Understory update

West Houston pasta bar cooks up location in new downtown food hall

If 2018 is the year Houstonians waiting for downtown's four new food halls to arrive, then 2019 will be the year people actually get to eat at them. Finn Hall opened in December, and Bravery Chef Hall is on track to open in the next few weeks.

Next up will be Understory, the food hall coming to real estate development and construction firm Skanska's Capitol Tower. The company announced that Mona Fresh Italian Food will be the latest addition to its vendor mix, joining Boomtown Coffee, East Hampton Sandwich Company, and Mama Ninfa’s Tacos y Tortas, a new taco concept from the owners of The Original Ninfa's on Navigation.

Open since July in Katy, Mona is chef Sidney Degaine's fast casual follow-up to Cafe Azur, the French restaurant he sold last year. The restaurant offers an update on the pasta bar concept, giving diners the opportunity to choose their toppings ( fresh vegetables as well as prepared items like roasted eggplant and roasted zucchini), sauce (alfredo, pomodoro, etc), and proteins (meatball, Italian sausage, etc). Those looking for an alternative to the restaurant's housemade noodles may opt for a sandwich or salad instead.

"We believe Understory at Capitol Tower is the perfect combination of architecture and location for Mona to be even more successful,” Degaine said in a statement. “Mona’s concept is developed to provide high quality and healthy food with quick service within a perfect time frame for the business crowd.”

Signing Mona means that Understory is 50-percent leased. When it opens later this year, the food hall will offer a full service restaurant, seven smaller food stands, and a cocktail bar. A prime location in the heart of downtown's central business district with five points of tunnel access sure help ensure it becomes popular with the lunch crowd, but Skanska intends for it to be a destination during evenings and weekends, too.

"We are excited to welcome Mona and their fresh, upscale Italian fare to Understory," added Matt Damborsky, executive vice president for Skanska USA Commercial Development in Houston. “Mona's chef driven yet approachable menu and commitment to sourcing only the finest local ingredients makes them a strong addition to Understory’s diverse lineup of homegrown offerings."

Mona Fresh Italian Food is coming to downtown.

Photo by Becca Wright

Mona Fresh Italian Food is coming to downtown.

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an offer he couldn't refuse

Exclusive: Killen's Barbecue will soon shutter in The Woodlands

Killen's barbecue meat platter with sides

Photo by Robert Jacob Lerma

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Fans of Killen’s Barbecue’s location in The Woodlands have a days to make one last visit. The restaurant will close this Sunday, December 7, chef-owner Ronnie Killen tells CultureMap.

Open since 2021, Killen says that he’s in final negotiations to sell the location at 8800 Six Pines Dr. to Whataburger for a new location of the iconic Texas fast food restaurant. Neither the original location of Killen’s Barbecue in Pearland nor its Cypress location are affected by the closure of The Woodlands and will remain open.

“Whataburger made me a deal I couldn’t pass up. It would take 10 years to do that kind of revenue,” Killen writes in a text, adding that the company recently made a significant payment to keep the deal’s window open through the end of the year.

He added that the costs to operate the restaurant have gone up significantly. As one example, a cord of wood cost $175 when he opened the first Killen’s Barbecue in 2013. It costs $475 now, he writes.

If the deal falls through, Killen states that he could look for a new buyer or convert the restaurant into a second location of Killen’s Burger, the retro-styled burger joint he operates in Pearland.

The restaurant’s closure had been expected since February, when Killen sold The Woodlands’ location of Killen's Steakhouse. At the time, Killen said he also planned to find a buyer for his barbecue joint in the bustling suburb. He cited the driving distance from Pearland to The Woodlands as one reason he chose to divest both locations. He still operates Killen's Steakhouse in Pearland, comfort food restaurant Killen's near the Heights, Killen's Burger, and three other locations of Killen's Barbecue.

As it approaches its 13th anniversary in the spring, Killen’s Barbecue remains a vital part of Houston’s barbecue scene. The restaurant recently earned an honorable mention from Texas Monthly and holds a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide. In July, it opened a new location at Hobby Airport.

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