After more than three decades serving coffee, brunch and the LGBTQ+ community in San Antonio, Candlelight PourHouse has quietly closed its location on the city’s St. Mary’s Strip in Tobin Hill.
According to a now-deleted post to its Instagram page, the business announced it was taking a hiatus in January. Although it said it planned to return, its social media accounts have since been deleted and its space at 107 Kings Ct. has been cleared out.
On social media, many customers reminisced about the coffee shop’s cozy, eclectic atmosphere and its role as a welcoming gathering place. Others said they experienced inconsistent operating hours and often found the business closed or lightly attended.
“I LOVE this place but they have such weird hours and there’s never anyone there,” Interesting-Frame-94 wrote in an April 17 Reddit post. “I’m always on St. Mary’s Strip and I’ve never seen that place open,” added LokiPrime616.
Founded in 1995 at 3011 N. St. Mary’s St., where Vibras now operates, Candlelight PourHouse changed hands in 2016 when Tammy Russell became owner. Roughly five years later, she moved the business to a Victorian townhouse at 107 Kings Ct. to expand outdoor seating during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was time to you know, make that choice of evolving with what’s happening today or staying in a place where it was probably going to be a little bit tougher to manage,” Russell told MySA at the time. “It was tough. I still cry over it, but new adventures, new memories.”
In April 2023, Russell spoke with several San Antonio media outlets about the business’s financial challenges after it was denied assistance through the COVID-Construction Recovery Grant Program.
Russell also said ongoing construction along the St. Mary’s Strip put additional strain on the business and contributed to a significant decline in revenue.
“Disappointed, I felt like there was a hole in my stomach. What else could have kept me from getting qualified, lost money, have my business that was affected by it, my staffing, the roads to get access, so what else I’m missing,” she told KSAT at the time.
Now, in 2026, Candlelight PourHouse has effectively been snuffed out. A Google search reveals a bright red banner under the business’ information sidebar that reads: “Permanently closed.” According to a Friday report from Culturemap, the building is now being remodeled by the minds behind popular Cuban restaurant Bilia Eatery to introduce a new eatery concept, Vecino.
