Upscale Tex-Mex for Uptown

It's official: Upscale Tex-Mex restaurant offering "elevated experience" is headed Uptown

Looks like the rumors are true. Lasco Enterprises, the restaurant group behind Max's Wine Dive, The Tasting Room and Flow Juice Bar, announced today that it will open Anjeo, which will offer "an elevated and modern interpretation of traditional Tex-Mex dining," in the space currently occupied by Arturo's Uptown Italiano.

The Italian restaurant will operate until the end of February. Anejo will take over March 1.

"Our goal is to do a fairly quick turnaround," Lasco chief brand officer Jonathan Horowitz tells CultureMap. The company will only make design changes to the space and expects to be open by the third week of March.

The company will only make design changes to the space and expects to be open by the third week of March.

"There's not a lot of real, good Tex-Mex in that area," Horowitz notes.

Given that opportunity, the desirability of the location and a concept that aims to elevate Houston's most popular cuisine, Horowitz is optimistic about Anejo's prospects. "We feel like there's a market for (Anejo), but it doesn't exist in this town," he says. "We believe there's room for an elevated experience . . . that maintains the traditions of Tex-Mex."

Horowitz acknowledges that Houstonians have many Tex-Mex options but explains that Lasco thinks Anejo is something different. The restaurant will use "top of the line" ingredients and feature elevated "plating, presentation and service standards" that will set it apart from other restaurants, which includes tableside preparations of both dishes and cocktails.

On the beverage side, a selection of over 100 tequilas and mezcals that will be paired with Mexican sodas and juices from Flow.

Longtime Max's Wine Dive/The Tasting Room chef Michael Pellegrino is working to craft the menu. "He grew up in the Valley. He has lots of experience with this type of cuisine," Horowitz says.

“I am thrilled to be creating the menu for this new concept,” stated chef Pellegrino in a statement. “It’s an honor, and I feel a significant responsibility to properly represent the culinary traditions of Tex-Mex while taking the cuisine to a new level.”

Max's Wine Dive successfully elevated comfort food and became a brand that's spreading across the country. Can Anejo do the same thing for Tex-Mex?

"We like a challenge," Horowitz replies.

Arturo's will operate through February; Anejo takes over March 1.

Photo by Karen Burd

Arturo's will operate through February; Anejo takes over March 1.

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the more things change

Houston's essential Jewish diner looks better than ever after refresh

Photo by Sergio Trevino

The dining room has more light than ever.

It’s tricky to renovate a restaurant that’s as essential to its community as New York Deli. A staple of Houston’s Jewish community for almost 50 years, the tiny restaurant near Meyerland will serve as many as 400 people during a busy Sunday brunch.

Still, the time had come, as the tape on the deteriorating banquettes and peeling wallpaper illustrated. With the restaurant’s lease up for renewal, co-owner Michael Saghian saw an opportunity for some updates.

“I couldn’t be the new guy who ruined the place by moving it,” he tells CultureMap. “We worked out a deal with the landlord [to stay] and did a big refresh.”

The most noticeable change is the removal of the restaurant’s front door and vestibule. Instead, diners enter through the restaurant’s companion bagel shop. Separate entrances made sense when the bagel shop was certified kosher by local religious authorities, but now that designation only applies to the Bellaire location that opened in 2020. Not only is the new setup easier for people with mobility issues to navigate, it allows more light into the dining room, brightening the place considerably..

Saghian and co-owner Riana Sherman worked with interior designer Erin Hicks on the refresh. Tables, chairs, and banquettes are all new, but the color scheme remains the same. The process yielded 10 more seats, and the furniture is a little more durable, too.

“People have flipped chairs because they’re so lightweight,” Sherman says. “We got a sturdier chair.”

Behind the scenes, an expanded kitchen allows for the restaurant’s cooks to work faster and more efficiently. An additional egg cooker should cut down the amount of time people wait for their food to arrive.

“The kitchen had one of everything. Now we have two of everything. We can pump out a lot more food,” Saghian says.

Photographs on the walls honor longtime customers such as the “bagel girls,” a group of woman who’ve eaten breakfast at the restaurant since the ‘80s. A piece of old wallpaper has been framed and hung on the wall, too, as a nod to the space’s history.

New York Deli interior changes Photographs on the walls honor longtime customers.Photo by Sergio Trevino

Photo by Sergio Trevino

The dining room has more light than ever.

Saghian says he suffered from sleepless nights as he worried about people’s reactions to the changes, but so far his customers have been effusive.

“It still feels like an old school diner,” Saghian says. “It has pieces you remember. Even the new stuff is old school.”

While the physical environment is new, the staff remains the same. To ensure he kept the same team of cooks and servers, Saghian paid their wages for the two weeks the restaurant was closed for renovations.

Even more importantly, the prices are the same. That’s something that will make even the oldest regulars happy.

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