Penny Quarter shutters

Acclaimed Montrose cafe and wine bar suddenly shutters due to COVID-19

Penny Quarter has closed for now.

Photo by Jenn Duncan

The disruption caused by COVID-19 has brought the closing of another restaurant. Penny Quarter, the Montrose cafe and wine bar, has “closed indefinitely,” co-owner Bobby Heugel announced via social media on Sunday, May 31.

“Penny Quarter is particularly vulnerable to what’s happening,” Heugel tells CultureMap. Our model there is trying to sell more casual items at a lower price point in large quantities over an extended amount of hours. COVID-19 really hurts that business model.

“We have three employee groups: kitchen, barista staff, and bar staff. For us to support that many people at higher wages with insurance, we need the space to be busy at all times. It’s just not possible under the current circumstances.”

Heugel, a current James Beard Award finalist as the owner of Anvil Bar & Refuge, partnered with James Beard Award-winning chef Justin Yu to open Penny Quarter in August 2019; it functioned as a companion to Anvil, its sister concept next door. The duo co-own two other concepts in The Heights: Better Luck Tomorrow and Squable.

Penny Quarter, a CultureMap Tastemaker Award nominee for Bar of the Year, operated as a coffee shop in the morning and afternoon before switching to more of a wine bar in the evenings. Yu and Better Luck Tomorrow chef Natasha Douglas collaborated on a “nutritious” menu with a focus on vegan and vegetarian options. Acclaimed bartender Sarah Crowl (Coltivare) joined the project in February to fortify its cocktail offerings. Despite its short run, Heugel says he feels good about what his team created at Penny Quarter.

“We don’t feel like we missed the mark on the concept,” Heugel says. “We adjusted the menu and pushed that change creatively, but we didn’t change a whole lot about the space . . . We feel like we were opening a business that was successful and was paying its investors back.”

While Penny Quarter is gone for now, Heugel emphasizes that the closure may not be permanent. If diners once again feel comfortable sharing a space all day, it could come back. For now, Heugel says the company will utilize the space for cocktail events and as a supplement to Anvil, which is currently limited to 25-percent capacity.

closings

BBQ and lion dancers

Heights restaurant celebrates Lunar New Year with epic barbecue collab

Agnes and Sherman Khoi Barbecue Lunar New Year dinner

Photo by Vivian Leba

Agnes and Sherman owners Lisa Lee and Nick Wong with Khoi Barbecue's Don Nguyen and Theo Nguyen.

For many members of Houston’s Asian community, February is a time to celebrate the Lunar New Year. At Agnes and Sherman, the Asian American diner in the Heights, Lunar New Year provided the restaurant with its first opportunity to host its first collaboration since it opened in April 2025 with Khói Barbecue, the Houston pop-up that puts a Vietnamese spin on traditional Texas barbecue.

“We have always admired what Khoi Barbecue has done in the Houston scene,” Agnes and Sherman co-owner Lisa Lee tells CultureMap. “We think, very similar to us, they are presenting something that is thought of as traditional and really making it their own through family history and helping people to see another side of barbecue.”

Created by Agnes and Sherman chef and co-owner Nick Wong and Khói Barbecue founder Don Nguyen, the three-course menu included appetizers such as smoked duck wonton soup, sichuan lamb sausage, cha lua mortadella, and bun bo hue pig’s head torchon. The entree course included smoked brisket, smoked duck breast a l’orange, and char siu pork ribs. Dessert featured a cafe sua da panna cotta paired with a traditional whole orange and a fortune cookie.

The dinner drew a who’s-who of members of Houston’s restaurant community, including former CultureMap Tastemaker Award winners and nominees such as Raffi Nasr (Craft Pita), Ashley Lai (Dumpling Haus), KK Nepomuceno (formerly of Refuge), Annie Hoshiko (Subo), Josh Deleon (Underground Creamery), Christina Au (Blacksmith), and Omar Arellano (March).

A portions of proceeds benefited Asian Texans for Justice, an AAPI political organization devoted to promoting civic engagement, advocacy, youth leadership development, and coalition building. “This organization does critical work to educate the public and fight for issues that affect the community,” Lee says.

Beyond the celebration, the dinner marked an important moment in the restaurant’s evolution. The whirlwind first year has come with considerable acclaim, including an enthusiastic review in Texas Monthly and a Recommended designation from the Michelin Guide. With operations flowing more smoothly, Lee explains that she and Wong felt it was time to revive the collaborations they participated in prior to the restaurant’s opening.

“When we opened the restaurant, one of the tenets is being part of the community. It’s one of our core values,” Lee says. “We needed to make sure we were sustainable first before we started to branch out. If we can do more, we want to.”

Next up, Agnes and Sherman will host a pop-up with Food Mahjong Club, a New York City-based organization that’s held pop-ups in Chinatown. Taking place March 2, it will feature a mahjong tournament and food and drink specials. Details will be released soon.

Photo by Vivian Leba

Agnes and Sherman owners Lisa Lee and Nick Wong with Khoi Barbecue's Don Nguyen and Theo Nguyen.

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