Pick your peck of pickled peppers & paninis

Is it lunchtime yet? Spicy Pickle opens a third location that's Inner Loopfriendly

The Spicy Pickle at Kirby and Richmond may not be hoppin' yet, but give it time.Soon, you'll be fighting for your half-sandwich and soup combo.
Photo by Fayza A. Elmostehi
Spicy Pickle is about so much more than spiciness and pickles.
You see this sandwich? You'll find plenty like it and more at Spicy Pickle. Andtrust us; it's yummy.

Inner Loopers, we have a (more accessible, centrally-located) Spicy Pickle.

For those that haven't had the, ahem, privilege of living or working in either the Energy Corridor or the Medical Center, you may be asking yourself what on earth you'd do with an entire establishment dedicated to zesty gherkins.

Let's go easy on 'em, shall we, fellas?

If you like Cafe Express or Panera Bread, then succinct menu-ed Spicy Pickle will fit nicely into your lunchtime repertoire. With a tasty array of sandwiches, soups, and salads, Spicy Pickle's petite new elbow-like location in the Office Depot plaza on Kirby and Richmond is sure to draw the local traffic.

But wait! It's open until 10 p.m. every day but Saturday, so don't rule out dinner, either.

We noshed there Thursday afternoon around 1 p.m., and let's just say ... the rest of the neighborhood hasn't (yet) caught onto The Pickle. Only one or two tables was occupied (one being ours), but things looked promising — quite a few Office Depot refugees were wandering by, quizzically eyeing the signage and door with obvious interest.

The crimson-clad, friendly faces behind the counter told us the Pickle had only been open for three weeks, so we fully expect Upper Kirby to be hugging the hoagie in no time.

Until the rest of the residents catch on, go now, and enjoy the calm sandwich seas before the ravenous tide rolls in.

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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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