Now that January 1 has rolled past and it’s legal to openly carry handguns (where they aren’t still banned), many Houston restaurants have had to make a firm decision on the issue. As private property, restaurants have the right to post 30.07 signs forbidding patrons and employees from openly carrying handguns. Walking past the signs onto private property with a gun is illegal unless you're a law enforcement officer. (Even if the signs are not posted, private property owners still have the right to ask anyone to leave for any reason.)
To forbid concealed handguns, restaurants have to post the 30.06 sign. Of course, if it’s concealed, how would they know if a customer was in violation unless something bad happens, as when a customer dropped his gun in a Kingwood restaurant? It went off and a 71-year-old grandmother was shot. She had to have five surgeries, fought to regain mobility and, to this day, still has no feeling in her left foot. Needless to say, she's not a fan of guns in restaurants. (The restaurant where the accident occurred, Raffa's, has posted a 30.07 sign banning open carry.)
Houston activist Kyle Nielsen has maintained a publicly available online spreadsheet for the past several weeks, along with a little help from a few local journalists, including myself. We’ve used the spreadsheet to curate the list below.
Some restaurants that initially indicated they would not be posting signs have changed positions lately, and vice versa. Pizaro’s owner Bill Hutchinson said that after our previous article that reported that Pizaro’s would not be posting a 30.07 sign, he received “a hundred phone calls” from customers agitated over the decision. It turns out that an unknown Pizaro’s employee had incorrectly answered the question about open carry that Nielsen posted to their Facebook page.
There are some major restaurant players who have remained conspicuously silent: Landry’s, Perry’s Steakhouse and Pappas. Nielsen says that he has tried to get a response multiple times. Houston Press writer Leif Reigstad also emailed the companies’ public relations representatives and never received a response.
If your restaurant does or does not allow open carry and you want people to know about it, contact us by clicking my name above and sending me an email.
Below, in alphabetical order, is a list of Houston-area restaurants that do NOT allow open carry:
- Alli's Pizzeria/Heights General Store (Added 1/8/2015, 12:38 p.m.)
- Antone's Famous Po Boys
- Arpi's Deli
- Artisana Breads
- Backstreet Cafe
- Beck's Prime
- Benjy's
- Bernadine’s
- Bernie's Burger Bus
- Berryhill
- Blacksmith
- Brasserie 19
- Brooklyn Athletic Club (qualifies for a 51% sign, indicating that more than half of revenue is made from sale of alcoholic beverages)
- Cajun Stop
- Caracol
- Chatter's Café & Bistro (Added 1/6/16, 9:45 a.m.)
- Chuy's
- Coltivare
- Common Bond
- Coppa Osteria
- Creek Group (Onion Creek etc)
- Cyclone Anaya's
- Da Marco
- The Del
- Demeris BBQ (Added 1/6/2015, 3:33 p.m.)
- Dolce Vita
- Down House
- Freebird's World Burrito
- Foreign Correspondents
- Fusion Taco
- Gaido's (Added 1/14/2016, 10:18 a.m.)
- Glasswall
- Good Dog Houston
- Gringo's/Jimmy Changa's
- Happy Fatz
- Harold's (Added 1/8/2015, 12:38 p.m.)
- Helen Greek Food & Wine
- Himalaya
- House of Pies
- Hubcap Grill
- Hugo's
- Hunky Dory
- Hungry's
- Ibiza
- Jenni's Noodle House
- Katz's (Added 1/8/2015, 3:59 p.m.)
- Kenny & Ziggy’s
- KUU
- Lupe Tortilla
- MKT Bar
- Mockingbird Bistro Wine Bar
- Molina's
- Natachee's Supperclub & Punch
- Niko Niko's
- Ninfa's on Navigation
- Ouisie's Table (Added 1/6/2016, 12:55 p.m.)
- Outback Steakhouses (Added 1/8/2016, 8:56 a.m.)
- Pappas Bros. Steakhouse (Added 1/14/2016, 10:18 a.m.)
- The Pass & Provisions (not posting a sign, but will ask patrons with visible guns to leave)
- Paulie's (Added 1/6/2016, 3:32 p.m.)
- Pax Americana
- Phoenicia Deli
- Pizaro's Pizza
- Pluckers
- Poscol Restaurant & Vinoteca
- Prego (bans open and concealed carry)
- Punk's Simple Southern Food
- Quattro
- Raffa's
- Rainbow Lodge
- Revival Market
- Rockwell Grill (Added 1/14/2016, 10:16 a.m.)
- Roost (Added 1/8/2016, 5:21 p.m.)
- SaltAir Seafood Kitchen
- Spanish Village
- Taste of Texas (Added 1/6/2016, 10:06 a.m.)
- Tony's (Added 1/13/2016, 5:13 p.m.)
- Torchy's Tacos
- Trevisio
- Uchi
- Underbelly (Added 1/7/2016, 8:31 a.m.)
- Uptown Sushi (Added 1/13/2016, 5:12 p.m.)
- Whataburger (all locations)
- Brooks’ Place BBQ (Not just allows, but encourages. 25% discount for open carriers.)
- Bullritos (La Porte location)
- CorkScrew BBQ (but the owners state they "do reserve the right to refuse service to anyone acting out of line.")
- Lunch Box (La Porte)
