celebrity sandwiches

Houston celebrities unwrap 'famous' sandwiches for good cause

Bun B and the "Hot Wang" sandwich.

Photo by Emily Jaschke

Houstonians always appreciate the opportunity to eat well and raise money for charity — just consider the success of Houston Restaurant Weeks. Now, one of the city's most well-known sandwich purveyors is adding a celebrity twist to the culinary fundraiser.

Antone's Famous Po' Boys will partner with a series of local luminaries for its H-Town Originals series. Over the next several months, the prominent people will collaborate with Legacy Restaurants corporate executive chef Alex Padilla to create a signature sandwich. In exchange, Antone's will donate 50 percent of the sandwich's sales to a charity of the celebrity's choice.

Hip hop legend Bun Bkicks off the promotion. His "hot wang sandwich" features a breaded and fried chicken breast that's "drizzled" with buffalo sauce and topped with crispy bacon and blue cheese-ranch dressing. Proceeds from the sandwich ($8.95, available through the end of September) will benefit Second Servings of Houston, a local non-profit that rescues perishable food from events and restaurants and donates it to charitable meal sites.

In October, Houston Texans outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus will create a sandwich to raise funds for his WithMerci Foundation that supports families of children with disabilities and special needs. This year, the foundation is focused on Down Syndrome, and October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month.

Other participants include: November, Donkeeboy (local artist Alex Roman Jr.); December, Kaiser Lashkari (chef-owner of Himalaya); January, Pierce Bush (CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star); February, Ryan Lachaine (chef-owner of Riel Restaurant); March, Kam Franklin (lead singer for The Suffers); and April, Brock Wagner (founder of Saint Arnold). More celebrities will be announced in the coming months. Antone's will donate an additional $5,000 to the charity of the sandwich that has the highest sales.

“Antone’s has been a Houston original for the past 57 years,” Legacy Restaurants CEO Jonathan Horowitz said in a statement. “We thought this would be a great way to highlight some of our city’s original personalities and support a host of excellent local charities and nonprofits. We look forward to welcoming each of our celebrity chefs into the kitchen at Antone’s to see what they come up with.”

fundraisers news-you-can-eat

BOGO Banh Mi

Houston Vietnamese restaurant rolls out new Spring Branch outpost

Courtesy of Saigon Hustle

Saigon Hustle will open its new location on Thursday, October 10.

A rapidly growing Houston Vietnamese restaurant has big plans for National Banh Mi Day, which is this Thursday, October 10. Saigon Hustle will mark the occasion by opening its new Spring Branch location.

Located in a converted gas station at 1223 Witte Road, the new Saigon Hustle both preserves all of the things that have made the original Garden Oaks location a success for founders Cassie Ghaffar and Sandy Nguyen and takes advantage of having twice as much space to add new menu items and a more complete dining experience.

Saigon Hustle Spring Branch rendering A rendering previews the restaurant's new location.Courtesy of Saigon Hustle

By going from just over 800-square-feet to 2,000, Saigon Hustle will be able to offer indoor seating for the first time. Total capacity is about 70 diners.

“The dine in is huge. We don’t have a lot of customer interaction [at Garden Oaks],” Ghaffar tells CultureMap. “We’re excited to have the customer facing side, interacting with them, watching them eat our food, without losing the drive-thru.”

A larger kitchen means that Saigon Hustle will be able to add pho to its menu for the first time. Diners will have their choice of chicken — made with sous vide chicken breast — or beef, which will come with the traditional round eye, brisket, and meatballs.

“There are so many people who come in expecting pho. When they can’t get it, they walk out,” Nguyen says.

As for the rest of the menu, it will include all of the banh mi, egg rolls, spring rolls, and rice dishes that have made the original a hit. Beverage options include both Vietnamese iced coffee and a tea bar that includes both milk tea and Thai-style iced tea.

Saigon Hustle Cassie Ghaffar Sandy Nguyen Saigon Hustle co-founders Cassie Ghaffar and Sandy Nguyen.Photo by Al Torres

Perhaps even more importantly, this new location is the first since Ghaffar and Nguyen partnered with Savory Fund, a venture capital firm that’s invested in a diverse range of concepts including Austin-based Detroit-style pizzeria Via 313. Originally, Saigon Hustle received a $1 million investment; since then, Savory has committed to helping it grow to as many as 40 units in Texas and the Midwest, Ghaffar and Nguyen say.

“Being a business person, this was the vision from day one. This [investment] has manifested the route we were aiming toward,” Ghaffar adds. “We’re very fortunate Savory believed in us and is helping us create a legacy for our families.”

Saigon Hustle will celebrate its opening with buy-one-get-one free banh mi sandwiches from 10 am - 3 pm on Thursday. Beginning Friday, October 11, it will open daily at 10 am.

news-you-can-eat openings spring branch