Finn Hall Opening Date

Downtown Houston's next food hall serves up highly anticipated opening date

The wait for downtown's next food hall has come to an end. Finn Hall, the the 20,000-square-foot food hall coming later this year to the Jones on Main at the JPMorgan Chase & Co. building, will open its doors December 3.

Initially slated to open in February, the facility will include 10 restaurants and two bars. As a reminder, they are:

Goode Co. Taqueria, which will feature classic Tex-Mex cuisine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Low Tide, a seafood and raw bar concept from the owner of Harold's in the Heights
Dish Society, a condensed version of of the popular farm-to-table restaurant
Mr. Nice Pie, a pizza by-the-slice concept from the owners of Voodoo Queen and Love Buzz
Mala Sichuan, a new outpost of the popular Chinese restaurant
Craft Burger, a creative burger concept from Chopped champion Shannen Tune
Oddball Eats, the first brick and mortar outpost of the falafel-centric Mediterranean
Yong, a Korean restaurant from former Cottonwood/La Grange chef Daniel Ajtai
Sit Lo, a new concept from the team behind the Bowl'D Up food truck that will serve Southern Vietnamese food.
Amaya Coffee, a coffee shop from Catalina Coffee owner Max Gonzalez

Sample menus for each restaurant have been posted to Finn Hall's website, which means diners can already start planning their first visit. The options are almost limitless, ranging from a truffle butter Juicy Lucy at Craft Burger, tea-smoked duck at Mala Sichuan, a fried shrimp platter at Low Tide, lamb chorizo fries at Oddball Eats, a bulgogi bowl at Yong, and more. For beverage options, patrons can look to St. Jac's, a beer and wine bar, or Swallow Nest, an intimate cocktail bar located on the mezzanine level.

Finn Hall will be the first of four new food halls coming to downtown. Bravery Chef Hall, a new concept from Conservatory owners Anh Mai and Lian Nguyen with partner Shepard Ross, will open in December. Understory will feature a new concept from Ninfa's and another outpost of East Hampton Sandwich Co when it opens sometime next year. Then there's Lyric Market, the mysterious food hall that hasn't released any vendor information since developer Jonathan Enav announced his plans to open it way back in January.

Craft Burger's Juicy Lucy is coming to Finn Hall.

Courtesy photo

Craft Burger's Juicy Lucy is coming to Finn Hall.

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What's Eric Eating Episodes 518 and 519

Meet the men behind River Oaks' new destination for bowls and broth

Photo by Becca Wright

Find Honest Mary's in the River Oaks Shopping Center.

On this week’s episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” Honest Mary’s founder Nelson Monteith and COO Andrew Wiseheart joined CultureMap editor Eric Sandler to discuss the Austin-based restaurant that just opened its first Houston location in the River Oaks Shopping Center (2047-A West Gray St).

Monteith shares that he started the restaurant in 2017 in order to fulfill his vision of a restaurant which could serve food that’s fast, fresh, and affordable. A trained chef who operated pioneering Austin restaurant Contigo, Wiseheart joined the group to bring both culinary expertise and operational acumen to the grouping company.

Part of what sets Honest Mary’s apart is that diners can add cooked vegetables to the rice and proteins at the heart of every bowl. The “Market Sides” section includes an array of roasted vegetables — including sweet potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, beets, and Brussels sprouts — as well as black beans, maple-glazed carrots, and green lentils. Bowls can be further enhanced with toppings such as Texas pecans, crispy chickpeas, goat cheese, avocado, and apples as well as sauces such as creamy poblano, cashew lime crema, sesame vinaigrette, spicy peanut, chimichurri and apple cider vinaigrette

Monteith explains that looking at the ingredients on display usually inspires him when he’s deciding what to eat at Honest Mary’s.

“I will almost always look at the line and see what looks fresh and good,” Monteith says. “Today, I got the salted kale with white rice. Then, I got garlic-pepper steak. I added on lentils — they’re my go-to in the winter. They blend everything together, and I love it Then Brussels sprouts looked green. I got some jalapenos. Avocados, cause that’s healthy. Then I got the chimichurri sauce.”

Honest Mary’s is also known for its hearty broths, a classic chicken and a vegetarian option made with seaweed and mushroom. Sandler raves about the chicken broth to Wiseheart, who shares how it’s made.

“We spent six or seven months testing recipes and drinking it ourselves to see if it’s a good idea,” Wiseheart says. “I talk about it as a great complement to the menu. It’s healthy. It’s really simple. Most of the kitchens I came up with were rooted in French cuisine. This is just chicken stock with salt in it.”

Listen to the full episode to hear more about Honest Mary’s plans for additional locations in Houston and Dallas. Then Monteith asks a Sandler a few questions about the Houston dining scene.

In this week’s other episode, Sandler and co-host Mary Clarkson discuss the news of the week. Their topics include Home Slice Pizza opening a new location in the Heights; the closures of Brett’s BBQ Shop in Katy and Killen’s Barbecue in The Woodlands; and Esquire including ChòpnBlok on its list of America’s best new restaurants.

In the restaurant of the week segment, the two friends discuss their recent meal at Hypsi, the Italian restaurant in the newly-opened Hotel Daphne. Listen to the episode to hear their favorite dishes and other thoughts on the meal.

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Subscribe to "What's Eric Eating" on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hear it Sunday at 9 am on ESPN 97.5.

Photo by Becca Wright

Find Honest Mary's in the River Oaks Shopping Center.

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