Tanglewood H-E-B Quietly Closes its Uber-Hyped Restaurant: New Less Foodie-Centric Amenity to Take its Place

The H-E-B on San Felipe at Fountain View decided that for its in-store restaurant, Table 57 Dining and Drinks, it’s time for the check. A little less than three years after it opened to great fanfare in February 2015, Table’s been quietly shuttered in favor of more traditional grocery store convenience.

Say goodbye to Table 57, and hello to Curbside Pick Up. The Tanglewood H-E-B is making a major shift.

“Table 57, H-E-B’s chef-inspired restaurant adjacent to its signature store on San Felipe at Fountain view, closed at the end of 2017. The space will be reallocated to allow for expansion of store offerings including Curbside Pick Up, which will open mid-March 2018, along with H-E-B’s fresh, ready to heat and eat Meal Simple selections,” H-E-B public affairs director Cyndy Garza Roberts confirms to PaperCity in a statement.

The days of walking right up to the sliding doors to the right of the main H-E-B entrance, stepping into the casual grocery store restaurant space and ordering at the counter are gone.

Restaurants within H-E-Bs are a rarity in these parts. Table 57 was H-E-B’s first in-store restaurant in Houston. There are five H-E-Bs with restaurants in other parts of Texas, from Cafe Mueller in Austin to Oaks Crossing Restaurant and Bar in San Antonio. The Schertz, Lakeway and Spring H-E-B’s also have in-store restaurants.

Table 57’s Early Promise

You could argue that Table 57 was H-E-B’s most ambitious restaurant — and certainly its most chef driven. Houston celebrity chef Randy Evans was heavily involved with Table 57 and crafting its initial menu. Evans, known for his restaurant Haven and his days as Brennan’s executive chef, developed an eclectic Houston menu before transferring to San Antonio as the director of H-E-B’s overall restaurant program.

Evans developed standards like burgers, salads, and sandwiches, but also brought some flair to Table 57. Mix-and-match sliders like Korean BBQ Pulled Pork, and prime beef and brie made the cut. More daring options dotted the menu, including the Cannellini bean Tuscan salad, Korean fried chicken, fried oyster tostadas, a quinoa and farro salad, and pork chop Milanese.

This wasn’t just another grocery store restaurant — and for a while it became a trendy Tanglewood spot.

Like with other dine-in H-E-B restaurants, the barbecue portion of Table 57’s menu was robust. Barbecue plates ranged from one meat and two sides all the way up to three meats and two sides, and you could get everything from pulled pork to St. Louis spare ribs by the pound.

Parents taking a quick shopping break could eat along with their children. Kids were covered with menu options like cheeseburger sliders or a Hebrew National Hotdog. A play area in the corner of the covered patio gave them room to run around until the food arrived.

Now, instead of inviting shoppers in, the H-E-B’s goal is to take the food out to them with curbside pick up. The amenity allows customers to select a pick-up time, order everything they need online and drive up and get it without ever having to leave their car.

The emphasis on curbside pickup fits with the latest grocery store trends — and it’s a feature customers clearly use. Still, the closing of Table 57 is a restaurant loss.