Passerella Italiano, 6011 Washington, opened May 9 in the Washington Corridor. It's the second location of the Italian restaurant from Houston's Gr8 Plate Hospitality. Owners Paul and Doris Miller have successfully owned and operated a number of local concepts including multiple locations of The Union Kitchen and Jax Grill. The duo were named 2018 Restaurateur of the Year by the Greater Houston Restaurant Association.

The first Passerella opened last summer at The Boardwalk at Towne Lake in Cypress. The new Passerella takes over the spot which previously housed a location of The Union Kitchen which Gr8Plate Hospitality closed in July 2022. The new restaurant was designed by Doris Miller and built by J. Stone Construction It seats 250 diners along with an expansive outdoor patio.

Leading the kitchen team will be Gr8 Plates Corporate Chef James Lundy in partnership with Executive Chef Ed Roberts and Chef Stephanie Roberts. The two chefs are a husband and wife team as are the Millers themselves.
The menu offers dishes such as a mushroom tart topped with arugula and pear salad and Passerella's signature Lobster Mac and Cheese. The new location is equipped with a live fire, four-deck Italian stone pizza oven which Miller has dubbed the "F-150 of pizza ovens". Chef Stephanie has created Chefanie's Ten-Layered Dessert Lasagna with cream cheese, brown sugar, pecans and vanilla sauce for a scrumptious treat that gets topped with salted caramel sauce.

Paul Miller has curated a global wine list with bottles from Italy and around the world, putting to good use his experience as a WSET Level 2 certified wine & spirits professional. During happy hour at the new restaurant, guests can sample some of the varieties with $5 glasses and $15 bottles of select wines.

For now, Passerella Washington will be open for dinner service and happy hour. Weekend brunch is planned for the near future.
Lankford's, 5208 Bissonet, softly opens this weekend with a grand opening planned May 15. It's the second location for Lankford Grocery & Market which originally opened in 1937 as a mom-and-pop grocery store. Founded by Aubrey and Nona Lankford, it was later transformed by their daughter, Eydie Lankford Prior, into a full-service restaurant. The longtime Houston restaurant has been featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and the television show Texas Bucket List.

Owners Jessica and Paul Prior, who recently took over the business as third generation operators in the family-owned enterprise, plan to stay true to the original menu of fresh, authentic American burgers along with its popular sides, sandwiches, daily specials and breakfast items. However, the new Bellaire location will have a more modern approach with its 20-tap self-serve draft system that will highlight local breweries while offering patrons a cold draft beer option to pair with the classic food.

The iPourIt self-pour technology allows guests to taste different beverages by the ounce. Using an RFID-enabled wristband, customers can pour their own drinks, eliminating the need for a bartender as the system automatically adds purchases to the tab.

The restaurant will offer a full bar including signature cocktails like The Eydie, a margarita named for the woman who led the business for over 50 years.
Blake's BBQ & Burgers, 2916 Jeanetta, will close its doors May 20 at 6 p.m., after 42 years of serving Houston. It was founded in 1981 by Don Blake and soon earned a spot in many a Houstonian heart for its homemade burgers. Blake says he wants Houstonians to know that he appreciates their patronage and support that have kept it going for more than four decades. He also hopes everyone will come by and say farewell. In the coming months, a grand closing community event will be announced.

About the closing Blake said, "We have been in business for a long time, 42 years is a long time. After I bought the property, it took me two years to build this. I just want to travel and take an extended vacation. It's time and we might as well go out on top."

We think an extended vacation is definitely merited.
New York Eatery, 5422 Bellaire Boulevard, will close May 14. The owners Riana Sherman and Michael Saghian have decided to focus their efforts on their more profitable businesses including New York Deli, Bagel Shop Bakery and Houston Catering Concepts. The owners first opened New York Eatery in 2021, during the COVID pandemic, as a sister restaurant to the popular New York Deli & Coffee Shop. It offered a full bar along with chef-driven fare and delicious bagels.

New York Eatery will be retained by the owners for the meantime and will honor all previous and current event bookings and folks interested in reserving the space for private events may contact the Eatery for more information.

The staff at New York Eatery are being offered positions at other company concepts as the owners take a renewed direction with their core businesses. Sherman says, " We are so busy with catering and we're excited to bring our Eatery team members over to help expand those services even further." She added that the company hopes to expand the Bakery menu over the next year as well.
PostScript HTX, 2800 Kirby, is slated to open this fall at the Shops at Arrive River Oaks. The female-forward venture comes from GAP Concepts, a hospitality group founded by several members of XOXO Dining Room in Dallas. Entrepreneurs Veeral Rathod and Obi Ibeto are behind the restaurant and lounge concept which was described as "flirty and festive" in a press release.

Rathod, former CEO of Spence Diamonds and founder of clothing innovator J. Hilburn, says that the plans for PostScript HTX are similar to the safe, supportive and high energy environment that has occurred organically at XOXO Dining Room though he experience has been tailormade for the River Oaks site. He added, " And while our focus is female forward, we have refined our design and concept in Houston to be friendlier to our male clientele."
Though the saturated pink backdrop and playful vignettes will offer plenty of Instagrammable moments, the culinary menu at PostScript HTX has a local powerhouse chef behind its creation. Bryan Caswell, a former Food & Wine magazine Best New Chef and James Beard Award finalist, is the consulting chef for the new restaurant. Houstonians will recognize him as the face behind such restaurants as Reef, El Real Tex-Mex Cafe, Stella Sola and Jackson Street BBQ.

The space itself is being transformed from its previous incarnation as Del Frisco's Grill into a fun and eye-catching venue that will seat 393 guests in the main dining room along with a 75-seat cocktail and dining lounge. There will be a 26-seat garden patio plus a small secondary patio facing Kirby Drive. A private dining room offers a dedicated bar and patio. The design is by Jeffrey Abel of Abel Design with the build-out from Construction Concepts & Design led by Josh Weisman. Local hospitality designer Erin Hicks is also lending her creativity and expertise to the project.

Bari Ristorante, 4444 Westheimer, opens May 15 in River Oaks District. Located amid high-end retailers and popular dining destinations, the new Italian restaurant will be a luxurious addition to the area with daily service for lunch and dinner plus a weekend brunch. There's also a covered patio fronting a green space for sipping an aperitivo or dining al fresco.

The restaurant's Operating Partner is Thomas "Tommy" Nally, who has developed, owned and operated hospitality venues in New York City, Las Vegas, Houston and the Caribbean. The role of executive chef will be taken on by Renato De Pirro who happens to be a Certified Master Italian Chef. De Pirro has over three decades of contemporary and fine dining experience in both Italy and the U.S.
De Pirro's menu will begin with antipasti such as Carpaccio di Manzo (beef carpaccio) and Tagiliere di Carne (an Italian charcuterie board). There will also be Tagliatelle Pasta finished in a Parmigiano Reggiano wheel tableside. House-made pasta like Spaghetti Pomodoro e Basilico and Tagliatelle Carbonara will be highlights while the Orecchiette Bari, with homemade sausage, broccolini, Pecorino Romano and garlic confit, will be available at lunchtime only.
Seafood dishes include a shrimp cocktail plus the Torre Bari, a seafood tower brimming with oysters, mussels, clams, prawns, jumbo lump crabmeat and Maine lobster. There will also be a seafood crudo of the day plus Branzino al Sale, baked sea bass in salt. Meat lovers will find hearty entrees such as Veal Milanese, a Chianti-braised Bone-in Short Rib and Ribeye Tagliata.

Classic Italian cocktails like Negroni, Bellini and homemade limoncello add to the experience while a carefully curated wine list leans heavily Italian with additional varietals from Spain, Argentina, Chile, France and the U.S.
Little Rey, 2345 Mid Lane, is coming to Houston in early 2024. It will be the second location of the casual restaurant which first opened in Atlanta, Georgia in 2019. The concept comes from restaurateur Ford Fry, who owns and operates a number of restaurants in Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and Houston. The new Little Rey will offer Northern Mexican cuisine, a little different fare than its "cousin" restaurant, Superica, Fry's Tex-Mex concept in the Heights.

The menu will feature traditional street-style tacos, al carbon tacos, fresh salsas and hand-made tortillas. One of its core items will be the wood-roasted chicken al carbon. In addition to lunch and dinner plates, there will be breakfast dishes such as migas breakfast tacos and pancakes served with buttermilk syrup on the weekend. For a family meal, it will have its whole bone-in chicken al carbon for in-house and takeaway daily.
Besides refreshing on the rocks and frozen margaritas, Little Rey will have a revolving selection of agua frescas (made in-house), Mexican beers and a list of local and regional craft brews, curated by beverage director Eduardo Porto Carreiro.

The upcoming restaurant will also feature Uno Mas!,  an outdoor walk-up window that allows for easy reorders of margaritas plus grab and go takeout orders.
Chick N Max, 12312 Interstate 45, opened May 8 in Willis. It's the first Texas location for the brand which has more than two dozen stores planned for the Greater Houston area. Franchise veteran Aaron Johnson signed a 25-unit development agreement with Chick N Max back in September 2022 and has already signed leases for two Chick N Max locations in Fulshear and Magnolia.

Besides golden fried tenders and sandwiches, Chick N Max is known for its specialty almond wood-smoked chicken and wings. The tenders, wings and popcorn chicken can also be ordered tossed in sauces like bbq, Buffalo, jalapeno lime, Nashville and sriracha hot honey. Other homemade sauces that can ordered for dipping include ranch, blue cheese, honey mustard, gravy and ghost pepper.

There are family meals and kids meals plus a couple of desserts. Sides include French fries, onion rings, mashed potatoes and gravy, white cheddar mac & cheese, turnip greens and smoked white beans.

Brooklyn Pizzeria, 8020 Fry, opens May 16. Founded by the Shahini family in Brooklyn, New York , the business made its way to Houston when the family moved to the city in 2006. This will be the 9th location for the pizzeria in the Greater Houston area.

Using special brick ovens, the pizza restaurant serves New York-style pizza made from scratch using quality ingredients. There are whole pies from 12-inch to 18-inch and pizza by the slice. A selection of appetizers includes wings, mozzarella sticks, toasted ravioli, chicken fingers and garlic knots. The appetizers are available in trays for large groups.

A variety of pastas includes baked ziti and chicken Alfredo plus eggplant parm and spaghetti & meatballs. There are calzones, subs and salads as well. Desserts include cheesecake and cannoli with soft drinks, beer and wine on the beverage side.

Pluckers Wing Bar locations across Texas, including six here in Houston, will donate 50 percent of store sales May 13 to the Support for Allen Fund, up to $25,000. The newly created fund by Communities Foundation of Texas will be used to support the victims affected by the recent mass shooting at Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, Texas. The funds will be used for medical and funeral expenses plus grief and trauma counseling.

The shooting, which occurred May 6, 2023,  left eight people dead, ages 3 to 61. There were seven other shooting victims rushed to area hospitals with severe injuries.

During this time, Pluckers Club members will also be able to donate their points to the Support for Allen Fund directly.

Burger Bodega, 4520 Washington, is celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and National Hamburger Month with three different guest chef series every other Wednesday in May. The first was held May 3 with Chef Mayank Istwal of Musaafer.

The upcoming guest chef series May 17 will feature James Beard Award finalist Chef Benchawan Jabthong Painter of Street to Kitchen. Chef Abba Dhanani of Burger Bodega has collaborated with Painter to create the Khao Soi Smash Burger. It contains two seasoned khao soi smashed patties topped with curry cheese sauce, egg noodles, Street to Kitchen cucumber mustard green pickles and fresh red onions. All of this spicy, messy goodness is served on a potato bun.

The collaboration also includes the Curry Cheese Fries. Both will be available May 17 until sell-out.

The next guest chef series will be May 31 with Alex Au-Yeung of Phat Eatery.