by Cory O.

Though the place really only deserves a three star rating, I have to give them kudos for being so ballsy in College Station.  During a recent trip to College Station, my husband and I kept commenting on how much the town has changed in just a few years.  All these new businesses were opening up, local favorites were closing down, the campus was expanding, yadda yadda yadda.  Then we drive by Texas Ave. Cigars.  We pulled a quick u-turn and headed straight in.Considering it used to be a Blockbuster, they did a pretty good job renovating it.  Sure, the paint job could use some help and the cheesy folding chairs for their poker table seemed out of place, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how much they did get right.  For one, they had the nice, big, comfortable leather chairs.  That is so necessary at a cigar bar.  They had the tv, playing obligatory sports (before long, all pretenses were gone and we had "What Women Want" on the tv).  They had a decently stocked humidor with pretty well priced cigars.  And they had an employee (owner?) who actually knew what he was talking about.What really gives this place that extra oomph is when you find out that it was started by two students.  You gotta love that.  I mean, I love to support local businesses anyway, but when they're run by some freshmen, it just is too great for words.On the down side, they don't sell alcohol.  We were assured that it is a BYOB kinda place, so that's an easy fix.  And with Spec's just a hop away, I'm not complaining too loudly about that.They will be expanding the humidor, so we'll see some more goodies in there.  I was happy to see that most of their prices were pretty great and they had a nice special for those of you who want to buy a whole box.  They had a small selection of pipe tobacco and some accessories, but not enough to really warrant excitement.Things that need to be ironed out include having the employee actually cut and light the cigar for you.  Since they only had a cheap punch for general use, the guy was nice enough to lend us his scissors.  Great.  But no lighter at the counter?  We went over to the couches and found two nice ones, but seeing as how no one had cleaned up any of the ashtrays in at least a few days, it was hard to tell if the lighters belonged the store or to the owners of the miscellaneous, half smoked cigars lying around.  The other thing (though minor since there really are only a few female cigar smokers) is in regards to the bathroom.  Sure, it is a college town and most of the patrons will be men, but separate bathrooms would be nice.  And if they're going to be combined, lets keep them nice and clean and a little less warehouse-ish.  Overall, I'm pleasantly surprised and quite happy to have a place to hang out when I visit College Station.  I'll be excited to see how the place changes and "grows up" as their popularity rises.

by D W.

Ah, Texas Avenue Cigars.Overall, this is a damn fine place to go. By far the best place in Bryan-College Station to kick back with a stogie. Aggie owned, too, by a couple students.As cigar shops go, some have big luxury in mind for the big-dollar, big-city people who spend more on cigars in a year than my entire income. Some are more working-class, shooting for a utilitarian experience.This shop is somewhere in between. You can tell they're trying to be nice, but they don't completely get there. Even still, I have spent a couple of very relaxing afternoons on the leather sofa with a bourbon (yes, they let you bring your own alcohol in!) when I've been in College Station. They've got a big flat TV in the lounge and, I'm told, free internet. Both are positives.Also positive, at least in my book, are the owners. I can't recall their names, but they are both 21 year old Aggies who are still going to school. Nice as can be, though the short one can be a little chatty. I can forgive a few faults in a small store like this when you have people like that running the place, that takes balls (as mentioned by reviewer #1).Their cigar selection is pretty good. It ain't big-city luxury store stuff, but they've got Tatuaje (yippee!) and Ashton VSGs, so sign me up. Most of the hard to find stuff I like they have. You know how long I waited for a store in this part of Texas to get Tatuaje? They've also got pipes, both the regular old people kind (think Sherlock Holmes) and the young people kind (called "hooka"), and cutters and whatnot.Perhaps the best thing on paper about the place are the prices. One of the guys told me once that they never go above MSRP, and from what I can tell they really don't. Yeah, it's not an online store, but it's excellent for a brick-and-mortar. Have you SEEN cigar prices in Dallas?There are a few negatives worth mentioning. One of the employees I dealt with (at least as young, if not younger than the owners) was really lazy. I guess you can't expect much from immature college kids, but at least get off your butt sometime to empty the ashtrays.Which is the second point - the ashtrays. They were dirty. I'm not a stickler for cleanliness, but ashtrays in a cigar shop should be emptied often. I don't like to look at old cigar butts lying 'round in front of me.They also don't carry much in the way of drinks. A couple times I've been there they've had water available, a couple times not. One time I thought about pouring some coffee from their coffee pot and yuck! It had to have been warming there for days.Overall, folks, what can you say. It's a couple of kid entrepreneurs and they've done more than enough to satisfy me, so I have to give them a five-star rating. This isn't a bar, it's not a club, it's a cigar shop! Give the kids a break, this is the nicest such place around.Excuse me, I think I'll now smoke one of these Ashtons I bought there, with coffee. Mmmm mm good.

by Greg D.

4.6 Stars Rounded upJust stopped by this store again tonight after a bit of shopping at HEB.  I was happy to find it still open just after 9pm.This place looks considerably different than what I remember and apparently I have been missing out on a great store, not for any reason other than that I don't smoke a lot of cigars and pretty much forgot it was here.   After tonight I don't see myself buying cigars anywhere else in Brazos Valley but here.     While the lights were still a tad bit too bright for my liking, for ambiance (if it were up to me), I would like to see some -warm- incandescent lighting (or even incandescent warm colored fluorescent), maybe some thick oriental rugs to accent the nice wood flooring and most certainly some soft, cool jazz music; Yet what we found was totally acceptable.  Nice atmosphere, cheerful people having a good time, some flat panel televisions..     They now have in addition to the original leather couches and chairs, a nice poker table that was in use by a cool crowd and a giant chess set that was in use.   My wife and I are going to go back and enjoy a cigar while here and play a game of chess on that table.  You would just have to see it and again I regret not taking my camera again tonight.. Sigh.   Very cool, comfortable place with ample seating where groups of people can actually sit in their own areas.  Yet it's still nice and open.   (We saw people on laptops and were told there was free Wi-Fi as well).   There's now a selection of (not sure what to call these) Hookah type pipes which are beautiful, racks of other items (that we didn't really look at long simply cause we were in a hurry with frozen stuff in the car) and I spotted a couple dozen or more bottles of pipe tobacco which I am going to look at much closer the next time.  Now, onto what I believe must be the central focal point of any cigar aficionados interest, the large walk in humidor.  I was amazed by the selection.  I found here tonight a humidor larger and better stocked than my favorite cigar shop in Passau, Bavaria Germany and if I am not mistaken, it's larger and maybe even better stocked than what I saw during a recent visit to Georgetown Tobacco in Georgetown, Washington DC.    Yes.  Right here in College Station.   Just as soon as I wanted some help making a selection all it took was a quick gesture and the gentleman manning the counter came right over and assisted.  He briefly listened to my smoking patterns and desires, gave me some basic advice which I wanted and my selection was made.  This gentleman was very helpful considering that I am by no means very experienced in the cigar hobby.  It was nice to find someone understanding of that fact.   Credit cards are accepted, they provided me with a cutter since I don't own one and I chewed on this wonderful thing all the way home.  My wife and I got great service and I have no doubt we will be back soon.  She picked up an informative free color brochure called "The Cigar Shop Experience : An Official Guide", which looks interesting.  In regards to the quality of the cigar (Illusione), it's one of the most pleasurable and rewarding ones I have ever had, pure heaven.  Maybe it's due to the freshness, but it's everything the assistant said it would be and more.   While I don't smoke em often, I think it's a good idea to always have a nice fresh one around for when the desire matches.   Maybe the reason I slacked off cigar enjoyment as a very passive hobby was that I didn't realize that I now have such an outstanding shop (run by cigar hobbyists) right here under my nose in the heart of Aggieland.    Two thumbs up! God it smells like smoke in here.   :)    Good smoke.  Yeah, we agree, this is a ballsy move to open…