A new state filing shows Pappas Restaurants is moving ahead with additional construction at the site of Katy's first-ever Pappasito's Cantina, though the company still hasn't said when the Tex-Mex restaurant will actually open. The filing, submitted to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation on Nov. 4, 2026, describes a 1,357-square-foot kitchen storage addition with an estimated cost of about $508,000, and construction is scheduled to run from February through August of 2027.
According to Covering Katy, the project is set to begin Feb. 1, 2027, and finish Aug. 1, 2027. That timeline, however, applies specifically to the kitchen storage addition rather than the restaurant's full renovation, and the outlet notes the filing should not be confused with an announced opening date. The Pappasito's is planned for 20526 Katy Freeway, on the westbound side of Interstate 10, where it will sit between Bombshells and BJ's Restaurant, in the building that formerly housed Uncle Julio's.
A separate Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation record lists the project under the number TABS2025010967, with a registration date of Feb. 3, 2025. Pappas Restaurants first announced in January 2025 that it planned to bring the popular Tex-Mex chain to the vacant building, meaning the Katy location is expanding into the suburb nearly two years after that initial announcement, as Chron reports.
What Happened to the Building Before Pappasito's
Uncle Julio's closed its Katy restaurant in late 2023, leaving the prominent building empty, though the reason for that closure has never been publicly established. The following year, in December 2024, Dallas-area restaurant operator Sun Holdings acquired substantially all of Uncle Julio's assets through a foreclosure auction, according to the same Covering Katy report. Pappas Restaurants' January 2025 announcement that it would move its own concept into the space came not long after that acquisition.
Back when construction was first reported in early 2025, Chron wrote that work on the new Pappasito's was set to begin in fall 2025. Whether that earlier timeline was actually met isn't established in the available record, and the new filing covering the kitchen storage addition represents the latest confirmed construction update on the project.
What the Restaurant Will Include
A Pappas Restaurants spokesperson said in February 2025 that the Katy restaurant would include a full-service U-shaped bar, patio seating, two private banquet rooms and a larger dining room, according to Community Impact. Those amenities would make the Katy location one of the chain's more full-featured outposts once it opens.
The Katy restaurant will mark Pappasito's first location in the area, filling a gap for a brand that has otherwise expanded to 22 locations across Texas and Georgia. The nearest existing Pappasito's sits near Memorial City in Houston, along Interstate 10, meaning Katy residents have had to drive into the city for their fix of the chain's fajitas and margaritas.
Pappasito's Cantina traces back to 1983, when it launched as the fifth concept under the Pappas family of restaurants. More than four decades later, the brand's long-rumored arrival in Katy is still inching forward on paper, even as the company has yet to put a firm opening date on the calendar.
