Foodie News

Are shipping containers the new food trucks? Stationary food park planned forHeights

Take a food truck, subtract the wheels and what do you have? If you said Sparkle's Hamburger Spot or Moon Tower Inn, you're probably pretty close. So is there a market for stationary food purveyors serving quick, casual fare without a drive-thru?

There is according to Dennis Leviage and Steve Schwartz. They are behind "Kitchens on 14th," a proposed project that will turn a 25,000-square-foot tract on the corner of N. Shepherd Drive and 14th Street in the Heights into a collection of eateries inside refurbished shipping containers.

According to the Houston Chronicle's Nancy Sarnoff, construction on Kitchens at 14th is set to begin next month with completion expected in January. Architect Issac Preminger, who is behind upscale restaurants around Houston including Tiny Boxwood's, Up Restaurant and the former La Strada, has been tapped to design the project with "communal eating areas, trees and water features."

In addition to the shipping containers, there will also be a more traditionally structured pizzeria on site called 14th Coal Fired Pizza. Former La Strada owner Aldo Catania will operate the pizza parlor and manage the container operations. Laviage tells Sarnoff that the project will start with four or five vendors with room to grow, and will have ping-pong, horseshoes and live entertainment on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings as well as Sunday brunch.

Will this replace the potential food truck food court on Washington Avenue? Would you seek out food served in a chic shipping container?

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Farewell, ElRo

Creative Montrose pizzeria will shutter after only a year-and-a-half

Photo by Julie Soefer

ElRo Pizza & Crudo

An acclaimed Houston pizzeria will soon serve its final pies. ElRo Pizza & Crudo will close after service on December 31.

In a post on Instagram, chef-owner Terrence Gallivan thanks his staff for their dedication and his customers for their support. “We hope to see you all over the next couple weeks. Come celebrate with us,” he writes.

Open since June 2023, ElRo intrigued diners who enjoyed Gallivan’s work at pioneering Houston restaurant The Pass & Provisions. At ElRo, the chef served a modified version of the Provisions pizza recipe alongside crudos and shareable small plates such as arancini and housemade sausage. It earned four nominations in this year’s CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, including Best New Restaurant and Chef of the Year.

Sadly, Gallivan tells CultureMap that business has seen “a steady decline in business for many months.” Recently, the restaurant had tried a number of initiatives to draw in diners, such as steak night on Tuesday and fried chicken on Saturday.

The early announcement gives diners two weeks to make one more visit (or two) to the restaurant before it closes. Customers may want to time their visit for happy hour, which takes places from 3-6 pm Tuesday-Friday. It includes half-off glasses of wine, $4 draft beers, $9 select cocktails, and food specials.

Gallivan adds that he doesn’t know yet what his next move will be. Hopefully, he’s got one more comeback in him. Houston is a more fun town to dine in when Gallivan is cooking in it.

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