{"id":424033,"date":"2026-09-02T15:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T15:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/424033\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T15:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T15:02:08","slug":"affectionately-known-as-sitos-1-the-original-43-year-old-houston-tex-mex-institution-that-started-a-massive-restaurant-empire-is-officially-closing-this-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/424033\/","title":{"rendered":"Affectionately known as \u201cSito\u2019s #1,\u201d the original 43-year-old Houston Tex-Mex institution that started a massive restaurant empire is officially closing this month"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/FotoJet-2026-09-01T123006.868-1024x688.jpg\" class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\" alt=\"Image shows a man placing a \" closed=\"\" sign=\"\" on=\"\" a=\"\" window.=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"688\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Amid a wave of Houston restaurant closures this summer, including Arnaldo Richards\u2019 Picos, the Michelin-recognized <a href=\"https:\/\/secrethouston.com\/late-august-houston-closing-dining\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secrethouston.com\/late-august-houston-closing-dining\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_3\" data-category=\"click_internal\">Late August<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/secrethouston.com\/killens-heights-houston-closing\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secrethouston.com\/killens-heights-houston-closing\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_4\" data-category=\"click_internal\">Killen\u2019s <\/a>in the Heights, the city is about to lose another staple.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The original Pappasito\u2019s \u2013\u00a0affectionately known as \u201cSito\u2019s #1\u201d \u2013\u00a0will shutter its location at 6445 Richmond Ave., at Hillcroft, this September after 43 years of business.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have made the very difficult decision to close Pappasito\u2019s Cantina at Richmond and Hillcroft,\u201d said Pappas Restaurants Chief Marketing Officer Christina Pappas in a statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cKnown to generations of Pappas team membrs as \u2018Sito\u2019s #1,\u2019 this restaurant has been a place where countless guests have gathered, celebrated, and made lasting memories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since brothers Chris, Harris, and Greg Pappas opened its doors in 1983, the legendary \u201cSito\u2019s #1\u201d has been a Houston institution in which Pappasito\u2019s has grown from a single beloved spot into a Tex-Mex empire with over 20 locations across Texas and Georgia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pappasito\u2019s Cantina will officially close its doors at 6445 Richmond Ave. on September 13. The restaurant is presently participating in Houston Restaurant Weeks, offering a special three-course menu for $40 up until September 6.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe hope our guests will visit during these final weeks and help us give Sito\u2019s #1 the sendoff it deserves. If you have a favorite memory of Sito\u2019s #1, we would love for you to share it with us through the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pappasitos.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/pappasitos.com\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_5\" data-category=\"click_non_sales\">Pappasitos website<\/a>,\u201d reads the statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As to the question of why the group has decided to close Sito\u2019s #1, the group simply stated that it will do so in consideration of the site\u2019s long-term outlook. The Pappas Restaurant Group owns the Richmond-and-Hillcroft property and is reportedly evaluation future plans for the site.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to CultureMap, Pappas have offered the Sito\u2019s #1 employees positions at other Pappas restaurants.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Sito\u2019s #1 will close on September 13, the group will continue to operate the 12 other Pappasito\u2019s locations throughout the Houston area, including the Little Pappasito\u2019s near Kirby.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amid a wave of Houston restaurant closures this summer, including Arnaldo Richards\u2019 Picos, the Michelin-recognized Late August, and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424034,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57,3088],"class_list":["post-424033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-mexican-food"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}