La Picosa at Brooks is a new shopping center that includes popular franchises such as Crumbl, Dave’s Hot Chicken and Jersey Mike’s. 

Gabrielle Vasquez had a few minutes before her shift started at Bubba’s 33, one of the many restaurant chains to open an outpost at Brooks in the last several months, so she popped next door to 7 Brew, also a new arrival, for a caramel macchiato.

Bubba’s 33 and 7 Brew are part of one of the latest developments at Brooks, a “retail and entertainment district” that straddles the two southern corners on either side of South New Braunfels Avenue along Southeast Military Drive.

Vasquez grew up on the South Side, graduating from Highlands High School. She now lives at one of the many new apartment complexes in the area — just a two-minute drive from the development, dubbed La Picosa.