Foodie News

Buzzed-over restaurant grocery store opens in historic Heights spot — with rooftop dining power

After almost a year of construction, the Heights General Store will open for its first dinner service Thursday night. Located next to the recently opened Torchy's Tacos on 19th street, the restaurant/grocery store has made extensive changes to the former Harold in the Heights space it took over.

Heights General Store will serve dinner Thursday and Friday before opening for breakfast, lunch and dinner starting on Saturday.

“I am so excited to bring this unique concept to the neighborhood," owner Alli Jarrett said in a statement. "My goal is to provide a relaxed, comfortable environment with convenience close to home and a delicious dining experience. Supporting our local and regional growers and suppliers is also important to me."

A market will sell local produce, prepared foods, fresh meats, bread and other items, but the upstairs restaurant is the real star.

Downstairs, a market will sell local produce, prepared foods, fresh meats, bread and other items, but the upstairs restaurant is the real star. The dining room utilizes reclaimed wood from a 19th century barn and incorporates a mirror from the Harold's men's dressing room. Although situated in a dry part of the Heights, diners will be able to purchase drinks from the full bar by signing up for a free membership to "Harold's Club."

Now that the weather's finally cooled off, expect the rooftop terrace to be a favorite place to dine, particularly during brunch.

Former Catalan/Hay Merchant/Federal Grill chef Antoine Ware has created a menu based around Southern classics and local ingredients that's divided into starters, sharable plates and entrees. He's curing bacon and grinding fresh sausage. The restaurant makes it own dough for the pizza and flatbreads that emerge from the wood-fired, stone-floor pizza oven.

For those who want to sample the menu more broadly, Ware will offer a chef's tasting option ($60, $80 with wine). Full happy hour and dessert menus will follow in the coming weeks.

For now, a couple of the most intriguing options look to be the Gulf fish on the half shell and the shrimp-based Low Country Beaufort Stew. At $16, the restaurant's burger better deliver big flavor if it hopes to compete with the high-quality offerings from neighbors such as Down House and Hubcap Grille.

Expect the fully covered rooftop terrace at the Heights General Store to become a brunch hotspot.

Heights General Store November 2013 Rooftop Terrace

Photo courtesy of Heights General Store

Expect the fully covered rooftop terrace at the Heights General Store to become a brunch hotspot.

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BOGO Banh Mi

Houston Vietnamese restaurant rolls out new Spring Branch outpost

Courtesy of Saigon Hustle

Saigon Hustle will open its new location on Thursday, October 10.

A rapidly growing Houston Vietnamese restaurant has big plans for National Banh Mi Day, which is this Thursday, October 10. Saigon Hustle will mark the occasion by opening its new Spring Branch location.

Located in a converted gas station at 1223 Witte Road, the new Saigon Hustle both preserves all of the things that have made the original Garden Oaks location a success for founders Cassie Ghaffar and Sandy Nguyen and takes advantage of having twice as much space to add new menu items and a more complete dining experience.

Saigon Hustle Spring Branch rendering A rendering previews the restaurant's new location.Courtesy of Saigon Hustle

By going from just over 800-square-feet to 2,000, Saigon Hustle will be able to offer indoor seating for the first time. Total capacity is about 70 diners.

“The dine in is huge. We don’t have a lot of customer interaction [at Garden Oaks],” Ghaffar tells CultureMap. “We’re excited to have the customer facing side, interacting with them, watching them eat our food, without losing the drive-thru.”

A larger kitchen means that Saigon Hustle will be able to add pho to its menu for the first time. Diners will have their choice of chicken — made with sous vide chicken breast — or beef, which will come with the traditional round eye, brisket, and meatballs.

“There are so many people who come in expecting pho. When they can’t get it, they walk out,” Nguyen says.

As for the rest of the menu, it will include all of the banh mi, egg rolls, spring rolls, and rice dishes that have made the original a hit. Beverage options include both Vietnamese iced coffee and a tea bar that includes both milk tea and Thai-style iced tea.

Saigon Hustle Cassie Ghaffar Sandy Nguyen Saigon Hustle co-founders Cassie Ghaffar and Sandy Nguyen.Photo by Al Torres

Perhaps even more importantly, this new location is the first since Ghaffar and Nguyen partnered with Savory Fund, a venture capital firm that’s invested in a diverse range of concepts including Austin-based Detroit-style pizzeria Via 313. Originally, Saigon Hustle received a $1 million investment; since then, Savory has committed to helping it grow to as many as 40 units in Texas and the Midwest, Ghaffar and Nguyen say.

“Being a business person, this was the vision from day one. This [investment] has manifested the route we were aiming toward,” Ghaffar adds. “We’re very fortunate Savory believed in us and is helping us create a legacy for our families.”

Saigon Hustle will celebrate its opening with buy-one-get-one free banh mi sandwiches from 10 am - 3 pm on Thursday. Beginning Friday, October 11, it will open daily at 10 am.

news-you-can-eat openings spring branch