HRW Additions

8 last-minute additions to Houston Restaurant Weeks serve up sizzling deals

Houston Restaurant Weeks runs through Labor Day, and diners across the city are deciding which restaurants to patronize. While most of the menus appear on July 15, organizer Cleverley Stone has added a number of additional options during the last two weeks.

As with all HRW participants, the restaurant will make a donation to the Houston Food Bank for each menu sold: $3 for every $20 lunch or brunch; $5 for every $35 dinner; and $7 for every $45. Those donations added up to more than $2.4 million in 2017.

Some of these late additions are from returning participants like Peli Peli and The Palm steakhouse, but several are from first-time participants, including one restaurant that only opened in the last few weeks. These eight restaurants are all new (or new-ish) places that diners should be particularly excited to visit for the first time or offer exceptional value. Don’t let August slip by without trying at least one.

Riel
CultureMap’s pick for the best new restaurant of 2017 has just signed on to HRW. The three-course, $45 dinner menu starts with a choice of watermelon salad, fried rice with shrimp and chinese sausage, or tempura cauliflower. Entree choices include the signature hanger steak with cheddar and potato pierogi and fish with bacon tomato consomme. Of the three dessert options, the sticky toffee pudding with foie gras torchon is the most delicious, but a chocolate ice box cake with malted milk ice cream sounds pretty good, too. 1927 Fairview St.; 832-831-9109

Yauatcha
Sample some of the newest offerings at this upscale dim sum restaurant with its three-course, $45 dinner menu. Starters include scallop shu mai, edamame truffle dumpling, and a spicy pork wonton. For an entree, choose from steamed chili prawns, stir-fried beef tenderloin, or truffle pork belly rib. We can never say no to the elegant raspberry delice dessert, but two other options are also available. 5045 Westheimer Rd.; 713-357-7588

Pappas Delta Blues Smokehouse
This Clear Lake restaurant offers some of the best deals for meat lovers in all of HRW. The entree choices on the three-course, $35 dinner menu include a two-meat barbecue plate, chicken fried ribeye, a 10-ounce filet, and a 16-ounce dry-aged ribeye. Upgrade to 16-ounce USDA Prime, dry-aged New York strip or a massive 26-ounce Prime, dry-aged porterhouse for only $10 more. When the entrees are that appealing, do the appetizer or dessert choices even matter? 19901 Gulf Freeway; 281-332-0024

The Pass
Get a three-course sample of this tasting menu restaurant’s usual five-course offering for only $45 during HRW. Start with tuna belly with black sesame béarnaise, cauliflower panna cotta, or country-style sweetbread pate. Chef-owners Seth Siegel-Gardner and Terrence Gallivan’s creative cooking is on display in entree choices that include short rib dumplings, burrata raviolo, or shrimp-stuffed corn on the cob. For dessert, choose from lime curd with grilled pineapple, chocolate ganache with chocolate puffed rice, or honey-whipped cheese cannoli. 807 Taft St.; 713-628-9020

Oporto Fooding House & Wine
Use HRW as an opportunity to revisit one of Houston’s most underrated restaurants by sampling its three-course, $35 dinner menu. Starters include baked goat cheese, rocket salad with prosciutto, or crab and avocado crostini. For an entree, choose a wood-grilled hanger steak with fried egg, seafood curry with house-baked naan, or wood-grilled octopus with mustard seed shaak potatoes. Dessert choices include madeira bread pudding and espresso chocolate torte. 125 West Gray Ave.; 713-528-0115

Chapman & Kirby
Known for its hopping nightlife scene, this EaDo hotspot is earning raves for its food, too. The three-course, $35 dinner menu starts with salmon croquettes, tuna tiradito, or burrata salad with peach and pear. Entree options include classic boef bourguignon, chicken over mushroom risotto, and blackened mahi mahi with garlic chickpea puree. A diner could choose grilled peaches or a sorbet trio, but we’re betting the build-your-own s’mores will be the most popular dessert option. 2118 Lamar St.; 713-636-9615

El Big Bad
The downtown taco and tequila bar delivers great value with a four-course, $35 dinner menu. Start with queso, guacamole, or salsa. Continue with one of four veggie options. For an entree, choose from chicken, beef, or mushroom fajitas or veggie enchiladas. Finish up with bread pudding, tres leches, or fruit salad. 419 Travis St.; 713-229-8181

La Villa Saint Tropez
Houston’s newest French restaurant is offering a three-course, $45 dinner menu. Starter choices include arugula salad and herb-buttered scallops. Entree choices include a six-ounce duck breast with mushroom polenta and a Riviera bouillabaisse with saffron potatoes. Finish the meal with chocolate lava cake, fruit salad, or strawberry banoffee pie. 4315 Montrose Blvd.; 713-524-0070

Get a Prime ribeye at Pappas Delta Blues Smokehouse.

Pappas Delta Blues Smokehouse prime ribeye

Photo by Julie Soefer

Get a Prime ribeye at Pappas Delta Blues Smokehouse.

where-to-eat news-you-can-eat

service switcheroo

Street food-inspired Houston restaurant swaps counter service for servers

Photo by Andrew Hemingway

Traveler's Cart is add new dishes to its menu, including steak frites and chicken parm.

A globally-inspired Houston restaurant is making a big change to its service model. Traveler’s Cart will switch from counter service to full service beginning this Monday, November 17.

When owners Thy and Matthew Mitchell opened Traveler’s Cart last year as a more casual sister concept to Traveler’s Table, their globally-inspired Montrose restaurant, they decided counter service would match the restaurant’s street food-inspired menu and lower price point. With a year of experience, they’ve decided full service — where diners sit down and order from a server — will improve the customer experience in a number of ways.

First, they noticed that some of their online reviews go to great lengths to explain the ordering process. Moving to traditional table service will elimination that confusion.

“We want to be like a great brasserie or izakaya where people come and enjoy food and drinks at a reasonable price,” Matthew Mitchell tells CultureMap. “There’s a lack of intuitiveness about the process right now. Almost a year in, we’re still having to explain where you go and how you order. That tells you we probably missed the mark.”

He also recognizes that the inherent uncertainty of counter service — people are concerned about how long they’ll have to wait to order and whether a table will be available once they do — limits the restaurant’s appeal as a date night option or for larger groups who want the certainty of having a place to sit.

Even though the restaurant has been a financial success, according to Mitchell, he thinks Traveler’s Cart is missing out on revenue with its counter service model. “I think people order less at the counter. You may not order a cocktail, and you certainly won’t get back up and order more drinks,” he says.

Switching to full service will also help the restaurant’s perceived value. With entrees mostly priced between $15 and $25, the restaurant may feel expensive relative to other fast casual restaurants. Once servers are added, Mitchell thinks diners will appreciate the value, particularly since its prices are about half of sister concept Traveler’s Table.

“I feel like the food quality is outstanding for the price, but when it crosses that $20 or $30 threshold, people perceive it as pricey,” he says.

Traveler’s Cart has other ways to enhance the value of its offering, such as its $18, three-course lunch that includes iced tea or a fountain drink. Happy hour, available Monday through Friday from 3-6 pm, includes $8 cocktails, $3 drafts, $8 small plates, and more.

Along with the new service model, Travelers Cart is updating its menu with a number of new dishes. They include Thai chili queso, Baja shrimp tacos, salmon donburi bowl, chicken parmesan, and steak frites. The cocktail menu has also been refreshed with a Mexican espresso martini and a Tuk Tuk Old Fashioned, named for the vehicle that now sits in front of the restaurant’s entrance.

Recently recognized by the Texas Restaurant Association as Restaurateurs of the Year for the Houston region, the Mitchells hope that these changes will lead to even more success. With the service style refined and the menu dialed in, they’re already looking for another location.

Photo by Andrew Hemingway

Traveler's Cart is add new dishes to its menu, including steak frites and chicken parm.

news-you-can-eat