Sneak Peek at The Moonshiners

Sneak peek: New Southern-inspired restaurant aims to be a comfort spot with some 'shine

Another new restaurant will soon join the the second wave of downtown bar and restaurant development that's already seen promising newcomers like Bovine & Barley, Houston Watch Company and twin bars The Commoner and The Boulevardier.

The Moonshiners Southern Table & Bar will begin its soft opening July 8. The Southern-inspired concept is the the latest offering from the Salt N Pepper Group — the offshoot that some of the partners in Pub Fiction, Celtic Gardens and 3rd Floor created to open Beer Market Co. last year.

"We’re not trying to be fine dining. It’s just: come, eat, have some good drinks. Try some 'shine. Hopefully, you’re happy by the time you leave."

"We knew we wanted to do a Southern concept," partner Donny Salvato tells CultureMap. "I started working on the menu. Then, the more research we did, we developed the name, 'The Moonshiners Southern Table.' Obviously, we had to create the craft cocktails with moonshine so it made sense."

"We want to be another comfortable spot downtown where people can hang out and have good conversations," partner Fidan Baca adds. "We’re not trying to be fine dining. It’s just: come, eat, have some good drinks. Try some 'shine. Hopefully, you’re happy by the time you leave."

Salvato’s menu, which is available for lunch and dinner, consists of classic Southern dishes from across the region: everywhere from the Carolinas to the Gulf Coast. "We just wanted it to be Southern-influenced. You’ll find things that are particular to the Carolinas with vinegar barbecue sauce. Then you’ll have some Texas things with sweeter barbecue sauce and brisket. It’s classic comfort food with a Southern touch."

Overall, it’s a more traditional, slightly less expensive version of the cuisine next door neighbor Prohibition has already found success with. The restaurant’s goal is to be a destination for quick lunches, happy hour and also dinner.

Cocktails, anyone?

On the cocktail side, the drinks are made with moonshine, which is unaged bourbon, but the restaurant is also looking to source other variations from around the world. In addition, Moonshiners will offer a selection of wines and a selection of draft and bottled craft beers chosen by Beer Market’s Daut Elshani.

Inside, Baca went antiquing to provide Moonshiners with the right atmosphere. Wooden shingles have been installed over the bar, and vintage distilling equipment adorns one wall. Cushy leather booths and mismatched chairs provide seating. Chalk art by K8 Hopper ARTz adorns the walls and menu board. A 14-table patio and Chicago-style doors that open to the sidewalk will bring an outdoor feeling on nice days.

Baca describes the decor as "Modern with a Southern touch. We tried to make it comfortable and cozy but bring some older elements with the cooper, the antiques and the shingles."

Although the group’s experience is primarily in Midtown, they’re looking forward to making a contribution to downtown’s rapidly growing roster of bars and restaurants. "Downtown is developing, and it’s getting some great restaurants, some great bars, some great places. They all have their own unique touch. We’re excited about being a part of that movement. I think we’ll be received pretty well."

The Moonshiners's decor reflects its Southern-inspired menu.

unspecified

Esquire's Best New Restaurants

Esquire names Houston's West African eatery to best new restaurants list

Photo by StuffBenEats

undefined

It’s a ChòpnBlọk world, and we’re all living in it. The Houston restaurant is the only Texas representative to make Esquire’s list of The Best New Restaurants in America, 2025.

Published Monday, December 1, the list includes 33 restaurants from across the country. New York City leads the list with seven representatives, followed by greater Los Angeles, which earns six spots, including Restaurant of the Year for RVR, an izakaya in Venice, California.

The quality of the restaurants they’ve discovered has put the magazine in a celebratory mood.

“This year at Esquire we’ve seen dozens of new restaurants like this, places where spectacular food is coupled with a damn good time — where ambition and abandon meet,” Joshua David Stein writes. “These are the places you hate to leave, but when you do, you leave full. Full of some of the most deeply personal food you can remember eating, full of joy and ideas and hope. You stumble out, way past your bedtime, practically dancing in the street.”

Turning to ChòpnBlọk, Stein notes that founder Ope Amosu has already partnered with Houston hip-hop legend Bun B and the Rockets — and hints that more locations may be on the way. Still, it’s West African restaurant’s creative fare hat sets it apart.

“Recent years are littered with the carcasses of failed fast-casual concepts. But Ope Amosu’s ChòpnBlok seems destined for success, borne on the tide of seven tremendous rice bowls,” he writes. “The rices range from the Ghanaian fried rice known as waakye — pronounced ‘watchee’ — to diaspora-bridging jollof jambalaya. Along with the rices come ikoyi shrimp or yaji vegetables finished with yassa curry or red stew and plantains.”

Reached for comment, Amosu sent the following text to celebrate his restaurant’s success.

When we say “Africa to the world,” these are amongst the reflections we envision.

Being named one of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants is bigger than us. It’s a win for our community, our culture, the diaspora. We’re grateful to see our West African cuisine and narrative taking up space and shifting the conversation around what American dining at its best can be. And to do this while reppin’ ‘the H’… Man!!! Hol’ up!!!

We move with the flavors, stories, and traditions that shaped us. It’s what we know and how we will continue to show up.

I’m humbled in the best way and still locked in… ten toes down! Our community and the city of Houston just caught another win and it feels right! What an honor!

In 2024, Esquire named Afro-Mexican restaurant Late August as its only Houston best new restaurant. In 2023, it named Montrose restaurant Nonno’s Family Pizza Tavern as its Pizza Joint of the Year.

First opened as a stand at the Post Market food hall downtown, Amosu opened ChòpnBlok’s first standalone location in Montrose on October 1, 2024 (Nigerian Independence Day). It features a West African-inspired design by Zainob Amao of AMAO Creative in collaboration with Gin Braverman of Gin Design Group.

Being included in Esquire is only the latest national recognition for ChòpnBlok. In September, the New York Times named it one of America’s 50 best restaurants. Last month, the Michelin Guide named it one of five new Houston restaurants to receive a Bib Gourmand designation.

awards media lists news-you-can-eat chopnblok