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Restaurants
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009
October 21, 2009 – 5:57 pm
Just a couple items this time:
- Closing: The Dunkin Donuts at 5406 Bellaire Blvd. near Bissonnet, after more than 2 decades in the same spot. When it’s gone, there’ll be just 4 of the chain’s locations left in the Houston area. The Bellaire Examiner’s Steve Mark:
[Owner Henry] Tsao’s current agreement with the donut chain is expiring; the company requires new agreements to last a 10-year duration with a new set of parameters for facility and mechanical upgrades totaling as much as $400,000. Tsao, 62, doesn’t want to make a long-term commitment at his age and isn’t inclined to make the required financial reinvestment, so his store will close Oct. 24.
- Moved to the Rice Village: Dog- and baby-friendly Olivine has taken over the former location of Back Be Nimble at 2405 Rice Blvd. Making the trip from Uptown Park: owner Helen Stroud’s collection of linens, loungewear, and reproduction and slipcovered furniture. In the back: baby clothes. Cote de Texas’s Joni Webb reports:
Helen spent all of September getting the new shop ready – and if you ever wanted to check out wall to wall seagrass, this is your chance – I think she bought out all the rolls of it available in town.
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Read more about: 77005, 77401, Bellaire, Fast Food, Franchises, Home Decor, Openings and Closings, Retail, Rice-Village
Thursday, October 15, 2009
October 15, 2009 – 3:13 pm
Updates on a few restaurants Swamplot has been following:
- Reopened: Azzarelli’s, an Italian-American restaurant that began the year in Cinco Ranch’s Tuscan-themed Villagio Town Center, then (after a notable exit) camped for a while (as Azzarelli’s Corner Café) in another center at 6455 South Fry Road, opened last week in its 4th location within just a couple of years: 17754 Katy Freeway, Suite B, I-10 at Barker Cypress. “With this great location, I will be open 365 days a year,” owner Frank Triola tells his press-release copywriter.
- Opening Soon: The restaurant going into the former Cue & Cushion pool hall at 510 Shepherd that Swamplot reported on earlier this fall now has a name: Branch Water Tavern — and a more palatable label than “gastropub.” Try “Modern American Tavern.” Chef David Grossman says it’ll open later this month, but the Houston Press’s Robb Walsh, who’s toured the construction site, thinks Christmas is more likely.
More eats:
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Read more about: 77007, 77008, 77094, 77494, Barker Cypress, Brunner, Cinco Ranch, Houston Heights, Openings and Closings, Retail
Monday, September 14, 2009
September 14, 2009 – 12:10 pm
A reader snaps this photo of the former pink Taco Cabana drive-thru at the corner of Montrose and Westheimer, “now painted white w red stripes at the bottom” — and asks if we know what’s going in there. Fortunately, another reader has the answer:
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Read more about: 77006, Fast Food, Lower Westheimer, Montrose, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail
Friday, September 11, 2009
September 11, 2009 – 2:44 pm
Former chef Robert Gadsby had named his new Heights restaurant after his hometown, in England. But that was so late-last-year. Here’s the latest: “Partners Bryan Caswell and Bill Floyd announced Friday afternoon they signed papers to take over the Heights restaurant Bedford and will turn it into a modern Italian restaurant. Think Texas toast meets Tuscan steak, Caswell said. ‘We’re trying to draw the similarities between the rustic-oriented qualities of the Tuscan region with the rustic qualities of the Texas region,’ Caswell said.” Caswell and Floyd own Reef and Little Big’s. [Cook's Tour; previously on Swamplot]
Read more about: 77008, Houston Heights, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Theming
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
September 8, 2009 – 9:22 am
A reader who’s been intermittently monitoring the vital signs of the DNR European Cafe and Deli in Chelsea Market on Montrose reports that the restaurant has closed: “There is a sign out front announcing the impending opening of a new restaurant called ‘Chelsea Grill.’” Meanwhile, a notice on DNR’s listing at restaurant website B4-u-eat notes that DNR will be opening “soon” at 10400 Harwin Dr. [Swamplot inbox]
Read more about: 77006, 77036, Harwin, Montrose, Openings and Closings, Restaurants
Friday, September 4, 2009
September 4, 2009 – 11:24 am
What’s new to eat?
- Opening Soon: Lola, a diner-ish spot serving “American comfort foods” — in the restored and refashioned former Eckerd Drug across from the Heights Post Office on Yale and 11th. This’ll be the third Heights restaurant venture from Ken Bridge, who also runs Dragon Bowl and Pink’s Pizza.
- Opened This Week: From famed New York, Las Vegas, and Dallas chef John Tesar, Tesar’s Modern Steak and Seafood, directly across from the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands. You’ll certainly want to eat everything on your plate when you visit: “Tesar’s entire menu will be one hundred percent sustainable created with a zero-waste food ethics in mind,” declares the restaurant website. Whole fish will be a specialty. Outside: a burger bar.
- Closed: The Texadelphia in the fast-food-friendly strip center on Memorial Dr. and Asbury, across from Otto’s — reportedly on account of the parking lot being too darn clogged. No worries: You can still get your cheesesteak fix at 3 other Houston locations, and it’s now a bit easier to find a spot in front of the Kolache Factory.
More food fun:
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Read more about: 77007, 77008, 77024, 77027, 77056, 77098, 77380, CityCentre, Galleria, Houston Heights, Memorial, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, The Woodlands, Upper Kirby
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
September 1, 2009 – 4:31 pm
This doesn’t sound so much like a deli now, does it? How long ’til they start calling this part of Shepherd The Gastrow?
A little birdie points Swamplot to more info about plans for the former Cue & Cushion pool hall, hiding on the uh . . . secret Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau website:
510 Shepherd, designed by award-winning hospitality designer Joel Mozersky, will be a unique neighborhood restaurant concept reminiscent of a traditional London gastro pub, yet modernized in design and updated to take into account American tastes.
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Read more about: 77007, Brunner, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Washington Corridor
September 1, 2009 – 10:44 am
“At 510 Shepherd, the old Cue and Cushion Pool Hall has been sold and is seeing some major changes. The billiards tables are gone and a dining room is under construction. The new place will be Cue Restaurant. Though unconfirmed, the on-site rumor is that it will be a New York style deli - something like Katz’s or Kenny and Ziggy’s, I am told.” Also, photos of the future locations of BRC Gastro Pub across the street and Burgerzilla in the Heights. [Fred Eats Houston; previously on Swamplot]
Read more about: 77007, Adaptive Reuse, Brunner, Openings and Closings, Restaurants
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
August 12, 2009 – 6:18 pm
And now, a view of the scene at the former Westcott Bar by the entrance to Memorial Park, where Swamplot’s Rice Military correspondent is ready at the camera. The address: 6603 Westcott, at the corner of Durford.
That banner at the front is announcing a new location for the Onion Creek Coffee House.
Two more views:
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Read more about: 77007, Bars, Camp Logan, Memorial-Park, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Proposed Developments, Restaurants, Wanita Place
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Alison Cook likes the recently opened Block 7 Wine Company:
The new venture, located in a smartly rehabbed appliance store on Shepherd just south of the Washington strip, combines retail wine sales with a wine bar that also functions as a restaurant. There’s a short, well-edited menu that will soon be expanded but which already looks and tastes promising.
The place looks smashing: airy and crisp and cool, all gunmetal greys and silvers, with black notes for ballast, a shimmer of glassware and a few bright pops of color.
I admired the vintage store fittings salvaged from the original appliance business and repurposed as a check-out desk, as well as the reasonable by-the-bottle prices and the distinct personality of the list, which does not try to be all things to all people.
Speaking of which:
From my window table, I could see Soma, the Japanese fusion and sushi spot on Washington at Shepherd, and I trembled to think of the ravening scenesters that might soon invade my little idyll.
Photo of checkout station, Block 7 Wine Co., 720 Shepherd Dr.: Alison Cook
Read more about: 77007, Interiors, Openings and Closings, Renovations, Restaurants, Retail, Washington Corridor
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Timpano’s Chop House, at the corner of Main and Texas, shut down last week — meeting the same fate as its predecessor, Bossa. Where will expense-account lunchers go now? “In the shadow of Timpano’s sudden closure skulks a disheartening Houston restaurant trend: the precipitous decline of the downtown business lunch. This spring, such expense-account stalwarts as Voice (in the Hotel Icon) and 17 (in the Alden-Houston Hotel) have eliminated lunch service entirely. On April 1, Spencer’s for Steaks and Chops in the Hilton of the Americas–the premium restaurant in Houston’s largest convention hotel–gave up on lunch service and moved its official opening time to 2 p.m.” [Cook's Tour]
Read more about: 77002, Downtown, Openings and Closings, Restaurants
Monday, July 27, 2009
Houston radio host and blogger Lance Zierlein snaps photos of the lockout letters on two separate storefronts in the Shops on Sage strip center at 2800 Sage, on the corner of West Alabama. The notices, demanding that delinquent rent be paid before the stores can be reopened, were apparently posted by center managers Hunington Properties last Wednesday.
Who’s locked out? Lebanese restaurant Mint Cafe . . . and a Quiznos, which Zierlein reports on Twitter is already vacant.
But . . . what’s this? Someone from the nearby Subway in the Yorktown Plaza shopping center on W. Alabama has been kind enough to post a menu on the Quiznos door, with this pertinent Subway tagline featured prominently: “At Subway restaurants, we have your fresh interests at heart.” Plus, a handwritten invitation to visit!
Zierlein’s line: “Subway vultures picking over the carcass.”
Photo: Lance Zierlein
Read more about: 77056, Fast Food, Galleria, Leasing, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Strip Centers
Monday, July 20, 2009
A longtime fan of the rotating Spindletop Restaurant perched on top of the Hyatt Regency Hotel Downtown writes in to note the passing . . . of the restaurant’s website:
I last called them in January to see about a reservation but they were still closed from Hurricane Ike. The gentleman who answered insisted they would re-open someday soon and I was intrigued. I continued checking their website for an announcement every few weeks but it never arrived and then the site itself disappeared Sadly, when websites revert to parking pages, it’s all but assured the business behind them has folded.
If the Spindletop is indeed gone, a slowly revolving icon of Houston’s oil boom days, what would the Hyatt do with such a, umm, unique structure perched atop it’s hotel? Landry’s Heliport and Cloud Bar? Rennovate it to become *the* foremost penthouse in the city? “Hey baby, not just the bed rotates, but the whole penthouse!” Perhaps just another semi-adequate restaurant with a unique and stunning view?
What was the city perch like in its glory pre-Ike days?
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Read more about: 77002, Disaster Aftermath, Downtown, Hurricane Ike, Openings and Closings, Restaurants
Comment of the Day: Where Have All the Curses Gone?
“Cursed restaurant locations are a fun game! It’s probably due to feng shui. The old Hard Rock Cafe/Fire + Ice. Pizzeria Uno/Corelli’s/Floridita/Tommy Bahama/Sushi King. Sausalito/Palazzo’s/Pan Y Agua/some wine bar. Serrano’s/Los Tonyo’s/Fox Diner/Crome/Pravada. Renata’s/Hessni’s/Side Street Brewing/Mia Bella” [iMidget, commenting on Do Not Resuscitate; Move to Harwin]