The wild success of Goodfriend and Good 2 Go Taco has proved that the area surrounding the Peavy-Garland intersection, near Old Lake Highlands, is ripe for food and beverage businesses.

It’s also good for pharmacies, so it’s strangely fitting that a pharmacist is opening a new restaurant and pub here.

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Whiterock Abbey is set to open in November at the shopping strip just south of the aforementioned hotspots. (Another, Peavy Road seafood restaurant, is in the works next door to Goodfriend.)

Whiterock Abbey owner Weylan McAnally, a pharmacist from Red Oak, plans to have 30-40 beers on tap and to offer at least 100 bottled beers. The menu will include gourmet pizza and standard bar fare, he says: pretzels, cheese boards, and the like.

Inside, they’ll hang about eight televisions and outside, patrons will be able to drink/dine on the patio/beer garden.

McAnally and business partner, Matt Okorowski worked together at Brookshires where McAnally was a pharmacist and Okorowski was the store manager.

Many months ago they started scouting spaces for this venture. Motive? McAnally says he’s always wanted to be in a business that people actually want to go to, as opposed to the pharmacy, which people tend to patronize only in desperation.

When Okorowski first suggested the Garland-Peavy location, McAnally was like: “What? No way in hell.”

But then, he says, he started looking at demographics and it didn’t seem like such a bad idea after all.

“You’ve got White Rock Lake right there, he says, and the demographics are good — you’ve got [residents of the surrounding area] making twice the national average.”

The owners also are leasing the .2 acres behind the property, which they will use for parking. McAnally is working with the city to figure out the specifics on that. He also plans to offer full-time free valet. “I’m very aware of the parking situation,” he says, but he adds that by the time they open, “parking will not be an issue.”

Right now, they are working hard inside the spot but there is only so much they can do before securing all their permits.

 

Photo from Facebook of the future dining area at Whiterock Abbey.

Whiterock Abbey front door redesign, from Facebook

A back-room mural left by previous tenants, from Whiterock Abbey’s Facebook page