Boo’s Burgers, 2510 Navigation, opens in the East End July 26. After five years of successful pop-ups, festivals and collaborations with local eateries, owner and chef Joseph Boudreaux is debuting his first brick and mortar for the smashburger concept. A University of Houston graduate, Boudreaux left the banking industry after layoffs and began to follow his passions. Boo’s Burgers began in 2020 as a nod to old school burger stands with an eye toward giving the community solid, honest food that also draws on the local Houston culture.
Working with Letterset, a Houston design studio and branding firm, Boudreaux has rebranded the concept to reflect the vibrant and changing culture in Houston’s restaurant scene, as well as music and art. Brittney Vaughan of Garnish Design helped realize that vision by keeping the vintage feel of 1960s and ’70s burger stands with walnut paneling, family photos and fiberglass umbrellas on the patio while keeping it modern by using street art and graffiti.
There’s an order window outside as well as counter service in the restaurant itself. The new kitchen space means an expanded menu. Its OG Burger was what made its name and it will be the star with its 44 Farms beef, which is ground in-house, and its buttered challah bun from local bakery Cake and Bacon. It’s a bit different than some other smashburger concoctions with American cheese, shaved onions, spicy pickles, shrettuce, sliced tomatoes and its signature smoky burger sauce.
New items on the menu include the Shroom Sammie, also on challah, made with marinated and fried oyster mushrooms, garlic aioli, lemon-pepper wet sauce and pickles, topped with a mustard greens-cabbage slaw. There’s a gooey grilled cheese on toasted milk bread, also from Cake and Bacon, as well as seasoned fries. There are several dipping sauces like homemade garlic aioli and herby ranch, plus Boo’s OG sauce, a remoulade inspired by Boudreaux’s Louisiana Creole roots.
As the restaurant revs up, it will add items like soft serve ice cream and rotating sandwich specials, harkening back to its collaboration pop-up days. There will even be a you buy-we fry special.
While the restaurant softly opened July 23, it is hosting a grand opening July 26 from noon to 5 p.m. with DJs curated by Ice House Radio.
LOCAL Public Eatery, 9595 Six Pines, is coming to Market Street in The Woodlands August 21. Owned by Canadian company, JOEY Restaurant Group, the new Woodlands location will be just the third U.S. location and second in Texas. The Dallas location opened September 2024.
Part restaurant, part upscale sports bar, the large space will include 5,140 square feet of room inside, along with an additional 2,020 square feet on the wrap-around covered patio. The interior is slightly rustic with a cozy ambiance meant for date nights, family get-togethers and sports viewing with friends.
The food menu created by regional chef Oliver Lewis begins with shareable appetizers like Smoked Trout Dip and Hot Wings, followed by casual fare like The LOCAL Burger and a variety of pizzas including BBQ Chicken and Spicy Salami. Main courses like Steak & Fries or Grilled Calabrian Chicken are date-night worthy while Huevos Rancheros or Ahi Tuna Poke Rice Bowl are a little more casual and spicy. There’s also a weekend brunch with plates like Slow-Cooked Pork Hash and Dutch Baby.
The drinks menu is just as important as the food at LOCAL and guests can imbibe cocktails like Pink Spritz, made with Absolut raspberry vodka, and the Sassy Sangria Crush which gets an extra kick from Fireball whiskey. Under its ‘Group Activities’ section are large-format cocktails such as The Porron, a pitcher of Aveleda Vinho Verde, typically poured into one’s mouth by a (hopefully) skilled friend. Zero proof drinks include Spicy Guava Placebo and Business Hours Paloma.
Kilani Food Hall, 3818 Cartwright, will have its grand opening in Missouri City August 9 through August 10. The new food hall is unique to the Fort Bend area with its 7 different concepts sharing a common ghost kitchen. Though the concepts are unnamed, they each provide separate types of cuisine including tacos and quesadillas, Middle Eastern shawarma and gyros, burgers, decadent milkshakes, chicken wings, fiery hot chicken and fried seafood.
Owner Ahmad Kilani is thrilled to bring the food hall to the surrounding neighborhoods. He says, “Kilani Food Hall was created as a place where the community can come together to enjoy bold flavors, diverse dishes and a shared love of great food.”
The hall accommodates 75 guests with its indoor and outdoor spaces and there are also take-out and delivery options.
While it is currently in soft launch mode, it will have its first grand opening day August 9, beginning with a ribbon cutting at 11 a.m. , with a DJ providing music until 4 p.m. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. each attendee will receive one free food item. Lotto Marie will host the event and customers will receive 50 percent off the entire menu all day. The following day, August 10, guests will be able to get 50 percent off from 10 a.m. to midnight. Attendees who RSVP through Eventbrite and make a purchase during the grand opening will receive a raffle ticket for exclusive giveaways. Kilani Food Hall was created as a place where the community can come together to enjoy bold flavors, diverse dishes and a shared love of great food.
Urban Bird, 1014 Wirt, opened July 22 in the Memorial area. It’s like the millionth location to open. Okay, maybe not quite that many, but the success of this fast-casual chicken concept is almost hotter than its Fire in the Hole sauce. The newest spot is number 21 for Brandon and Chantel Gawthorp, who founded the brand in Katy in 2020. Yep, during the pandemic.
So, what is Urban Bird doing to merit such success? Well, we can’t speak on the business side, but we can say the jumbo chicken tenders are delicious and the varying spice level options mean guests can opt for no heat or go for a slow burn. The crispy tenders are available as a sandwich or in a basket with toast or waffles. There are crinkle cut fries, sweet potato fries and its popular Loaded Urban Fries.
Other sides include street corn, Hot Cheeto mac and cheese and various sauces. There are soft drinks, but we think the milkshakes are a worthy splurge.
Layne’s Chicken Fingers, 132 E. Airtex, opened this week, right on the heels of another location in Mission Bend. Entrepreneur Masroor Fatany discovered the chicken finger concept as a student at Texas A & M University in College Station, where it was founded in 1994. Fatany opened the first Houston area store in Katy in 2021 and now operates 8 Layne’s locations as well as 7 locations of The Halal Guys. He’s on a roll with Layne’s, planning two more locations this year in Missouri City and Rosenberg.
The menu is concise, offering hand-breaded chicken fingers, grilled chicken wraps, grilled cheese on Texas toast, hand-spun shakes and crinkle-cut fries.
Shipley Do-Nuts, 10933 Northwest Freeway, opens July 26 with special giveaways including a free glazed doughnut with each purchase. The first 100 guests at 5 a.m. will receive a chance to win free doughnuts for a year, while the first 100 guests at 7 a.m. will receive a free tote bag. There will also be family activities like face painting and slime-making with the SlooMoo institute from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Founded in Houston in 1936 by Lawrence Shipley Sr., the business originally operated at 1417 Crockett selling wholesale doughnuts. The yeasty pastries became so popular that it spread across Houston with retail shops, which quickly led to Houstonians lining up early for just-out-of-the-fryer doughnuts. The menu now includes 60 different doughnuts and nearly a dozen varieties of kolaches.
Shipley Do-Nuts has expanded to over 370 company-owned and franchised locations across 14 states.
Griff’s Irish Pub, 4316 Roseland, reopened last week, more than two years after a devastating fire in January 2023 caused major damage. Founded in 1965, it has been the scene of many a Saint Patrick’s Day party and shenanigans since then. A reader alerted the Houston Press about its reopening, but there has been little hoopla online. We have reached out to the owners for more information.
Trader Joe’s, 600 Kingwood, is coming this year, but we don’t know exactly when. However, the fine folks of Kingwood are buzzing online about the erection of the TJ sign recently. Nothing gets a Houston neighborhood more turned on than the promise of a TJ’s, and we don’t mean MAXX. We’ll admit, we got a little tingly about the news of a Trader Joe’s coming to Cypress. Still, we will do our holiday shopping at the location on Alabama. The staff there are just so darn nice, we’ll overlook the lines.
