the end of an era

Houston's oldest family-owned grocery store announces end of an epicurean era

The last Rice Epicurean will close in July.

Houston's oldest family-owned grocery store will soon close its doors. Rice Epicurean Market announced it will close its remaining location in Briargrove at the end of July.

Located at 2020 Fountain View Dr., the store will become a new location of Spec's Wines, Spirits, and Finer Foods. It is expected to open later this year, according to the letter, which was authored by owners Gary Friedlander, Bruce Levy, Tommy Friedlander, Scott Silverman, and Phil Cohen.

"With the closing of our last store, this is a historic time for our family as we complete the transition of our business that we began several years ago," the letter reads. Later, it adds, "Our family's business has naturally expanded over the years into real estate, in neighborhood shopping centers initially with our own stores, and now with many quality retailers. With this transaction, our family's business progression and growth in the Houston real estate business continues."

Founded in 1937 as the the Rice Boulevard Food Market, Rice Epicurean grew to five Houston-area locations. In 2012, its owners sold four of those location to the Fresh Market grocery chain but kept the Fountain View location.

Fans appreciate the store for its peerless customer service, extensive selection of hard-to-find boutique items from around the world, and overall convenience. The store's catering department is particularly well-regarded by portions of Houston's Jewish community, which uses it for both happy occasions and to provide comfort to families mourning the death of a loved one. Of course, the closure affects more than the store's customers.

"We also recognize that this transaction affects people who have worked for our stores for many years, some dating back to the original Rice Food Market stores," the letter reads. "They are all very important to us. We plan to keep as many people working as we wind down the operations through the end of July and use the transition period to help our associates that are looking for new positions."

closings

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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