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    Borgo goes bye-bye

    River Oaks restaurant freshens up with new name and bold Italian flavors

    Eric Sandler
    Feb 12, 2019 | 10:26 am
    Mina Ristorante Monica Fallone Luis Mancera
    Luis Mancera and Monica Fallone are transforming Borgo into Mina.
    Photo by Leah Wilson Photography

    The trend of Houston restaurants changing concepts shows no signs of slowing down — and even to-go spots are jumping on the bandwagon. Borgo Food Station, a concept known for its ready-to-eat healthy meals, will soon give way to Mina Ristorante, owners Monica Fallone and Luis Mancera announced.

    "Our customers were always requesting to enjoy their favorite dishes at Borgo instead of taking them home, so we added a few tables and chairs and then actual silverware," Mancera says in response to CultureMap's request for comment about the decision. "We wanted to give our customers what they were asking for so we decided to turn it into Mina Ristorante, where they can sit and enjoy our food in a dining room."

    As its name implies, Mina Ristorante will serve Italian fare inspired by its owners' families. The husband-and-wife duo, owners of restaurants in both in Miami and Caracas prior to moving to Houston, have created a menu centered around many of the Italian dishes that had been popular at Borgo, ranging from antipasti and housemade pastas to "comfort classic entrees" and desserts. Menu items include burrata with baby tomatoes, lasagna bolognese, shrimp with spicy tomato sauce, and Colombian trout with Sicilian almond butter; the restaurant will continue to serve lunch favorites from the Borgo menu like the turkey and Swiss on cranberry and pecan bread and the chicken Cobb croissant. A selection of both natural and traditional wines will complement the dishes.

    “Together, our restaurant experience spans three continents and thirty years” Mancera said in a statement. “Both Monica and I were raised in families where everything revolved around the kitchen...We want to inspire through food and spark a sense of community with every meal, every glass of wine, and each bite of panna cotta.”

    Borgo will shutter later this month to allow for the transformation into Mina to begin. Fallone and Mancera recruited local designer Erin Hicks (Helen, Pax Americana) to create a look that will include stone countertops, dark walnut tabletops, and aubergine and brass accents. If all goes according to plan, the space will reopen in April with its new look, new menu, and new name.

    openingsnews-you-can-eat
    news/restaurants-bars

    when I dip, you dip

    Heights restaurant's new lunch service will only offer 1 sandwich

    Eric Sandler
    May 22, 2026 | 3:30 pm
    La Lucha french dip sandwich
    Courtesy of La Lucha
    La Lucha will begin serving French dips on Friday, June 12.

    If a sandwich hall of fame existed, one of its plaques would surely be devoted to the French dip. Its combination of thinly-sliced beef, tangy horseradish sauce, and a savory au jus is a winning formula.

    Beginning Friday, June 12, Heights restaurant La Lucha will be showcasing two takes on the venerable sandwich when it starts serving them for its new Friday-only lunch service, which will be held from 11 am-2 pm. To be clear, the two sandwiches (plus fries) will be the only menu items available at lunch — apologies to anyone hoping to ease into the weekend with La Lucha staples like fried chicken or the pharmacy burger.

    The two sandwich choices are: a West Coast style French dip that’s just shaved meat and au jus or an East Coast style that adds provolone and caramelized onions. Both are served with horseradish aioli on bread from Houston’s Royal Bakery that “gets crispy and delicious,” according to executive chef Bobby Matos.

    The meat is the same prime rib that newly opened steak joint Star Rover, La Lucha’s sister restaurant, serves as part of its viral, “I ate the 76’er” eating challenge. Priced at $26, the sandwich offers a healthy seven ounces of thinly-sliced beef.

    “They’ve done this at Little Sparrow in Atlanta but for late night. It’s been a huge success and people are digging it,” Matos explains about the motivation to introduce the offering.

    Limiting the menu to two variations of the same sandwich, fries, and beverages — both alcoholic and non-alcoholic — allows La Lucha to offer its Friday lunch service more easily than if Matos had to staff the kitchen to parepare its full menu.

    “It’s just bringing more people to the Heights and giving them a chance to get to know our restaurants,” Matos adds. “There are still people who don’t know about La Lucha, and it’s been eight years.”

    Although Matos moved to Texas from California, he says he prefers the East Coast French dip. “I want cheese and onions on mine. I like cheese on French dips,” he says.

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