Kazzan Ramen & Bar, 191 Heights Boulevard, debuts in the Heights July 19. It’s the first Texas location (yay us!) for the ‘volcano’ ramen a foodie trend which originated in Osaka, Japan. The thick-noodles and vegetables are served in a 350-degree Celsius (you read that right) hot stone bowl, topped off with hot soup then poured into a cylindrical top. This causes steam to rise from the lid creating its own volcano-like eruption while guests enjoy the show.
Ramen slurpers can choose their fave flave be it Shio, Shoyu, Karamiso, Sukiyaki, Curry or Veggie Tan Tan. The decisions don’t stop there. Guests can also choose from a variety of toppings like Nitamago (marinated egg) and Chasu (braised pork) and there is an option to add extra noodles. In addition to the ramen, the restaurant also serves traditional Japanese fare such as Chicken Karaage, Yaki Gyoza, Black Pepper Edamame and Kushikatsu skewers. Some of its other popular items include Beef Don, Fried Chicken Wings and Spicy Creamy Fried shrimp. For those who prefer rice over noodles, there are Hot Stone Japanese Rice dishes with meat or vegetarian choices. Its signature Kazzan Ice, its version of kakigori, comes in mango, match and strawberry flavors. Like traditional Japanese shaved ice, it’s topped with sweetened condensed milk.
Owner Lianne Chang is the local entrepreneur responsible for bringing the brand to Houston. Its first continental U.S. location opened in Los Angeles earlier this summer. Chang owns a number of Shipley’s Do-Nuts and Charley’s Cheesesteaks in the Houston area.
Kazzan Ramen is her first full service restaurant and bar and she’s brought in Ilin Yang to create a bar menu of specialty cocktails and mocktails. Yang’s prior experience includes Traveler’s Table and Aya Sushi. Whimsical concoctions include Ube Bae made with dehydrated purple yam and Mount Boujee which uses Mount Fuji ice and is smoked with cherry wood chips.
The 3,600 sqaure-foot restaurant was built out by JMC Commercial contractors with brick and wood walls and custom ceiling tiles. There is an outdoor patio, full bar and an open kitchen concept adding to the immersive experience.
CASE Chocolates, 3401 Harrisburg, will debut its chocolate shop and speakeasy July 19. Located at The Plant in Houston’s Second Ward, the concept claims to be the first of its kind, offering a chocolate and cocktails tasting experience in a speakeasy-inspired environment. Guests enter through the retail chocolate shop which offers gourmet chocolates with liquid centers. The wooden shelves open into the chic and elegant bar where blue velvet chairs and polished surfaces hint at the glamorous adventure to come.
Its inaugural tasting menu showcases the best cacaos sourced from Costa Rica, Bolivia and Venezuela. Each one-hour experience offers three flights of CASE’s signature chocolates which are paired with cocktails and light snacks. Leading the tasting will be owner Casey McNeil who says that the reactions and impressions on people’s faces is what brings the greatest joy for he and his team. He added, “We joke that when we ship them that we feel a little robbed of that, so the speakeasy is selfishly a way for us to get to see those reactions more often.”
McNeil, a graduate of the Bauer College of Business at University of Houston, was named one of Forbes magazine’s “30 Under 30 in Energy” in 2015 as the founder of REEcycle. Now the tech entrepreneur has turned chocolatier after apprenticing with a master chocolatier in Switzerland and traveling the globe to meet with cacao farmers who share the same visions of quality and sustainability.
In an nod to chocolate’s source, three hand-painted custom cacao trees stand amid the speakeasy’s sexy interior and a dimly lit bar adds to the ambiance. Not only are there craft cocktails, there are both alcohol-filled and non-alcoholic gourmet chocolates available in the shop and also online for shipping. The chocolates are made using starch casting, a Swiss technique fine-tuned by Rudolph Sprungli.
The tastings are reservation-only, Wednesday through Saturday with seatings at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. The retail chocolate shop is open Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
La La Land Kind Cafe, 3502 S. Shepherd, celebrated its grand opening July 13 with giveaways and discounts on drinks and toasts. It’s the third location for the coffee shop with a mission to not only foster kindness but also to help young people in the foster care system. Through its recently rebranded philanthropic organization, La La Land Foundation, it provides youth ages 16 to 24, who are transitioning out of foster care, life skills through its La La Workforce Development Program. The paid 12-week internship offers mentorship, job placement, access to mental health services and college and career planning.
Founded by Francois Reihani in Dallas in 2019, there are now 11 under the La La Land umbrella in Texas and California plus its reserve store, Cafe La La, in Los Angeles. The cafes helps to fund the La La Foundation which originally began as the We Are One Project.
The menu of organic craft drinks includes coffees, teas, lemonades, matcha and Coolers. Some of the most popular beverages are the World’s Best Vanilla Latte and Strawberry Fields Matcha Latte. It also offers light bites such as Classic Chia Pudding and a selection of avocado toasts, including ones with burrata cheese. There are croissants, both sweet and savory, muffins, cookies and a vegan Strawberry Guava Pop Tart.
Doves, 3101 Main, is opening in early August in Houston’s Midtown. The glamorous boutique dining establishment will offer modern Southern cuisine with an Asian twist plus handcrafted cocktails and live entertainment from midday to late evening in a fashionable and sleekly laid-out restaurant designed by Nicki Dooms of NHI Design.
It comes from Fred Wilson and partner Samuel Williamson. Wilson, a native of Port Arthur, leads Wilson Hospitality Group but his portfolio is multi-faceted including a wide range of businesses such as OnTime Logistics Texas, a trucking company, and F. Wilson Investments, LLC. He is also co-owner of Ultimate Drip Therapy, a wellness and IV hydration and vitamin therapy spa slated for Katy in late summer or early fall.
Williamson hails from St. Louis, Missouri and has experience in the hospitality industry through his father’s ventures including the historic Maurice’s Gold Coast Nightclub in St. Louis which operated for three decades. Both owners, who now reside in Houston, are thrilled to open the hotspot in the city. Wilson says, “We’ve poured our hearts into creating this space where guests can enjoy extraordinary cuisine and exceptional service in a truly unique and luxurious setting.”
Doves will have a soft opening the first week of August followed by a grand opening in the coming weeks.
Buboy will be a new venture from chef Tristen Epps who is returning to Houston after leaving his position as sous chef at Four Seasons Houston ten years ago. Epps is still scouting out a location for his upcoming tasting menu concept which will focus on Afro-Caribbean cuisine. Its debut is planned for 2025.
Meanwhile, Epps will be popping up in the private dining space of Guard and Grace downtown with a dinner series every Friday and Saturday night from July 19 through August 3. Each 7-course dinner will be a modern exploration of Afro-Caribbean foodways highlighting Houston’s global influences and the paths of the techniques and ingredients that made their way from Africa through the Caribbean into the cuisine of the American South.
Epps was a James Beard Award Semifinalist 2024 for Best Chef: South. Born to a mother whose military career took them all over the world, his influences come from both his Trinidadian heritage and postings in places like Guam, Japan and the Philippines. He left Houston in 2014 to work with mentor and celebrity chef Marcus Samuelson at his famous Red Rooster restaurant in Harlem, New York. His career since then has been a rocket ride of successes with him earning the JBA nomination for his restaurant Ocean Social by Tristen Epps at Miami’s Eden Roc Hotel. .
Milton’s, 8117 Kelvin, is expected to open this August in the former Eau Tour spot, as we reported here in the Houston Press. There’s not a definitive date set as more details are being finalized but we do know that the new concept will be an American trattoria focused on antipastos, house-made pastas and wood-fired meats from the Josper grill.
Salad And Go, 9604 Fry, will open in Cypress July 20 on the heels of another Salad and Go location which opened July 16 in La Marque at 3011 FM 1764. The two new stores join more than 60 across the state of Texas and numerous other spots in Arizona, Oklahoma and Nevada. It was founded in 2013 by husband and wife Tony and Roushan Christofellis and Michelin-star-trained chef Daniel Patino. Though the couple sold out in 2021, Patino is still involved as co-owner and executive chef, guiding the menu and keeping the standards high for the quick-service healthy-eating concept.
The Salad and Go model offers made-to-order salads, wraps and breakfast burritos with reasonable prices that don’t sacrifice on quality. Customers can choose a salad from its selection of offerings including Caprese, Fajita, Cobb, Caesar, Greek, Roasted Autumn, Thai and Jalapeno Ranch, then choose a protein such as roasted chicken, Buffalo chicken or tofu. Steak is available for a $1.20 extra. And all of the salads may be ordered as a wrap instead for the same price. For Houston, that means $7.29 to $7.99 for most salads and wraps. Customers can also add on a drink for a mere $1.20 as well, so a healthy meal can be had for about 10 bucks with tax.
The drink options include Cold Brew, Traditional Lemonade, Blueberry Basil Lemonade, Black Tea, Mango Green Tea and more. A frozen Strawberry Lemonade is just $1.79. For sides, there is a Chicken Pot Pie Soup as well as a Protein Box.
Big Chicken, 107 Yale, opened July 14. It is location number three for the Houston area and by the looks of its grand opening lines, Houston does not have nearly enough. That’s a recipe for success for franchisees Noordin Jhaver, Fazil Malik and Frank Malik. The successful businessmen brought the first Big Chicken to Houston last year after signing a franchise agreement to develop 50 locations across the region. In addition to the first location on Westheimer, they opened a second in Richmond, followed by the newest spot in Washington Heights
With one of its founders being NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal, Big Chicken has some heavy-hitting investors behind it including JRS Hospitality and Authentic Brands Group. Shaq seems to be everywhere nowadays from insurance and pain reliever commercials to sports casting and game show hosting. His exuberant personality and 7-foot, one-inch frame keep him barreling through life successfully and his fried chicken empire is on a roll as well.
The menu at Big Chicken features a selection of fried chicken sandwiches starting with the Original with Shaq Sauce and pickles. The choices get heftier with the BBQ Chicken Alert topped with Muenster cheese, crispy fried onions and Memphis bbq sauce and the Shaq Attack which adds pepper jack cheese, jalapeno slaw and spicy chipotle bbq sauce to the fried chicken sando. And in keeping with American’s never-ending romance with hot chicken, the Uncle Jerome’s Nashville Hot brings the heat. There’s also popcorn chicken and chicken tenders plus a couple of salads that get topped with, you guessed it, fried chicken.
There are crinkle cut fries, dirty fries, jalapeno slaw and Lucille’s Mac N Cheese with a Cheez-It crust, named for Shaq’s mother Lucille and is based on her recipe. The quick-service restaurant’s menu is supposedly built around Shaq’s home-cooked childhood favorites, so for those who dream of their children turning out as 7-foot tall pro-basketball players, maybe fried chicken sandwiches and Lucille’s Mac N Cheese could be part of the strategy.
Mountain Mike’s Pizza, 24320 Northwest Freeway, is celebrating its grand opening July 24 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. with free pizzas, giveaways, live music, games and activities for kids. The event will benefit the Cy-Fair Fire Fighters Association with 40 percent of the proceeds going to the association.
The Cypress store first opened May 6 and is the first for the brand in the Greater Houston area and the fifth in Texas. Besides its fresh, handmade pizzas, the restaurant features several big-screen televisions, a kids’ arcade, an outdoor patio and an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet.
Brasserie 19, 1962 W. Gray, is creating a beautiful, new patio that will be finished, fingers crossed, around Labor Day. In the meantime, there will be signage helping guests to navigate the pathway to the entrance.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
