The fourth branch of 50-year-old diner House of Pies is on its way to the shopping center just north of The Woodlands Mall. Like its predecessors, the location will operate in a free-standing building — this one the former home of a Black-eyed Pea restaurant (pictured above), which closed late last year.

House of Pies will join a Chili’s, a Jason’s Deli, Jack-in-the-Box, a Guadalajara Hacienda, a Starbucks, a Smoothie King, an AT&T store, and 2 gas stations lining the perimeter of the Target shopping center:

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The pad-site locations along Lake Woodlands Dr. are adjacent to the street, but separated from it by a wall of trees. House of Pies’s site at 1330 Lake Woodlands Dr. borders the center’s main driveway.

When the 5,742-sq.-ft. location opens, likely in June next year, it will be the furthest restaurant yet from the chain’s original spot on Kirby and W. Alabama. Its design will be identical to the third House of Pies store, shown below, which opened just inside Beltway 8 at I-45 and Fuqua in March.

More spots may be on the way. According to a leasing agent involved with The Woodlands move, House of Pies is now looking for freestanding locations in Sugar Land, Katy, Cypress, Humble, and Pearland as well.

Images: LoopNet (first, second, and third), Jeries M. Ganim (fourth)

The Upper Crust