Waffles all night

New Midtown restaurant serves up savory waffles and sweet cocktails

Waffles: they're not just for breakfast anymore. At least, that's what one veteran chef is betting on at his new Midtown restaurant.

Don Bowie, a veteran of restaurants such as Sweetie Pie's and Flower Child, is opening Taste Bar + Kitchen on Friday, March 29. Located in the former home of Sterling House, the new restaurant serves a comfort food menu oriented around chicken and waffles and mac and cheese. Options include sweet — Fruity Pebbles, chocolate chip, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, etc. — as well as savory items, such as General Tso's chicken and waffles, jerk chicken and waffles, and a cheeseburger waffle that has ground beef, cheddar, and gouda cooked into the waffle batter.

“We are excited to be offering a new spin on comfort food, specifically chicken and waffles," Bowie said in a statement. "Taste Bar + Kitchen is the neighborhood restaurant and bar for anyone and everyone inside and outside of the city.”

As the name implies, cocktails play a significant role in the concept. The bar offers a range of craft cocktails, including a selection of sweeter items intended to be dessert. Of course, it wouldn't be brunch without mimosas, and they're fully accounted for with a number of options.

"Our brand has a sexy, yet comfortable attitude," co-owner Kevin Kelley added. "One in which persons of any demographic and profession can feel comfortable walking in and having a craft cocktail or meal."

Inside, the space has been updated with blue velvet chairs and new lighting, including a mandatory-in-2019 neon sign. The two-story property also features an expansive patio, just in time for spring's mild temperatures.

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Taste Bar + Kitchen, 3015 Bagby St.; Monday through Thursday 5 pm to midnight, Friday 5 pm to 2 am, Saturday 11am to 2 am, Sunday 11 am to 12 am

Taste Bar + Kitchen will offer a range of sweet and savory waffles.

Courtesy of Taste Bar + Kitchen

Taste Bar + Kitchen will offer a range of sweet and savory waffles.

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a spoonful of sugar

New Mexican eatery sweetens Houston with 150 spirits and bold flavors

Courtesy of Mexican Sugar

Mexican Sugar is coming to Regent Square in December.

A Dallas-based Mexican restaurant is coming to Houston. Mexican Sugar will open its first Houston location in Montrose this December.

Located next to Georgia James in the Regent Square mixed-use development, Mexican Sugar will occupy a two-story, 13,000-square-foot building. All that room offers seating for 375 as well as two private dining rooms with full audio-visual capabilities. Both the upstairs and downstairs patios will have a view of nearby Buffalo Bayou Park.

Its part of FB Society, the Dallas-based hospitality group behind Whiskey Cake, Sixty Vines, and Haywire, the Texas-inspired comfort food restaurant that opened its first Houston-area location earlier this year. Mexican Sugar has three locations in the Dallas area: Plano, Las Colinas, and Uptown Dallas.

In a release, Mexican Sugar touts its use of seasonal ingredients. It also makes its tortillas by hand. Menu highlights include skirt steak, lobster fundido, and a bone-in pork chop. At brunch, look for options such as cajeta French toast, Benedictos Rancheros, and vanilla-cinnamon pancakes.

Agave fans will find plenty of choices courtesy of more the 150 tequilas and mezcals. They’re available in individual pours as well as in flights that allow customers to compare the flavors of the different spirits.

“Our goal is to create a dining experience that blends bold Mexican flavors with our signature style of hospitality that stays two steps ahead,” Justin Beam, Mexican Sugar’s director of operations, said in a statement. “We’re excited to offer Houstonians an immersive Mexican experience in a fresh, light, and approachable way.”

Courtesy of Mexican Sugar

Mexican Sugar is coming to Regent Square in December.

news-you-can-eat openings mexican sugar