Construction crews are actively reshaping the former home of AllStars Gentlemen's Sports Club at 9440 W. Interstate 10, where Houston-based El Bolillo Bakery is building its first San Antonio location. The building's facade and exterior have already taken shape, with orange and mustard-colored accents replacing the strip club's old look, and a marquee now reads El Bolillo Bakery Coming Soon.
The site formerly housed the adult venue for 30 years before it closed in 2024, according to MySA. Bexar County property records show that EL BOLILLO SA PROPERTY LLC acquired the roughly 10,661-square-foot parcel after the closure, and state filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation put the estimated renovation cost at $1,517,167. Crews have already torn down the building's northern-side vehicle drop-off awning, which is being reconstructed to match the property's new aesthetic, MySA reports.
A Sixth Store and First Move Beyond Houston
The San Antonio bakery marks El Bolillo's sixth location overall and its first outside the Greater Houston area, where the chain currently runs five bakeries, including stores in Pasadena and Mission Bend. El Bolillo has said San Antonio will be served its traditional pan dulce by the end of 2026, though the company has not provided a response about the projected opening timeline beyond that, per the same MySA report. Once open, the new location will serve conchas, bolillos, tamales and cafecito, and the chain has teased the San Antonio opening on social media.
El Bolillo was originally founded in 1998 by Kirk Michaelis as a small neighborhood panadería on Airline Drive in Houston's Greater Heights area, according to Voyage Houston Magazine. The bakery's reputation grew statewide during Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, when four bakers trapped inside the chain's Wayside location worked 20-hour shifts over two days, converting 4,000 pounds of flour into thousands of loaves for flood victims and emergency responders, as reported by CBS News.
The Buc-ee's of Panaderías Comes With Baggage
Texas Highways magazine has nicknamed El Bolillo the “Buc-ee's of panaderías,” a nod to its massive, colorful storefronts and more than 150 daily varieties of handmade pan dulce alongside custom tres leches cakes in flavors like mocha and Oreo, according to CultureMap San Antonio. Houston-based Garza Management Group, co-led by Joel Garza, has controlled El Bolillo's operations since January 2023 and owns the chain, CultureMap notes.
El Bolillo drew online criticism earlier this year over alleged ties to President Donald Trump, stemming from Garza's participation in several past Trump events, MySA reports. The bakery has not addressed that criticism in connection with the San Antonio opening, and the dossier does not indicate any official response from the company on the matter.
Jobs and Competition on the Northwest Side
Hiring listings for the San Antonio facility show annual salary ranges of $48,000 to $65,000 for management roles, while hourly bakery apprentice and cookie decorator positions pay between $12 and $16 per hour, according to job postings on Workstream. The buildout represents a substantial infusion of construction and retail jobs into Northwest San Antonio's I-10 corridor.
El Bolillo's arrival adds fresh competition to the city's Mexican bakery scene, which already includes La Panadería, a prominent local brand that expanded in 2026 with a flagship location in Stone Oak, according to past rankings of the city's top bakeries. That competitive landscape looked different earlier this month, when La Panadería faced its own labor violations at three cafés. Whether El Bolillo can match its Houston fame in a market already crowded with established panaderías remains to be seen as construction continues toward the chain's targeted year-end debut.
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