• Hubcap Grill (downtown) Location: 111 Prairie Hubcap Grill owner Ricky Craig on Dec. 31 announced the closing of the downtown outpost. The four other Houston-area locations will remain open and soon be welcomed by a fifth spot in Pearland. >>>See 2019 and 2018's major restaurant closings. Photo: Alison Cook, Chronicle

    Hubcap Grill (downtown)

    Location: 111 Prairie

    Hubcap Grill owner Ricky Craig on Dec. 31 announced the closing of the downtown outpost. The four other Houston-area locations will remain open and soon be welcomed by a fifth spot in Pearland.

    >>>See 2019 and 2018's major restaurant closings.

    less

    Hubcap Grill (downtown)

    Location: 111 Prairie

    Hubcap Grill owner Ricky Craig on Dec. 31 announced the closing of the downtown outpost. The four other Houston-area locations will remain open and soon be

    ... more
    Photo: Alison Cook, Chronicle

Photo: Alison Cook, Chronicle

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Hubcap Grill (downtown)

Location: 111 Prairie

Hubcap Grill owner Ricky Craig on Dec. 31 announced the closing of the downtown outpost. The four other Houston-area locations will remain open and soon be welcomed by a fifth spot in Pearland.

>>>See 2019 and 2018's major restaurant closings.

less

Hubcap Grill (downtown)

Location: 111 Prairie

Hubcap Grill owner Ricky Craig on Dec. 31 announced the closing of the downtown outpost. The four other Houston-area locations will remain open and soon be

... more
Photo: Alison Cook, Chronicle

Add one more departure to this year's restaurant-farewells roster.

The last week of 2019 has already included some surprising closings, and Tuesday morning brought another sad announcement: Hubcap Grill owner Ricky Craig said on Twitter that the downtown outpost is officially closed because the "new lease was not feasible for lunch time trade only." The Houston Chronicle has reached out to Craig and will update this space with more information as it becomes available. 
When it opened in 2008, the downtown grill was the first to launch the small local chain. There are four other Hubcap Grill locations in the Houston area, including one inside George Bush Intercontinental Airport, a spot on the Strand in Galveston and the long-running Heights locale. 

There's also another Hubcap Grill in the works for Pearland, Craig's hometown. That one should be debuting in early spring at 5627 Broadway — at the former Big Humphreys Pizza & Italian Restaurant space. Craig said that he is also seeking franchisees and partners in the new year as the restaurant's brand expands.

Just days before, we learned that Beaver's on the west side shuttered. And closing soon are the Galleria's upscale dim sum restaurant, Yauatcha, will be shutting down in February and Montrose's veteran Greek establishment Theo's will cease operations early in the year.  The owner of that 12-year-old restaurant explained that the strip center in which it's housed is slated to be razed. It will also host a liquidation sale on Jan. 7. 

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