Fire Ant Brewpub Takes Shape In Downtown Tomball

TOMBALL, TX — Businesses within Tomball’s historic depot are in the process of getting a new neighbor.

Fire Ant Brewpub, which has been anticipated for more than a year in downtown Tomball, is slowly but surely coming along.

Bruce Kissinger, who co-owns the restaurant and micro-brewery, is out at the the construction site every day.

“People are excited about this,” Kissinger told Patch. “I get calls all the time from people wonder if we’re open. ‘Not yet.’ We’re excited. We’ll get there.”

The journey has been in the making for about eight years, when Kissinger, and two friends, Kurt and Carl Hohnholt, joined their love for football with beer brewing.

Several years later, they began taking samples of Fire Ant Beer to Houston Texans tailgate parties, and the responses to the flavor built a fanbase that is still growing.

In 2015, Kissinger and Kurt Hohnholt went to the Tomball City Council to ask approval for their microbrewery business in downtown Tomball.

The brewmasters go mixed reviews with some on the council concerned about the traffic hazards of delivery in a small downtown area, and the potential for growth beyond the confines which facilitated fears of a massive beer brewery in what is quickly becoming a tourism draw.

Fears, however were quelled and the plans moved slowly forward.

In 2016, the brewpub finally broke ground but issues with building permits and construction slowed the project a little.

Nearly a year later, the outside is nearly finished, and Kissinger can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

“I’m really anxious for them to get started on the inside,” Kissinger said.

For months, the wood and red brick structure that will be home to the Fire Ant Brewpub, and a cluster of other new businesses facing Market Street, has slowly risen from a pile of dirt on a barren lot to a two story curiosity within a short walk to Depot Plaza.

Developer Bryan Hutson, whose focus it is to rebuild and transform downtown Tomball, worked with Kissinger on the design and of the building and hopes to bring in restaurants and shops in the new development that will really put Tomball on the map.

Kissinger said it’s been a great experience working with Bryan, and Dr. Rodney Hutson on the project, and his wife Sylvia has been an amazing support system.

Sylvia Kissinger, who is sort of a silent partner, said she was worried at first, but as things start rolling, she got excited for Bruce and Fire Ant Brewing.

“I am behind the scenes,” she said. “He shows me things and he ask, and I tell him things, but I am really behind the scenes.”

The projected time completion is sometime in the fall, when football season is in full swing and people are starting their holiday shopping.

Until then, the concrete outside that will be the sidewalk and grand entry have just been poured, and while the entire outside is unique for Tomball, Kissinger said he loves the upstairs patio, and knows it will be a favorite spot among Fire Ant patrons.

The patio is a wooden balcony with a wooden face against the brick that gives the building the feel of an old west saloon.

“It’s pretty nice up there. It’s a great spot to sit, drink a beer and watch the people,” he said. “I think this is going to be a nice hangout spot.”

Fire Ant Brewpub will be a combination restaurant/micro-brewery with the restaurant facing Market Street, and the micro-brewery facing an alley that looks out on Main Street.

The brewery equipment, which has already been delivered, will be installed when construction begins on the inside.

Meanwhile, Kissinger is working on new beers to the growing list of the Fire Ant brand, including a pumpkin flavor in time for fall, and plans to sell Fire Ant Beer merchandise at the brewpub, as well as six packs as he business builds.

“We want to be different,” he said. “We don’t want to be a typical bar. We want to be unique.”

Learn more about Fire Ant Brewing by checking out their website and learning about all their wonderful brews.

Image: Bryan Kirk/Patch Staff

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