Photo: James Coney Island
James Coney Island has served its last hot dog at its Westheimer location.
The quiet shuttering of this Houston location is the fifth in recent months, according to Culture Map Houston. A note can be found in the restaurant's window at the Galleria that reads:
Dear JCI Customer, We made the difficult decision to permanently close this location. We are tremendously grateful for your patronage at Westheimer for many years. We are a small, local business and we hope you will continue to support us at our other Houston Area locations. In fact, our 99-year Houston tradition depends on your support. Please know that all employees from the location have been offered employment within the company.
There are currently nine other Houston James Coney Island locations still open, but the news outlet reports more closures could happen in the future. Three locations (Padadena, east Houston and north Houston) are listed as available for lease to new tenants. Back in July when JCI closed its last inner loop location, president Darrin Straughan said the company was selling off locations to "reposition in smaller locations that are more suited for to-go business."
"We bought a lot of real estate 25 years ago when we started expanding Coney Island. They’re worth a lot of money today. The unit economics is too much to sell hot dogs out of. We made a decision to start selling off our real estate. We're going to open Coney Islands in smaller footprints with drive-thrus," Straughan said in July.
The Westheimer property has reportedly been sold and a new restaurant will pop up in JCI's place in spring 2023.