The Burger King at West 35th and Jefferson Streets, seen in better days. Image: Jhonny Telles / Google Maps
“I’ve always wanted to turn a Burger King into a wine bar,” I patiently explain to my court-appointed psychiatrist. “Imagine how great it would feel to tear down all those ugly Whopper signs and slap up some cheap French posters they sell at the airport!” But seriously, there’s nothing stopping you from turning a Burger King into a wine bar, or any other closed fast food place for that matter. Assuming there’s a dining room, the buildings are about the right size, and there’s usually a big parking lot just dying for a conversion to classy patio seating. Cover up the fluorescent lights, hang some LED filament bulbs for that warm 2700 Kelvin look, and start charging three times more for the food because you’re suddenly stocking brioche buns and camembert — brother, that is the dream, at least my dream anyways. And someone’s doing it!
The Burger King in question, which opened sometime in the 1970s and closed in 2020, is positioned against the central commercial corridor of West 35th Street through the Bryker Woods neighborhood on a 0.16-acre site at 3427 Jefferson Street. An office and retail development for this tract planned a few years ago by local firm Manifold Real Estate appears to be defunct — new permits for the property now indicate that Phoenix-based restaurant group Upward Projects wants to remodel the existing Burger King structure into a new 3,950-square-foot location for its Postino wine bar and cafe brand, with a redesign from local studio Sixthriver Architects.
Postino, which wisely chose not to reply to my request for comment, currently operates in five states including eight locations across Texas, with a project headed for South Lamar announced last year. The brand, which notably doesn’t appear to offer burgers, is known for approachable wine selections, various bruschetta and charcuterie boards, and a brunch menu. It’s also known for repurposing old and historically interesting buildings for its locations, the name “Postino” derived from its original location in a converted Phoenix post office, which makes this potential new location’s choice of an old Burger King incredibly funny:
Postino WineCafé opened its first location in Texas on April 11 at Heights Mercantile, located at 642 Yale St., Houston. Heights Mercantile is an urban market that was repurposed from a 1940s-era warehouse at the corner of Yale and 7th streets.
Restaurant group Upward Projects founded the first Postino WineCafé in Phoenix in 2001. The name came about because the site of the original location had formerly been a post office. Owners Kris and Craig DeMarco and Lauren and Wyatt Bailey started the brand with the idea of restoring older structures that were important to the communities they had once served.
A view of the Burger King from back in 2018. If it were my project, I’d keep those booths. Image: Stephen Niemeyer / Google Maps
And hey, this Burger King was once pretty important to the surrounding community, even after it closed — back in 2021, when Manifold secured a rezoning for the property to build a four-story office and retail project, the Bryker Woods Neighborhood Association opposed the plan on the grounds that the building would be too tall and generate too much traffic compared with the abandoned Burger King’s effect on the character of the neighborhood. Wonder how they’ll feel about the wine bar?
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