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.
