Historic Watering Hole Reopens in Mullins Prairie

Mullins Prairie Store reopened under new management on Friday, May 31.

Darrell Klesel of Schulenburg along with Lou and Tricia Hernandez of Moravia are running the place now. The Hernandezes operated Lou’s Seafood and Crawfish, a food truck that used to set up regularly at Moravia Store. Before that, Lou had a seafood restaurant in Houston.

Klesel estimated that about 300 people showed up on opening night.

“When this opportunity came up, we took it over,” Klesel told the Record in an interview last Friday. “We’re trying to improve it and build it back up.”

Mullins Prairie Store had been a popular live music venue ever since former owners Marvin and Pamela Henry resurrected the old country store in 2017. The three partners plan to continue that tradition. The Fender Bender Band played there on opening night.

“We’re going to promote local music,” said Tricia Hernandez Right now, the kitchen offers crawfish and several seafood selections. Tricia said they plan to expand the menu to offer wings, pizza, poboys and grilled oysters. The business is waiting for its liquor license. Until then, patrons may bring their own drinks.

The Store will be open Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. They are experimenting with lunch hours as well.

“Once football season starts, we’ll be open on Sundays as well,” Tricia Hernandez said.

“We want it to be a familyoriented place,” she added. “We’ve had a lot of families coming out with their kids. We really like to see that.”