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    banging the drum

    Atlanta-based fast-casual Asian restaurant beats new path into Houston

    Holly Beretto
    Aug 30, 2019 | 2:25 pm
    Tin Drum Houston
    Tin Drum is coming to Houston.
    Photo courtesy of Tin Drum

    Atlanta-based Tin Drum Asian Kitchen is coming to Houston in the concept's first expansion outside Georgia. Houston restaurateurs Shairoz Lakhani, Avez Maredia, and Faizan Momin will own and operate the imprint, inspired by street-side Asian cafes.

     

    The concept is named for the "tin drummer" of Asian culture, who served as something of a town crier. Legend has it, every morning, he'd walk the streets, banging his drum, urging people into bustling cafes, where he could share the news of the day as they fed their bodies.

     

    The menu is a mashup of bold flavored Asian’s greatest hits, sharing space with sandwiches and what the chain calls "urban garden" items, all of it taken from the cultures of China, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Japan, Korea, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.

     

    Look for choices like tikka masala, Singapore curry noodles, Thai curry with coconut milk, Korean fried chicken sliders, Saigon summer salad, and crab and cheese spring rolls.

     

    “Houston is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the country with diners who crave international flavors,” said Steven Chan, Tin Drum's founder and CEO in a press release about the expansion. “Shairoz, Avez, and Faizan are the perfect owners to help us grow our brand. They are quality young entrepreneurs who have been die-hard fans of Tin Drum since the beginning. Their combination of operational experience and ability to understand our customer make them the perfect team for our Houston debut."

     

    The trio currently owns and operates three Wingstop restaurants in Texas with two more under construction. They fell in love with the Tin Drum concept while they were university students in Atlanta, where the concept has been a favorite since its opening more than 15 years ago.

     

    “We have wanted to open a location in Houston since we got into the restaurant business after graduating,” said Lakhani. “There are not many Asian fusion restaurants in Houston; we think Tin Drum will fill that void.”

     

    No location has been set, but Tin Drum should open by the end of the year.

     
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    welcome to paradise

    Veteran Houston bartender shakes up the Heights with new tropical bar

    Eric Sandler
    Jul 8, 2025 | 1:12 pm
    Berwick's Birds of Paradise bar exterior
    Photo by Eric Sandler
    Berwick's Birds of Paradise opened on July 4.

    The woman behind your favorite bartender’s favorite bar has quietly opened a new cocktail spot in the Heights. Called Berwick’s Birds of Paradise, it’s the latest project from Double Trouble owner Robin Berwick.

    Berwick tells CultureMap that she began looking for a new project about a year ago. Double Trouble, a coffee and cocktail bar that opened in late 2011, no longer required her full attention. She found an ideal space with the former La Coqueta at 2020 Studewood Street, a standalone building in a prime area of the Heights. Similar to Double Trouble, Berwick took inspiration from tropical destinations for BBOP's (pronounced “be bop”) drinks and design — with some additional flair from the only kind of bar she’s never worked at.

    “I might be embarrassed if you print this, but it’s the truth. I have bartended in just about every category of bar: restaurant bar, nightclub, dance club, strip club, dive bar, and Anvil and Poison Girl, the cocktail bars that people knew me from before Double Trouble,” she says.

    “The only place I didn’t work that I wanted to was a resort hotel bar. I never want to be responsible for running a hotel, but I wanted to open a bar that felt like it was once attached to a hotel.”

    Patrons will notice a screen printed portrait of a woman hanging on one of the bar’s walls. Berwick has decided that it depicts the mythical owner of the non-existent hotel that BBOP is attached to.

    “I don’t know her name, but she’s a little spooky and she’s blue. I just look at her and ask her what would she do,” Berwick says.

    Berwick worked with Jarred Pruitt and Eli Ashby at Houston builder Pruitt Structures to renovate the space with everything from new plumbing and HVAC systems to a vintage-inspired tile floor and an all-new ceiling treatment. The costs ran a little higher than expected, but Berwick cites her “fantastic investors” who raised the money required to build the bar she envisioned.

     Berwick's Birds of Paradise bar interior The building received a comprehensive renovation to become Berwick's Birds of Paraidse.Photo by Eric Sandler

    The cocktail menu takes a similarly tropical (not to be confused with tiki) theme. For example, the bar’s frozen cocktail is called La Bruha, after a nickname Berwick received from the tradesmen who helped renovate the bar. “It’s a riff on an El Diablo,” she explains, “Tequila, fresh lime juice, spicy ginger beer, habanero tincture, topped with a layer of elderberry liqueur. The ginger surprises people. It’s got a little punch to it.”

    Similarly, the Crocodile Tears Martini gets a little island flavor courtesy of Strange Water, a coconut water created by former Houstonian Yael Vengroff, and Grey Goose Citra vodka. “Everybody’s been saying it’s ‘dangerously drinkable,’” Berwick adds.

    BBOP’s tidy food menu is overseen by veteran Houston chef Jacob Pate, whose resume includes Coltivare, Good Dog Houston, and the recently-closed Savoir. Current offerings include chicken wings, a smash burger, and a Bikini Sandwich — similar to a Cubano, Pate gives the traditional Catalan-inspired pressed ham and cheese sandwich a Houston twist courtesy of muffaletta compound butter and tomato condiment.

    “On the horizon is a house made sausage dog that I’m excited about,” Pate writes in an email. “At Savoir, we had some fun butchery projects that I would like to build upon where it makes sense. Beyond that, the first priority is figuring out how it all fits in our small kitchen and having fun.”

    In addition to food and drinks, Berwick is working with Heights cigar bar Nice Ash to stock a humidor for BBOP. Patrons will be able to smoke a cigar on the bar’s patio. Because people will be smoking (among other reasons), BBOP is strictly 21-plus.

    The bar opened quietly on July 4. So far, its customers has been a mix of curious neighbors, Double Trouble regulars, and Berwick’s friends in the service industry. After spending so much time on renovations, she says she’s happy to focus on operating her bar.

    “I had been used to this high stress level, waiting for the bottom to drop out [during the renovations],” she says. “When the first guests came in, I relaxed. We know how to make drinks.”

    Currently, the bar is open Wednesday-Sunday from 4pm - midnight. Days of service and hours of operation will expand once additional employees have been hired.

    Berwick's Birds of Paradise bar exterior
      
    Photo by Eric Sandler
    Berwick's Birds of Paradise opened on July 4.
    news/restaurants-bars

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