Fire Ant Brewing served its last beer on Market Street on May 17, after eight years as Old Town's first brewpub. Community Impact reported that the owners were retiring. In a goodbye note that ran in the Houston Chronicle, they said they wanted more time with family, called the place their passion and second home, and thanked Tomball.
Southern Oak Brewing opened in that same space at 308 Market St. on October 7. Its owners already run two Tomball businesses about seven minutes apart, at opposite ends of town.
Most of Old Town's openings this year follow the same pattern. A bakery and a boutique both started as Saturday vendors before moving into storefronts. The new arrivals that came from outside picked Main Street on purpose. The closures happened on the same few blocks, and the spaces they left behind are the ones the next local operator moves into.
A brewer and a chef who were already here
Kendra and Josh Schwaiger own Paradigm Brewing Company, which opened in December 2021. Josh came from the beverage industry, with stints at Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Karbach Brewing. Tatia and Doug George own Graze at 208 N Elm. Doug was a corporate chef with ClubCorp for 37 years and trained at the Culinary Institute of America and Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Asked by Hello Woodlands why the two couples teamed up, Josh said, "We have been friends for some time now and have always talked about partnering. When the opportunity came up, we jumped on it."
The name comes from the neighborhood. South Oak Street runs through Old Town near the front door, and Tatia told Hello Woodlands the owners "started with the street names around us." The brewpub takes up the old Fire Ant space plus the storefront next door at 310, and it keeps the patio and balcony.
Some details to know before you go:
- The beer: It's brewed on site under a Texas brewpub license and poured from 28 taps, with guest beers alongside the house beers. The owners' own meal pairings named a Southern Oak Italian Pils, a London Ale and a West Coast brew.
- The permit: It covers beer and wine up to 17% ABV, so there are no spirits or cocktails. Wine, champagne, cider, seltzer and nonalcoholic drinks are all on the menu.
- The kitchen: The preview-night menu included PB&J wings, Reuben egg rolls, shepherd's pie and a bison burger. That was a preview, and the full menu hadn't been published before opening.
- Hours: Tuesday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Closed Mondays.
Old Town spent about five months without a brewpub. Two Tomball businesses filled the gap by pooling what they already had.
Two storefronts that started under a tent
Southern Oak came from established owners. The other main source of new Old Town businesses is at 205 W. Main St., where the Tomball Farmers Market sets up every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Matt and Sarah Cross spent a decade at that market before opening Flour House Bakers at 214 W. Main St. on September 19, according to Community Impact. The shop sells more than the booth did. It opened with baked goods, a short Purefi coffee menu and a limited breakfast. My Neighborhood News describes a bakery built on sourdough that now serves breakfast sandwiches, BLTs, chicken sandwiches, French toast and a chicken Caesar salad next to the muffins and scones. The menu changes every week. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Pearl Provision Co. made the same move in July. It left a vendor booth and opened its first standalone store at 409 Commerce St. on Saturday, July 18, My Neighborhood News reported. It sells jewelry, accessories, women's apparel, gifts and home décor. It's open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.
The market openly describes itself as an incubator. Its website says more than 40 local businesses have outgrown it and moved into their own storefronts. A December 2025 Community Impact profile counted 31 graduates over the previous decade. The two numbers come from different sources and cover different time spans. Either way, it's a long list for a market that started with five vendors in May 2008.
Getting into the market is hard, and that helps explain why its graduates tend to last. Market manager Amanda Kelly told Community Impact that products must be grown, raised, handcrafted or prepared within 180 miles. New vendors also need at least a year and a half at another market before they apply. For 2027, the market requires at least 60 prior market events and attendance at two or more markets a month, year-round. So when a vendor signs a Main Street lease, it already has years of regular customers behind it.
A Saturday crowd from Katy, and stores open on Tuesday
The market's crowd comes mostly from out of town. In the most recent visitor survey Kelly cited to Community Impact, 58% of visitors came from Katy and Cypress and 13% from Tomball.
That changes what a storefront means for Tomball. A booth sells for four hours on Saturday, mostly to shoppers who drove in. Flour House is open five mornings a week, and Pearl Provision six days. A bakery that used to be a regional Saturday stop is now open on a Tuesday at 7 a.m. for people who live nearby.
Newcomers who chose Main Street
Two of the year's other openings came from outside Tomball. Both owners chose Old Town on purpose.
Meseret Mandafro moved to Tomball from Dallas for her husband's job. She opened Mimi's Ethiopian Cuisine at 103 W. Main St. in August. "Tomball became more than just a place where we lived—it became our home," she told Community Impact. The menu includes doro wat, kitfo, tibs, shiro and misir wot, served with homemade injera, plus Ethiopian coffee and spiced tea.
Courtney Collins moved Mahjong Rodeo from its Gosling location to 210 W. Main St. and opened The Rodeo Room on July 1. She told My Neighborhood News she wanted "to make mahjong accessible to my community." The schedule includes beginner and intermediate classes, leagues, themed play and free open play.
Here are the five openings side by side, with hours as posted in late October:
| Business | Address | Came from | Opened | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pearl Provision Co. | 409 Commerce St. | Market vendor booth | July 2026 | Tue–Sat 10–5, Sun 1–5 |
| Mahjong Rodeo | 210 W. Main St. | Gosling location | July 1, 2026 | Mon–Sat 10–6 |
| Mimi's Ethiopian Cuisine | 103 W. Main St. | Owner relocated from Dallas | August 2026 | Tue–Sat 11–9, Sun 11–8 |
| Flour House Bakers | 214 W. Main St. | Tomball Farmers Market, 10 years | Sept. 19, 2026 | Tue–Sat 7–4 |
| Southern Oak Brewing | 308 Market St. | Paradigm Brewing and Graze owners | Oct. 7, 2026 | Tue–Thu 11–9, Fri–Sat 11–10, Sun 11–7 |
Three of the five are closed on Mondays. Hours at new businesses often change in the first few months, so check before making a special trip.
The same blocks, turning over
New storefronts need open spaces, and Old Town has had several. The Tomball Times business timeline tracks the changes since early summer.
- Saturdays Bakery at 411 W. Main St. closed after July 4.
- Splendid Things Stained Glass moved from 410 W. Main St. to 1599 Hicks St., Suite A. It's still open and still teaching classes.
- From the Attic then moved down the street from 315 W. Main St. into 410 W. Main St.
- Laramie & Co. closed its storefront at 100 Commerce St. on September 28. The owner said the business is continuing and a new location hasn't been chosen.
- Grazeables moved from 406 W. Main St. to 408 Wilson Rd. in Conroe and still takes online orders and handles events.
- Two announced projects didn't open. The Vee Hive gallery and maker's space planned for 412 W. Main St. is no longer going forward there, and the Roundup Marketplace vendor co-op never made its move to Main Street.
The 400 block of West Main shows how this works. One business moved off the block, another moved onto it, and a planned arrival a few doors down fell through. The spaces stay in circulation, and the businesses best positioned to take them are the ones that already have Tomball customers.
November on the same streets
The new storefronts are close to most of the month's Old Town events on the Visit Tomball calendar:
- Depot Day Fall Fest, Saturday, November 7, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tomball Depot Plaza.
- 2nd Saturday @ the Depot: Holiday Movie Night, November 14, 5 to 8 p.m.
- Pink Friday in Downtown Tomball, November 20, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- The 61st Tomball Holiday Parade, Saturday, November 21, 10 a.m. to noon on Main Street. This year's theme is "250 Years – Main Street Americana." Main Street closes from 7 a.m. to noon.
- Christmas Market at Paradigm Brewing Company, November 22, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Schwaigers' first brewery hosts it.
Since the parade closes Main Street on a Saturday morning, a November 21 breakfast at Flour House or a stop at the market means planning your parking and route around the closure.
I follow Old Town Tomball one storefront at a time, including who moved, who expanded and which blocks are changing. That's often what a client wants to know first when a home near Main Street is on their list. If you'd like that kind of street-level read on Tomball, Melissa King is happy to walk through it with you. Book a complimentary home strategy call.
