Taco Cabana site on Greenville Avenue. Photo by Renee Umsted.

Editor’s note (1/25): This story has been updated with a statement from Starbucks.

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On a street with at least three coffee shops within three blocks, one national coffee chain plans to add another.

Starbucks is looking to establish a location on Lowest Greenville. It would join The Merchant, La La Land Kind Cafe and Boulangerie by Village Baking Co. — which all serve coffee — on a short, pedestrian-friendly stretch of Greenville Avenue.

On Jan. 20, the coffee chain applied for a certificate of occupancy at 1827 Greenville Ave., which used to house a Taco Cabana. City records show the status as “CO Pending.”

“Starbucks is always looking for great locations to better meet the needs of our customers, and we are happy to confirm that we will be opening a new location in Dallas, TX this summer. Of note, the store will feature a drive-thru,” a Starbucks spokesperson told The Advocate in an email.

The site sits near the southern end of Greenville Avenue in an area that was once notorious for crime and has now become a mecca for dining establishments.

Taco Cabana site on Greenville Avenue. Photo by Renee Umsted.

It’s not just the neighborhood; the building itself has some history. Before Taco Cabana, it was the Tango nightclub. Artist Bob “Daddy-O” Wade created the 10-foot-tall frogs, and they were placed on the roof in the early 1980s. They were so popular and distinctive to the area that when Trader Joe’s opened a store just down the street, it installed a mural commemorating the frogs.

There were complaints that the frogs violated a sign ordinance, so they were removed, and they didn’t return until 2014, when Taco Cabana purchased three of them from the Carl’s Corner truck stop on I-35.

They lived at the Taco Cabana until 2020, when the restaurant closed as part of a plan to improve the bottom line. Then Taco Cabana donated the frogs to nearby Truck Yard at 5624 Sears St, and that’s where they are now.

We’ll keep you posted with updates as we learn more about Starbucks’ plans.