Tex-Mex at 209, Burgers at 210: The New Faces on Main Street in Downtown Sulphur Springs

Two restored Bell UH-1 helicopters flew over Gilmer Street at noon on Thursday, June 18, 2026. Below them, a crowd stood outside the old HTeaO building while the Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce cut the ribbon on Huey's Coffee. The Hopkins County Military Coalition held a flag ceremony before the ribbon cutting. The helicopters were fully restored utility aircraft from a design that dates to the late 1950s.

The ceremony was loud, but one detail in the News-Telegram's coverage tells you more. This was the seventh East Texas drive-up for Huey's Coffee. Most of the businesses that cut ribbons in Sulphur Springs this summer were built in another town first, and Sulphur Springs became their next address. That goes for the new burger place downtown too.

A Summer of Second, Fifth, and Seventh Locations

Look at where this summer's openings came from and a pattern shows up.

Huey's Coffee roasts in East Texas. Sulphur Springs is its seventh drive-up in the region, and the company also has a location in Urbana, Ohio.

Lulu's Burgers held its ribbon cutting at 210 Main Street on Aug. 26. The News-Telegram called it the business's second location and said Lulu's is "rooted in Commerce." The original restaurant is still at 803 Culver Street in Commerce, and its website says it has served burgers "Since 2005." A 2010 article in The East Texan puts the opening a little earlier. It names Hans Bavary as the founder, says he opened the restaurant about seven years before then, and reports that he passed it to Sarj Agha. Whichever year you go by, the Commerce kitchen had been running for roughly two decades before it opened a second one on Main Street.

The same week, Black Candle Tattoo Studio opened at 101 Bill Bradford Road, Suite 6. Owner Dakota Cortez already runs shops in Commerce, Emory, Mount Pleasant, and Paris, so Sulphur Springs is location number five. It isn't a place to eat. It does show the same thing, though: a business that grew up in nearby towns and added Sulphur Springs.

Seen together, these openings show Sulphur Springs as the next stop for small regional businesses that have already proven themselves in Commerce, Emory, Paris, and Mount Pleasant. For anyone who eats out here, that means many new places arrive with a menu and a routine that have already been tested elsewhere.

Facing Each Other on the 200 Block

The two new downtown restaurants opened in the same month, on opposite sides of the same block.

Casa Chilito Tex-Mex Kitchen went first, with a ribbon cutting on Monday, Aug. 10, at 209 Main Street. The News-Telegram listed tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and nachos on the menu. The Visit Sulphur Springs downtown dining directory also lists burrito bowls and street tacos.

Sixteen days later, Lulu's opened across the street at 210 Main. Along with burgers, the News-Telegram reported fried fish, chicken tenders, and salads.

Both addresses have housed restaurants before. Sushi Guy opened at 209 Main in 2018, and Burgerland opened at 210 Main in 2017. Those are the most recent earlier tenants that local reporting confirms, so there is a long record of people eating in these two storefronts.

Main Street had other August ribbon cuttings too. Gatson's Life and Financial Group opened at 110 Main on Friday, Aug. 14. It was founded by Rodney Garson and Abigail Wilder. In the spring, the Chamber announced a noon ribbon cutting for Landers Creek on Main Street, set for Tuesday, April 14. The tourism directory lists the outdoors and hunting retailer at 218 Main, Suite B.

The Block They Joined

The newcomers moved into one of the busiest dining stretches in Hopkins County. Here is the 200 block and the streets just off it, in walking order. Several of these listings come from the city's tourism directory, so call ahead before making a special trip.

1. Conspiracy Lounge, 202 Main. Cocktails, mocktails, tapas, and live entertainment.
2. Haystacks, 206 Main. Brunch, lunch, dinner, coffee, and steakhouse fare, plus an in-house bakery with scratch breads, pies, muffins, and pastries.
3. Casa Chilito Tex-Mex Kitchen, 209 Main. New in August.
4. Lulu's Burgers, 210 Main. New in August.
5. Vita Bella, 218 Main. Bubble tea and coffee.
6. Nonna Faye's Italian Kitchen, 221 Main. Family-run wood-fired pizza and Italian dishes.
7. Muddy Jake's Sports Grille and Pub, 229 Main. Burgers, wings, tacos, and drink specials.

A short walk off Main takes you to Ol Mad at 211 Magnolia Street, which describes itself as a craft brewery and scratch kitchen. Slaughter's BBQ Oasis is listed at 107 Magnolia. On Connally Street, the directory lists San Remo at 226 Connally for Italian food and Sweet Rice at 300 B Connally for Lao and Thai. At the ends of Main, it lists Plain & Fancy Sandwich Shoppe at 120 Main and White Oak City Limits at 307 Main, known for homemade breakfast and daily lunch specials.

Lulu's now shares the block with Muddy Jake's, which also serves burgers. Casa Chilito sits a few doors from another spot with tacos on the menu. A newcomer to this block opens next to established neighbors serving some of the same food, and the August arrivals went ahead anyway.

Hours, Side by Side

The hours are the most useful thing for planning a downtown evening, and the new places don't keep the same schedule.

Lulu's opens every day, so it is the new downtown option on a Sunday. Casa Chilito closes at 8 p.m., so a Tex-Mex dinner there works best as an early meal before a later stop elsewhere on the block. If you are planning around a Celebration Plaza event or a Friday night, the hour between Casa Chilito's close and Lulu's makes a difference.

Huey's Wants to Be More Than a Drive-Thru

Back on Gilmer Street, Huey's has the earliest hours of the three, opening at 6 a.m. six days a week. Regional manager Jennifer Maguire told the News-Telegram the shop wants people to stay a while after the drive-thru window:

"We are a drive-thru coffee shop, but we'd also like to become a hub for families to come inside to our comfortable sit-in space, play board games, and enjoy the atmosphere and our conversation-friendly areas."

Maguire listed coffee and lattes, breakfast and lunch items, a variety of teas, and freshly squeezed lemonade. The paper's photo caption added energy drinks, bagels, burritos, cinnamon rolls, pies, and sandwiches. Huey's offers discounts for military and law enforcement. That ties back to the helicopters overhead and the Hopkins County Military Coalition's flag ceremony at the opening. More details are at hueyscoffee.com.

The News-Telegram's opening coverage only says that Huey's moved into the former HTeaO building. Local reporting we reviewed doesn't say when HTeaO left that spot.

Taken together, these openings follow one pattern: a Commerce burger kitchen with about twenty years behind it, a coffee roaster on its seventh East Texas drive-up, and a tattoo studio on its fifth regional shop all chose Sulphur Springs this summer. Casa Chilito's opening coverage didn't mention any other locations, which makes it the one August restaurant on Main Street that may be getting its start here.

At Renee Jennings, we keep track of what opens on Main Street and Gilmer the same way our neighbors do, one ribbon cutting at a time. If you know of a downtown spot we should try next, or want to talk about life near the square, contact us. We'd love to hear from you.