A Hotel Restaurant That Serves One of the City’s Best Burgers, Plus 10 Other Exciting Houston Openings
Houston’s newest openings include a satellite location of a beloved bakery, a fancy dim sum spot hidden in a hotel, and a vibey clubstaurant where you can confess your sins
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.
Lil’ Koffeteria
1440 Brittmoore Road, Spring Branch
Houston’s beloved Cambodian American bakery opened its smaller, satellite location in the Quad at Brittmoore in Spring Branch on Thursday, April 10. Koffeteria owner Van Kuch gave some sneak peeks of the space on Instagram, showing its sleek walk-up window, complemented by a shared seating area and a spacious outdoor green space. Kuch says the Lil’ outpost will serve its award-winning pastries, beef pho kolaches, and tacos. He also announced that the original Koffeteria location in EaDo is now open six days a week (closed on Mondays), so there are more chances to score his pastries.
COMOCreatives
Terra Restaurant & Lounge
8617 Westheimer Road, Uptown
This new Uptown restaurant and lounge opened in early April, offering a fusion of contemporary French and American cuisine. Dishes include stroganoff pasta, French dip sandwiches, prawns served with polenta, crab and cheese garlic knots, prawns and polenta, and Steak pour la Nuit, its take on steak-frites that includes a 9-ounce prime filet mignon served with au poivre sauce, and steak frites. Cocktails are an obvious draw for the speakeasy-style lounge, which offers a tequila-loaded Taste of Terra (Midori, triple sec, and pineapple juice) and a fruity sip made up of muddled strawberries, Casamigos Blanco, triple sec, lime, and mango juice that’s named after Houston.
BeauSoleil
963 Judiway Street, Garden Oaks
The city seems to be experiencing another French renaissance of sorts. BeauSoleil, the third French restaurant to pop up on the dining scene in recent months, opened in April in the space that previously housed the bright yellow Canary bar. Chef-owner Zachary Ross McClendon, who is also chef-partner at Cottonwood and founder of steak pop-up Elements HTX, opened the restaurant with his wife, Briana, offering French cuisine fused with Cajun and Texas flavors, according to a Houston Food Finder report. The menu plays to McClendon’s obvious steak-fueled expertise, including various cuts of beef like filets, koji-aged wagyu rib-eye, and lamb chops, but also offers more delicate dishes, like pan-seared Dover sole, Burgundy escargot, seared diver scallops served with truffle risotto, and steamed mussels, cooked in a dreamy concoction of garlic, chorizo, butter, sun-dried tomato, white wine, and fresh herbs.
Silk Road
2929 Westpark, West University
Houston diners have been especially intrigued by this new dim sum spot that recently opened in the Courtyard by Marriott hotel near West University. Named after the term for the ancient trade route that stretched from East to West, Silk Road serves a combination of classic and more inventive dim sum classics (siu mai, har gow, char siu, and crispy shrimp cheung fun), plus a bevy of complementing teas, including green, white, oolong, and black teas sourced from northern Thailand (caffeine-free options are available). For those imbibing, the restaurant also serves beer, wine, and cocktails infused with Asian-diasporic flavors, including sake lychee martinis, lemongrass lemon drops, berry tea mimosas, and a green tea-rosemary Old Fashioned. The restaurant opened in February but will host its official grand opening on Sunday, April 13.
Silk Road
Confessions
3200 Kirby Drive, Suite 2A, 2nd floor, Upper Kirby
This Upper Kirby restaurant quietly opened on Tuesday, April 1, offering a playful combination of Southern cuisine and live entertainment, including DJs. Confessions’ waiting area offers a fun play on the restaurant’s name, offering confessional booths for diners to sit in before heading to their tables. The dining room is just as eclectic, with colorful walls adorned in street art, while the private dining room, which seats 42, offers a more intimate setting with its own bartender and DJ booth. Diners can also opt for the outdoor patio, which features swings and cozy seating. The menu features soulful dishes inspired by Southern American cuisine, including flatbreads, pasta, and starters like steakhouse sliders topped with blue cheese and beef bacon, oxtail lo mein braised in a bourguignon sauce, and rib-eyes, kabobs, and a spicy rigatoni. Sides include strawberry cornbread topped with honey butter and candied yams with Amaretto cream and pecans. Dessert is also decadent, with a triple chocolate cake and deep-fried bread pudding. Diners can also enjoy a variety of dishes, cocktails, and mocktails well into the late night. Confessions is open until 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Camaraderie
608 West 11th Street, Heights
Shawn Gawle, the chef who helped launch Goodnight Hospitality’s Rosie Cannonball and March, returns to Houston with a Heights restaurant that puts extra emphasis on dining together. At Camaraderie, diners can choose between three different seating styles: Head to the dining room for a prix-fixe style menu ($75 per person) serving homemade bread, snacks, appetizers, and entrees, including Dover sole en croûte and a bright carrot cavatelli made with carrot top pesto, mimollette, and turnips. Sides are served family-style, and desserts are meant to be shared. Opt for a more casual experience at the bar for an à la carte experience, or the outdoor patio, where diners can order through a walk-up window. The drinks menu features Old World and New World wines, and the cocktail menu embraces the restaurant’s communal style, with drinks meant to be experienced with a partner, miniature versions of classic sips, and lower ABV options.
Arturo Olmos
Remi
1080 Uptown Park Boulevard, Uptown
Following major renovations, Hotel Granduca reopens its reimagined restaurant, which serves a combination of comforting dishes that lean European and more innovative takes. Start with the truffle popcorn, crispy artichokes, or the crispy hash browns topped with creme fraiche, before diving into plates of bolognese or the Ora King salmon with broccoli and romesco. The Remi burger, a simple but well-executed beef burger topped with cheddar and dijonaise, might be in the running for one of the best in town. For diners looking to imbibe, the drinks menu includes a wide variety of wines from small-batch producers, and cocktails, including different takes on martinis, Old Fashioneds, and Manhattans.
Sole Lounge
1515 Pease Street, Downtown
This Downtown sports bar and lounge opened at the end of 2024, offering a more luxe sports viewing experience with a dash of nightlife ambiance. Open from noon to midnight daily, the bar offers a variety of specials and events, including crawfish boils Thursday through Saturday, beer bucket specials ($15 for domestics, and $20 for imports), and a broad menu, with appetizers like fried boudin balls, catfish nuggets, and chicken wings; and heartier dishes, like Cajun pasta served with jerk shrimp or fried catfish, platters of fried seafood, and decadent lamb chops served with loaded mashed potatoes. The daily happy hour, held from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., seems like a particularly great deal, with martinis, Moscow Mules, and select appetizers priced at $10 or less.
Sole Lounge
Myoa Cookies
401 Franklin Street, Downtown
This new bakery opened in March in Downtown’s Post Houston food hall, offering made-to-order cookies in a variety of flavors, including French chocolate, Strawberries & Dream, sea salt caramel, and golden hazelnut — all of which are made with unbleached flour. Cookies are offered in gift packages of four, six, or 12, and its miniature version of the cookies (mini-bites) are offered by the dozen.
Myoa Cookies
2 Phat Bastards
401 Franklin Street, Downtown
Friends and Zimbabwean natives Nilesh Ranchod and Rajen Giga opened this Indo-African restaurant in Post Houston’s market in March. The stall serves savory, comforting hand-held pies South African-style, filled with stuffings like pepper steak, chicken curry, and spinach paneer.
2 Phat Bastards
Proper
712 Main Street, Downtown
This smash burger joint recently opened in Downtown’s the Finn food hall. Proper’s stall serves four different styles of burgers, including a bacon blue cheese burger with A1 bone marrow demi, a Truffle Swiss burger topped with truffle mushroom marmalade and shitake mushrooms, and a more traditional Proper smash. Diners can also try the Hot Honey Chicken sandwich and sides, such as onion rings, slaw, beef fat fries, or its Proper fries, which are loaded with crispy onion strings, Boursin garlic herb cheese, and pickled red onion. Pair any of its dishes with an ice cream float for a truly decadent experience.
