time for tacos

Hugo Ortega and Tracy Vaught's exciting new street food concept opens in Uptown Park

One of this year's most eagerly anticipated new restaurants has made its debut. Urbe, a street food concept from husband-and-wife duo Hugo Ortega and Tracy Vaught, began a quiet soft opening Friday, August 27.

Known for their restaurants Hugo's, Backstreet Cafe, Caracol, and Xochi, Urbe has been in development for approximately two years and is the first casual concept for Ortega and Vaught's H-Town Restaurant Group. Located in the former Cafe Express space in Uptown Park, the restaurant will be open for breakfast and lunch for now with dinner and weekend brunch to follow (weekdays 8 am-3 pm; weekends 10 am-3 pm).

For breakfast, Urbe serves breakfast tacos (choice of brisket, carnitas, or potato) along with the James Beard Award winner's take on classic Mexican breakfast dishes. For example, his Chilaquiles Gordos features black beans stuffed between two corn tortillas. The Mollete de Aguacate enhances familiar avocado toast with refried black beans, chihuahua cheese, bacon, amaranth, and a sunny-side-up egg.

At lunch, Urbe serves eight different tacos — including pastor, birria, barbacoa, fried fish, roasted sweet potato, and charred octopus — along with corn-based plates such as a tlayuda, huarache, and gorditas. Other options include taquitos, a squash blossom quesadilla, enchiladas (choice of vegetable, chicken, or brisket), and three tortas.

As part of the renovations that transformed Cafe Express into Urbe, H-Town reoriented the space to put the bar near the entrance and the kitchen in the middle. Inside the space is clean and bright. Front and rear patios offer plenty of outdoor space.

Expect much more about Urbe in the coming weeks. For now, the time has come to eat some tacos.

Pan dulce.

Photo by Eric Sandler

Pan dulce.

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Dine Out and Do Good

6 Rice Village restaurants team up to support Houston hospitality nonprofit

Courtesy of Milton's

Milton's opens September 27.

Some of Rice Village’s top restaurants have teamed up to raise money for the Southern Smoke Foundation. Dine Out Rice Village is taking place through January 31.

Modeled after Houston Restaurant Weeks, each restaurant is serving a prix fixe menu at a set price that includes a donation to Southern Smoke, the Houston-based non-profit that provides emergency assistance and mental health services to hospitality workers.

“January is typically a slower month for restaurants, so if we can encourage folks to go out to eat and simultaneously raise funds for the people growing, cooking, and serving the food and drinks, it’s a win/win all around,” Southern Smoke executive director Lindsey Brown said. “We hope Dine Out Rice Village becomes an essential event in Houston’s food and beverage annual calendar.”

The participating restaurants are:

D’Amico’s: Two-course dinner ($45)
Hamsa: Three-course lunch ($25) and four-course dinner ($55)
Hudson House: Two-course lunch ($20) and three-course dinner ($55)
Mendocino Farms: Golden State Farm Salad (20-percent of sales)
Milton’s: Three-course dinner ($55)
Navy Blue: Two-course lunch ($35) and three-course dinner ($55)

Find the specific dishes and donation amounts in this Instagram post:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Southern Smoke Foundation (@southernsmokefoundation)

Navy Blue co-owner Aaron Bludorn first proposed Dine Out Rice Village in 2025. He encourages diners to sample the restaurant’s crispy salmon with pomme puree and butter-braised leeks.

“We created Dine Out Rice Village in concert with Southern Smoke Foundation to showcase all of the amazing restaurants in the neighborhood,” Bludorn said. “We feel that giving Houstonians a reason to visit the Village is all we need to remind them that it is one of the premier dining destinations in Houston.”

Seth Siegel-Gardner, culinary and creative director for Milton’s owner Local Foods Group, echoed Bludorn’s sentiments. “All of us at Local Foods Group love what Southern Smoke Foundation does for our industry locally and around the country,” he said.

“We’re always proud to support the incredible organization, especially because that usually comes with doing something fun for Houston diners. In this case, the set menu is an awesome deal for a great cause. It’s a good excuse to try or revisit Chef Kent’s legendary Chicken Parm.”

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