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Taylor Swift, and more. The party runs from 8-11 pm.

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