10 January 29 - February 4, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Location, Location, Smoked Gouda While H-E-B stakes out locations in North Dallas, one man is on a mission to bring one to southern Dallas. BY LAUREN DREWES DANIELS F redrick Terry grew up in South Dallas. His mom made him din- ner every night, and his father worked at Kroger. He never asked his mom where she got her groceries; it never came up. But now, the semiretired Terry prefers to shop after shifts at his job in North Dallas, rather than near his house in South Dallas. Thankfully, he has reliable transportation, and so it’s not an is- sue. The Dallas native, who attended Roos- evelt High School for one year before gradu- ating from Hillcrest as part of the generation bused around the city, wants an H-E-B in his neighborhood. He’s not mad about it. He honestly just wants good cheese and salsa. “I deserve smoked Gouda too,” Terry says, adding that the grocery chain’s salsa is his favorite. When talking about his mission to bring an H-E-B to southern Dallas, he quickly vacil- lates between hard data points and foodie jokes. Terry left Dallas in 1996 for his career in HR, but after retirement, he returned to his hometown and bought the house where he grew up. “When I left in ‘96, there were no grocery stores here,” he says, “The closest grocery store to us, at least that claimed to have qual- ity food, was the one at Wynwood. And if I could wave my magic wand, I would close that store tomorrow. That store is awful.” He grew up in a family that made its liv- ing in the grocery business. His father worked at Kroger for 43 years, and it was also his first job out of college. The Receipts Terry has all the receipts. He knows the me- dian income for H-E-B stores in San Anto- nio. He knows how many acres the stores in Houston sit on. He digs through the Dallas Central Appraisal District data and knows every plot of land that H-E-B owns. “And every city that they’re in, San Anto- nio, Austin and Houston being the exam- ples,” he says, “they’ve already built in the inner city, and they built in ZIP codes that are comparable from a median income standpoint to 75208, where they own prop- erty. That’s what I’m trying to get them to see.” Terry even went as far as to rent a mobile advertising truck for two weeks with a sim- ple question: “H-E-B, why won’t you open in Dallas?” along with a QR code to his site, hebwhy.net. One day, he instructed the truck driver to park in the H-E-B North Texas headquar- ter’s parking lot. He was hoping they would come out and talk to the driver. “They played it well,” Terry says with a big smile. “They didn’t take the bait.” But another day, he had the driver go to a Cen- tral Market, and that time they did ask him to leave, he says with a fair-is-fair shrug “I live in 75203, which is on the east side of 35. I would not expect them to ever build over there. That median income is under $40,000, or it was under $40,000 in 2020. But where they built, where they own, the property that they own is 75208, that median income is right at $67,000,” meaning the neighborhood could easily support a store. And he realizes that H-E-B’s real estate team knows this, too, but he wants them to know people (like him) are watching. “You’re not just going to tell me, ‘Well, the median income doesn’t work.’ The me- dian income works here because you’ve built in places in San Antonio that even have a lower average median income. And you build a flagship store there.” We have the money, he says, “We need a store. We need someone to build it.” Butt Where? H-E-B owns two contiguous lots in the Bishop Arts District. One is at 111 East Davis St. and the other at 632 N. Beckley. “They cover 2.56 acres,” Terry explains in an email. For now, this is a big empty lot surrounded by new apartments and some retail spaces. The Bishop Arts community has grown around it, but the cold, grey cement remains vacant. “This lot is comparable to the lot size of the H-E-B at 5225 Buffalo Speedway in Houston, the store that is across Highway 59 from Joel Olsteen’s church,” he says. “The appraisal district land valuation for the property in Oak Cliff is $4 million. That is the second-highest appraised value of any parcel they own in Dallas. And it’s just a va- cant lot,” he says. The only thing H-E-B is doing with this lot is protesting the taxes (and losing). “It [the Olsteen adjacent store] is a 90,000-square-foot store that sits on 2.49 acres. Another store in Houston at 6055 North MacGregor Drive sits on what I be- lieve to be 4.75 acres. It is in the Third Ward, a largely African American neighbor- hood. The store opened in 2019 and is also a 90,000-square-foot location,” he says. A Case of Blight The problem with empty lots is that, well, they’re empty. Lots left abandoned and un- kept often accumulate litter, drag down sur- rounding property values and lead to increased crime. Additionally, H-E-B holding onto the un- developed land prevents other potential gro- cery stores or businesses from developing the space. Real estate is a big part of the gro- cery store business, which isn’t lost on Terry. “In some neighborhoods, H-E-B is a gro- cer; in other neighborhoods, they are land speculators,” he says. Grocers will buy up land just to make sure a competitor doesn’t drop in and steal business from a nearby store. But speculating isn’t helping the south- ern Dallas community. “It does appear that their market and marketing strategy is different in North Texas than it’s been down in South Texas and in San Antonio and Austin,” Terry says of the robust number of stores in other Texas cities. “And I can’t tell you why. I can’t make rhyme or reason about it, but it does appear to be different.” We reached out to H-E-B for comment on developing this site and Terry’s efforts, and did not hear back. ▼ FIRST LOOK SNARF IT UP A COLORADO SANDWICH SHOP IS PLOTTING A DALLAS INVASION. BY LAUREN DREWES DANIELS T here’s always room at the table for another good sandwich, right? Well, sorta. Things are getting tense at the table here in Dallas. We’re reporting on too many local spots closing and too many out- of-town spots taking their place. That in- cludes the sandwich scene. New York Subs announced it needs to move from its home of 50 years due to rent, all while Snarf’s, a Colorado-based sandwich spot, is opening five (FIVE!) new spots across North Texas almost simultaneously. The first Snarf’s location opened near Love Field on Mockingbird Lane in Decem- ber; another opened in Far North Dallas on Campbell Road. The other three nearing completion are located in Snider Plaza, Lakewood on Abrams Road and in Preston Hollow. The vibe here is spartan hippy. Colorful tile murals adorn the front counters of each store; otherwise, the stores have cement floors and simple tables. Sandwiches come in three sizes: novice (5-inch), Snarf’s (7-inch) and Pro (12-inch). The most popular sandwich is the Italian, and the prices for each size are $7.95, $12.25, and $15.95, respectively. The Pro is defi- nitely shareable if you’re a mild-mannered sandwich connoisseur. I walked out with sandwiches for three (including a 7-inch Snarf and a Pro) for $30. That’s without drinks or sides and ... yeah, feels about right these days. It’s not a deal, but it’s not crazy either. Fountain drinks are $3. A bag of chips is $2.30. What are we all, Rockefellers? Could you imagine adding a drink and chips for three people for another $15? I can’t. That’d put the cost of three sandwiches at about $50. Again, that’s how prices are now, not just Snarf’s. As mentioned, the Italian is the go-to or- der here and comes with salami, pepperoni, capicola, mortadella and provolone. Be sure to ask for all the toppings, which include mayo, mustard, hot peppers, LTO, pickles, seasoning and oil. There are other things you can add on as well, like mushrooms and bacon. Crusty Warm Sandwiches Part of what makes Snarf’s special is the toasting process. The bread isn’t fully baked until after the sandwiches are ordered and made; it’s then thrown in the toaster where all the spices, cheese and meats mix and mingle into a happy, warm sandwich. The bread comes out crusty, giving each bite a snap and crunch. This is the backbone of the Snarf empire. Needless to say, it’s really preferable to eat the sandwiches on-site or in your car in the parking lot. The magic of an Italian is a wee bit lost if it sits on I-30 too long, you know? (A grilled PB&J is just $5 and a picture of it on the site looks sort of amazing. You can add bacon to it for a few dollars more. No, you shut up.) The menu also includes salads (dressings made in-house) and specialty sandwiches, Jordan Maddox Fredrick Terry is a South Dallas native who is working hard to get an H-E-B in his community. | CITY OF ATE | ▼ Dish
