farewell ivy & james

Bellaire restaurant shutters, with Korean-Mexican spot to pop up in its place

The Ivy & James closed on June 30.

Courtesy photo

The Ivy & James restaurant had only grown a year into its lease at Evelyn’s Park Conservancy. Now its co-owner, Edgardo de la Garza, has announced its closure as of Saturday, June 30.

Fans of the Evelyn’s Park Conservancy space can instead expect a pop-up café concept at the popular Yellow House at 4400 Bellaire Blvd. After a brief closing, the Yellow House is slated to reopen by mid-July. The first tenant will be Oh My Gogi!, which will showcase its Korean-Mexican cuisine and debut a new breakfast menu. As different chefs and concepts utilize the the space, the Conservancy will seek a permanent restaurant operator to take over the café.

The Ivy & James was operated by restaurateurs Jamie and Dalia Zelko, who closed their popular Heights Zelko Bistro in June 2016 to open Ivy & James. (Jamie Zelko departed the ownership and management team in November 2017.) But as Bellaire-area media outlets have reported, The Ivy & James faced several challenges over the past year.

“Evelyn’s Park is sad to say goodbye to Ed [de la Garza] and the devoted staff at The Ivy and James,” noted Patricia King-Ritter, President of Evelyn’s Park Conservancy, in a statement. “The mission at Evelyn’s Park is to be a place for the residents of Bellaire and beyond to enrich their lives every day, and the café space is very much a part of that vision,” she added. Anyone interested in bringing a food truck or pop-up concept to Evelyn’s Park should email pkr@evelynspark.org.

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With or Without Whiz

Houston burger mastermind fires up new pop-up devoted to Philly cheesesteaks

Photo by Michael Ma

Abbas Dhanani is serving up cheesesteaks at his new pop-up.

Abbas Dhanani is at it again. The food influencer-turned-restaurateur behind the CultureMap Tastemaker Award-winning smash burger concept Burger Bodega is firing up a new pop-up concept devoted to another iconic sandwich.

Called Bas’s Cheesesteaks, the new concept will Dhanani’s take on the classic Philly cheesesteak, made with sliced ribeye and white cheese on a seeded hoagie roll — onions and a spicy sauce are optional. A second version swaps the white cheese for Cheez Whiz. Like Burger Bodega, Dhanani is using halal beef for his cheesesteaks.

Bas's Cheesesteaks cheesesteak sandwich The cheesesteak is served on a seeded hoagie roll.Photo by Michael Ma

“We have experimented with cheesesteaks as specials on the menu at Burger Bodega and received amazing feedback,” Dhanani said in a statement. “However, the cheesesteaks at Bas’s are the most refined versions we have done so far. I am excited to bring authentic Philly cheesesteaks to Houston as a new flavor experience while continuing to build on the energy and community we have created at Burger Bodega. This is a huge passion project for me, and I plan to take it step by step, just like Burger Bodega."

As Dhanani notes, he introduced Burger Bodega with a series of pop-ups throughout Houston. To answer the obvious question, of course a restaurant could be in the cards for Bas’s, too.

“I think thats the goal of any new pop-up concept,” Dhanani tells CultureMap. “Like Burger Bodega, we want to take it one step at a time and see where it goes.”

Bas’s Cheesesteaks will have its first pop-up on Monday, June 30 at Burger Bodega’s location (4520 Washington Avenue). In addition to the two cheesesteaks, diners can get fries. Future pop-ups will be announced via Instagram.

As for Burger Bodega’s second location in Katy, Dhanani says it’s still working through securing the necessary permits to begin construction.

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