5 things to know

5 things to know in Houston food right now: Openings, island eats, and a farewell to old friends

Tres Amigos has closed.

Courtesy of Delicious Concepts

Editor's note: Houston’s restaurant scene moves pretty fast. In order to prevent CultureMap readers from missing anything, let’s stop to look around at all the latest news to know.

Openings and reopenings

Local Mediterranean restaurant Island Grill has opened its sixth Houston-area location in downtown’s Total Plaza. Open for breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday from 7 am - 5 pm, the restaurant serves everything omelets and pancakes in the morning to cheeseburgers, gyros, and salads in the afternoon. The menu also includes vegan and vegetarian dishes as well as smoothies.

Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom, a chain restaurant that’s known for its deep dish, Chicago-style pizza and other pub fare, reopened its Katy location at 24515 Katy Freeway with the company’s refreshed design. Look for a sticker wall and artwork that honors the brand’s Chicago heritage. Of course, the restaurant still serves more than 100 craft and national beers.

Closings

Tres Amigos Cafe & Cantina closed on October 9. In a message posted to Facebook, the restaurant explained that it decided not to renew its lease on the space at 3402 N Shepherd Dr.

Only open since April, Tres Amigos replaced Shepherd Park Draught House with a casual, Mexican-inspired cantina decorated with owner Ken Bridge’s extensive collection of ZZ Top memorabilia. It also had a charitable component, donating 75-percent of its profits to the St. Jude Foundation.

Coming Attractions

Orleans Seafood Kitchen will open a second location next spring in Fulshear (6230 FM 1463). Like the Katy original that opened in 2008, owners Chance Comstock and Marcus Payavla’s new restaurant will feature Cajun-style dishes such as gumbo, po’ boys, and etoufée served in a convenient, fast casual environment.

However, the Fulshear location will expand its bar menu with a greater selection of craft beer and a larger spirit selection. When it opens, the approximately 5,400-square-foot restaurant will seat over 100 people inside, 58 in a full service bar area, and about 50 on an expansive patio.

“When we opened in Katy over 13 years ago a second location wasn’t necessarily in the plan, but as we continued to grow over the years and really got to know our customers and what they liked and didn’t like, it became not a matter of ‘if’ we would open another location, but ‘when,’” Comstock said in a statement.

Other news and notes

Gringo’s Mexican Kitchen announced that founder Russell Ybarra has acquired five franchised restaurants previously owned by Joel Perkins, who has decided to retire. The purchase means that the Gringo’s locations in The Woodlands, Champions, Spring, Cypress, and Fuqua will remain part of the company.

“We are humbled and grateful to be able to keep the locations that have been instrumental in the growth within the Gringo’s family,” Ybarra said in a statement. “We welcome the team members that serve our guests, and the communities in which they serve.”

news-you-can-eat openings closings

head east

Eagerly-anticipated Houston barbecue joint hosts weekend preview pop-ups

Courtesy of Eastbound Barbecue

Get a first taste of Eastbound Barbecue this weekend.

One of Houston’s most eagerly anticipated new barbecue joints is giving diners a preview of what’s to come. Eastbound Barbecue will host “Sneak Peak Weekends” every Saturday and Sunday beginning this Saturday, December 20, until the restaurant opens in early 2026.

Held at the restaurant’s location in the East End (1105 Sampson Street) from 12-4 pm (or sold out), the weekend service gives diners their first chance to try Eastbound Barbecue’s smoked meats, sides, and desserts. That includes, smoked brisket, baby back ribs, jalapeno & cheese sausage, hatch chili lasagna mac & cheese, herbed potato salad, and more. Save room for the two dessert offerings, salted caramel banana pudding and cookie butter cake.

To distinguish Eastbound’s barbecue, chefs Lopez and Granville use different seasonings than other restaurants, such as rosemary salt in the brisket rub and a miso-caramel sauce that gives its ribs a sweet and savory bite. During the preview, Eastbound’s prices are noticeably lower than many other Houston barbecue joints, with brisket priced at $29 per pound, ribs at $26 per pound, and pulled pork at $22 per pound.

As CultureMap reported in August, Eastbound unites four friends, Ryan Penn, Ryan Powell, Luis Lopez, and Jake Granville, who also held senior roles at various restaurants owned by prominent Houston chef Ronnie Killen. Since then, the four partners have finished many of the improvements they needed to make prior to opening, including closing in the patio and installing offset smokers on the property.

For Penn, leaving the Killen’s organization after almost 20 years was a difficult decision, but one he felt he had to make. “I could have worked for [Killen] forever and been happy. It was more along the lines of, if I don’t do this now, I don’t want to be 70 and wish that I had,” he said at the time.

Courtesy of Eastbound Barbecue

Get a first taste of Eastbound Barbecue this weekend.

news-you-can-eat barbecue openings