Little Rey, 2345 Mid lane, has announced that its expected time frame for opening is spring 2024. The fast casual Mexican concept from chef/owner Ford Fry was announced this past May. Fry opened its 'favorite cousin' Superica in Houston's Heights neighborhood in 2018 along with an original concept La Lucha. Fry first debuted Little Rey in Atlanta in 2019 so the River Oaks/Highland Village location will be the second for the Northern Mexican food concept.
The menu opens the day with breakfast tacos with chorizo, bacon, potato, steak and a veggie option. There's also breakfast otros, or others, including Breakfast Chalupa, Avocodo 'Toast'ada and Huevos Rancheros. The Shareables section offers chips with salsa, guacamole or queso plus Papas Fritas and Smoked Chicken Wings.
Its main menu features Tacos Al Carbon and Tacos Tradicionales, which are ordered singly. There are also salads, flautas and Pozole Rojo. Sides include elotes, rancho beans, cilantro lime rice and fingerling sweet potatoes. An order of homemade flour tortillas is just $1. Customers can also order its Pollo Al Carbon by half or whole bird, complete with fixings.
For beverages, there are soft drinks, Topo Chico, orange juice and more. For adult drinks, there is a selection of draft, bottled and canned beers plus its margaritas. The Casa margarita is available on the rocks or frozen and there is a Rio Red grapefruit version on the rocks.
Little Rey will also have rotating flavors of its soft serve which might include Tres Leches one day or Salty Cajeta and Fried Peanuts another.
Local Foods, 5740 San Felipe, will shutter December 23 in order to relocate to Post Oak Plaza. The new location, 1707 Post Oak Boulevard, is expected to open in early 2024. The sandwich bistro from restaurateur Benjy Levit has three additional locations in Houston as well as one in Austin.
Guests will find some of its favorites on the new location's menu including Harvest Salad, Crunchy Chicken Sandwich and Green Chili Chicken Posole. There are all day entrees, a local catch of the day and its popular burger. Other cafe fare includes roasted half chicken, bistro steak and veggie lasagna.
Recently, Levit and business partner, Dylan Murray, announced that Chef Seth Siegel-Gardner, formerly of Pass and Provisions, was taking on the role of Culinary and Creative Director at all of Levit's restaurants including Local Foods, Lees Den, Eau Tour and the upcoming Mexican concept, Maximo Canteen.
MoLiHua, 7118 Bertner, will open at Blossom Houston in early 2024. Located on the second floor of the luxury hotel, MoLiHua, which means 'jasmine' in Chinese, will have Michelin-Starred chef Ho Chee Boon at the helm of the new restaurant which will offer sushi, dim sum and dessert in a stunning and glamorous space. It is also the first of three concepts Chef Boon will debut at Blossom Houston.
Chef Boon earned his Michelin star status with the Hakkasan Restaurant Group in London and internationally before opening a location in New York in 2012. Hakkasan New York shuttered in November 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. In 2021, the Malaysian-born chef opened Empress by Boon in the former home of a Chinatown banquet hall, Empress of China. Empress by Boon is listed in the Michelin Guide as one of the Best Chinese Restaurants in San Francisco. He also opened a more casual dining establishment, Blue Whale in San Francisco this past September.
PostScript HTX, 2800 Kirby, is expected to open January 2023. It comes from a group of owners from the Dallas-based XOXO Dining Room who have formed a hospitality group, GAP Concepts, which is bringing the new pretty-in-pink restaurant and lounge to the Upper Kirby District at Shops at Arrive River Oaks.
While the group behind it may be from Dallas, it will have a well-known Houston chef leading the kitchen. Chef Bryan Caswell will be taking the reins as executive chef. While details about the menu have not been released, we do know that the cocktail program will include a 'Press for Champagne' doorbell making this an ideal hotspot for socializing and maybe, a little flirting.
The Pit Room, 0301-A Katy Freeway, will begin smoking in Memorial City in spring 2024. The much anticipated second location of the barbecue joint will have an even larger kitchen plus a homemade sausage grinding station and an ice cream sandwich bar.
First opened in Montrose by Michael Sambrooks in 2016, its Central Texas-style barbecue is showcased in its brisket, house-made sausages and breakfast tacos. It also has The Patio adjacent to it for enjoying barbecue outdoors as it was meant to be eaten. The second location will also feature an expansive patio at 2,610 square feet.
Azumi, 4444 Westheimer, is shooting to open in spring 2024. This June, we reported that the Houston location would open in late winter 2023. However, most folks in the restaurant industry know that projected opening dates are just that and many variables can affect the actual debut.
The modern Japanese concept comes from Atlas Restaurant Group and is replacing another Atlas concept, Ouzo Bay, which shuttered this April to make way for Azumi. It is also adjacent to another Atlas venture, Loch Bar.
The space is being reimagined by Patrick Sutton, a Baltimore interior designer. The design and decor will be in keeping with Japanese aesthetics, focusing on tranquility and streamlined elegance. In addition to the main dining room, there will be a sushi bar, an omakase tasting room and an indoor/outdoor main bar that leads to a terrace which will seat 78 more guests.
Atlas Restaurant Group is also based in Baltimore, Maryland.
99 Ranch Market, 12220 Westheimer, just opened at the new development from NewQuest Properties, West on West. The 33,029 square-foot grocer will be the anchor for the 90,000 square foot retail development that will include dining destinations as well. The first business to open was Gen Korean BBQ House which opened this past November. Recently, leases were signed for first to market food and beverage businesses including Shoo Loong Kan, a Sichuan restaurant, and Japanese creperie T Swirl Crepe. Osha Thai is also coming to Other tenants, and there are many, include Tsujita Artisan Noodle, Paris Baguette, The Alley, SomiSomi, Lady M, Kaiten-sushi, Ginza Onodera and Teso Life, all of which are expected to open between now and spring 2024.
Gitano Capital announced December 19, 2023 that it had signed a lease for 1658 Westheimer, most recently the home of Chef Chris Shepherd's One Fifth restaurant and previously occupied by Mark's American Cuisine. Originally a Gothic-style church in the 1920s, it housed Dream Merchant for a while after the indie rock lifestyle and clothing shop moved from its Sharpstown Mall digs.
Gitano Capital is the hospitality group behind the Mexico City-based Ojo de Agua, a health-centric Mexican restaurant concept that opened its first Houston location this past May. However, the new concept will be an upscale Japanese restaurant and the roster of chefs and mixologists will be revealed soon. However, the new concept is not slated to open until 2025.
Golden Chick, 11702 FM 1960, opened December 18 as the third location for franchisees Salim and Eliyan Muman, who very recently opened their second store this past November.
The chicken chain first opened in 1967 in Texas. It has since expanded to over 210 locations in five states. Known for its Golden Tenders and Golden Roast Chicken, it has been expanding across Houston for the past couple of years, with the newest one being the 14th for the area.
Slowpokes Coffee, 13210 Memorial, is coming soon. There's not a definitive date set but it should be in early 2024.
Who will take care of our old girl, next?
Photo by Lorretta Ruggiero
Acme Oyster House was a much-anticipated arrival when it took over the old Tower Theater space in 2021. Houstonians are big fans of the food and fun of our party neighbor to the east and we're always ready for some NOLA cuisine. Unfortunately, the spot on Westheimer just didn't work out for the seafood restaurant just as it did not for El Real, the Tex-Mex restaurant that closed in the spot in 2019.
As for future plans for the iconic Tower Theater structure that was built as a cinema in 1936, it remains to be seen. The property was recently acquired by Radom Capital, according to the Houston Chronicle. Many Houstonians of a certain age have fond memories of spotting the rising facade on Saturday night cruises down the Westheimer strip. It was our landmark.
Let's hope it stays that way.
