How a New Houston Diner Is Reimagining Asian American Cuisine

At his new restaurant, Agnes and Sherman, chef Nick Wong is showing Houston just how American, Asian American food is

Though created for the American palate, beef and broccoli and General Tso’s chicken are rarely seen as truly “American” in the way burgers and hot dogs are. “It’s always in another lane for some reason,” says chef Nick Wong, but at his vibrant new Houston diner, Agnes and Sherman, he’s not just questioning that notion; he’s rewriting it, plating a vision of American cuisine that’s as bold and diverse as the city itself.

The veteran of New York’s Momofuku and the now-closed UB Preserv has teamed up with his college friend Lisa Lee to open what might be Houston’s first Asian American diner. Agnes and Sherman opens on Thursday, April 17, with a family-style menu that Wong says is meant to be accessible and comforting, where dishes are less precious and refined and more “plopped” onto plates with “sprinkles of stuff.” Still, there is a cohesive throughline and narrative to it, he says — it is a diner that sits at the intersection of a more chic and chef-driven version of Asian bistro chain P.F. Chang’s and diner giant Waffle House.

Plates emerge from the kitchen like vibrant stories: al pastor fried rice with pork marinated and cooked in-house; a golden, savory scallion waffle topped with a melting scoop of sambal honey butter; a wedge salad topped with Chinese sausage and youtiao, crisp Taiwanese doughnuts that stand in for croutons. And then, a plate of crawfish egg foo yong, a dish that whispers of East Coast Chinese American kitchens and Gulf Coast bounty, where humble rice, eggs, and gravy meet the richness of crawfish and gumbo. While an Asian American diner may seem like uncharted territory, many modern diners have embraced international cuisine in their approach to the traditional menu; their ranks include Thai Diner and Golden Diner in New York, Ranch Side Cafe in California, Uncle Mike’s in Chicago, and Cameo Cafe in Portland, Oregon. Lee says Wong’s diner dishes give customers an in, like an opening or disarming ingredient that is familiar. Sometimes it starts with a couple of universal ingredients, like garlic and onion, and evolves with an herbaceous tang of cilantro, which could be a venture into Mexican or Chinese cuisines, Wong says. “It’s finding where these things start and then where they branch off, but seeing it’s really just 1 or 2 degrees away,” he adds.

The cocktails are also inventive. The restaurant’s riff on an Old Fashioned, the Lean Kwai Fong cocktail, plays on Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong’s bustling Central district filled with bars and restaurants, and Houston’s fascination with the cough-syrup-laden drink, Lean. The result is an endearing combination of bourbon and the strictly herbal Chinese cough syrup Pei Pa Koa. That same cough syrup, which Wong says his mother gave him for sore throats as a child, also makes its way into the sundae, which features a scoop of chrysanthemum ice cream.

Named after Wong’s parents, the Heights diner pulls from Wong’s experiences as a second-generation Chinese American. His mother, Agnes, moved from Hong Kong to San Francisco at the age of 18. His father, Sherman, is a native of San Francisco and a Chinese American. Wong grew up in California, well aware of his Chinese roots, all the while scarfing down an American mix of burritos, pho, spaghetti and meatballs, and tacos, he says. Later, he trained as a chef at New York’s International Culinary Center, where French cooking was standard. “But that’s not authentic to my experience,” Wong says. “I’m trying to make food that’s authentic to me.”

The idea of owning a diner, a place where he could serve plates that recreate his experience as an Asian American, has been percolating in Wong’s mind for years. After working at chef David Chang’s Momofuku and Gramercy Tavern in New York, Wong moved to Houston in 2018, where he worked at Underbelly Hospitality’s restaurant UB Preserv under the tutelage of James Beard Award-winning chef Chris Shepherd. When UB Preserv closed in 2021, Wong pivoted and took a Houston-centric sabbatical. In what he calls his “Not Being the Chef of Anywhere” era, Wong took time to explore the city, and, in the process, helped out at restaurants like Street to Kitchen, the Thai restaurant helmed by James Beard Award-winning chef Benchawan Jabthong Painter. He took on private chef jobs; consulted at Masterchef winner Christine Ha’s Spring Branch restaurant, the Blind Goat; prepped at the now-Michelin-starred Mexican tasting menu restaurant Tatemó; and now and again, worked the line at Burger-Chan, which has been credited with serving one of Houston’s best burgers. It sounds like the best independent study of Houston cuisine, but Wong sees it far more simply. “I was helping friends out to make money to survive,” he says.

Meanwhile, Lee, who met Wong while they were both attending the University of California, was working in Silicon Valley, handling human resources, specifically in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) for a tech company — a job she describes as “emotionally heavy.” She and Wong had often dreamed of and discussed opening a restaurant together one day, until their timelines suddenly aligned. Lee made the leap, moving to Houston in 2021 to get a feel for the city. Wong tried to dissuade her. “I didn’t want to drag her into this very thankless thing,” Wong says of opening a restaurant. “It’s not the smartest financial investment. This is not the most glamorous thing, and you won’t get paid very well.” But Lee went in on the restaurant 50/50, spearheading much of its interior design and business side of things. “What I really wanted to do was not convince people [to do the right thing],” Lee says. “I wanted to show people what diversity looks like in practice,” she says.

In 2023, Wong and Lee incorporated the company, and Wong broke the news to his parents by gifting them a framed first draft of the restaurant’s menu. He says it took them a moment to register their surprise that he was naming his first restaurant after them, but once it clicked, the significance resonated. “My mom started crying,” Wong says.

The restaurant’s decor has the fingerprints of Lee and the Wongs all over it. Agnes and Sherman’s vibrant yellow and red color scheme and its neon sign add a brightness to the charming 19th Street in the Heights, drawing in many inquisitive stares and peeks through the windows in the days leading up to the opening. The inside proves just as alluring, with decor that strikes a balance between modern and antiquated, and serves as another sensory intersection of Asian and American cultures. There’s wallpaper studded with persimmons, a Chinese fruit that grows well in Houston, and ample mementos like photographs of Wong’s and Lee’s parents, Sherman’s framed high school letterman cardigan, a retro rice cooker, and plenty of books by Asian American authors and cookbooks on Asian American cuisine. The counter and bar-style seating at the front of the restaurant, booths, and a diner-esque window that offers a glimpse into the kitchen solidify the Americana diner feel, while intricate lamps, fanciful sconces, and a single circular table with a Lazy Susan in its center evoke Asian American culture. The front window hints at the menu, advertising its unique mashup of dishes plainly to passersby: “waffles,” “fried rice,” and “sandwiches.” A playlist of soulful hits and a large portrait at the front of joyful elders, all donning sunglasses, sets the tone — a clear message that this is a place to enjoy, unwind, and celebrate Asian American culture and cuisine. “We want people to feel welcomed here, and hopefully, they walk out of here feeling satiated and taken care of, having tried something that they haven’t tried before,” Lee says.

Wong adds that Houston is the perfect place for a restaurant like Agnes and Sherman. It’s a city where communities have planted seeds of traditional cuisines only to see them grow, morph, and evolve. “Agnes and Sherman can’t exist anywhere else because of the diversity and all the influences you can experience here,” Wong says. “It feels like us,” Lee says.

Agnes and Sherman is located at 250 West 19th Street in the Heights. The restaurant is open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Monday.