Sneak Peek at Bowl & Barrel

Upscale bowling alley in CityCentre scores as nightlife entertainment destination

CityCentre has a new place to party. As one would expect, it’s sleek and stylish. It offers a wide variety of cocktails, craft beer on tap, and a commitment to hospitality.

What’s unexpected is that it also offers 14 lanes of bowling.

Meet Bowl & Barrel, an upscale bowling concept from Dallas-based restaurant group FreeRange Concepts that brings Top Golf-style glitz to a pastime that’s faded in popularity over the years. After some invite-only previews, it opens to the public on Monday.

Owner Kyle Noonan tells CultureMap that he and business partner Josh Sepkowitz realized that the act of bowling is still fun, but the experience didn’t match the standards of hospitality that Noonan learned during his time working for Pappas Restaurants. Bowl & Barrel seeks to fill that niche.

Sticky floors and stale popcorn are out. Reclaimed wood ceilings, full service at the lanes (the staff even brings bowlers their shoes), and scratch made food is in. While it may host kids' birthday parties on weekend afternoons, Bowl & Barrel aims to be an entertainment destination for adults.

Even the bowling has been made more efficient. The individual pins are on strings. While that has a very slight effect on the way they fall that might displease weekly league night types, it also means that lanes reset in about 10 seconds. Basically, as soon as the ball returns, you’re ready to roll.

That sort of efficiency is important when people are paying $22 for 30 minutes on a lane Friday through Sunday (or $16 Monday through Thursday). Add in food and drinks, and the prices become pretty consistent with what a group of friends would typically spend bar hopping in Midtown.

“I cut my teeth with (Pappas) and I couldn’t imagine a better company to learn from,” Noonan says. “Their principles are still ingrained from the standpoint of let’s make a plate of food. I don’t want to see how much it costs. I want to know whether it tastes good and what’s the process, where are we sourcing from. If it’s good enough, we’ll serve it and put an appropriate price on it.”

If the food served during Wednesday night’s VIP preview party is any indication, that food's quality will surprise people. Everything is designed for sharing, ranging from giant pretzels to 18-inch pizzas, charcuterie plates, meatballs, and more.

Bowl & Barrel shares a kitchen with the General Public, an upscale pub that will open in a couple of weeks with a completely separate menu. Taken together, they should give CityCentre a nightlife destination its lacked since the sudden closure of The Marque earlier this year.

Bowl & Barrel doesn't look like a typical bowling alley.

Photo by Chris Brown of Cooper + Ricca

Bowl & Barrel doesn't look like a typical bowling alley.

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they're back

2 treasured Houston Mexican restaurants reopen after brief closures

Courtesy of Picos

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Two staple Houston-area Mexican restaurants are making comebacks after brief closures. Picos has already returned to service, while El Tiempo Cantina’s Webster location isn’t far behind.

After closing its Upper Kirby location on August 30, Picos reopened Saturday, September 12 in the former Cyclone Anaya’s space in River Oaks (3736 Westheimer Rd.). The move is only about two miles from Picos’ former home at Kirby and Richmond.

Chef-owner Arnaldo Richards partnered with Cyclone Anaya’s owners The Dhanani Group to transform the space into Picos. It allows Richards to preserve Picos, which opened on Bellaire Blvd. in 1984 and operated on Kirby Dr. for 12 years. Last year, Richards announced Picos would close due to declining sales but later stated his intentions to find a new, slightly smaller home for the restaurant. That dream was realized via a “last-minute agreement” with Cyclone Anaya’s owners The Dhanani Group according to press materials.

“After spending the past year searching for a new home, it truly feels like the stars aligned,” Richards said in a statement. “We were willing to do anything we could to keep Picos, and we finally found the right space for this next-generation evolution of Picos.”

Picos Westheimer River Oaks interior The new Picos features an indoor-outdoor bar.Photo by Becca Wright

At over 6,000 square feet, the new Picos still offers a spacious environment that includes an indoor-outdoor bar. It will serve the same menu as the prior locations, including fan favorites such as moles from all seven regions on Mexico, enchiladas, and the signature shaker margaritas.

“As native Houstonians, we understand what Picos means to this city and the generations of Houstonians who have supported the restaurant for more than 40 years,” said Usman Dhanani of The Dhanani Group, which still operates five other locations of Cyclone Anaya’s across Houston. “We’re excited to partner with Arnaldo and his family to carry the Picos tradition forward and ensure that a restaurant so deeply rooted in Houston remains part of the city’s dining community for years to come.”

The Houston Chronicle was first to report that Picos had reopened.

El Tiempo Cantina Post Houston El Tiempo is returning to Webster. Courtesy of El Tiempo Cantina

As for El Tiempo, franchisee Liquid Gold Hospitality surprised Bay Area diners when it abruptly closed the location at 20237 Gulf Fwy at the end of August. In a Facebook post, El Tiempo announced the location will reopen under direct management of the Laurenzo family, which founded El Tiempo and operates most of its other locations.

Notably, the post did not specify an opening date, merely that the restaurant is “reopening soon.”

El Tiempo’s Webster location opened at the end of 2017 after significant delays, including a lawsuit between the Laurenzo family and Liquid Gold. Overall, Houston is home to 18 locations of El Tiempo, with its outpost at The Post in downtown Houston being the most recent to open.

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