the real deal

Veteran Houston restaurateur shakes up downtown with new tequila-fueled Mexican destination

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Courtesy of Gensler

Downtown office workers will soon have a new happy hour option serving Houstonians' favorite spirit. Real Agave opens this Wednesday, September 14, on the first floor of 1100 Louisiana St.

As its name implies, Real Agave is a bar and lounge devoted to tequila and other agave spirits along with a Mexican-inspired food menu. Initially, the bar will be open for happy hour and early dinner from 3:30-8 pm Monday through Friday. Weekday lunch service will begin in October.

Restaurateur Bill Floyd will operate Real Agave in conjunction with El Real, a scaled-down revival of the Montrose Tex-Mex restaurant that closed in 2019. Floyd, a Houston hospitality veteran whose prior experiences include everything from Reef to Potente, also owns Porta'Vino, a wine bar and restaurant with locations on Washington Avenue and in The Woodlands.

Whereas El Real features classic Tex-Mex such as enchiladas, quesadillas, and chips and queso, Real Agave will feature upscale, more traditional Mexican cuisine. Floyd tells the Houston Chronicle that the menu will include dishes such as tuna tiradito, shrimp campechaña, and carnitas sliders with guajillo barbecue sauce.

Diners will also find an upscale environment for their post-work revelry. Global architecture and design firm Gensler transformed a former bank branch into an approximately 2,300-square-foot space that will seat just under 100 people. Design details include custom, hand-painted Dia de Los Muertos murals.

“The classic Tex-Mex menu of El Real has been elevated by chef Derek Cooper to bring mouthwatering bar bites to the Gensler-designed space of Real Agave,” Floyd said in a statement. “The bar, featuring full wine and spirits selections along with the tequilas and mezcals, is staffed by some of Houston’s most accomplished mixologists.”

Tell the bartenders CultureMap sent you.

Courtesy of Gensler

Tell the bartenders CultureMap sent you.

cocktails news-you-can-eat openings downtown

Relish responds

Houston restaurant breaks silence about wage theft allegations

Photo by Julie Soefer

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A Houston restaurant has broken its silence about a lawsuit that accuses it of wage theft. Relish Restaurant & Bar issued a statement about allegations made by an employee that it improperly allocated money from the restaurant’s tip pool:

For more than a decade, we've worked hard to build a restaurant where our employees feel valued and respected. Our team is central to everything we do, and we take our responsibilities to them seriously. We remain committed to fair and lawful employment practices, and firmly deny the allegations that have been made. Given that this is an ongoing legal matter, we will not comment further at this time. Thank you for understanding.

According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, employee Michael Baron alleges that Relish and its owners, Addie and Dustin Teague:

Used his and other employees’ tips to pay the maitre’d, who also had managerial roles, such as disciplining employees. The maitre’d was allegedly paid at least $21,000 in 2026 from pooled tips, according to the lawsuit. The maitre'd position is not included in the restaurant's notice about which workers get paid from the pool, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit further alleges that the practices at Relish’s Town & Country location violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal law that governs how tipped employees are paid. Under the law, restaurants are allowed to pay tipped employees as little as $2.13 per hour, because the vast majority of their income is generated by customers’ tips. The law also governs which other employees — such as bartenders and other customer-facing positions — are eligible to receive a share of an employee’s tips. Salaried managers or employees in supervisory roles are not eligible to receive tips.

Baron is represented by attorney Josef F. Buenker, whose firm specializes in employment law, as noted by its domain name houstonovertimelawyer.com.

In March, a federal court ruled that Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille must pay $21 million for misallocating tips to more than 700 servers.

Relish is known for its classic American fare such as burgers, fried chicken, steaks, salad, and seafood. Its River Oaks location, which has been open since 2016, will soon close before moving to the RO mixed-used development next year. Relish’s Town & Country location will remain open.

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