New businesses continue to set up shop in downtown Brownsville

Feb. 19—As Brownsville's historic downtown district becomes revitalized, many local businesses owner have taken advantage of this and have chosen to open shops there.

And the addition of these new businesses is attracting both locals and visitors who are seeking more of a local feel.

Ten new businesses are either open or are under construction, located on East Washington Street, East Elizabeth Street, East 13th Street and East 12th Street.

You can stop by Roast House, a coffee shop, where you can get a cup of coffee on your way to work or during a daytime break. If you are looking for a place to have brunch, there's Morning Glory on East Washington.

If you are the pizza type of person, Nolita's on East Elizabeth Street sells pizza by the slice or complete pizzas. Adult beverages are also served inside the newly remodeled two-story business.

Other businesses that have made the downtown district their home include Curio 409, Buho Bookstore, Master's Barbershop, La Catrina, Pluton Brewery, Boqueron Tapa plus Wine, and Dirty Habit Bar.

Allan E. Garces, is the downtown manager and serves as the liaison between the city and business owners. The updating of the development codes helped business grow in the downtown area, and Garces said part of his duty as downtown manager is to help fast track the permits for the proposed business owners.

"I can serve as liaison to help kind of push that a little quicker...it's a lot harder to build and work in downtown because of the historic buildings," Garces said. "There's so much history here and we want to preserve it."

Brownsville is the second most historic city in Texas. It's harder to build in downtown because it's older, but new business owners are putting in the effort needed.

"Much respect for developers and businesses that locate downtown. It's the most dense area and so opening up a wall, sometimes you don't know what you are going to find, so there's a very high respect for that," City Manager Helen Ramirez said.

Incentives for downtown developers are available through the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation.

"It's just exciting times to be in Brownsville and I am happy that I get to be a part of it, and I am happy that I get to work with these business owners and property owners that are putting all this effort into it," Garces said.

Christian Corbeil opened Nolita's NY Pizza in October 2022 and said the public has been receptive to his business, which offers New York style pizza. He said he chose the location because he wanted help revitalize the downtown area of the largest city in the Rio Grande Valley.

Corbeil said while growing up, he was told not to go to the downtown area, the same as other Brownsville residents, because it was not considered safe.

He wanted to change this stigma and show that Brownsville has changed and so has the downtown environment. "I felt that was a good move on our part. ...I thought it was silly for downtown Brownsville to be deemed not safe."

"I remember growing up and we didn't get the privilege to go downtown because it just wasn't a good part of town to be around and now the narrative has changed and that is a great thing and a huge milestone our city has accomplished," Corbeil said.

The first floor of the pizzeria features the kitchen and dining area, while the second floor has sofas, an arcade, and big TVs. Corbeil compared the second floor as visiting someone's house and going to play video games. "It's really cool."

The second floor is great for hosting events and several birthdays have been held there, Corbeil said.

"I feel like pizza is a love language and we need to speak it to everyone," Corbeil said.

Both Garces and Ramirez said it was other businesses that opened earlier in the downtown area that help lure new businesses to downtown.

"They laid the foundation" Ramirez said.

"Kudos to them," Garces added.

Ramirez hopes Brownsville residents and others will change their mindset and give downtown Brownsville a second chance by visiting one of the downtown restaurants.

"Things have changed. Go experience one of the restaurants and give it a try and just be open minded to change," Ramirez said. "All I ask is that you give it a try."

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Editor's note: This story has been updated with correct information.

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