The fifth Houston location of breastaurant Twin Peaks opened on I-10 near Kirkwood last week. Unlike the previous four, which have been greeted with open arms by diners eager to take in the restaurant's trademark "scenic views," residents in the nearby neighborhood fought to prevent the opening and took to the CultureMap comments section to refute characterizations of them as a bunch of NIMBY scolds.
After all, the back of the restaurant's parking lot does exit onto a street that's shared with Rummel Creek Elementary, and parents expressed concerns about the possibility of a happy hour patron making a wrong turn and wreaking havoc. Although it's more likely that the only things kids would be exposed to is adults enjoying themselves with a plate of wings and a cold beer, the restaurant reached an agreement with the City of Houston to mollify some of the objections.
Happy hour begins at 4 p.m., after school lets out, instead of at 2 p.m. like the other locations.
Ricky Rosa, COO of Avalanche Food Group, tells CultureMap that the new location features a walled-in beer garden in place of the restaurant's usual open patio. A six-foot tall fence shields patrons from passers-by. With its waterproof TVs, Rosa says the beer garden is "almost like sitting in Cowboy Stadium while you're watching TV."
Additionally, happy hour begins at 4 p.m., after school lets out, instead of at 2 p.m. like the other locations. The restaurant is working to secure additional lots for valet parking but says that so far it hasn't been a concern. "We do high volumes and have a lot of traffic that comes through all our buildings. It's no different than any chain or high volume restaurant," Rosa says.
Finally, he notes that every location always has uniformed police officers present on the weekends.
Inside, the restaurant follows the formula that's made the previous four locations so successful, staring with the 120 new Twin Peaks Girls, who are billed in a release as the "main attraction." Other key ingredients include watching sporting events (including Comcast for Rockets and Astros fans) on any of the 90 TVs that range in size from 60 to 70 inches, the signature 29-degree beer poured from the 36 taps and food that exceeds diners' expectations.
"Our food is made from scratch," Rosa explains. "The only things we freeze are our fries and our mugs. We surprise a lot of people with how fresh it is."
New on the menu are pot roast, pretzels and a BLT.
Scratch-made comfort food and local sports teams? Sounds like the perfect spot for a family dinner, right, moms?
Look for this sign on I-10 Eastbound near Kirkwood to find Houston's fifth Twin Peaks.
