tom tom club

Hot Korean coffee shop brews up exciting new Galleria-area location

Tom N Toms has opened near the Galleria.

Courtesy of Tom N Toms Galleria

A new, Korean-influenced coffee shop and cafe has opened near the Galleria. Tom N Toms, a South Korea-based cafe, has arrived at 5353 West Alabama St..

Dak & Bop owner Jason Cho is the proprietor for this location of Tom N Toms, joining the first Houston store in Chinatown's Bellaire Food Street shopping plaza. The Galleria cafe has been designated as Texas' first "Tom N Toms Black," which indicates an elevated experience and an expanded food menu.

Tom N Toms signature items such as its sweet potato latte, baked-to-order goods such as pretzels and tortilla pizzas, and smoothies are all present at the new location. In addition, diners will find noodle salads, housemade savory egg tarts, and bing su, a Korean shaved ice dessert.

“When my vision of this place is fully visualized, people will get to enjoy my take on a truly unique Korean-inspired cafe,” Cho said in a release

In the coming weeks, the cafe will host brunch on the weekends and special pop-ups featuring Dak & Bop's fried chicken paired with desserts or coffee. The first guest chef to participate in a pop-up will be announced soon, a representative tells CultureMap.

Quietly open since late December, Tom N Toms will celebrate its grand opening on Saturday, February 20 with buy one-get one free specials on all drinks.

The office complex that houses Tom N Toms has become an emerging food destination. Owned by local real estate developer Braun Enterprises, the building recently welcomed Hidden Omakase, an intimate sushi counter from chef Billy Kin. In the coming months, Burger-chan will open its new location there, followed by an outpost of the Conservatory food hall.

coffee openings

Farewell, ElRo

Creative Montrose pizzeria will shutter after only a year-and-a-half

Photo by Julie Soefer

ElRo Pizza & Crudo

An acclaimed Houston pizzeria will soon serve its final pies. ElRo Pizza & Crudo will close after service on December 31.

In a post on Instagram, chef-owner Terrence Gallivan thanks his staff for their dedication and his customers for their support. “We hope to see you all over the next couple weeks. Come celebrate with us,” he writes.

Open since June 2023, ElRo intrigued diners who enjoyed Gallivan’s work at pioneering Houston restaurant The Pass & Provisions. At ElRo, the chef served a modified version of the Provisions pizza recipe alongside crudos and shareable small plates such as arancini and housemade sausage. It earned four nominations in this year’s CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, including Best New Restaurant and Chef of the Year.

Sadly, Gallivan tells CultureMap that business has seen “a steady decline in business for many months.” Recently, the restaurant had tried a number of initiatives to draw in diners, such as steak night on Tuesday and fried chicken on Saturday.

The early announcement gives diners two weeks to make one more visit (or two) to the restaurant before it closes. Customers may want to time their visit for happy hour, which takes places from 3-6 pm Tuesday-Friday. It includes half-off glasses of wine, $4 draft beers, $9 select cocktails, and food specials.

Gallivan adds that he doesn’t know yet what his next move will be. Hopefully, he’s got one more comeback in him. Houston is a more fun town to dine in when Gallivan is cooking in it.

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