fly me to the moon

Highly anticipated restaurant pours into Spring Branch with self-serve drinks and Whole 30 eats

Spring Branch's two-year wait for its first self service restaurant ends this month. Shoot the Moon will open the week of July 26.

Developed by Kevin Floyd, previously a founding partner of Anvil and Underbelly Hospitality, Shoot the Moon features a wall of 80 taps divided between beer, wine, cocktails, and spirits. After checking in at the counter and swiping a credit card, diners will receive an access card that allows them to pour any of those beverages into appropriate glassware.

Prices are by the ounce, and the system measures to the tenth, ensuring customers only pay for what they pour. To go along with the new format, diners pay an 18-percent service fee instead of a traditional tip, a model the restaurant describes on its website. When they're ready to leave, diners simply drop their access card in a locked box; the restaurant will close all open tabs at the end of the night and charge each card according to what the party ate and drank.

“The pandemic and the economic climate over the past year have been exceptionally difficult for just about everyone, including people like us who are crazy enough to completely reinvent the restaurant experience,” Floyd said in a statement. “We are absolutely stoked to be able to share our innovative concept with the people of Houston, especially the residents of our Spring Branch neighborhood, who have been cheering us on all along.”

Chef-partner Dax McAnear, whose resume includes Triniti, Textile, Beavers, and Hay Merchant, has developed an extensive menu that's built around pizza, small plates, and center of the plate entrees. Pizza comes in thin, pan, or gluten-free crusts (a flour-less dough that's more properly identified as a flatbread) with the ability to choose from set combinations or build-your-own. For example, the taco pizza comes topped with beef, beans, taco sauce, black olives, chipotle cream, and lime, while the meat lovers pairs pepperoni with three housemade meats: bacon, Canadian bacon, and sausage.

Non-pizza options start with small plates such as hummus with romesco, black garlic cheesy bread, pimento cheese-stuffed mushroom, and crab claws tossed in Buffalo sauce. Many of the entrees have been designed to comply with the Whole 30 and paleo diets as well as be gluten-free; they include Salisbury steak with mushroom gravy and carrots, chicken with tomato and coconut curry, and confit chicken thighs with cherry-apricot chipotle glaze.

Those looking for even lighter options may consider five different salad options, or maybe they've just saving room for the four desserts.

“The Shoot the Moon experience will be very different from a traditional table service restaurant, because we’ve eliminated the frustration points such as waiting to get the attention of a bartender or waiter to order your next drink or food item," Floyd said. "We’re giving guests a high level of control with their experience. We won’t dictate the pacing or try to steer choices, unless the guests ask for help with decision making."

All that eating and drinking happens in a 4,000-square-foot space designed by local firm Collaborative Projects, overseen by STM partner Jonas Herd, with branding and other signage by Letterset Houston. Shoot the Moon joins Feges BBQ and Slowpokes in Braun Enterprises' Spring Branch Village shopping center at 8155 Long Point Rd.

Pour spirits via an enomatic system.

Photo by Amy Scott

Pour spirits via an enomatic system.

news-you-can-eat openings

a new chapter

Houston's shuttered kosher steakhouse reopens as a non-kosher neighborhood grill

Courtesy of Exodus Bar and Grill

Owner Jason Goldstein, chef Arturo Macias, and general manager David Tenorio are ready to welcome diners to Exodus Bar and Grill.

Jason Goldstein is leaving the world of kosher restaurants behind. Although his Meyerland restaurant Genesis Steakhouse & Wine Bar closed on April 30, its space won’t stay empty for long.

In its place, Goldstein will open a new restaurant called Exodus Bar and Grill. The name has two meanings. First, Exodus is the book that comes after Genesis in the Jewish Torah (aka, the Old Testament). Second, it’s a not-so-subtle poke at the Houston Kashruth Association (HKA), the organization that, in Goldstein’s opinion, forced the closure of Genesis when it removed the restaurant’s kosher certification in January. Unlike Genesis, Exodus will not be a kosher restaurant.

“It’s very much like Houston’s. A lot of the idea comes from Houston’s. A nice establishment that caters to the masses,” Goldstein tells CultureMap about Exodus. “People in the neighborhood want a nice restaurant they can go to with good service and good ambiance.”

When Genesis lost its kosher certification, the six Orthodox Jewish rabbis who make up Houston’s Vaad Harabanim urged their congregants not to dine at the restaurant, as it no longer met their standards for being in compliance with Jewish dietary laws. While it’s likely those very religious people won’t dine at Exodus, Goldstein thinks the new concept will appeal to both less traditionally observant Jews who worship at nearby synagogues and residents of neighborhoods like Bellaire, Meyerland, and Westbury who don’t want to leave the area to get a good meal in a nice environment.

Operating as a non-kosher restaurant comes with some notable advantages compared to operating a kosher establishment. Most importantly, the restaurant will be open on Friday nights and during the day on Saturday, which is strictly forbidden by the HKA. In addition, non-kosher meat is less expensive than kosher meat, which means Exodus’ menu will offer a lower price point than Genesis did. Exodus will be able to serve dishes that mix meat and dairy such as a chicken alfredo pasta, a cheeseburger, or even something as simple as mashed potatoes with butter. Finally, it will also serve non-kosher ingredients like shrimp and other shellfish.

Indeed, a draft menu Goldstein shared with CultureMap shows how Exodus will take advantage of those opportunities. Tentative menu items include fried calamari; blackened redfish with shrimp; gumbo with shrimp, chicken, and beef sausage; and a burger topped with mushrooms and Swiss cheese. None of them would have been allowed at Genesis.

Certain staples of the Genesis menu will remain. For example, Exodus will serve all of the sushi items that Genesis did. In addition, the old restaurant’s ribeye and beef short ribs will be available at Exodus.

Jewish diners who prefer a kosher steak or kosher chicken will still be able to get it at Exodus for an additional fee. Goldstein says those items will be cooked in separate pans but served on the same plates and with the same utensils as non-kosher dishes. Since some kosher mindful Jewish people already follow those standards at other restaurants, Goldstein thinks they’ll appreciate being able to dine that way at Exodus.

Kenny & Ziggy’s owner Ziggy Gruber has been an outspoken supporter of Genesis throughout its dispute with the HKA. He’s feeling optimistic about Exodus’ potential to connect with diners.

“There is a lack of casual, family type of neighborhood joint over here,” Gruber says. “I don’t think that it’s a bad idea. On the weekends and at night, he’ll do well. You and I know Yiddishe people like to eat. If they like the food, they'll patronize his establishment.”

Goldstein expects to be closed for a week or so while he makes some interior changes to distinguish Exodus from Genesis. Initially, the restaurant will operate with the same menu at lunch and dinner, and Goldstein plans to add weekend brunch once Exodus has established itself.

“We’ll start with one menu, execute it, and go from there. We can’t all be 20 pages like Ziggy’s menu,” he says with a laugh.

Located at 80 Braeswood Square, Exodus Bar and Grill will open at 11:30 am Monday-Friday; 4 pm on Saturday; and 1 pm on Sunday. Brunch hours will be announced in the future.

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