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H-E-B produces plans for even bigger store in San Antonio suburb

H-E-B is planning a bigger store for New Braunfels shoppers.

H-E-B is replacing a nearly 25-year-old grocery store in New Braunfels with a location that’ll be almost 25 percent bigger.

According to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, H-E-B plans to start construction in mid-January on a 122,222-square-foot store at 651 S. Walnut Ave., near I-35. The nearly $17.6 million is project is scheduled for completion in December 2021. An H-E-B gas station also will be built on the 12-acre site.

Selser Schaefer Architects of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is designing the new store. The firm is H-E-B’s longtime architect.

“Every single H-E-B grocery store Selser Schaefer Architects has helped create throughout its relationship with the Texas-based brand is unique to its setting,” the architecture firm says on its website. “Yet the experience encountered in each H-E-B store is designed to inspire the same feeling: ‘Here Everything’s Better.’”

The current 99,175-square-foot store opened in 1994. San Antonio-based H-E-B operates two other stores in New Braunfels: one at 2965 I-35 North and the other at 1655 W. State Highway 46. The I-35 store is a larger-format H-E-B Plus!

The San Antonio-based chain is one of the most beloved companies in Texas, a reputation further burnished amid the pandemic. In recent months, H-E-B has been named one of the best companies for consumers and rolled out raises to hourly employees working through the COVID-19 crisis, all while growing its footprint across the Lone Star State.

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Well-known brunch eatery adds location at changing Riverwalk mall

Photo courtesy of Alamo Biscuit Co. & Panaderia

Alamo Biscuit Co. & Panaderia is joining a growing list of businesses flocking to the Shops at Rivercenter.

The well-known San Antonio brunch spot Alamo Biscuit Co. & Panaderia is continuing its takeover of the city with a third location. The new eatery is expected to open in March 2025 at 849 E. Commerce St., adjacent to the Shops at Rivercenter.

The new restaurant will span a 7,000-square-foot space, including a 1,200-square-foot patio, which will host a total of 250 guests. San Antonians may remember the space from its days as Enrique Tomás, an upscale Spanish restaurant. Things will be different at the very casual Alamo Biscuit Co., which operates more like a diner.

Biscuits are, of course, the anchoring menu item, and are served in sweet and savory flights when they're not providing support for other dishes like Nashville hot chicken, eggs Benedict with various proteins, or a classic sausage, egg, and cheese. Other specialties include pancakes (sometimes with extravagant toppings), French toast, and tacos.

The new location comes with new menu items that haven't been announced with, plus a full bar and espresso bar, according to a release.

Alamo Biscuit Co. is hiring 80-100 team members starting in January, according to the release. That will include "management, servers, cooks, and dishwashers."

The Shops at Rivercenter are in the middle of a larger renaissance. The mall opened in 1988, and has weathered the coming and going trends of retail. Since 2005, it's been owned by Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation, which also owns famous properties like Boston's Faneuil Hall Marketplace and New York City's Plaza Hotel.

Just in 2024, projects announced at the Shops at Rivercenter include an overhaul of dining by celebrity chef Jason Dady, as well as the San Antonio debut of the trendy Australian mini-golf chain Holey Moley.

“To be invited to open a location on the San Antonio River Walk is an incredible honor and a blessing,” said Alamo Biscuit Co. owner and UTSA graduate John Vale in the release. “In just five years, Alamo Biscuit Co. has become a part of San Antonio’s culinary fabric, and now, we’ve been given the opportunity to share our passion for great food and community in what I believe is the best location in Texas. This is a gift from God and a privilege we don’t take lightly.”

brunch riverwalk openings