Killen's BBQ expands

Ronnie Killen reveals plans for highly anticipated Woodlands barbecue spot

Killen's barbecue meat platter with sides

Killen's Barbecue is coming to The Woodlands.

Photo by Robert Jacob Lerma

Ronnie Killen is expanding his presence in The Woodlands. The chef, who already operates a location of Killen's Steakhouse in the northern suburb, announced on social media that a second location of Killen's Barbecue will also be opening there.

Killen tells CultureMap that he's currently in final negotiations to purchase a former Culver's at 8800 Six Pines Dr. for a new barbecue joint that would be less than a mile from his steakhouse. If everything goes well during a 30-day due diligence period, Killen says he could close on the property around April 1. That would put the restaurant on track to open in late May or early June.

While towns near The Woodlands like Tomball and Spring have signature barbecue joints of their own, the growing city lacks the modern, Central Texas-style 'cue that Killen helped bring to Houston when he opened his first barbecue restaurant in 2014. Video footage from a recent barbecue pop-up that Killen hosted at his Woodlands steakhouse shows a massive line of diners waiting for smoked meat.

"The pop-up was busier than any pop-up I’d ever had with the first restaurant," Killen says. "Doing demographics on the area as far as what’s out there. There’s Goode Co. across the street, but what we do is different."

In terms of assessing the likelihood of the project coming to fruition, Killen notes that he's already purchased the smokers that will power the restaurant. In another sign of optimism, he's leased the space during the negotiating period to begin holding weekly pop-ups at the site. Expect them to start next week (Saturday, February 15).

When it opens, expect a slightly stripped down menu compared to the Pearland original, at least in the beginning. Killen says he want to make sure staples like beef brisket, sausage, and pork ribs are being cooked properly before allowing things to grow.

Simultaneously, he's feeling optimistic that Killen's, his new comfort food restaurant in the former Hickory Hollow space near Washington Avenue, will open soon. A recent permit approval means construction can begin to finalize the space's transformation. He hopes to be serving chicken fried steak, fried chicken, and other classic fare in six to eight weeks.

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New York Times critic awards Houston restaurant 2 stars in glowing review

Courtesy of ChòpnBlọk

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Let’s just call 2025 the year of ChòpnBlọk. In a review published Tuesday, December 16, the New York Times has awarded the Houston restaurant two stars (“very good”).

Written by chief restaurant critic Tejal Rao, the review touts many of the same qualities that the Times already praised when it included ChòpnBlọk on its list of America’s 50 best restaurants.

Rao writes that she usually avoids restaurants that serve food in bowls, but she’s impressed by the way that chef-owner Ope Amosu has put a West African spin on the concept.

“For inspiration, Ope Amosu looked to the kind of chain restaurants that were built to scale, where flavors are often subdued to appeal to the broadest possible audience, focus-grouped to death. But the delight of ChòpnBlok is in its sure sense of self, its lively, multidimensional cooking and clear, delicious vision for modern food from the Black diaspora,” Rao writes.

She singles out specific dishes, including the Nigerian red stew with short rib, the Black Star bowl with shrimp, and the signature Motherland, made with chicken, greens, and plantains. “It’s utterly simple, but draws you in for more with the mouthwatering twang of not-too-much MSG — an international shortcut to building umami that tends to be used carefully, and layered with other forms,” she writes.

The review also touches on the way Amosu switched the restaurant from counter service to full service — described as “warm, informal, and quick with the jokes” — and his time working at Chipotle to learn the basics of the restaurant operations.

A two-star review is only the latest instance of ChòpnBlọk receiving national attention. In addition to the Times 50 best list, Esquire recently named it one of America’s best new restaurants. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand designation for 2025. Amosu earned a semifinalist nomination for Best Chef: Texas in the 2025 James Beard Awards.

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