Iconic Heights Ice House Is Now A Thing Of The Past

HOUSTON, TX — It began life decades ago as a grocery story, and over the years served thousands upon thousands of patrons everything from Lone Stars to Karbachs, beers too numerous to count. All of that ended on June 30.

“It’s a family here,” Leah Bradley, a bartender at Jimmy's, told the Texas Monthly's Michael Hardy on the day before the bar closed forever. “There’s no liquor and no violence.”

Jimmie Murray opened the place as a grocery store, and bequeathed it to his son Frank, who left it to local developers Braun Enterprises when he died, in 2005. Braun plans to renovate the space and reopen it with a new name later this year.

“I did not want to sell this place, but I got out-voted,” said Eric Quinn, a manager and part-owner. “Most people who come here are from the Heights, and there are a lot of people who are gonna be unhappy when we close. We’re hoping for the best.”

No food, no air conditioning, no credit cards accepted, just a quiet place where you could smoke in peace (what you chose to smoke was your business), talk to your friends, meet new ones, and enjoy an afternoon or evening.

For the complete Texas Monthly story, click here.

— Image: Jimmy's Ice House/Facebook