Foodie News
Ruggles 11th Street closed to become . . . a Ruggles Green — Seriously
Last summer there were rumors swirling that Ruggles Green was going to take over the 11th Street Cafe in the Heights. Now it looks like those rumors weren't wrong so much as about a year premature.
Instead the café was turned into Ruggles 11th Street Café, but the partnership with Ruggles Grill's owner Bruce Molzan qiuckly turned sour. After a couple months, the "Ruggles" name on the new sign was papered over as Molzan sued the 11th Street ownership for copyright infringement.
(A tipster told us the actual issue was that Molzan's ex-wife Susan, who owns Ruggles Café and Bakery in Rice Village, holds the exclusive rights to use the name Ruggles with the word "café," but who knows.)
The non-Ruggles 11th Street Café officially closed in early January. Now the restaurant is turning into . . . Ruggles Green. Yes, seriously.
It might sound crazy, but Ruggles Green is owned and operated independently from any other Ruggles concept — which owners Green Café Concepts are eager to emphasize since Molzan's much-publicized wage disputes with his employees.
According to a press release, Ruggles Green will be doing extensive work on the 11th Street space to meet green certification standards and modernize the aesthetic, with an opening scheduled for May.
The Heights location will be the third Ruggles Green, after the original on West Alabama and a City Centre location that opened in August. According to the Houston Business Journal, there is already a fourth location planned for Sugar Land Town Center that's scheduled to debut in July.