Houston’s Most Anticipated Restaurant and Bar Openings, Spring 2022
Space City will welcome new steakhouses, new Italian restaurants, outdoor patios, and even more tacos this spring
Spring is right around the corner, and in this new season, Houston is appropriately experiencing a revival of sorts. In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the local food and hospitality industry hard, resulting in a flurry of restaurant and bar closings — both permanent and temporary — as many owners, chefs, and staff adjusted to restrictions, social distancing, and the overall new normal.
Now, as COVID-19 restrictions loosen, rates of infection remain low, and those within the industry get their bearings, more and more exciting restaurants and bars are popping up all over the city.
Since the beginning of the year, the Heights got its first steakhouse, James Beard Award-winners Aaron Franklin and Tyson Cole brought an Asian-infused Texas smokehouse Loro to Houston, and despite a recent partnership split, restauranteur Grant Cooper opened Mexican restaurant Flora in the Dunlavy’s former space. Underbelly Hospitality’s Chris Shepherd also opened Texas-themed restaurant Wild Oats and burger joint Underbelly Burger in the Farmers Market and has plans to open two additional restaurants, one of which is relocated from a different address.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. More restaurants are on their way, and here’s a rundown of what to expect:
Rare
Location: Washington Avenue, along the Washington Corridor
Key Players: Chef Don Bowie
Projected Opening: March 2022
Chef Don Bowie will launch his second restaurant — a soulful steakhouse, Rare — along the Washington Corridor. The menu will emphasize the finest cuts of meat, along with fresh seafood, seasonal dishes, and salads and sides.
Public Content
Patterson Park
Location: 2205 Patterson Street
Key players: Lonnie and Candice Schiller, co-founders of Cafe Annie, Cafe Express, and the Grove; partners Caroline and Brendan Murphy
Projected Opening: April 2022
From the creators of Cafe Annie, the Grove, and Cafe Express comes this “adult treehouse” on the trail. Surrounded by green trees and picturesque views, this 4,000 square-foot, multi-level building is inspired by Houston’s bayou and natural elements, and features 5,000 square feet of patio-deck space, 40 TVs, and ample space for yard games and socializing over cocktails. At night, string lights will illuminate the space, and a rotation of food trucks will ensure guests never go hungry. Plus, there are arcade and board games to keep you busy.
The Warwick
Location: 5888 Westheimer Road
Key Players: Chef consultant Antoine Ware
Projected Opening: April 1, 2022
Named after one of Houston’s first luxury hotels, the Warwick will serve up in-season raw and chargrilled oysters, fontina fondue, butter-poached lobster tails, vegan pasta, and lamb chops with a Mediterranean twist. It’ll also pay homage to Houston’s, the beloved chain restaurant’s location that was formerly in its place, with dishes like ”The Dip,” a riff off the now-closed restaurant’s beloved artichoke spread.
State Fair Kitchen + Bar
Location: the Woodlands
Key Players: Chef consultant Antoine Ware
Projected Opening: April 2022
With locations in Memorial City and Sugar Land, State Fare Kitchen + Bar will expand its offerings with a third location in the Woodlands this spring. The restaurant uses its home state as inspiration for the menu, which features Southern favorites, like gumbo and double smoked-pork chops. With an expansive weekend brunch menu, the restaurant will also welcome customers to its patio and outdoor fire pit featuring rock music from the nearby Hughes Landing.
State Fare Kitchen + Bar
Marmo
Location: 888 Westheimer Road, Suite 109
Key Players: Atlas Restaurant Group
Projected Opening: April 2022
Housed in Montrose Collective’s retail and restaurant hub, this Italian chophouse will offer an assortment of salads, hand-rolled pasta dishes, charcuterie, and prime steaks. Its lounge, which features a baby grand piano and a horseshoe-shaped cocktail bar, is bound to be a top attraction, featuring live music by a rotation of Houston’s best singers each night.
Gabriela’s Midtown
Location: 1910 Bagby Street
Key Players: Gabriela’s Group
Projected Opening: Spring 2022
Austin siblings and restaurateurs Gabriela and Arturo Bucio will open the third outpost of their modern Mexican restaurant and cantina Gabriela’s in Midtown this spring. Just like its Austin predecessor, the Midtown location promises an array of flavorful tamarind margaritas, fire-red micheladas, mole enchiladas, choriqueso, and other Instagram-worthy eats.
Gabriela’s Group
Georgia James
Location: Dunlavy and West Dallas Street
Key Players: Underbelly Hospitality’s owner and chef Chris Shepherd, business partner Todd Mason, executive chef Greg Peters, wine director Matthew Pridgen
Projected Opening: May 2022
Chris Shepherd’s award-winning steakhouse George James will relocate to Regent Square, priding itself on boutique producers, including cast-iron seared steaks sourced from local ranchers, and a wine list with around 500 selections and around 200 more cellared bottles with an emphasis on local or family-owned wineries. On the second floor, Georgia’s Parlor, named after Shepherd’s mother, will feature an indoor-outdoor space with fire pits, cozy couches, cocktails, and smaller bites.
Andiron
Location: 3201 Allen Parkway, Suite E110
Key Players: Sambrooks Management Company, owner of the Pit Room, 1751 Sea and Bar, and Candente
Projected Opening: June 2022
This 4,500-square foot modern “wood-burning” steakhouse will welcome diners in for an experience within its main dining room, its spacious bar and lounge, or private dining room, with 75 more seats on its covered patio, which also features an outdoor bar and lounge. Details on the menu are scarce beyond the general concept of cooking meats over live fire, but owner Michael Sambrooks said in a statement that the restaurant would combine “our skills in smoking and wood-fire grilling from the Pit Room and Candente with the chef-driven experience from 1751 Sea and Bar.”
Meghan Bailey
Toasted Yolk Cafe
Location: 6726 Reading Road, Ste. 160, Rosenberg, in April, 8408 Katy Freeway, Ste. 100, Spring Valley, in May
Houston’s popular brunch spot Toasted Yolk Cafe will open two new locations in Roseberg and Spring Valley, promising its typical array of breakfast bites, boozy drinks, sandwiches, and salads.
Champion Management
Elro Pizza // Crudo
Location: 2405 Genesse Street
Key Players: Chef and owner Terrance Gallivan
Projected Opening: June 2022
Chef and owner Terrance Gallivan, formerly of the Pass and Provisions, will open a neighborhood pizzeria and Crudo bar at 2405 Genesse Street this Spring. The restaurant, which is named after Gallivan’s children, will serve our specialty pizzas, seasonal crudos, salads, snacks, and sandwiches in a vintage homey bungalow. Gallivan, who also served as a wine buyer, will also curate the wine list to compliment the food and tap beer located at its full bar.
Also Tracking…
- Hamsa, a modern Israeli restaurant, is headed for Rice Village sometime this spring.
- Gr8 Plate Hospitality — the team behind the Houston area’s Union Kitchen and Jax Grill locations — will open a new Italian restaurant, Passerella, in Cypress this spring.
- Still no word on when Rocambolesc, an ice cream shop by Spain’s lauded Roca brothers, will officially open in Houston. Just know, it’s coming.
- Underbelly Hospitality will open yet another restaurant this July. Award-winning chef will take the helm at Pastore, an Italian restaurant that will focus on pasta dishes, like chicken parmesan, semolina pasta, and wood-fired pizzas.
- Partners at Bludorn expect to open a second restaurant in Rice Village in the former Politan Row space at 2445 Times Boulevard later this year. A recent filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation shows that the restaurant’s name will be Navy Blue and that the owners will begin construction on the space this May with hopes to conclude by October 2022. The project is estimated to cost $1 million, according to filings.
- Berg Hospitality Group’s former Memorial-area Italian restaurant BB Italia Bistro & Bar will open its new home in Sugar Land Town Square at 16250 City Walk Drive later this summer. The 6,770-square-foot restaurant will feature a patio and will serve comforting classics like whipped ricotta, New York-style pizza, chicken parmigiana, and pasta, including a 20-layer lasagna.
- Montrose Collective’s other major restaurants like chef Chris Williams and Dawn Burrell’s Late August and Grant Cooper’s Graffiti Raw are still in the works. Late August, an Afro-Asian establishment, should open sometime this summer, while Graffiti Raw might open closer to the fall.
