New options at Rice Village

3 hot new spots for dining and shopping are on the horizon for Rice Village

Rice Village has announced three exciting new additions that will continue to bolster its reputatation as a shopping and dining destination.

Of the three, the biggest news is that Houston will soon be home to an outpost of Dallas-based pizza restaurant and wine bar Sixty Vines. Slated to open next year in a two-story, almost 9,000-square foot space at 2540 University Blvd. (formerly Gymboree), the restaurant features "wine country" cuisine that includes seasonal produce, infused olive oils, sustainable seafood, locally raised beef and poultry, artisanal pizza, charcuterie, and rustic breads, according to CultureMap Dallas. In addition, the restaurant's extensive selection of wines on tap makes it easier for aspiring oenophiles to broaden their palates.

In addition to pizza and wine, Rice Village shoppers will have a new destination for sweets courtesy of Steel City Pops, which will open this summer at 2565 Amherst St. The Alabama-based popsicle purveyor offers both fruit-based and creamy frozen treats. The new location will be the company's third in the Houston-area, joining outposts in the Heights and Sugar Land.

Finally, fashionistas will be celebrating the arrival of the city's third Drybar. Known for its luxurious decor and quick, convenient appointments, the salon will open later this year at 2521 Amherst St.

"The recent transformations at Rice Village have attracted some of the best and most relevant national and regional brands to this highly affluent and underserved trade area," said Trademark Property Co CEO Terry Montesi in a statement. "Rice Village is evolving into an even more compelling contemporary shopping and dining destination and Houston’s largest and most vibrant authentic street retail district.”

These three new arrivals constitute the latest changes at the shopping district, which has also seen the recent additions of Hopdoddy, Shake Shack, and SusieCakes. Expect more announcements soon; after all, that Nao Ramen space can't stay empty forever.

Sixty Vines is bringing pizza and wine to Rice Village.

Sixty Vines

Sixty Vines is bringing pizza and wine to Rice Village.

pizza openings

Houston's smallest restaurant?

Michelin-recognized Houston sushi chef fires up 4-seat Japanese skewer spot

Courtesy of Sip & Skewer

Diners sit in front of chefs cooking on a grill.

The team behind one of Houston’s Michelin-recognized sushi restaurants is opening an intimate new izakaya. Sip & Skewer is the newest concept from Hidden Omakase owner Tuan Tran and chef Marcos Juarez.

Opening Friday, February 13, Sip & Skewer is a four-seat restaurant devoted to skewered meats that’s located within Sushi by Hidden, the group’s affordable omakase restaurant in Rice Village. At Sip & Skewer, diners sit across from the chefs as they cook a 10-course, $90 meal on a Japanese binchotan grill.

“Sip & Skewer is small, loud, and intentional. The kind of hidden experience you’d find in Tokyo,” Tran said. “And with Chef Marcos guiding the team at Sushi by Hidden, this space is getting new energy from every angle.”

A four-seat restaurant within a 10-seat restaurant might seem kind of superfluous, but Tran explains that it’s part of a larger plan for his group of restaurants, which also includes West U. hand roll restaurant Norigami. It also builds on the success of Hidden Omakase, the Galleria-area sushi counter that earned a Recommended designation in the Michelin Guide.

“Sip & Skewer is part of a larger vision. It’s designed as a stepping stone toward our next concept, Kōri, a new hand roll and craft cocktail bar opening in the Heights. Our plan is to open Sip & Skewer directly next to our hand roll spot, creating a small alley of Japanese concepts that feed into one another,” Tran explains.

“This allows us to build awareness, train our team in a new format, and introduce guests to Japanese charcoal grilling in a very personal way before we scale the idea into a larger setting with Kōri. The four-seat format keeps overhead extremely low while serving as a live test kitchen and brand builder for what’s coming next,” he adds.

On a related note, Juarez and the other chefs at Hidden Omakase are dividing their time between all three restaurants. Tuam explains that it’s a deliberate strategy to ensure a consistent customer experience.

“The same team that works Michelin-recognized omakase service also runs the grill here, which keeps quality and execution consistent while allowing the chefs a creative outlet in a very different format,” Tran said. “Because Sip & Skewer is only four seats and reservations only, it does not require a dedicated full-time staff. It’s an extension of the team rather than a separate operation.”