Introducing B.B. Italia

Beloved Italian neighborhood spot returns with new name and NY-style pizza

Daniel and Ben Berg.

Photo by Jenn Duncan

Ben Berg's changes to Carmelo's restaurant in the Memorial area include more than updating its look and feel. He's changing the name, too.

When the restaurant reopens at the end of April, it will be known as B.B. Italia Kitchen & Bar; in addition, the restaurant will be home to B.B. Pizza, a delivery and to-go pizzeria. The new names leverage the branding of Berg's other concepts, upscale steakhouse B&B Butchers and its more casual sibling, B.B. Lemon. It may also draw in diners who were unaware that Berg added Carmelo's to the Berg Hospitality Group in December 2017.

“Carmelo’s was really a part of the community and had loyal, lifelong customers. We wanted to update it with a new name and look and feel but continue that neighborhood restaurant tradition,” Ben Berg said in a statement. “I grew up eating incredible Italian-American food in New York City, and I can’t wait to give the city I now call home a world-class Italian restaurant and continue the legacy of a family-owned-and-operated business of which I know Houstonians will be really proud.”

Changes to the space should make it almost unrecognizable from its previous iteration. In addition to a "completely remodeled" dining room, B.B. Italia will feature updated private spaces, an all-new horseshoe-shaped bar, and a patio for outdoor dining.

In addition to the new look, executive chef Daniel Berg has drawn upon his experience working for Italian restaurants in New York City to create a new menu that offers a fresh take on classic Italian-American fare. Thankfully, the Carmelo's meatballs will remain on the menu; other dishes may have kept their names but will have new recipes and presentations. Some of the dishes Daniel Berg introduced at Carmelo's prior to the remodel will remain as well.

For its part, B.B. Pizza will serve New York-style pies, subs, and calzones. Although B.B. Pizza is strictly for delivery and to-go, a representative confirms that a "few specialty pizzas" will be available at B.B. Italian on the lunch, dinner, and bar menus.

B.B. Italia will be open for lunch and dinner. Weekend brunch service and happy hour will make their debuts within a month of the restaurant's opening.

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a CultureMap Exclusive

Houston's 'Chinese takeout bar from the future' touches down in Webster

Courtesy of The Rice Box

A rendering previews The Rice Box's new location in Webster.

Houston’s Chinese takeout bar from the future is coming to the Bay Area. The sixth location of The Rice Box will open in Webster later this summer.

Located at 114 El Dorado Blvd, the new location will be called Rice Box Space Center after NASA’s headquarters at the nearby Johnson Space Center. Founder John Peterson tells CultureMap that it’s a bit of a homecoming for him and his wife/business partner, Jenny Vo, as they grew up in the area. As with every new location, the restaurant created a movie-style poster to announce its opening.

Rice Box Webster movie poster The Rice Box Space Center is expected to open later this summer.Courtesy of The Rice Box

For its first truly suburban location, Peterson plans to offer a more efficient pickup system for to-go orders. Dubbed The Rice Box Pickup Reactors, the system applies Rice Box’s sci-fi aesthetic to curbside ordering. As seen in the rendering above, the building will have six slots that drivers will pull into to get their orders.

“The goal is to have guests in and out with food in hand in around 90 seconds,” Peterson writes in an email. “It’s still pickup, but we’re trying to make that moment feel more intentional and more connected to the digital side of Rice Box instead of treating it like an afterthought. We’re looking at this opening as both a new store and a prototype for how Rice Box can work in more suburban markets without losing the part of the brand that makes it feel like us.”

Bay Area-area diners can expect the same menu as the Rice Box’s other locations. That includes staples such as General Tso’s chicken, sesame chicken, beef with broccoli, and orange peel beef. The restaurant also serves traditional Chinese-inspired fare such as Chongqing chicken, cumin beef, mapo tofu, and chow fun noodles.

Recently, Peterson rolled out a new version of Rice Box’s dumplings. Available in chicken, pork, or vegetable, each style of dumpling comes with a different wrapper that enhances the filling’s flavor. They’re also available either steamed or fried.

The Rice Box started as a food truck in the early 2010s. After moving to a permanent location in the Greenway Plaza food court, it has opened brick-and-mortar locations in the Heights, River Oaks, Rice Village, and Memorial.

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