On the Mendo

Decadent California-based sandwich shop announces Uptown Park location

Mendocino Farms is on the move. The California-based sandwich restaurant opened its first Houston location in Rice Village back in July, but it has more locations planned for the Bayou City.

After a week's worth of previews and charity events, the restaurant will officially open its second location in Uptown Park on Thursday, October 3. In addition, Mendocino Farms announced it will open a third location in downtown Houston.

Designed by Austin-based architect Michael Hsu, whose recent projects include downtown's Understory food hall and The Original Ninfa's Uptown Houston, the 3,600-square-foot Uptown location takes its inspiration from the northern California coast. The 80-seat interior incorporates farmhouse elements and features a mural dedicated to the purveyors who supply the restaurant.

Slated for a summer 2020 opening, Mendocino Farm's second downtown location will be in Two Allen Center (1200 Smith Street); the first downtown outpost will be in the 609 Main at Texas office tower. The Allen Center campus has been undergoing a comprehensive series of renovations that includes transforming the Doubletree Hotel into the C. Baldwin and the addition of Denver-based steakhouse Guard & Grace.

Both locations will feature Mendocino Farms' menu of decadent sandwiches and elaborate salads. In addition to Mendo staples like the pork belly banh mi and pink lady beets and goat cheese salad, the restaurant's new fall menu includes the Nam’s Schoolhouse Charity Banh Mi, a chicken sandwich that's raising money to build schoolhouses in Vietnam, and the Pachamama Cubano that's made with heritage pork.

Founded by husband-and-wife duo Mario Del Pero and Ellen Chen, Mendocino Farms offers a seasonally-inspired menu that utilizes locally sourced ingredients. In Houston, that includes honey and herb-marinated goat cheese from Pure Luck Dairy (out of Dripping Springs, TX), breads from Slow Dough Bread Co., and sweets from Cake and Bacon. Backed by investment money from Whole Foods and investment firm TPG Growth, the restaurant has grown to more than 25 locations in California.

"Ellen and I are both thrilled and humbled by the overwhelming community response we’ve received in Rice Village,” Del Pero said a statement. "We are eager to continue building relationships in Rice Village while seeing how we can expand our impact and serve our new neighbors in Uptown Park in new and dynamic ways," Chen added.

Nam's Schoolhouse Charity Banh Mi.

Courtesy of Mendocino Farms

Nam's Schoolhouse Charity Banh Mi.

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New York Times critic awards Houston restaurant 2 stars in glowing review

Courtesy of ChòpnBlọk

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Let’s just call 2025 the year of ChòpnBlọk. In a review published Tuesday, December 16, the New York Times has awarded the Houston restaurant two stars (“very good”).

Written by chief restaurant critic Tejal Rao, the review touts many of the same qualities that the Times already praised when it included ChòpnBlọk on its list of America’s 50 best restaurants.

Rao writes that she usually avoids restaurants that serve food in bowls, but she’s impressed by the way that chef-owner Ope Amosu has put a West African spin on the concept.

“For inspiration, Ope Amosu looked to the kind of chain restaurants that were built to scale, where flavors are often subdued to appeal to the broadest possible audience, focus-grouped to death. But the delight of ChòpnBlok is in its sure sense of self, its lively, multidimensional cooking and clear, delicious vision for modern food from the Black diaspora,” Rao writes.

She singles out specific dishes, including the Nigerian red stew with short rib, the Black Star bowl with shrimp, and the signature Motherland, made with chicken, greens, and plantains. “It’s utterly simple, but draws you in for more with the mouthwatering twang of not-too-much MSG — an international shortcut to building umami that tends to be used carefully, and layered with other forms,” she writes.

The review also touches on the way Amosu switched the restaurant from counter service to full service — described as “warm, informal, and quick with the jokes” — and his time working at Chipotle to learn the basics of the restaurant operations.

A two-star review is only the latest instance of ChòpnBlọk receiving national attention. In addition to the Times 50 best list, Esquire recently named it one of America’s best new restaurants. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand designation for 2025. Amosu earned a semifinalist nomination for Best Chef: Texas in the 2025 James Beard Awards.

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