While Houston has undeniably evolved as a restaurant city, local diners still love a good steak. Beginning this Friday, a new restaurant will give the city an all-you-can-eat wagyu experience.
Meet Wagyu House. Opening this Friday, May 1 in the former Peli Peli space in the Galleria (5085 Westheimer Suite 2515), the Japanese barbecue restaurant is the latest project from Chubby Group, a wagyu-focused hospitality company that first made a splash locally with Mikiya Wagyu Shabu House, an all-you-can-eat, wagyu-based shabu shabu concept that opened in 2024.
“Houston is a fantastic city with a very vibrant culture about Asian food,” Chubby Group partner David Zhao tells CultureMap. “Experiencing domestic wagyu, Australian wagyu, and A5 wagyu from Japan, the customers have been very fond of that, and we’ve seen that in the feedback. That’s why we’re very excited to bring more of our concepts here.”
What distinguishes Wagyu House from, say, a typical Korean barbecue restaurant is that all of its meats are wagyu — either domestic, Australian, or Japanese. The restaurant offers four tiers of pricing — silver, gold, diamond, or black diamond — that each offer increased access to more premium cuts of beef. For example, silver includes less premium cuts of both domestic and Australian wagyu such as chuck, brisket, and shoulder. Stepping up to gold adds in a limited amount of those same cuts from Japan, while diamond offers unlimited meats from all three countries.
Each tier also includes a selection of unlimited appetizers and snacks, such as gyoza, shrimp tempura, salmon nigiri, yellowtail nigiri, and fountain drinks. Prices start at around $55 for silver and go up to about $100 for diamond, plus any alcoholic beverages and tip. Considering Japanese wagyu can sell at restaurants for $40 or more per ounce, the restaurant offers a lot of value for meat lovers.
“It’s very difficult to get that kind of pricing,” Zhao says. “We supply the cuts and we buy the cattle as a whole instead of a third party. Because of that, we’re able to provide significant value to our customers.”
The restaurant also runs a higher food cost than most, at close to 40 percent. To make money, the restaurant needs to be busy all the time, Zhao explains.
“The only way we’re profitable is to squeeze our occupancy cost to three or four percent instead of 13 percent,” he says. “Our dollar per square foot has to be ridiculous. We have to have lines out the door. We have to pack the house daily.”
Wagyu House offers diners the opportunity to get even lower pricing by joining its membership program. Priced at $58 per year, members receive lower pricing on their meals as well as access to a concierge service that will make priority reservations that allow them to skip ahead of non-members for tables. As Zhao points out, members earn back the cost after two or three visits, making it a useful option for the restaurant’s most ardent fans. Even better, it’s valid at all of the company’s locations, which will grow to as many as 100 by the end of 2026.
All-you-can-eat concepts are having a moment in Houston, especially with sushi, where restaurants like Seven Sushi & Robata are drawing crowds. Wagyu House is a more premium experience, but Zhao understands why these concepts appeal to diners.
“There's a dopamine hit when you go to a restaurant and you don’t have to think about menu pricing,” Zhao says. “You get value. That’s a big component. You don’t have to worry about what you order. You can have it all at an amazing price point.”
