How a Longtime Houston Restaurateur Opened Two Revamped Restaurants in the Same Month

Local Foods owner Benjy Levit is changing with the times — and so have his restaurants Maximo, Milton’s, and Lee’s Cocktail Bar

Houston restaurateur Benjy Levit has owned restaurants for over 30 years, most notably the fast-casual Texas chain Local Foods, which has a cult-like following. While that restaurant has largely remained the same, three of his other Houston restaurants have changed within the last year alone.

Rice Village’s European-French restaurant Eau Tour, which opened in May 2023, closed nearly a year later, in June 2024, only to reopen as Milton’s, an Italian American trattoria, in September. In 2022, his laidback lounge Lees closed at the height of the COVID pandemic, then reopened as the speakeasy-esque wine bar Lees Den in 2022. Undergoing a rebranding, Lees closed in May 2024 and then re-opened this January as Lee’s Cocktail Bar. Most recently, Maximo, a progressive Mexican restaurant in the West University area that opened in April 2024, closed for three weeks in December, only to reemerge this month with a menu brimming with dishes featuring Oaxacan ants, prickly pear, and tamarind fruit leather, Mexican ingredients that make Maximo feel like an entirely new restaurant.

“It’s been a whirlwind of a year,” says Levit (notwithstanding that it’s just weeks into 2025). His hospitality group, Local Foods Group, also launched a new Local Foods Market on Rice University’s campus last year and a local of Local Foods on Post Oak Boulevard. He says the change and growth has been “a lot,” but much of it is fueled by diners’ feedback and a restaurant industry that remains in flux. “When I first started, things needed to change every five years to keep concepts fresh, and I feel like that is no longer in play,” Levit says. “2024 was an interesting year for the world, and we were trying to listen and pivot, to try to speak to people are looking for, for sure.”

Levit says the recent restructuring aims to fulfill diners’ needs for comfort while also challenging them and “pushing things forward.” “Both Lee’s and Maximo have what we believe is a nice balance of creative, cutting-edge food that’s also traditional yet well-executed with great ingredients,” he says.

Maximo, praised for its thoughtful use of nixtamalized masa, unique tacos, and cocktails, has changed less than a year after its opening to prioritize neighborhood diners’ requests for a full-service restaurant while also pushing the culinary aspects forward. “We created something that I was really proud of that I think served the neighborhood well, but we felt like we wanted to broaden our reach and make it a fabulous restaurant that’s in a neighborhood versus just being a neighborhood restaurant,” he says. Maximo’s team and executive chef, 26-year-old Adrian Torres, a Mexican native and DACA recipient who formerly worked at Michelin-recognized Spring restaurant Belly of the Beast, took a “winter break” in December, pausing operations for three weeks to focus on changing the menu.

While a rotation of tacos featuring nixtamalized tortillas remains, the menu is far more robust, showcasing Mexican ingredients with Houston flair. Cauliflower is treated like carne asada. Vegetables are seasoned with Asian-diasporic spices. There are sopes and tetelas, masa- and salt-crusted halibut, masa cornbread with Chicatana butter, mole soubise, hoja santa oil, and caviar; masa conchas; baked chips, and buttery banana pudding buñuelos topped with banana ice cream. “We wanted to expand our offerings and really show off the talents of our fabulous team in the kitchen,” he says.

Levit also reopened Lee’s Cocktail Bar — initially the beloved lounge for his closed restaurant Benjys and then Lees Den — on Saturday, January 4. Levit says that after rebranding the now-closed Eau Tour to Milton’s, he noticed that the new restaurant clashed with the neighboring Lees Den, a wine bar named after his mother. We felt like there was some duplication, and we wanted them to feel like unique spaces, so we took the opportunity to pivot Lee’s back to what it was for 25 years,” Levit says. The restaurateur closed the bar and returned to the space’s roots. “We started with the idea of fun, innovative, high-quality, fairly priced cocktails we’re known for,” he says. “This is our updated version of that.”

Under the helm of Máté Hartai (formerly of Refuge) and sommelier Mark Sayre (formerly of tasting menu restaurant March), Lee’s still sports its speakeasy-style entrance and outdoor patio, but with new drinks that focus on colors, including the Red Poppy, a combination of poppy seed, brandies, almond, lemon and egg white and the King in Yellow (suze, vermouths, “magic water” and bubbles). Lee’s also offers a variety of wines and miniature sips like an Apleteeny cocktail and a tiny clarified tea milk punch, I’m a Little Teapot, for those who are more mindful of alcohol consumption. Non-alcoholic options are also on offer, including mocktails and zero-proof beers. Brittany Vaughan of Garnish Design has also transformed Lees’s decor with a sultry color scheme of soft black leather and woods, touches of grey velvet, cream-colored walls, brown marble, and chrome accents. Local Foods Group culinary director Seth Siegel-Gardner and chef Kent Domas of Milton’s created a menu of small bites, including crispy polenta served with blue cheese fondue, tetela with beef cheek and Oaxacan cheese, Takoyaki arancini, and hamachi tacos.

Levit says that while this is a new beginning for both Lee’s and Maximo, there aren’t plans to open other restaurants soon. “I’m ready to continue improving what we’re currently doing. It’s been a lot, but I’m fortunate to have the strongest team I’ve ever had in 30 years,” Levit says, adding the changes have been made to better showcase the team’s capabilities in food, cocktails, dessert, and service. “My goal is to do things great and not just good, and so I think that’s propelled the changes.”

Julie Soefer

Lee’s Cocktail Bar (5117 Kelvin Drive, Rice Village) is open from 4 p.m. to midnight Wednesday through Saturday. Milton’s (5117 Kelvin Drive, Rice Village) is open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays and 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Maximo (6119 Edloe Street, West University) is open from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday through Sunday.