Avalon Drug Store Closing; Diner To Remain Open

To paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of Avalon Diner's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

It's sadly true that the Avalon Drug Store in River Oaks, a bastion of old-fashioned service and nostalgia, is closing. The store, which has been owned and operated by pharmacist Bill Morris for almost four decades, will be shutting its doors this week after rising insurance and property costs forced him to reexamine keeping the pharmacy open.

At 67 years old, Morris has finally decided to retire, and will be turning over the pharmacy's business to his competitor down the street, CVS. Morris will assist his old customers during the transition from Avalon to CVS before riding off into the beckoning sunset of retirement.

The popular Avalon Diner next door, however, will remain open for business, despite a recent announcement on a local morning radio show. This should come as a relief to the many diners who crowd its tables and counter each day, enjoying the Grill Cook's Medley (our favorite), patty melts and quicksand-thick, ice-cold milkshakes that have been served by Avalon since 1938.

A quick call to the diner confirmed that both locations -- River Oaks and Stafford -- would remain open indefinitely, and had nothing to do with the closure of the drug store. And a recent comment on Swamplot reaffirmed this information, noting that Avalon Diner and the Avalon Drug Store have, in fact, been separate business entities since before 1993.

It remains to be seen, however, what will become of the space on Westheimer that contains both the pharmacy and diner. Houstonist's suggestion, in this time of thin pocketbooks and tightened belts, is to simply drop the "rug Co. &" from the marquee and scoot the "iner" over. Feel free to reward us for our ingenuity with a round of butterscotch malts, Avalon.

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Photo courtesy of Flickr user The Rocketeer through a Creative Commons license.