Pho Get About It 🍜

Here's what's up in SETX,

A bowl of pho with Texas brisket in it, a 42-inch crude line proposed under Sabine Lake, and an ice cream shop that opened beside a barbershop and a safety training firm. Busy week.

Today's newsletter is brought to you by Tailored Financial Solutions.

Let's get into it. 👇

The Forge and What's Up SETX Co-Host a Free Entrepreneur Night

Walk Right In: Free to attend! Come with an idea, leave with a connection.
Idea Stage Welcome: What's Up SETX is co-hosting, and the room is for owners, side hustlers and people still at the idea stage.

📍 The Forge, 268 Pearl Street, Beaumont · 🕐 Thursday Aug 20 · 6 to 8 PM · 🎟️ Free

Mama Kim's Puts Texas Brisket in a Bowl of Pho

Photo: Google Maps

Broth of Both Worlds: One day a week the kitchen runs Fusion Friday, and the CVB listing names smoked brisket pho and spring rolls.
Second Helping: A second Mama Kim's is coming to Lumberton, and it takes orders at a counter, not a table.

📍 209 S. Memorial Fwy, Nederland · mamakimscuisine.com

⏰ Mon to Fri 10 to 8 · Sat 11 to 4 · Closed Sunday

🤤 Had a great meal somewhere in SETX lately? Reply and tell us — we feature reader picks.

One Family Opened Three Storefronts on One Block

Photo: KOGT

Cut of the Day: The Greater Orange Area Chamber cut the ribbon on Dulce Encanto Ice Cream on June 25, on Western Avenue in West Orange.
Three of a Kind: Alfredo Cabrera Jr. and his wife Patricia opened three side by side: the ice cream shop, JZ's Kutz barbershop, and Evolution Safety Training.

This section is sponsored by Tailored Financial Solutions. Want your business featured here? Email us at [email protected].

✅ Get to the TDCJ and Popeyes hiring event: Thursday, August 13, 10 AM to 1 PM at the Orange Workforce Center.
✅ Speak up on the BMT ZIP route changes: The 30 day comment window is open now. Council votes September 22.
✅ Put August 20 on the calendar: Forge What's Next, 6 to 8 PM at 268 Pearl Street, Beaumont. Free, no RSVP.
✅ Sit in on the Lumberton ISD hearing: The tax rate election hearing is Monday, August 17.

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📅 THIS WEEK IN SETX

Everything further out lives at events.whatsupsetx.com which you can browse the fully or submit your own. 🎉

THIS WEEK

Aug 13: Mostly Texas, Robert Rauschenberg at 100 | McFaddin-Ward House Museum, Beaumont. 6:30 PM, free. Lecture by Kristen Clevenson of the Rauschenberg Foundation.

Aug 13: Cattail Marsh Van Tour | Cattail Marsh, Beaumont. 9:30 AM, free, 45 to 60 minutes, CVB guided. Reserve online.

Aug 14: Rauschenberg Exhibit Guided Tour | Museum of the Gulf Coast, Port Arthur. 10 AM, free, limited to 30. Register: 409-832-2134.

Aug 14: Friday Morning Business Connection | Greater Beaumont Chamber. The weekly members' networking morning.

Aug 14: Clueless, Classic Movie Nights | Jefferson Theatre, 345 Fannin St, Beaumont. Doors 6 PM, film 7 PM. $6, general admission, box office or Ticketmaster.

THIS WEEKEND

Aug 15: Yoga at Cattail Marsh | Wetlands Education Center, 4233 Babe Zaharias Dr, Beaumont. 9:30 to 10:30 AM, free. A vinyasa flow, every age and skill level. Also the 22nd and 29th.

Aug 15: Free Family Arts Day | Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont. 10 AM to 2 PM, free. Hands-on art, all ages.

Aug 15: Ribbon Cutting, Top Tier Realty | 1173 N. Main St, Vidor. 9 to 10 AM. Vidor Chamber welcome for the new office.

Aug 15: Beaumont Farmers Market | 6525 College St, Beaumont. 8 to 11 AM. Produce, baked goods and makers.

Aug 15: CREATE! Workshop, The Color Orange Collage | Stark Museum of Art, Orange. Sessions at 9:30 AM and 1:30 PM. Call 409-886-2787.

MOVIE NIGHTS @ JEFFERSON THEATRE

345 Fannin St, Beaumont. Every Friday, doors 6 PM, film 7 PM. $6.

Aug 14: Clueless

Aug 21: Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Aug 28: Cry-Baby

Sep 4: Singin' in the Rain

Which event are you hitting up? Reply and let us know. Missed one? Submit it at events.whatsupsetx.com 🎉

🚧 Beaumont opened a 30 day comment window on BMT ZIP route changes: two routes would merge and Saturday service would run 7 AM to 6 PM, saving about $91,000. Council votes September 22.

🚧 Port Arthur posted its FY 2026-27 draft budget and debt notice: both are up for review at portarthurtx.gov.

🚧 Beaumont ISD starts today with a tightened dress code: the biggest changes land at the high school level.

🎉 Classic Acura cuts the ribbon on its new facility: Wednesday, August 19, 2 to 3 PM on IH-10 N Frontage Rd.

🔴 Lamar soccer opens at home Sunday: the Cardinals host Sam Houston at 7 PM, LU Soccer Complex, on ESPN+.

🔴 Lamar football opens the season ranked for the first time in program history: No. 20 in the STATS Perform Preseason FCS Top 25.

🏈 Scrimmage season opens Thursday: Bridge City at Nederland, Vidor at West Orange-Stark, Woodville at Lumberton, Buna at Beaumont Kelly.

Energy Transfer Wants a Crude Pipeline Under Sabine Lake

Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0

Under the Water: The proposed 42-inch line would run beneath the Neches River, around Bessie Heights Marsh and under the middle of Sabine Lake to Johnson Bayou.
Now MARAD Decides: The federal Maritime Administration took comments through August 5, including a Port Arthur hearing, and has made no decision. A Save Sabine Lake coalition objects on oyster reefs and spill risk.

💡 The bottom line: Nothing is approved and nothing is built. The comment period closed August 5, so the decision now sits with MARAD and worth watching if you fish, shrimp or live along that water.

📋 IN OTHER NEWS

💧 Groves water and sewer rates rise almost 6% a year in October: five years of increases pay to replace aging meters, about $5.6 million, and both lines of the bill go up.

📚 Beaumont weighs cutting library hours and its literacy program: 52 fewer hours a month saves about $18,000, ending literacy saves $130,000.

🎓 PN-G Superintendent Mike Gonzales retires August 17: four days after the first day of school. KFDM reports he has led PN-G since 2017, and the board names an interim that evening.

🗳️ Lumberton ISD is weighing a tax rate election: about $10 a year on $100,000 above the homestead exemption, raising $2.62 million mostly from the state. None called yet. Hearing August 17.

🎪 Central Mall turns one under local ownership, opens Altitude Trampoline Park: the 40,000 square foot complex also holds Crave Social Eatery and Pickle Pad.

👷‍♀️ A Pioneering Women luncheon honored eight SETX women in industry: law enforcement, firefighting, trucking and engineering, at the Holiday Inn on Walden Road.

📬 Which story caught your eye?

💼 JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Industry pulse: Golden Triangle hiring this month is construction, not operations. Bechtel is running back to back workforce fairs while Motiva's openings skew toward turnaround planning.

🟢 TDCJ and Popeyes Hiring Event | Orange Workforce Center, Orange
Thursday, August 13, 10 AM to 1 PM at 2266 MacArthur Dr. Two employers, and it is tomorrow.

🏗️ Bechtel Job Fair | Beaumont Workforce Center, Beaumont
Thursday, August 20, 10 AM to 1 PM at 510 Park St. Walk in. Bechtel is the contractor on the Port Arthur LNG build.

🌿 Tailored Lawn Care | Golden Triangle
Outdoor work, local routes. Call or text Frederick: (409) 365-4887

🔜 Browse all local SETX job listings — coming soon. Want early access when our jobs board launches? Email [email protected] to get on the list.

💼 Hiring in SETX? Send us your listing at [email protected] and we'll get it in front of our readers.

The Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight into tomorrow before dawn. No local watch party, just the same sky everyone else gets: find a dark spot and give your eyes twenty minutes.

📣 YOUR TURN

Every week, we ask a few questions because this newsletter is a two-way street. Hit reply — we read every single one.

🍜 Had the Fusion Friday pho at Mama Kim's? Tell us what you ordered.
🎣 Fish or shrimp Sabine Lake? Tell us how the Blue Marlin proposal looks from the water.
🍦 Been to Dulce Encanto in West Orange yet? What is worth the drive?
👏 Got someone to brag on? A graduation, a new business, a neighbor who showed up. Reply and we'll put them in Community Notices.