Vega's Mexican Restaurant in Deer Park to be Torn Down

DEER PARK, TX — For decades the wood-frame building at the corner of Center and Thirteenth was a landmark letting residents and visitors know they had reached Deer Park.

The building, which first opened in 1957, served as the home to a general store, and a meat market but most people today remember it as the location of the Jug and Muffin. From 1981 to 2009 the Jug and Muffin catered to Deer Park's lunch crowd.

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After the original Jug and Muffin closed the building was purchased by Patricia Garcia who reopened the restaurant as Robert's Jug and Muffin. The rechristened business didn't do nearly as well as the original and closed within a year.

For the next five years 1242 Center Street sat vacant until it was announced earlier this year that it would be home to Vega's Mexican Restaurant. Vega's was only slinging sopapilla for a few weeks before the HVAC system caught fire in May and gutted the building.

The fire was ruled accidental and the building has stood vacant and partially collapsed for weeks. Now the Deer Park City Council has given the go ahead to begin demolition of the building.

Once the asbestos testing is completed, which should be around August 1, it should only take about a month for the building to come down. Garcia has not said what she plans to do with the property.