fins & feathers opening date

Star Houston pitmaster reveals opening date for highly anticipated new comfort food restaurant

The wait for one of this year's most eagerly anticipated restaurants end this week. Gatlin’s Fins & Feathers will open this Friday, July 15.

Developed by Gatlin's BBQ owner Greg Gatlin, executive chef Michelle Wallace, and chef de cuisine Darius King, Fins & Feathers features a menu of Southern-inspired comfort food built around fried chicken and seafood along with a healthy dash of inspiration from Houston's immigrant culinary traditions.

“Here on the Gulf Coast, it’s so nice to have somewhere in your neighborhood where you can get fresh, great seafood,” Gatlin said in a statement. “I also think everybody remembers who had the best fried chicken in their town when they were growing up — maybe it was their own grandma. We want to tap into that and make you feel the same way when you eat ours.”

The diverse menu covers a wide range of tastes. Meals could start with oysters raw or roasted. Other appetizer options include Mexican-inspired dishes such as shrimp and crab campechana or roasted duck with mole rojo as well as New Orleans BBQ shrimp, sweet and spicy miso wings, and the biscuits that have been a staple of the breakfast menu at Gatlin's BBQ. The restaurant puts a chicken spin on a traditional charcuterie board with the "Fins & Feathers Clucker," a board that includes Szechuan-spiced chicken cracklings, Southern-fried gizzards, chipotle-glazed crispy chicken feet, smoked chicken liver pate, and berbere-spiced quail, served with accoutrements.

Sandwich options include fried chicken or fish with Nashville-style hot sauce, fried seafood po' boys, and a turkey club made with smoked turkey from Gatlin's BBQ. Entrees include smoked or fried chicken, as well as fried or blackened catfish, smoked chicken enchiladas, and daily fish specials. Red beans and rice, mac and cheese, creamed corn, french fries, and more are available as sides.

Beer, wine, and champagne offer pairing possibilities.

Craig Schuster, lead architect for H3D Hospitality Group, designed the 3,000-square-foot space. It is expected to seat approximately 80 people.

A standout football player at both St. Thomas High School and Rice University, Greg Gatlin opened Gatlin's BBQ in 2010. It moved to its current location on Ella Boulevard. in 2015. Known for its well-executed brisket and ribs, Creole-inspired sides like dirty rice, and Wallace's creative sandwiches, the restaurant earned honorable mention status on Texas Monthly's 2021 list of the state's 50 best barbecue joints.

Gatlin's Fins & Feathers will be open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday beginning at 11 am. Sunday hours will be 10:30 am to 3:30 pm with a dedicated Sunday brunch menu to follow in September.

Gatlin's Fins & Feathers opens on Friday.

Photo by Becca Wright

Gatlin's Fins & Feathers opens on Friday.

news-you-can-eat openings

bring on barnaby's

Favorite Houston comfort food spot picks Garden Oaks for 10th location

Courtesy of Barnaby's Cafe

Barnaby's Cafe is coming to the Stomping Grounds this fall.

Earlier this week, real estate developer Bryan Danna promised “big news…very soon” about a new tenant for the former LuLoo’s Day & Night space at his Stomping Grounds development in Garden Oaks. That news is that Houston favorite Barnaby’s Cafe has claimed the space for a new location that will open later this year.

When a Barnaby’s decal appear on the restaurant’s door a couple of days ago, news of the restaurant’s imminent arrival spread quickly on social media. It will be Barnaby’s tenth location, joining outposts in Montrose, River Oaks, the Heights, and more.

The restaurant will occupy a 2,250-square-foot space at the Stomping Grounds. It will offer a to-go window for people hanging out in the development’s green space as well as a gated, dog-friendly patio. Houston artist Roberto Cervantes will contribute works to the restaurant’s interior.

Founded in 1992 by restaurateur Jeff Gale, Barnaby’s is known for its wide-ranging and affordable menu of classic American fare, including salads, sandwiches, breakfast items, and dinner entrees. Customer favorites include the Lebanese chicken fattoush salad, chipotle black bean burger, baby back ribs, and green eggs, which are scrambled with spinach and artichoke hearts. Dogs can snack on a special “puppy menu” of ground beef, sliced chicken breast, or scrambled eggs over brown rice.

Stomping Grounds green space A to-go window will expedite orders for people in the Stomping Grounds' green space.Courtesy of Stomping Grounds

“Bringing Barnaby’s to Garden Oaks and Oak Forest has been on my wish list for more than a decade, so I’m incredibly grateful that Jeff Gale and his team saw Stomping Grounds as the right fit,” Danna said in a statement. “Jeff and I go back to his first Heights location, which was one of Barnaby’s first big moves north of Montrose, and I have always respected what he and his longtime team have built. Thirty years in the restaurant business is a serious accomplishment. You do not make it that long unless you know how to take care of people, build loyalty, and become part of the neighborhood.”

When it opens this fall, Barnaby’s will be open daily from 11 am to 9 pm. It will join other restaurants at the Stomping Grounds, including Fat Cat Creamery, Tex-Mex restaurant La Mex, Bollo Woodfired Pizza, casual sushi restaurant Himari, Little Sister Cake Shop, and High Five Mini Bar. Earlier this week, casual Vietnamese restaurant Pho Prime announced that it had claimed the space formerly occupied by The Pho Fix for a new location that will also open this fall.

news-you-can-eat openings stomping grounds barnaby's cafe