standing tall

Cold Shiner still flows at reopened legendary Houston dive bar

The Tall Texan has reopened under new ownership.

Courtesy of Tall Texan II

One of Houston’s most legendary dive bars has been reborn with a new name and new ownership. Alice’s Tall Texan has reopened as the Tall Texan II.

Open for 36 years, Alice’s served cold beer in giant, frosted chalices to generations of thirsty Houstonians. Proprietor Alice Ward closed the establishment in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the bar’s story has a new chapter.

Jesse Botello recently reopened the bar, which is located near the Heights at 4904 N. Main St. A Houston hospitality veteran who is also a co-owner of Midtown bar Glitter Karaoke, Botello tells CultureMap he looked into leasing the Tall Texan space as soon as it closed. After a few twists and turns, he came to an agreement with the property owner.

“I saw the potential after it closed down,” Botello says. “It’s in a great neighborhood . . . The clientele is really diverse. Glitter we get every ethnicity, which is really cool. That’s what Houston’s about.”

The two biggest changes that people will notice are the addition of a full liquor license and the ability to pay with a credit card. Food trucks will park on-site to keep patrons fed.

Botello sourced some decor from a farm in the Texas countryside. Porcelain-topped tables and vintage chairs from Goodwill complete the look, which is designed to be cozy and welcoming.

He adds that regulars have been coming by and checking the place out. They tell him it looks very different, although he doesn’t agree. Ward stopped by, too.

“She was there with probably six or seven regulars. Everyone knew her,” he says. “She had three Tito’s and tonics and left.”

Adding a full liquor license means the new Tall Texan will serve cocktails (a menu is still under development), but regular shouldn’t worry too much. Ice cold beer still flows from the taps. Botello even managed to source four dozen chalices to serve them in.

“I think it’s going to be a good little spot,” Botello says. “I don’t think it’s going to be a huge money maker. I’m 52 now. I don’t care a lot about money. It’s more about being happy and doing something for our friends.”

The Tall Texan has reopened under new ownership.

Courtesy of Tall Texan II

The Tall Texan has reopened under new ownership.

openings craft-beer cocktails

Relish responds

Houston restaurant breaks silence about wage theft allegations

Photo by Julie Soefer

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A Houston restaurant has broken its silence about a lawsuit that accuses it of wage theft. Relish Restaurant & Bar issued a statement about allegations made by an employee that it improperly allocated money from the restaurant’s tip pool:

For more than a decade, we've worked hard to build a restaurant where our employees feel valued and respected. Our team is central to everything we do, and we take our responsibilities to them seriously. We remain committed to fair and lawful employment practices, and firmly deny the allegations that have been made. Given that this is an ongoing legal matter, we will not comment further at this time. Thank you for understanding.

According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, employee Michael Baron alleges that Relish and its owners, Addie and Dustin Teague:

Used his and other employees’ tips to pay the maitre’d, who also had managerial roles, such as disciplining employees. The maitre’d was allegedly paid at least $21,000 in 2026 from pooled tips, according to the lawsuit. The maitre'd position is not included in the restaurant's notice about which workers get paid from the pool, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit further alleges that the practices at Relish’s Town & Country location violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal law that governs how tipped employees are paid. Under the law, restaurants are allowed to pay tipped employees as little as $2.13 per hour, because the vast majority of their income is generated by customers’ tips. The law also governs which other employees — such as bartenders and other customer-facing positions — are eligible to receive a share of an employee’s tips. Salaried managers or employees in supervisory roles are not eligible to receive tips.

Baron is represented by attorney Josef F. Buenker, whose firm specializes in employment law, as noted by its domain name houstonovertimelawyer.com.

In March, a federal court ruled that Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille must pay $21 million for misallocating tips to more than 700 servers.

Relish is known for its classic American fare such as burgers, fried chicken, steaks, salad, and seafood. Its River Oaks location, which has been open since 2016, will soon close before moving to the RO mixed-used development next year. Relish’s Town & Country location will remain open.

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