Black & White, a dual concept restaurant at 1001 Studewood in the Heights, is now open and waiting to force you into a difficult decision. If you're looking for a more casual Mexican meal, check out White; if you're feeling more Greek, then Black, an upscale Mediterranean restaurant, might be just the thing. They're both brought to you by Hernan Garcia, chef of
1252 Tapas in The Woodlands. For more details,
check out Eric Sandler's interview with Garcia on CultureMap.
A new food truck is hitting the streets soon;
Oddball Eats should be ready to roll late this month or early October. Its creator, Rani Francis, has been serving food at farmers' markets for a few years, and, not to brag, but he fervently believes that Oddball falafel is the best of its kind in the city.
Follow the Facebook page to find the Middle Eastern and North African food truck when it swings into business and try that falafel yourself.
The Lucky Fig, another food truck, should be ready for business in October,
according to Emily Bond at Eater Houston. This one is the brainchild of renowned Italian chef Luca Manfe and will feature dishes like polenta fries and meatballs with smoked tomato aioli.
Follow The Lucky Fig Twitter to stay up-to-date on its progress.
The Memorial area is in for a treat—
Pour Society is now open at 947 North Gessner. It's an American gastropub from two-time James Beard Award winner Bradley Ogden and chefs Greg Lowry and Matthew Lovelace.
Marcy de Luna of Zagat recommends the mac 'n' cheese with smoked ham hock and Fresno chile sauce, the house-made pastrami sandwich on a jalapeõ cheddar waffle and the made-to-order Cookie Monster, which is, of course, a monster cookie with milk.
Growler's Montrose is possibly closing its doors at 1005 Waugh; the owner is returning to Florida to pursue a television production career, but he is avidly searching for a buyer for the store. No official closing date has been set, since the hope is that someone will purchase the business, so
keep an eye on the Facebook page for more news.
We received a reader tip that
Bonnie's Beef and Seafood, 6867 Gulf Freeway, has closed, and indeed, our phone calls were unanswered and
the website appears to have been taken down. There's no information about the closure on the restaurant's
Facebook page, either.
Adrian Hembree of popular
Grazia Italian Kitchen at 9415 Broadway
in Pearland has big plans for the space next to the restaurant; namely, he's going to open a speakeasy there, which will be complete with a required password, jazz tunes and a swanky dress code. There's no name for the new bar yet,
according to Lindsay Peyton at the Houston Chronicle, but it should be open later this month.
Tipico Café, 5758 FM 1960 in Humble, closed its doors after three years in business. Owner Manny Vadhar
posted a goodbye on the Facebook page, saying that the restaurant was no longer cost-effective in the current location and that efforts to find another location were unsuccessful.
Here's your monthly roundup of openings and closings for August:
Openings
ALDI, 2373 Bypass 35 South
Biskit Junkie, 403 Westheimer
Blaze Fast-Fire'd Pizza, 9650 Westheimer
Brick & Mortar Kitchen, 7227 West Grand Parkway South
Corner Bakery Cafe, 19355 Katy Freeway
Dunkin' Donuts, 13423 Westheimer
Fielding's Local Kitchen + Bar, 26400 Kuykendahl
Minuti Coffee, 8821 Westheimer
Mr. C's Irish Pub, 1570 South Dairy Ashford
Noodles & Company, 5174 Richmond
The Owl Bar, 2221 West Alabama
PDQ, 25686 Northwest Freeway
Pollo Tropical, 3170 Gulf Freeway
Potbelly Sandwich Shop, 14215 FM 2920
Salata, 17515 Spring Cypress
Southern Goods, 632 West 19th
Sprouts Farmers Market, 2718 Old Chocolate Bayou
Closings
Big Woodrows, 3111 Chimney Rock
The Bird and The Bear, 2810 Westheimer
Brick & Spoon, 1312 West Alabama
Cafe Express, 5601 Main in MFAH
Cafe Hélène, 3101 Main (becoming Saigon House)
Chuanr/ Tree Tree Grill, 9889 Bellaire
Commonwealth, 4601 Washington (rebranding)
The El Cantina Superior, 602 Studewood (rebranding into a brewpub)
Mia Bella Trattoria, 320 Main (renovating)
That's all we've got for you this week! Do you know of an opening or closing that we missed? Leave us a comment or
send us an email.