Kirby Ice House, one of Houston’s more popular watering holes, is expanding to North Texas. Permits with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation show the bar chain is adding locations in Irving and Plano.
The first permit, filed on May 1, shows a Kirby Ice House in development at 1251 W Royal Ln. in Irving. The second, filed on June 11, shows another planned at 208 Coit Rd. in Plano.
Both permits indicate the new 13,200-square-foot bars will feature indoor and outdoor seating areas, similar to Kirby Ice House’s other Houston-area locations. Each project carries an estimated construction cost of $5 million, with work expected to begin in January 2027. According to the filings, the Plano location is slated for completion within six months, while construction on the Irving outpost is expected to continue through March 2029. As with all Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filings, project details and timelines are subject to change.
Kirby Ice House hasn’t publicly announced an expansion to Irving or Plano and currently lists only its Houston-area locations on its website.
In March, Houston Business Journal reported that Kirby Ice House has plans to double its number of locations over the next three years with new outposts in and outside of Houston, including the Dallas-Fort Worth market. According to HBJ, owner Russ Morgan aims to open one new location each year, with two possibly opening in 2028.
“We’ve got a lot of other submarkets and communities on our radar in Houston — where it’d be west, northwest, northeast — as we continue to build the pipeline for the next three-plus years,” Morgan told HBJ. “I can tell you that it’s not all going to be in Houston; we are heavily focused on the DFW area on top of Houston.”
The first Kirby Ice House opened a decade ago at 3333 Eastside St. in Upper Kirby. The concept has since expanded to Memorial, The Woodlands and Houston Heights, with another location planned for the Webster area near Clear Lake.