Tex-Mex Spot Closing

Another landmark Tex-Mex restaurant set to close to make way for more apartments

El Tiempo's 1308 Cantina location will likely close next year to make way for a new apartment building.

Courtesy photo

Houston's white-hot real estate market looks poised to end the run of another popular restaurant. With the sale of the property to real estate developers for a multistory apartment building, El Tiempo's Montrose location, known as 1308 Cantina, will likely close early next year.

Owner Roland Laurenzo tells the Houston Chronicle that he would like to find another location within a mile of the current one to replace 1308 but didn't offer any specifics about where he's looking.

Laurenzo, the son of famed Houston restaurateur Ninfa Laurenzo, has turned El Tiempo into a six outpost mini-empire of high-end Tex-Mex that improves on the success of his mother's Ninfa's restaurants. In 2013, the company even returned to the Second Ward with a gigantic location next door to Ninfa's original outpost.

The location has long been a popular spot for Mexican food. El Tiempo replaced longtime tenant La Jaliscience back in 2006. El Tiempo's location on Washington Ave is only about three miles from the Montrose one, so regulars shouldn't be too inconvenienced. Even with the expected departure of El Tiempo, Montrose still counts La Mexicana, El Real Tex-Mex, Berryhill Baja Grill, La Tapatia and Chapultepec as options of varying quality and consistency.

El Tiempo's likely departure also recalls the end of the River Oaks location of Cafe Adobe, which shuttered in 2013 to make way for new apartments that are currently under construction. That restaurant also vowed to find a replacement location in its neighborhood, but no plans to reopen have been announced.

Will you miss 1308 Cantina, or is it just part of the inevitable march of Houston's history? Tell us in the comments.

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burger bodega expands

Houston food influencer brings smash burger sensation to Katy

Photo by Michael Ma

Burger Bodega is coming to Katy.

Abbas Dhanani has a special Christmas present for burger lovers in Katy. He’s opening a second location of his smash burger restaurant, Burger Bodega, there next year.

Located at 21904 Franz Rd. (near the intersection of Mason Rd. and the Katy Fwy.), the new restaurant will build on the success of Dhanani’s first location, which opened on Washington Avenue in 2022. The restaurant distinguishes itself with a colorful interior that’s inspired by New York City bodegas. Its shelves are lined with cheeky, Houston-inspired products as well as goods from local restaurants such as Bludorn and Pudgy’s Cookies.

Burger Bodega serves a double-patty cheeseburger that’s smashed on a griddle, topped with grilled onions, pickles, and “bodega sauce,” and served on a Martin’s potato bun. It also serves a chopped cheese sandwich, fries with burger toppings, and milkshake flavors such as Vietnamese coffee and a mango lassi.

Regulars know to request off-menu specials like the “Choppy Joe,” a chopped cheese served on a burger bun, or to get their burgers spicy. True to its pop-up roots, Burger Bodega has hosted numerous collaboration pop-ups with Houston chefs such as Raffi Nasr (Craft Pita) and the late Alex Au-Yeung (Phat Eatery).

Dhanani, whose @houstoneatz account has almost 40,000 followers on Instagram and more than 100,000 on TikTok, created Burger Bodega after visiting smash burger restaurants in New York and Los Angeles. Ahead of its opening, he built a following for the restaurant with a series of sold-out pop-ups, including appearances at the Southern Smoke Festival.

Burger Bodega has earned considerable acclaim in its two years, including winning Best Burger in the 2023 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards and Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year in the 2024 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards — all of which should contribute to excitement in the Katy area for its arrival.

"We are thrilled to announce our second location in Katy," Dhanani said in a statement. "Katy is such a vibrant and welcoming community, and we are excited to bring our concept to even more people in the area. The past two years at our first location have been incredible, and we are deeply grateful for the unwavering support from our customers. This support has been the driving force behind our growth, and we cannot wait to share this new chapter with everyone in Katy."

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