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Restaurant News

Openings & Closings: January 2012

After 45 years in business along Washington Avenue, Guadalajara Bakery is closing its doors on February 29. Unlike previous closing scares for the longtime breakfast taco purveyor, this one is concrete: New owners purchased the building and gave the family 30 days notice to vacate. A bar is planned for the space.

Imagine that. Even though most people in Houston are predicting the swift end to Washington Avenue's piss-saturated party scene much in the same way that the Richmond Strip is now a thing of the past, but -- sure -- go ahead and build yet another bar in an area already saturated with ones that serve bad beer and regularly turn away people of color and aren't long for this earth. In the meantime, a family-owned business that's served its community and legions of loyal fans for nearly half a century will be kicked to the curb, as the family has no plans to reopen.

In other vastly disappointing news, a Dallas-based Tex-Mex chain that CultureMap's Sarah Rufca describes as "the preferred restaurant for suburban Dallas MILFs" is moving into the old space vacated by Ruby Tequila's in Midtown. Gloria's plans to open this spring. Great.

And speaking of insufferable bastions of douchedom, Dorsia -- previously known as the notorious "members-only" laughingstock of Houston that cost at least $2,000 a year to join -- is now open to the public. Let's hope the great unwashed masses don't ruin the "exclusive" vibe of the place. The only silver lining here: Riccardo Palazzo-Giorgio of the late, great Sabetta has been hired on as Dorsia's chef, according to food maven Jenny Wang. I'd enter the gates of hell to have Palazzo-Giorgio's food available on a regular basis, so I'm certainly willing to brave Dorsia for it.

Moving on to better news... Green Seed Vegan is finally on the way to building a restaurant of its very own. The little green food truck plans to expand into a brick-and-mortar location in the Third Ward, where it currently operates six days a week between its truck and Saturday brunches at The Eat Gallery. In a method similar to one successfully employed by fellow vegan restaurant Radical Eats, Green Seed Vegan is asking its patrons to assist their efforts by contributing to a Kickstarter fund.

Elsewhere, Resie's Chicken & Waffles is still busy repairing its flagship location on Mangum after an electrical fire. The good news is that the restaurant hopes to be open again soon; the better news is that a second location of Resie's is opening on Monday, February 6, at 233 West Greens Road.

Last but not least, two new bars are on their way to the Heights and Oak Forest neighborhoods: The Public House, next door to D'Amico's on White Oak is set to open "any day now" according to its Facebook page. And Oak Forest Chill (Caroline Gallay at CultureMap has an explanation for its terrible name), an ice house serving wine and beer, is slated to open later this year.

A final blind item for the month: A popular Heights area restaurant that's been previously reported to be on unstable ground is now up for sale, along with its sister restaurant in Montrose. Whether anyone will buy them -- or keep them open, if they do -- is still to be seen. It's definitely not twin hotspots Shade and Canopy, so keep guessing.

For a full list of this month's openings and closings, click ahead.

Openings:

Akaihi Japanese Restaurant, 7316 Louetta Road, Suite B100, Spring, 832-717-4999 Bistro by Ruggles, 507 Westheimer, 713-,524-1000 Bulldogs Sports Pub and Grill, 7214 FM 1488, Suite 101, Magnolia, 281-259-2174 The Burger Guys Downtown, 907 Franklin Georgia's Market Downtown, 420 Main, 713-225-0990 Gordon Street Tavern, 113 East Sealy, Alvin, 281-968-7402 Island Grill, 1331 Augusta, 713-266-7600 Kublai Khan, 10001 Westheimer, 713-532-2927 Latin Bites Cafe, 5709 Woodway, 713-229-8369 Molina's Cantina, 3810 Bellaire, 713-432-1626 Spread'z, 11622 FM 1764, Suite 1, Sante Fe, 409-440-8448 Texas Que Smokehouse, 1504 Airline, 713-861-1300 V21 Vodka & Vino, 5317 Washington, 713-863-9979

Closings:

Barcadia Bar & Grill Bootsie's Heritage Cafe Cabo, Original Mix-Mex Grill Cahill's On Durham Dona Lydia Mexican Restaurant Fat Mike's at The Market Feng's Chinese Buffet Gravitas Health Fountain Restaurant Los Compadres Maggie Rita's Mexican, Galveston Ruggles 11th Street Cafe Sugar Blossom Treats Trio Steakhouse and Bar Trios Downunder Toku Sushi



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Katharine Shilcutt