12 Houston Restaurant Openings to Know Right Now, October 2024
Houston’s newest restaurants are bringing Italian beef sandwiches, Michelin-recommended ramen, Spanish tapas, and street food from around the world
This periodic column highlights notable restaurant openings in and around Houston. Catch up on more news about Houston restaurant openings right here.
Know of a new or soon-to-open restaurant that should be on Eater Houston’s radar? Get in touch by emailing houston@eater.com.
October
Traveler’s Cart
From the team behind Montrose mainstay Traveler’s Table comes this new showcase of street food from around the world. Inspired by their travels, owners Matthew and Thy Mitchell opened Traveler’s Cart on Wednesday, October 23, offering diners a taste of more than 25 countries. Dishes include carne frita and tostones with mayo-ketchup, which hails from executive chef Miguel Torres’s home in Puerto Rico, Jamaican pork ribs, beef rendang, Tiger shrimp pad Thai, and what might be one of the city’s hottest new smash burgers. Cocktails and desserts get worldly treatment, too — with herbaceous Thai Tom Yum Soup cocktails, a Mexican prickly pear sip served in a to-go-like plastic bag, and mango sticky rice infused with ube. 1401 Montrose Boulevard, Montrose, 77019.
Jenn Duncan
Leo’s River Oaks
Located next door to the newly renovated River Oaks Theatre, Culinary Khancepts newest venture, Leo’s, opened on Tuesday, October 22, bringing the energy, pomp, and circumstance of the zodiac sign that inspired its name. Diners can immerse themselves in its “supper club” vibe while enjoying dishes like lobster bisque, beef carpaccio, and a lineup of prime steaks, plus drinks like spiced pear mocktails and four varieties of Old Fashioneds. 2009 West Gray Street, Suite A, River Oaks, 77019.
Andrew Hemingway
Portillo’s
Chicago-style street food restaurant officially opened its first Houston area outpost in the Grand at Aliana shopping center in Richmond on Tuesday, October 22. The anticipated location, which features a double drive-thru and seats 170 people indoors and 50 on its outdoor patio, offers its signature items, including its beefy Chicago-style hot dogs, which are notably topped with a combination of mustard, relish, chopped onions, tomato, celery salt, a kosher pickle, and peppers, and Italian beef sandwiches served on French bread with the optional side of gravy. The restaurant also serves chargrilled burgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, shakes, and its double-layer chocolate cake. Culturemap reports that the restaurant will open three more locations by the end of the year, including outposts in Willowbrook, Stafford, and Katy.
E. Jason Wambsgans
Maven Coffee + Cocktails
Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and the team at Rex Hospitality opened the second and most ambitious location of its coffee and cocktails lounge on Friday, October 18, this time boasting a full-service restaurant. Located in Sawyer Yards, Maven kicks off the day with caffeinated drinks and dishes like breakfast tacos, Cuban sandwiches, and pastries. At 5 p.m., though, the restaurant transforms into an evening hangout with stellar dishes like steak au poivre, tender octopus with roasted potatoes, spicy rigatoni, thoughtful sides like garlicky oyster mushrooms, and endearing Caesar salad cups that can be eaten like tacos. The desserts here also dazzle, with a creamy s’mores cup and a lava cake with buttermilk ice cream that will bring you back to childhood. Be sure to check out the bar, which features a sliding door that helps the bar transition from daytime coffee service to evening cocktails. 1501 Silver Street, Building B, First Ward, 77007.
Becca Wright
Saigon Hustle
Following its 2021 win of $1 million in funding, this colorful Vietnamese fast-casual restaurant known for its banh mi made with fresh bread officially opened its second location in Spring Branch on Monday, October 11. Saigon Hustle, which features a drive-thru, offers Vietnamese cuisine in a fast, convenient, and modern way, with staples like spring rolls, salads, and bowls. Thanks to its larger kitchen, the Spring Branch location will serve pho — a first for the restaurant. 1223 Witte Road, Spring Branch, 77055.
Saigon Hustle
P. Terry’s
This Austin-born burger chain, which prides itself on fresh ingredients free of preservatives, opened its first Houston area outpost in Richmond on Wednesday, October 16. Like its other restaurants, the Houston area locale offers its classic menu of made-to-order burgers, hand-spun milkshakes, hand-cut fries, freshly squeezed lemonade, and a lineup of baked goods, including whole wheat banana bread and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. More centrally located Houston diners making the trek out to Richmond can dine inside the restaurant, on the patio, or take it to-go after ordering at the double-drive thru. 9207 FM 723 Road, Richmond, 77406.
P. Terry’s
Mensho
This Japanese Michelin-recommended ramen shop has drawn in lines since opening its first Texas location in Asiatown’s Dun Huang Plaza in Bellaire in early October. The restaurant, which also has U.S. locations in California and Arizona, features steamy bowls of noodles and chicken broth layered with smoky proteins such as Texas wagyu, duck, chicken, and pork char siu, and toppings like jammy eggs, corn wings, and burdock root. An easily recognizable signature includes the very green Duck Matcha soup, a matcha and creamy chicken broth topped with duck char siu, asparagus, and green onion, but the restaurant also serves vegan ramen, plus dishes like karaage, nigiri, wagyu rice bowls, and radish salads. 9889 Bellaire Boulevard, Suite C308, Bellaire, 77036.
Seareinas Houston
Following the 2023 opening of nightclub Mala Vida, Latin-owned hospitality group Gabriela’s Group opened its first Houston restaurant on Tuesday, October 1. Sister to the Austin locations of Seareinas and La Seareinita, this Mexican seafood restaurant rooted in Sinaloan cuisine offers a variety of ceviche, sushi, and agua chiles, plus Tex-Mex favorites, including enchiladas, choriqueso, fajitas, and birria tacos. A lively atmosphere is guaranteed, with a rotation of Latin DJs, a house banda that serenades diners at their tables, and more than two dozen large-screen HD TVs that make it a prime location for viewing major sporting events. 1910 Bagby Street, Fourth Ward, 77002.
Seareinas
Blacksmith
MetroNational announced Wednesday, October 9, that it opened Blacksmith coffee shop’s second location in Memorial City. Located in the lobby of the 18-story Two Memorial City Plaza office building (820 Gessner Road), the new coffee shop serves freshly brewed coffee and drinks, including lattes, espressos, and teas, plus hot breakfast items such as biscuits, bagels, tacos, and kolaches. Grab-and-go lunch items, including sandwiches, salads, and bowls are also available along with catering services.
Memorial City, the 300-acre mixed-use development managed by private real estate management company MetroNational, is heating up with several new restaurants. In the past year alone, the area has welcomed an outpost of the Pit Room, Dallas-based restaurant Haywire, and Levi Goode’s first solo restaurant, Credence, and his adjacent speakeasy Sidebar.
MetroNational
Mi Luna Tapas Restaurant & Bar
This Spanish tapas restaurant, which initially opened in Rice more than 20 years ago, has gotten a revival in the buzzing Montrose Collective. Youssef Nafaa, Mi Luna’s original owner, reopened the restaurant on Monday, October 7, bringing to the neighborhood a lively and communal atmosphere with small plates, including a paella Valenciana that’s loaded with a mix of seafood, rabbit, and chicken baked in saffron rice; braised oxtail with chickpeas, patatas bravas, and B’Stilla, a Moroccan-styled chicken dish made with cinnamon almonds and wrapped in crispy phyllo dough. In addition to a robust beverage menu featuring over 100 Spanish wines, sangria, and a variety of cocktails, diners can enjoy weekend entertainment. Starting Friday, October 11, Mi Luna will feature flamenco dancing by Houston-based dancing company Solero Flamenco, which will perform Fridays and Saturdays from 10 p.m. to midnight, and acoustic guitar performances held during weekend brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Dylan McEwan
ChòpnBlọk
James Beard Award semifinalist and chef Ope Amosu branches out beyond his Post Houston food hall with the first standalone restaurant of his fast-casual West African restaurant. The new Montrose flagship, which opened on Tuesday, October 1, showcases the breadth of the African diaspora with an expanded menu featuring combination bowls with red beef stew, yassa curry, and Ikoyi shrimp, plus appetizers like Polo Club Suya — beef skewers served with a peanut spice imported straight from Nigeria and plantain bread pudding. Cocktails also get the diasporic treatment, with Old Fashioneds blended and garnished with plantain and sips mixed with special spices and African spirits.
StuffBenEats
Piper’s Cantina
Piper’s Hospitality, the restaurant group behind local restaurants and bars like Woodland Social and Preslee’s, opened a new Tex-Mex restaurant in Spring Branch on Thursday, October 3, according to a Culturemap Houston report. Piper’s Cantina serves a menu of Tex-Mex staples, including tacos, tortas, sides, and frozen drinks like mangonada.
September
Milton’s
Replacing the now-shuttered French-European restaurant Eau Tour, this new Rice Village restaurant offers a variety of classic and modern Italian American dishes in a ritzy yet familial space. Pasta is undoubtedly a focus, with dishes like 100-layer lasagna, a creamy pasta once served at the now-shuttered but still beloved Pass and Provisions, a massive lobster raviolo, and decadent desserts like tiramisu and a frothy cocktail consisting of pistachio and amaretto.
Julie Soefer
Okto
Housed in the Montrose Collective in the former location of the now-closed restaurant Chelsea, this new restaurant is a fun place to grab a drink and enjoy a fusion of Mediterranean cuisines. Highlights include memorable Moroccan-style Frena bread service, refreshing crudo, and steak Rossini, a tenderloin topped with a tender chunk of foie gras. The breezy outdoor patio is a prime place to unwind.
Buttermilk Baby
Carvel’s signature ice cream is officially served in Texas for the first time at this new-school diner. Berg Hospitality’s newest all-day cafe in MKT Heights dishes out breakfast items like pancakes and biscuit sandwiches, smash burgers, and corn dogs. The cafe also offers 10 Carvel soft-serve flavors that fuel icy creations, including boozy adult milkshakes and sundaes with customizable toppings. The opening was such a hit that Carvel and Berg are teaming up for another 10 locations of Buttermilk Baby in Texas, including a second outpost slated for Sugar Land.
Kirsten Gilliam
Dandelion Cafe – the Heights
As a follow-up to its Bellaire flagship and satellite location at Rice University, the all-day breakfast location has opened its most prominent and central location in Houston’s Heights. Diners can enjoy breakfast favorites like its lauded chicken and waffles, blueberry lemon curd blueberry French toast sticks, cover-the-plate pancakes, and paninis — all in its new bright digs, which feature a spacious outdoor patio that seats 20. There are plans to debut grab-and-go products and market goods sometime in the future.
The Fox Trap Restaurant & Lounge
Located at 11470 Westheimer Road, this massive new sports lounge announced its opening in September, just in time to fully enjoy football and patio season. The Fox Trap features a spacious dining room and bar area with over 50 HD screens, reserved spaces for VIPs, a patio, and a game room with billiards, ping pong, and a stage for live music and entertainment. Executive chef Jimmie Farley, a New Orleans native, leads the dining experience with a menu featuring bar bites like flatbreads, boudin egg rolls, and sliders, in addition to entrees like jambalaya and shrimp and crab alfredo and New Orleans-style beignets for dessert. Drinks are just as festive with blackberry basil sangria, lavender lemon drops, and grilled pineapple margaritas.
Loro – Upper Kirby
Austin-based pitmaster Aaron Franklin and chef Tyson Cole opened the first Houston outpost of his Texas Asian smokehouse in the Heights in 2022 and recently followed it up with another location in Upper Kirby. Along with staple dishes like its cold sesame noodles and herb-laden brisket, the Upper Kirby outpost will exclusively debut dishes, including pork tostadas served with creme fraiche and shishito salsa verde, smoked shishito queso served with wonton chips, smoked pulled pork sandwiches, double smash burgers stacked with yuzu, Thousand Island dressing, cheese, and grilled onions, and Dole Whip soft serve served with yuzu marmalade and candied pineapple. Diners can also indulge in its new lunch feature, the Lunch Two Step, in which guests can choose a sandwich and half a side for $15.
