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:
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]
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]
What’s new to eat?
More food fun:
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.
“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]
Rising soon from the former home of a tombstone business on Shepherd, across Blossom St. from the Kicks indoor-soccer facility: BRC Gastro Pub. Watch out also for Burgerzilla, reported to be working its way to the corner of 11th and Studewood, in the Heights. [Cleverley's Blog]
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:
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
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]
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
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?
“A restaurant is a pretty good highest and best use for land in the loop. Look at the projects involving buying a restaurant and knocking it down to build. Little Woodrow’s = Empty lot no activity. The State Grille = Empty lot no activity. Nit Noi in Rice Village = Empty lot no activity. Am i missing any?? . . . Did the Stables on S. Main become anything?” [JPSivco, commenting on Just Couldn’t Say Goodbye: Otto’s, Back from the Edge of the Market]
That plan by the owners of Otto’s Bar B Q and Hamburgers on Memorial Dr. to shut down the restaurant, sell the land, and retire on the proceeds didn’t end up going so well after all, the Houston Business Journal’s Allison Wollam notices. The 58-year-old restaurant
was slated to be demolished to make way for the sale of the high-profile Memorial Drive land, but the restaurant has now fully reopened after the owners were unable to find a buyer for the property. The hamburger side of the two-sided restaurant has remained in business, but the portion selling barbecue closed for a time. A sign on the door says the barbecue side of the restaurant celebrated a grand reopening on April 15.
But word of the reopening seems to be spreading slowly. The once-bustling parking lot of the restaurant, for example, was only sparsely populated during lunchtime on a day earlier [last] week.
The owners, June and Marcus Sofka, were told they might be able to get as much as $150 a square foot for their property when they listed it with Cushman & Wakefield at the end of 2007. But a real estate broker tells Wollam the 1.3-acre Otto’s property at 5502 Memorial Dr. and the 17,000-sq.-ft. shopping center the couple owns next door might be worth a little less than half of that today.
Photo: Flickr users Bob & Lorraine Kelly
From photine (Laurie/laanba): @swamplot Work will be much less consuming after tomorrow so I should be able to participate. And I could always use a new handbag. :-)
From HAAonline (Houston Apt Assn HAA): Apartments on the list of demos RT @swamplot Daily Demolition Report: Breaking the Glass House http://twurl.nl/1t2os8
From baldheretic (Jay Lee): @swamplot not that old
From Team_HIWI (Houston.It'sWorthIt.): thanks @swamplot for the extra advertising mention on your site.
From brittanieshey (Brittanie): Woot! My story on the "newery" for @Houstonist gets a shout-out on @swamplot!
From isthishouston (isthishouston): @swamplot on the Southeast corner of Henderson and Union behind Alice's CafeFrom isthishouston (isthishouston): Demo on Henderson - http://bit.ly/2Pf0CW @swamplot #houston #tx #demoltionFrom HAAonline (Houston Apt Assn HAA): RT @swamplot Surprise! Wilshire Village Facing Foreclosure http://twurl.nl/tgi04e
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]