Margaritas are $5 tonight at 2233 W. Park Row Dr. Tomorrow, Friday, October 30, everything on the menu is 20% off. Those are the last two of the 12 daily specials La Isla Restaurant scheduled to close out five years in Pantego. After that weekend, the town's calendar moves off Park Row to a park on Smith Barry Road. The Town says that park's renovation was finished in 2026, so this is the first holiday season it hosts in its new form.
La Isla's farewell is almost over
Shop Pantego shared La Isla's goodbye and called it "saying goodbye to Pantego" after five years of serving the community. The send-off started Monday, October 19, with $6.99 cheese enchiladas billed as a "1996 Special." It has kept going every day since.
Most of the run has already happened. Lotería Night was Saturday, October 24, and Sunday was 20% off everything. Here's what's left as of this morning:
- Thursday, October 29: $5 margaritas
- Friday, October 30: 20% off everything
The announcement doesn't say whether La Isla is closing for good or moving somewhere else, and it doesn't name a new tenant for the space. October 30 is the last special on the list. If you want one more plate, these two days are the sure window.
Park Row keeps changing hands
La Isla is leaving a strip that's been changing all year. Motion Metrics at 3300 W. Park Row, Suite 100, held its grand opening on October 1. The business uses DAVID Spine devices for data-driven care after physical therapy.
Pantego Yoga House at 2234 W. Park Row Dr., Suite D, is running Hocus Poses Halloween Flow on Saturday, October 31, from 9 to 10:15 a.m. Its free Halloween Family Yoga with Costumes was last Saturday afternoon, the same day as the Town's Trunk-or-Treat.
Next on the shopping calendar, Shop Pantego lists Small Business Saturday for November 28. So far the listing names no participating businesses or hours. After La Isla's farewell, that date is the next one built around Park Row's storefronts.
The Town's events all land on Smith Barry Road
Bicentennial Park at 3206 Smith Barry Rd. has been the setting for the Town's fall. On September 12, Movies in the Park showed Zootopia 2, with an obstacle course before the film. On October 24, Trunk-or-Treat ran there from 6 to 8 p.m. A children's costume contest started at 6:30, and a dog costume contest followed.
The Town's Bicentennial Park page lists Movies in the Park and "A Pantego Christmas" among the Community Relations Board events held at the park, along with Eggcellent Easter and Trunk-or-Treat. Both are on the Town's remaining 2026 calendar. The October newsletter lists Movies in the Park showing Jurassic Park on Saturday, November 14, at 5:30 p.m. A Pantego Christmas follows in early December. Shop Pantego's calendar also lists Christmas at Camp Thurman on Saturday, December 12, with a zipline and crafts.
That park looks different from the one that hosted these events a few years ago.
How the park got here
The park didn't come from one master build. It was put together in pieces over 50 years, and the Town's history of the park shows how each piece was paid for:
- 1976: To mark the nation's Bicentennial, Pantego created a community park at Smith Barry Road and Nora Lane. It had a playground, a walking trail and a community center named for Jurdiss Rohne.
- 1993: Voters approved a half-cent sales tax that funded a new police station, a Town Hall remodel and more park development. That money, along with Community Development Block Grant funding, bought land on the south side of Smith Barry Road. It also paid for pedestrian bridges and gabion baskets to control erosion along the Pantego Branch of Rush Creek.
- 2013: Council adopted a Park Master Plan based on resident input.
- 2017: A Local Parks Grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife paid for the splash pad, a sand volleyball court, a butterfly garden and a Texas native plants garden.
- 2023 to 2026: The Pantego Economic Development Corporation board issued debt for new turf, shade awnings, fencing and play structures. The project added two pickleball courts and repaired the splash pad, converting it from a recirculating design to single-pass. The Town says the renovation was finished in 2026.
That last phase is why this season counts as a first. November's movie night and A Pantego Christmas will be the first holiday-season events held under the new shade awnings and next to the finished play structures. The splash pad is the one open question. The Town's September newsletter listed it as "currently closed due to maintenance," and the October issue doesn't mention it either way.
Check the December date before you plan around it
The Town's newsletters give A Pantego Christmas a clear schedule. The weekday is the problem. The October 2026 newsletter repeats the line from September:
A Pantego Christmas Sunday, December 5th, Parade: 3 to 5; Santa at the Park: 5 to 7 p.m.
On the 2026 calendar, December 5 falls on a Saturday. So the event is either Saturday, December 5, or Sunday, December 6, and only the Town can say which. If you're hosting family that weekend or asking someone to cover a shift, call Town Hall or watch the Town's event page before you lock it in.
The route is the other detail to confirm. The most recent route on the Town's site is from the 2023 event. That parade started at S. Bowen Road and Winewood Lane, covered three miles and ended at Bicentennial Park, where Santa was waiting. The 2026 newsletters don't publish a route, so the 2023 one tells you how the event has run before, not which streets will close this year.
Booking the park for your own holiday gathering
The Town's events are the free part of the season. If you want the park for a smaller holiday party of your own, Bicentennial's pavilions and gazebo can be rented, and Pantego residents pay half the non-resident rate or less:
| Space | Pantego resident | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|
| North or South Pavilion | $35 | $75 |
| Gazebo | $25 | $50 |
The Town notes that its fees can change without notice. Each pavilion has five fixed six-foot tables, and renters arrange anything movable. If you're planning a bounce house, bring a generator, because the park's electrical system can't run one. Petting zoos and alcohol are not allowed. A pavilion family party the weekend after Thanksgiving could start on Park Row for Small Business Saturday and finish here.
One of our co-founders grew up down the street at Pantego Christian Academy and now serves on the town's Community Relations Board, the group listed behind the events at Bicentennial Park. If watching Park Row change this year has you wondering what your own home near Smith Barry Road would sell for, Niles Realty Group can pull that number for you without any pressure. Request a Free Home Valuation, and we'll see you at the parade, whichever day it lands on.
