The Pit Room, 10301-A Katy Freeway, has signed a lease for a second location in Memorial City. The expansion comes from Sambrooks Management Company which operates the original location of The Pit Room at 1201 Richmond. The hand-crafted BBQ concept first opened in Montrose in 2016. SMC also owns and operates The Patio at The Pit Room, 1751 Sea and Bar and Candente. Its eagerly-awaited Andiron modern steak house will open later this year.
The Pit Room Memorial City will be an expansive space with 6,240 square feet plus an attached 2,610 square-foot patio. It will have the same the rustic, laid-back barbecue joint vibe of the original Montrose location. It is being designed by architect Kevin Tietz with Philip Ewald Architecture and interior designer Dawn Arcieri of KT Ventures.

The dining room will have counter service and seating for over 100. There will also be a dedicated to-go counter with a mini BBQ store stocked with to-go meats, sausages, sauces and more. An indoor/outdoor full bar will accommodate 25 guests. A large, covered patio with seating for over 80 people provides open-air dining space and there is a separate patio party room for up to 30 guests. Besides serving the same Central Texas-style BBQ as the original location, The Pit Room Memorial will be offer a bar menu for all day sports viewing on the patio as well as a specialty grill menu.

Owner Michael Sambrooks says, "We are excited to grow The Pit Room concept and serve a new area of Houston. The Pit Room is our original concept, really our baby, and we look forward to serving the residents in Memorial and on the West Side."
EZ's Liquor Lounge, 3302 White Oak, opened October 24. The vintage-style bar comes from Agricole Hospitality co-owners Matt Tanner, Morgan Weber, Ryan Pera and Vincent Huynh and it's inspired by the quartet's love of neighborhood dives. It's located next to Agricole's Gulf Coast Italian restaurant, Coltivare, so the lounge is ideal for a pre-dinner cocktail or a post-dinner game of pool.

It's located in a 1950s building that houses neon-wall signs, like any decent dive, and some special memorabilia such as a figurine from the now-shuttered Alice's Tall Texan and a vintage '50s refrigerator from Tanner's uncle that will feature a self-service water tap for patrons.
With its retro design, it gives an ambiance of a dive lounge but still offers guests craft cocktails like The Famous EZ Margarita, Freezer Martini and Dulce de Leche Old Fashioned. Southern folks will delight in the Hillbilly Highball made with salted peanut butter bourbon, Mexican Coke and peanuts, an alcoholic homage to the tradition of putting salty peanuts in Coca-Cola. There will also be rotating daily specials and a small selection of wines. Ice cold beer will be available on draft and by the bottle. Frozen drinks include the Slurrrrricane which we think speaks for itself.
There will also be a bar food menu that will keep loungers fed with appetizers like Pimiento Cheese with hot pickled okra and TX Firecrackers or EZ Queso Blanco. Dinner items include a variety of hot dogs such as the Caliente Dog, an RC Ranch Wagyu frank with jalapeno cheese, onion, habanero honey mustard, garlic and celery spice or the Dahli Dog made with Field Roast Vegan Dog, Golden Veggie Chili, pickled onion and cilantro. A  selection of Chili Pies can be customized with Wild Boar Chili con Carne or Golden Veggie Chili.
Burger Bodega, 4520 Washington, has been softly previewing its new brick and mortar this week with pop-ups at its pick-up window. It will have its official opening November 3. The burger concept from owner Abbas Dhanani first began doing pop-ups in September 2021.

With its new permanent spot, Burger Bodega has expanded its menu. Originally, the pop-ups only served the Double Smash Burger, made with two smashed patties, American cheese, grilled onions, house-made pickles and its signature bodega sauce on a potato bun. With the new menu, diners can opt for a single, double or triple patty.
In addition to the smashburgers, the menu will offer a Classic Cheeseburger with American cheese, shrettuce (shredded lettuce), tomatoes, onion and bodega sauce on a sesame bun. Another new menu item is the New York bodega staple, Chopped Cheese. It has two chopped patties with American cheese, onions, bell pepper, shrettuce, tomatoes and bodega sauce on a hero roll. Sides include Screwed Fries, crispy cut thin fries with cheese sauce, onions and bodega sauce and Chopped Fries, with chopped beef, cheese sauce, onions, bell peppers and bodega sauce.

The new location will also have a shake program created by Craft Creamery. There will be shakes in flavors like Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry and the very popular Vietnamese Coffee shake. The Mango Lassi Shake is a nod to Dhanani's Pakistani culture.
Dhanani said in a press release, "With years of working in the fast food industry for my family's business, I've always had the dream of opening up my own restaurant. All the overwhelming support from the city over the last year at each pop-up truly has been amazing, and I couldn't be more excited to bring my passion project to Washington Avenue."

The restaurant's design by interior designer Vy Truong is meant to bring a New York vibe to a bodega atmosphere. As for its bodega, products will be available from local restaurants and businesses such as Bludorn, Craft Pita, Pudgy’s, Blood Bros BBQ, Seaside Poke, Kin, Feges BBQ, Greenway Coffee and more. Adding to the New York aesthetic is a collaborative mural from artist Donkeeboy, students from Young Art Pros and graffiti artist Noke 713, that creates a New York street with Houston elements.
Emilia's Havana, 1800 Post Oak Boulevard, quietly opened October 28 and a press release describes it as "discreetly located next to The Annie Cafe & Bar". The discreet part is that it's a speakeasy-style, Cuban-inspired luxe dinner club that caters to fat wallets and Houston's poshest peeps.

The opening is so quiet that photos of the interior aren't being released in order to allow for an element of surprise for its Gatsby-esque guests. Located in a former storage closet, the 50-seat lounge will have nightly bossa nova-style music by the club's house band and local DJs spinning tunes on Friday and Saturday night.

The Cuban-inspired cocktail program comes from one of Houston's most creative cocktail purveyors, Alba Huerta, the James Beard Award-winning mixologist and owner of craft cocktail bar Julep. There is also a menu of chef-driven small plates.

Reservations are required as are certain terms of service. There are two seatings each evening, the first from 7 p.m. through 9:30 p.m. and the second at 10 p.m. through 12:30 a.m. On Friday and Saturday, the party continues from 12:30 a.m. through 2 a.m. with a local DJ.

Reservations require a $50 entertainment fee per person. There are also food and beverage minimums per seating. The first seating requires a minimum of $100 per person while the second seating ups the ante to $150 per guest. There will also be a 22 percent service fee added to the final bill.

Owner Benjamin Berg admits the price is steep but believes the new concept from Berg Hospitality is something that Houston is lacking. In the press release he offered this statement, "You are going to pay a premium for your seat, but I am positive that this is a space where everyone will be able to really let loose and enjoy that nostalgic Havana vibe and unique bossa nova style of music that most people have only seen in the movies."

Inflation? What inflation?
ROCKHOUSE Southern Kitchen, 6025 Richmond, is coming in early 2023. The restaurant and live music venue  will take over the space that at one time housed the famous Billy Blues nightclub and more recently, Diablo Loco sports bar. The new concept comes from the owners of the recently opened restaurant, The Warwick. The group includes Rob Wright, Mazen Baltagi, Steven Rogers and Kurt Agomuo; four seasoned hospitality professionals who are known for reviving historic locations and retaining some of the traditional elements while creating a modern vibe.

Inspired by Southern culture and its connection to food, ROCKHOUSE will have a menu that includes comfort food favorites with a contemporary twist. Dishes like Oxtail Egg Rolls, Creole Pizza and Jerk Chicken Nachos offer a glimpse into the traditional-modern fusion while classics like Fried Chicken and Fried Catfish with Smoked Collard Greens are more authentic Southern fare.
Along with the cuisine, the owners are bringing in different musical artists to add to the liveliness of the scene with brass bands and saxophone artists rotating nightly. When the space was Billy Blues, it hosted performances from icons like Bo Diddley, Bobby Blue Bland and The Fabulous Thunderbirds.

Wright, one of the owners, says " “We want to go back to the roots of Southern culture, where music and good food are the celebration. We have created an experience where our culinary farm to table offerings, hand-crafted cocktails, and nightly musical oblations will leave you coming back for more."

The 14,000 square feet of space has Nicki Dooms of NHI Designs overseeing the design features which will include plush seating, a large bar, a spacious patio and an outdoor stage.

Daquiri Corner, 401 Franklin, opened at POST HTX  in mid-October. The new frozen alcoholic beverage kiosk is part of FAM Hospitality which already operates a number of its concepts at the food hall, including Golfstrommen, Lea Jane's, Johnny Good Burger, East Side King and Soy Pinoy.

There are colorful and refreshing drinks like Mexican Candy with Western Son Watermelon Vodka and Lunazul or the Dreamsicle, a sweet creation with Sky Blood Orange. Here, the ever-popular Frose is made with rose wine and Western Son Strawberry Vodka. There's also the Chamoyada made with Illegal Mezcal Reposado and Lunazul.

The daquiris are $15 and refills are $13.
Verna Mae's, 16010 West, closed October 25, after its last day of service. The announcement was made via email with the owners expressing their gratitude for the customers and the memories.

The email cited the economy as the reason for the closure of the family-owned restaurant. It read "...It has become increasingly difficult to make ends meet financially and unfortunately, the forecast economically does not promise to improve any time in the immediate future."

The New Orleans-themed seafood restaurant first opened in January 2018 serving Louisiana family recipes.
Nick Fine will step down from his position as culinary director at Underbelly Hospitality November 14.  The reason given is that Fine wishes to spend more time with his family. He will continue in his role as partner of Wild Oats, his Texas-inspired restaurant that opened at the Houston Farmers Market this past February. He will not be involved in the daily operations of the restaurant but will lead Wild Oats as a consultant, continuing to oversee the menu and direction of the restaurant.

Fine joined Underbelly Hospitality at Chris Shepherd's One Fifth restaurant concept as chef de cuisine in January 2017. He was promoted to Underbelly's culinary director in December of the same year.

Fine said in a press release, "My time with Underbelly Hospitality has been one of the most transformative and influential experiences and one that I will truly miss." The father of three young children, Fine says he looks forward to devoting more time to them because "As anybody in the food and beverage industry knows, time passes in the blink of an eye."

Meanwhile, Wild Oats has brought in Chad Wixon to serve as general manager. Wixon, a graduate of the University of Houston, previously served as general manager for Killen's Steakhouse in Pearland for 16 years.

Playa Azul, 9630 Jones, reopens November 1. The Cypress neighborhood favorite closed in September 2021 because the building in which it was located for thirteen years, a former Wendy's fast food restaurant, was in need of updates and repairs. Its new spot, a couple of miles down the road from the original, means this writer cannot stumble home anymore after drinking its potent house margaritas.

With the expanded space comes a larger menu. The original location was mostly fried and grilled seafood plates, super-fresh raw oysters and ceviche. Now, its offerings include a number of Mexican dishes including , quesadillas, fajitas poblanas, tampiquena, and nachos. Most of the favorites, like its surprisingly good gumbo and crab fingers, are still on the menu and it has added, like every other restaurant in Houston, a Seafood Tower. This one, however, won't set diners back a Benjamin. For $29.95 it has boiled shrimp, lemon-cured shrimp, octopus and baby scallops.

Jersey Mike's Subs, 13740 E. Freeway, has delayed its planned opening for October 26. We will keep readers updated on its new date.
Tokyo Night Festival, 6848 Almeda Genoa, will take place at its new location at Texas Festival Grounds November 11 through November 12. It was planned originally for Lucky Land, which has closed due to expired permits and construction issues per a press release.

The switched venue will allow for more parking on the 20 acre lot with a lake view and a backdrop of the city. The two-day festival celebrates Houston's Japanese community. Its first year was a one-day affair held at Social Beer Garden. First created by Naoki Yoshida, Yusuke Motozawa and Tam Lo, it was meant to be a parking lot festival representing Japanese cuisine and culture. This year, there will more than 30 food vendors including Shun Japanese Kitchen, Hako Bento Box Company, Burger Chan, Tokyo Maid Cafe, Cao Bao, Crawfish and Noodles, Tatsunoya Ramen and many more.
For entertainment, there will be Japanese hip-hop artist Zeebra, rapper Nevos Tyler, kendama performer Michael Martin and a long line-up of other performers. An official sumo tournament and martial arts showcases add to the fun.

Tickets start at $20 and can be found at eventbrite.