On this week's episode of "What's Eric Eating," chef Martin Weaver and his business partners, cousins Andrew and Addison Alvis, join CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler to discuss Grinder's Coffee Bar. Recently opened in West University Place, Weaver and Andrew Alvis pivoted from the salad concept they originally intended to open to a coffee shop. when they ran into permitting issues.
Grinder's sets itself apart in a couple of ways, primarily by being one of Houston's first coffee shops that pairs its brews with CBD. Addison, the shop's CBD expert, addresses the issue of whether the drug's primary effects are physiological or psychosomatic.
"A lot of people are skeptical about that," Alvis says. "For me, personally, I've seen what it does in animals. Animals don't suffer from the placebo effect like humans do. When you give a dog or even a horse, they get really bad joint issues, you can't fake that on an animal . . . you can see it running instead of limping. There's really no faking that. That's where I go with people who are having that debate . . . CBD is the real deal. It's a very strong medicine."
The conversation ranges on a number of other topics, including the dishes Weaver has created to pair with the coffee, the various types of CBD available at the shop, and whether the concept has potential to grow to multiple locations.
Prior to the interview, local beverage consultant Linda Salinas joins Sandler to discuss the news of the week. Their topics include the sudden closings of El Real Tex-Mex Cafe and Decatur Bar and Pop-Up Factory, "Bread Man" Tasos Katsaounis' plans to open a new restaurant in partnership with the restaurant industry veteran Chico Ramirez and the owners of Chez Nous, and a little compare-and-contrast between the top 100 restaurant lists created by Sandler and Chronicle restaurant critic Alison Cook.
In the restaurant of the week segment, they share some first impressions of Rosalie Italian Soul, chef Chris Cosentino's newly opened Italian restaurant in the C. Baldwin Hotel.
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Grinder's features coffee and CBD.
