The history of Howe restaurants that start closing at different times has been a precursor to an eventual closing, however, Abby’s Restaurant owner Lillian Avila says that’s far from the case with their new summer hours. Abby’s is now closed at 3pm on Mondays and Wednesdays and have removed their dinner hours from those nights.
“I thought about it, but at the same time most people understand that I’m constantly changing things.” said Avila. “I’m constantly doing things differently. I don’t do the same things all the time.”
Avila, who opened Abby’s Restaurant in April of 2014 has become the anchor of the renewed spirit of downtown Howe. This is not the first time that this has happened.
“When I was in Pilot Point, downtown was dead. The buildings were collapsing. It was just terrible.” said Avila. “Now you look at it and it’s beautiful. We were the first ones bringing people in to downtown Pilot Point when they were getting started.”
Avila says that the new hours are for the summer only because Mondays and Wednesday evenings have slowed down severely. Closing on those slow nights will allow her to have more flexibility with the payroll and waitstaff. She says that she’ll re-evaluate a good time to open back up on those two evenings when people get back into their routines a few weeks after school starts.
Having two nights off a week also gives her time to spend with her family, which includes a junior daughter in high school. Her normal workday is 7am to 9pm in which she’s done for the past 10 years.
“I’m used to the work.” said Avila. “The third week of being at home on those nights, I felt tired because my body is not used to resting.”
Avila’s oldest child has already graduated and out of the house, but the 16-year-old is very active in extracurricular performances at McKinney ISD.
“Time is going to fly and I want to spend time with her a little bit.” said Avila. “She’s going to the Rose Bowl this year (for a performance). After she graduates, I’ll have all the free time to work.
Abby’s Restaurant is known for the chicken fried steak and general home style cooking. The restaurant has been the economic driver for downtown for the past 16 months. During lunch hours, there’s hardly a place to park in downtown. This also has an effect on other downtown businesses that see foot traffic from patrons that haven’t been seen in the historic district in quite some while. The Howe Mercantile has mirrored Abby’s hours due to the amount of traffic.
