The Most Anticipated Houston Restaurant Openings, Spring 2025
Coming soon is another Japanese restaurant from the owners of Neo and Kira, a Latin-focused cocktail bar, and a contemporary American restaurant that offers three dining experiences under one roof
Spring has nearly sprung in Houston, and new restaurants are ready to blossom. The city will welcome a host of new and exciting establishments this season, including a third Japanese restaurant from the owners of Neo and Kira, a cocktail bar that zeroes in on Latin culture and flavors, a smaller version of a beloved Cambodian American bakery, and a complete revamp of a beloved watering hole. Here are the most anticipated restaurants and bars opening in Houston this spring.
Camaraderie
Location: 608 West 11th Street, Heights
Key players: Chef Shawn Gawle
Expected opening date: Late March 2025
Housed in a former metal and woodworking shed, this new “fine-casual” Heights restaurant will offer a family-style contemporary fusion of American cuisine prepared with French techniques. It will be helmed by chef Shawn Gawle, who has helped launch Goodnight Hospitality establishments including Michelin-starred tasting menu establishment March and Rosie Cannonball. Camaraderie will offer three dining options: A prix-fixe menu with family-style sides and dessert in its dining room for $75 per person; an a la carte menu in its bar and lounge area; and a casual but spacious patio, which allows diners to order from the a la carte menu through its window counter. Menu highlights include ndjuja rolls with swirling layers of spicy sausage and a topping of cheese sauce, carrot cavatelli with carrot top pesto, and Dover sole for two that’s layered in a velvety fish mousse.
Oru
Location: 746 West 24th Street, Heights
Key players: Comma Hospitality (Neo, Kira)
Expected opening date: April 2025
The owners of pristine omakase Neo and Japanese listening bar and hand roll hot spot Kira are opening their third Japanese restaurant this spring. Like Neo, diners at this 24-seat counter restaurant will get a front-row spot to watch the chefs preparing sushi and other dishes. The menu includes scallop crudo with smoky tosazu dressing, kanpachi al pastor with pineapple, steamed tilefish with dashi and citrus, and an Alaskan black cod that’s slow-cooked over charcoal with seaweed butter. Dessert and drinks will not be an afterthought. Diners will indulge in seasonal Japanese fruits and banana-caviar ice cream, plus sake, cocktails, and wine.
Oru
Pie Tap Pizza
Location: 3748 Westheimer Road, Suite 100, River Oaks
Key Players: Rich Hicks, founder of Reach Hospitality Group (Ojos Locos Sports Cantina, the Mexican, TacoLingo), Chef Giovanni Mauro, JoseLuis Magana
Projected opening date: Mid-April 2025
This North Texas-based Roman-style pizza chain is bringing its dough down to Houston. The first location will open in Highland Village this spring, offering a host of pies, sharable snacks like meatballs and arancini, pastas, sandwiches, salad boards, and rotisserie chicken — all of which can be enjoyed with a pick from its wine selection or one of its 35 craft beers on tap.
Pie Tap Pizza
Botanica
Location: 2031 Westcreek Lane, River Oaks
Key players: Alexis Mijares of beverage consulting and production firm Split Base Creative; chefs Andre Garza and Jared Poor
Expected opening date: April or early May 2025
Alex Mijares, the talented mixologist behind local pop-up bars like Cursed Caldron and Jingle Bell Bar, and the novel cocktails at West African restaurant Chopnblok, is opening her first bar. Mijares is revamping the former Aero Cocktail Co. into Botanica, which will serve a menu of classic Latin-focused cocktails and signature sips, in addition to wine, tequila, mezcal, pisco, and lesser known spirits like charanda (a Mexican rum) and cachaça (a spirit made from fermented sugar cane). Local chefs Andre Garza and Jared Poor are crafting the menu of pan-Latin bar bites, which will complement the drinks.
Latuli
Location: 8900 Gaylord Drive, Memorial
Key players: Chef Bryan Caswell, Allison Knight
Expected opening date: Spring 2025
Chef Bryan Caswell, who most recently served as the consulting chef for the very pink PostScript in Upper Kirby and was previously at Reef, is making a front-facing return to Houston’s dining scene as the chef of Latuli. A joint venture with co-founder Allison Knight, Caswell will head the new Hedwig Village restaurant, merging international flavors with Bayou City foodways and Texas traditions. There’s no word on menu specifics, but a release states that Latuli’s decor will borrow from Spanish ranch architecture and give the vibe of a California coastal resort.
Latuli
Lil’ Koffeteria
Location: The Quad, 1410 Brittmoore Road, Spring Branch
Key players: Vanarin Kuch, owner of Koffeteria
Expected opening date: Spring 2025
What’s better than one Koffeteria? Two. The Cambodian American bakery and coffee shop, helmed by James Beard Award semifinalist Vanarin Kuch, will open a second, satellite location in Spring Branch sometime this spring. Located in the Quad, a mixed-use development space, Lil’ Koffeteria will be a more streamlined version of its flagship, with 770 square feet of space dishing out its beef pho kolaches, tacos, and cult-favorite pastries.
COMOCreatives
Succulent Dining
Location: 1180 Dunlavy Street, Regent Square
Key players: Shawn Virene, owner of a’Bouzy, executive chef David Buckley
Expected opening date: Spring 2025
Shawn Virene, the owner of the Champagne-fueled restaurant a’Bouzy, is slated to open a new restaurant that channels California’s Napa Valley and farm-to-table repertoire. The menu has yet to be revealed, but Succulent’s dishes will incorporate ingredients sourced from its herb and vegetable gardens grown on-site, in addition to local farms, including the family-owned Huckleberry Farms in Round Top, Texas, and areas in the West Coast. Executive chef David Buckley, a San Diego native, will drive home some of the West Coast theme, and the decor will strive to transport diners to a Napa Valley farmhouse, with a color palate of soft greens and creams, natural woods, and plants with indoor and outdoor spaces. The second-floor patio will surely be a focus, with a full bar, greenhouse enclosures, pergolas, trees for added shade, and ceiling fans to stay cool. The restaurant also plans to offer a to-go program with curated picnic baskets, charcuterie, and wines, which diners can take to Regent Square Park for dining al fresco.
Succulent Dining
Solarium
Location: 820 Holman Street, Midtown
Key players: Rex Hospitality (Maven Coffee + Cocktails), the Kirby Group
Expected opening date: Mid-spring
Diners who miss the beloved watering hole Holman Draft Hall, which closed in summer 2024 — good news. It’s getting a second life as Solarium. This new 9,000-square-foot hangout is set to be a multi-faceted destination, with a lounge and bar area, four pickleball courts, two padel courts, and five private court bays with full dining and cocktail service.
