Non-Smoking Cigar Bar Closes

Puff, it's gone: Cigar bar that went non-smoking has apparently closed

Former cigar bar Downing Street Pub has apparently closed. A CultureMap reader says he spoke with an employee who informed him of the closure. In addition, the bar's website has been taken offline and no posts have been made to its Facebook page in over a week. An employee at a neighboring business observed that the bar, which is usually open for lunch, was locked up all day Wednesday.

Downing Street made the decision to go non-smoking in March to better accommodate the arrival of the recently opened Local Foods and the Memorial Hermann Breast Care Center that operates above the bar. Managing partner Lawrence Daniel told CultureMap that the property's landlord was "heavily involved" in the decision to end smoking at the space.

When CultureMap first reported on Downing Street's decision to go non-smoking in February, Daniel predicted the bar would be able to successfully transition away from cigar enthusiasts by attracting non-smokers who had previously avoided the bar's smoky atmosphere. "If we were to go completely non-smoking, what might that open up," he wondered. "Nobody in Houston can touch our back bar . . . in single malt Scotches and bourbon."

Unfortunately, that prediction hasn't been proven true. TABC records show that the bar reported Mixed Beverage revenue of almost $92,000 in February, the last full month of smoking. By April, that number was down to less than $33,700. More recent numbers aren't available, but anecdotal reports suggest a continued decline.

Neither Daniel nor co-founding partner Chris Hill immediately responded to CultureMap's request for comment about the decision or the space's future. When they do, we will update this article with their comments.

Upper Kirby has seen many changes over the past year with openings like Nara, Trenza, 60 Degrees Mastercrafted, Grace's and Pico's balanced out by a wave of recent closures that includes Brio, Saint Genevieve, the Roak/OTC "funeral bars" and others.

Could the corner of Kirby and Westheimer be the sort of "spectacular" location Austin chef Ned Elliot said would lure him to open a second location of his restaurant Foreign and Domestic in Houston? Only time will tell.

unspecified

fit to print

New York Times critic awards Houston restaurant 2 stars in glowing review

Courtesy of ChòpnBlọk

undefined

Let’s just call 2025 the year of ChòpnBlọk. In a review published Tuesday, December 16, the New York Times has awarded the Houston restaurant two stars (“very good”).

Written by chief restaurant critic Tejal Rao, the review touts many of the same qualities that the Times already praised when it included ChòpnBlọk on its list of America’s 50 best restaurants.

Rao writes that she usually avoids restaurants that serve food in bowls, but she’s impressed by the way that chef-owner Ope Amosu has put a West African spin on the concept.

“For inspiration, Ope Amosu looked to the kind of chain restaurants that were built to scale, where flavors are often subdued to appeal to the broadest possible audience, focus-grouped to death. But the delight of ChòpnBlok is in its sure sense of self, its lively, multidimensional cooking and clear, delicious vision for modern food from the Black diaspora,” Rao writes.

She singles out specific dishes, including the Nigerian red stew with short rib, the Black Star bowl with shrimp, and the signature Motherland, made with chicken, greens, and plantains. “It’s utterly simple, but draws you in for more with the mouthwatering twang of not-too-much MSG — an international shortcut to building umami that tends to be used carefully, and layered with other forms,” she writes.

The review also touches on the way Amosu switched the restaurant from counter service to full service — described as “warm, informal, and quick with the jokes” — and his time working at Chipotle to learn the basics of the restaurant operations.

A two-star review is only the latest instance of ChòpnBlọk receiving national attention. In addition to the Times 50 best list, Esquire recently named it one of America’s best new restaurants. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand designation for 2025. Amosu earned a semifinalist nomination for Best Chef: Texas in the 2025 James Beard Awards.

news-you-can-eat media