Restaurant Closings

Celebrity chef throws in the towel on two Heights-area restaurants that lost their buzz

Bradley's Fine Diner sign March 2014 Bradley Ogden

Bradley's Fine Diner has served its last order of pot roast.

Photo courtesy of © Bradley's Fine Diner

In what has to be an early candidate for the least surprising Houston restaurant news of 2016, Ogden Hospitality has closed Bradley's Fine Diner and Funky Chicken. The California-based company that's led by James Beard Award-winning celebrity chef Bradley Ogden has confirmed a report by the Chronicle that the restaurants have shuttered.

"We want to thank the many people who worked so hard to make Bradley’s Fine Diner and Funky Chicken inviting venues for the surrounding community to enjoy," Christopher Vestal, CEO of Ogden Hospitality Group, said in a statement after CultureMap asked for comment. "At this time we will continue to focus our efforts on Pour Society, one of our most successful openings to date, which has taken shape under a talented and locally-based culinary and operations team. We are currently working to redevelop both Heights locations into concepts suitable for such a vibrant neighborhood and will release more information when plans have been finalized."

The closures bring to an end a saga that began in 2012 when Ogden announced his plans to open multiple restaurants in Houston. Funky Chicken opened two years ago, and Fine Diner followed in April 2014. Both restaurants showed promise initially but failed to connect with diners. In May 2015, Ogden hired former Triniti chef de cuisine Greg Lowry to get them on the right track, but it appears to have been too little too late.

Pour Society, the upscale Gateway Memorial City pub that features a menu created by Lowry and chef de cuisine Matthew Lovelace with the Houston palate in mind, has opened to mixed reviews. Still, the talent in the kitchen and today's commitment by Ogden Hospitality to the project suggest that it should find its footing from a culinary standpoint soon.

When Funky Chicken debuted, Ogden planned to open 200 locations across the country, but the restaurant never grew beyond Houston. He seems to have shifted his focus to hot dogs, opening a restaurant called Bradley's Funky Franks in Menlo Park, California, last October. Bringing that concept to The Heights seems like a risky move, though, as it would be in direct competition with well-regarded restaurants Happy Fatz and Good Dog Houston.

closings the-heights

Pivot to catering

Houston barbecue joint will soon shutter due to $72,000 of unpaid rent

Fainmous BBQ/Facebook

Fainmous BBQ is asking for help.

Unpaid rent is forcing a Houston barbecue joint to shutter its brick-and-mortar location, but the restaurant’s popular catering business will live on. In an emotional social media post, Jamie and Karen Fain shared that Fainmous BBQ, their restaurant in Sawyer Yards, will soon close due to unpaid rent of $72,000.

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A post shared by Fainmous BBQ (@fainmousbbq)

Widely considered the only East Tennessee-inspired barbecue restaurant in Houston, Fainmous moved from its original location in Westbury to Sawyer Yards in 2019. In a 2025 article in the Houston Chronicle, the Fains explain the location didn’t pan out the way they thought it would, prompting them to focus on catering. When the restaurant reopened for dine-in, it offered barbecue sandwiches for as little as $8, but it hasn’t been sufficient to pay back the rent they owe.

The social media post also discusses their challenges with other tenants at the property. With the unpaid rent due by Sunday, February 15, the restaurant's time at the development appears to be coming to an end.

Lovett Commercial, which owns the property, provided CultureMap with a statement about the situation:

We’re aware of the recent fundraising effort and the public conversation surrounding it. Like many businesses, we experienced significant impacts during COVID, particularly related to development timelines and operations. With that context in mind, ownership has worked extensively and in good faith with Fainmous BBQ over a prolonged period, providing meaningful flexibility on rent, including a structured payment plan that ultimately was not fulfilled.

The accumulation of several years of incomplete payments has contributed to the current outstanding balance and situation. Our priority remains finding a responsible and equitable resolution for all involved, and we remain hopeful that a constructive path forward can be achieved.

For the Fains, the path forward is to leave. Towards that end, the couple have started a GoFundMe to facilitate their exit from Sawyer Yards and a move to a new catering kitchen. So far, it has raised approximately $2,000 out of $3,500 requested.

closings news-you-can-eat barbecue