Driftwood Store restaurant & bar

The old Texaco-turned-general-store on FM 150 is getting an $8.5 million rebuild, with a fall 2026 target

Drive the corner of FM 150 in Driftwood and you've probably clocked the old store — boarded up, half-wrapped in construction fencing, parked between the wineries and the barbecue joints everybody already drives out here for. That's about to change. A new, expansive project is set to reshape Driftwood's landscape, with the construction of a multi-faceted retail and dining venue located at 14999 FM 150. It's one of the more ambitious builds this corner of Hays County has seen in a while, and it's finally far enough along to talk about.

What's coming. The project includes the construction of a 1,550-square-foot bar building, an 850-square-foot staff and storage building, and a 4,400-square-foot restaurant addition to an existing 1,850-square-foot building. The renovation and expansion will also include new parking areas and entry driveways to accommodate visitors to the space. In plain terms: the original store building stays, but it's getting a big restaurant wing, a standalone bar, and the parking lot to match — a real dining-and-drinks hub where there used to be a shuttered gas station.

Where and when. The site sits at 14999 FM 150 in Driftwood, the same stretch of road as Hays City Store and Trattoria Lisina. Permits show the project is under construction, with an estimated completion in October 2026. The project registered with the state in June 2025, with construction starting in October 2025 and a completion date targeted for October 15, 2026 — so the fall finish line newsletter readers heard about still holds, per the latest filings.

Who's behind it. The land is held by FM 150 Driftwood Investments LLC, with Clayton Korte serving as the design firm of record. The store itself has deep roots here: the Driftwood Store of today dates back to 1915, the predecessor of which was destroyed by fire at the turn of the 19th century, and it has housed uses such as a general store, mercantile, post office, feed store, laundry and dry cleaning facility, photography studio, and domino parlor over its long life. A related ownership group, Capland Development, purchased the site in December 2022, a full-circle moment for a team whose ancestors had owned the property from 1935 to 1946, and says it's working to bring the old gathering spot back to life.

What we don't know yet. No restaurant name or operator has gone public, and neither the landowner nor the design team has said who'll run the kitchen or the bar, what the menu will look like, or whether it's one unified concept or separate operators for the store building versus the new bar. Hours, pricing and an opening date narrower than "fall" haven't surfaced either. We'll have the name the moment it's filed or posted — this one's worth the wait given the address.