Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse are headed for Peñitas, the tiny Rio Grande Valley city that developers are suddenly treating like a full‑blown retail corridor. The arrivals are part of a broader wave of construction that also features discount anchors and a planned Home Depot, a combo that could quickly transform a highway stretch where locals have long driven to bigger cities for most major shopping and sit‑down dining.
State permit filings surfaced in local reporting show the two Darden‑owned brands will bring roughly $4 million in construction to the Peñitas Crossing site, at about $2 million apiece, with Olive Garden penciled in at roughly 7,487 square feet and LongHorn at about 5,780 square feet, as reported by MySA. The filings list both restaurants as firm commitments within the 58‑acre Peñitas Crossing project and outline a schedule that targets late March 2026 for construction starts and mid‑October 2026 for completion. Both chains operate under the Darden Restaurants umbrella.
Peñitas Crossing Starts To Fill In
The retail cluster marketed as Peñitas Crossing, at the northeast corner of U.S. 83 and 23rd Street, covers roughly 58 acres, according to a commercial listing from CBRE. Confirmed tenants and filed construction permits already on the board include Burlington, Ross Dress for Less, Marshalls and Five Below, and developers and retailers have collectively committed more than $16.1 million to the plaza, according to the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal.
Home Depot Plans A Big Footprint
Separate filings show The Home Depot lining up an even larger footprint nearby. The company has submitted entries to the state outlining a $20.2 million, 136,136‑square‑foot store with a 28,083‑square‑foot garden center planned at 1901 Liberty Blvd. Those project details, including estimated cost, square footage and target dates, are listed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
City Leaders Brace For A Surge
City officials say the influx of national brands could be a fiscal shot in the arm, bringing jobs and tax revenue that help pay for expanded local services. “We’re going to have a tremendous amount of growth here in the next five years,” City Manager Beto Garza told the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal, which reported that the combined projects could create more than 200 jobs along the corridor.
What Residents Can Expect On The Ground
Developers and city planners say the buildout should finally bring big‑box shopping and chain dining closer to home, cutting down on those out‑of‑town runs for basics and birthday dinners. It will also bring heavier delivery and commuter traffic along with more pressure on utilities and streetscape maintenance. The City of Peñitas has posted a public notice about the Peñitas Crossing development on its official website, and broker listings from CBRE show phased delivery beginning in 2026, according to the City of Peñitas.
Timeline And What To Watch Next
Most of these projects are still in the permitting phase, so actual timelines depend on how quickly approvals move and how soon site work can kick off. Updated filings and local permit notices will be the first sign that crews are ready to pour concrete. For the initial restaurant reporting and early cost and size details, see coverage from MySA, and for formal project entries on the Home Depot site, review state records at the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
