Fish Company Taco. 1914 23rd, is reopening in June 2024. The Galveston restaurant shuttered in October 2023 after a five-year run led by Chef Dyatra Myers-Hurt along with her wife Laura. Committed to seasonal ingredients and fresh hauls of seafood from local fish markets, the taco shop offered chef-created items that were unique and tasty. According to a press release, Myers-Hurt closed the restaurant because she missed the camaraderie of the kitchen brigade and has since accepted a position at Galveston's Lucine Hotel.
Now the restaurant will rise again thanks to its acquisition by restaurateur and oyster purveyor Raz Halili. The young businessman offered Myers-Hurt a buyout which includes all of the recipes that were popular among its clientele. Halili also owns Pier 6 Seafood and Oyster House in San Leon and Prestige Oysters, his family's fishing business.
Halili says that he wants to continue the success of Fish Company Taco with the same high-quality products and recipes that Hurt-Myers was known for. He added, "Fish Company Taco was very unique to Galveston. She called it 'gulf to table' and sourced everything locally, which I greatly admire."
Some of the items that earned a loyal following were its five core tacos: Baja, Korean, Vietnamese, Hunan and Dirty South. Those will remain on the new menu along with creative specials from chefs Joe Cervantez and Lexy Garcia. Cervantez is executive chef and Garcia is the chef de cuisine at Pier 6 so guests can expect some delicious seafood-centric offerings.
Halili is also taking the beverage game at Fish Company Taco up a notch by bringing in Ladies of Libation to curate the cocktail menu. The duo of Laurie Harvey and Kris Sowell are known for their cocktail programs across Houston restaurants and bars and further afield. There will also be a small selection of wines and specialty beers.
As for the space, it's getting a bit of a refresh with updates to the kitchen and restrooms plus new flooring, wall treatments and beachy decor in the 1,000 square-foot dining area. The counter-service restaurant also features a 500 square-foot back patio.
When it reopens, lunch will be served Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with plans to add dinner service in the future .
B.B. Lemon, 1100 Louisiana, is now open at Enterprise Plaza. Berg Hospitality's American bistro concept originally opened in 2018 at 1809 Washington. A second B.B. Lemon followed in July 2019 in Montrose but has since closed. The Washington location is now joined by the downtown spot.
The opening is part of a restaurant management agreement with Hines, the management company for the building. Benjamin Berg, CEO and founder of Berg Hospitality, assumed management of El Real and Real Agave, two concepts at Enterprise Plaza originally from restaurateur Bill Floyd of Bill Floyd Concepts. Real Agave will remain much the same but has a new menu and also shares a kitchen with the new B.B. Lemon, which takes the place of El Real.
The downtown B.B. Lemon will be open for breakfast and lunch. Breakfast runs from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. with a menu of croissants, muffins, breakfast tacos, bagels, pancakes and a croissant breakfast sandwich.
The lunch menu is available from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. with items such as smash burgers, classic wagyu beef hot dogs, a Southwest Salad, California Grilled Chicken Sandwich, Fried Spicy Chicken Sandwich and a BLT.
Oiler Studio, 1700 City Plaza, has launched in a new spot this month. In addition to being a social club, the new setting will also be a year-long pop-up that will incorporate an outpost of J-Bar-M Barbecue in its 1,872- square-foot space.
Founders Maggie Judge and Yvette Dzumaga first opened the social club at co-working company Common Desk in September 2023. It took an innovative approach to the typical bar scene by offering a space for locals and visitors to meet up with a rotating list of 50 different activities for celebrating, team-building or just mixing and mingling. Activities have included cigar rolling, wine glass painting, hula dancing, pottery and whiskey tasting. There are also ticketed theme nights for murder mysteries, comedy roasts, poker and karaoke.
Along with the array of fun experiences is a cocktail list with drinks ranging from $7 to $12 plus a daily happy hour. The first Comedy Night is May 17 and features a two-hour show for $20 per person.
Ishtia by Eculent, 709 Harris, is currently taking reservations for a limited number of seats for its pre-launch soft opening which begins May 16. It's a new page for chef/owner David Skinner as he transforms his acclaimed tasting restaurant, Eculent, into a culinary venue that showcases native and indigenous cuisine and culture, including Skinner's own Choctaw heritage.
Mountain Mike's Pizza, 24320 Northwest Freeway, opened May 6 in Cypress. We reported last month that the pizza chain's first southeast location would open in April. Now, it is officially open and customers will find its crispy, curly pepperoni pizzas and other favorites on the menu.
Papito's Pizzeria and Pasta, 24002 Northwest Freeway, opened May 2 in Cypress. With a focus exclusively on delivery and takeout, the Italian-American concept offers authentic brick-oven pizza and fresh pasta dishes along with subs, salads and sides.
The concept offers online ordering from its website and customers can pick up their orders at Papito's located behind Marvino's Italian Steakhouse. It will come as no surprise that a number of the items are from Marvino's including the lasagna and chicken parmesan.
SoHou, 1925 Washington, opened in March 2024 in a former gym. Hospitality veterans Malak Maroun and Hamera Khan have turned the space into a Houston-themed sports bar that caters to both men and women. As female business owners, Maroun and Khan bring a unique perspective to the male-dominated world of sports bars.
Malak Maroun's experience as a bartender shows in the craft cocktails at SoHou.
Photo by Visual Influence
Andy's Home Cafe, 2121 North Main, does not have a definitive opening date as of yet. The restaurant originally was located at 1115 E. 11th. It was a Heights fixture for decades, having opened in 1977. However, owner Thomas Morales told the Houston Chronicle that local real estate developer Wolf Capital Partners, who own the building next to Andy's, blocked off parking spaces in front of the vacant building and the nearby parking lot leaving customers to find street parking instead. Morales also accused Wolf Capital of blocking an easement that Andy's employees had previously used for deliveries and trash disposal.
Wolf Capital offered to buy the building from Morales at one point but he felt the offer was not enough. The issues eventually led the owners to close the cafe's doors July 30, 2023. Since the restaurant's closure, it has been operating as a pop-up at various locations across the city including Rabbit's Got a Gun and The Shiloh Club.
We have reached out for more information regarding the re-opening date.
El Bolillo, 3507 Fountain View, is coming to the Galleria very soon. According to its Instagram announcement April 11, construction is wrapping up and it has already hosted a job fair. It will be the fifth location for the local Latin bakery which recently opened its largest store in Mission Bend in November 2023.
Known for its pan dulce like conchas and caracoles, it also offers fresh, homemade tortillas and custom cakes.
Tacodeli, 1715 Post Oak Boulevard, is shooting to open in late May. It's the second Houston location for the Austin-based taqueria and the 12th overall. It was founded in 1999 by Roberto Espinosa, a native of Mexico City, who brought in Eric Wilkerson as co-owner in 2000.
The menu begins with breakfast tacos like Sirloin, Egg & Cheese, Freakin' Vegan and Barbacoa Madruguera. Guests can also build their own. There's a wide variety of lunch and dinner tacos including Frontera Fundido Sirloin, Puerco Verde, Mexico City Chicken and Mojo Salmon. There are five vegetarian tacos including two vegan ones like the Papadulce made with roasted sweet potato and peppers, grilled corn, caramelized onions, pepitas and chipotle-camote sauce.
In addition to tacos, there are chips and an array of salsas along with salads, soups and a kids menu. Breakfast drinks include Natalie's Orange Juice and The Cha Cha, made with cold brew and almond horchata. Each Tacodeli uses coffee that is locally roasted and for Houston, it's Boomtown Coffee. The Houston drink menu also offers kombucha from Kickin' Kombucha and house-made agua frescas.
There's also beer and margaritas.
Thai Tail, 1402 Westheimer, is also looking to open in late May. It's the fourth culinary venture for MaKiin Concepts which also operates Kin Dee, M Express Thai Kitchen and MaKiin. The fast casual restaurant will offer dine-in and take-away options with a blend of M Express's casual fusion menu along with four signature dishes from Kin Dee.
KP's Kitchen, 5427 Bissonnet, launched its lunch service May 1. The restaurant from owner/chef Kerry Pauly opened its second location in Bellaire this past April. The menu features starters like KP's Wings plus a selection of side and entree salads such as the Faro & Crispy Artichoke, Caesar, Asian Crunchy and Cobb.
KP's Burger is a popular item along with the Hot Chicken Sandwich. There's also a Veggie Burger and entrees such as Rosemary Lemon Chicken, Rigatoni Alfredo and Grilled Redfish.
Trill Burgers, 3607 S. Shepherd, added a new item to its popular smashburger menu May 5 and it's fitting that it's a taco in a city that loves tacos of all kinds. The Trill Smash Taco is a collaboration with Alex Bregman's Wild Sol salsa. The two-time World Series champion and Houston Astros third baseman launched his Southwest food brand in February 2024 with the release of four different salsas.
The Trill Smash Taco begins with a white corn tortilla into which a crispy smashburger patty is smashed along with American cheese. It's topped with citrus slaw, jalapenos, chipotle aioli, Trill taco seasoning and Wild Sol salsa. Created by chefs and Trill partners Fernando Valladares and Mike Pham, the tacos come two to an order with a side of French fries.
