berg heats up

Red-hot Houston restaurateur reveals 2 new concepts for buzzy Buffalo Bayou development

Ben Berg continues to expand.

Photo by Leah Wilson

Ben Berg's status as one of Houston's top restaurant operators continues to grow.

As he prepares to open his rustic Italian restaurant Trattoria Sofia in The Heights this week, the high-flying restaurateur has revealed his company Berg Hospitality will open two restaurants next spring at in the Autry Park mixed-use development: Annabelle's and Turner's Cut.

Annabelle's will be an all-day brasserie that's open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It will take advantage of Autry Park's location at Shepherd Drive and Allen Parkway to offer views of Buffalo Bayou.

Turner's Cut will be a steakhouse in the mold of Turner's, Berg's luxurious, Galleria-area supper club. The restaurant will feature an "opulent interior" along with "the most exquisite and rare cuts of meat from Japan and the Americas," according to a release. A representative for Berg Hospitality notes it will be significantly larger than Turner's and offer a private dining room.

“We’re incredibly excited to expand our empire into Autry Park through the opening of two new restaurant concepts that we know Houstonians of all stripes will love,” Berg said in a statement. “Autry Park promises to become a key dining destination in Houston, and we knew we couldn’t pass up the chance to team up with the next-generation development, which will offer one of the best dining, shopping and lifestyle experiences Houston has to offer.”

The new establishments are just two of four new restaurants Berg's company Berg Hospitality has in the works. In addition to Annabelle's and Turner's Cut, the company is working on a still-unnamed, wood-fired steakhouse for the Docks at Timbergrove mixed-use development and a new home for B.B. Italia, the company's family-friendly, Italian-American concept that closed in the Energy Corridor earlier this year. They will join the company's other holdings that include two locations of B&B Butchers in Houston and Fort Worth, B.B. Lemon, The Annie Café & Bar, Turner’s, NoPo Café and Trattoria Sofia.

Developed by local real estate firms Lionstone Investments and Hanover Company, Autry Park occupies 14-acres on the western edge of Buffalo Bayou Park. The project's three-phase masterplan includes five towers encompassing 1,450 residential units, 350,000 square-feet of Class A office space, and 100,000 square-feet of retail, according to a press release.

“Our mission from Autry Park’s inception was to create a dining destination that was truly unique to Houston and showcased the wonderful depth of our local dining culture,” Matt Ragan of Rebees, Hanover’s retail partner in the project, added. “Autry Park was designed from day one to bring together our city’s best and most established restauranteurs alongside the most exciting up and coming talent in Houston. In that effort, we could not be more excited to announce Ben Berg’s soon-to-come arrival.”

Autry Park is only one of the new projects currently under development near Allen Parkway. Regent Square, currently under construction at the corner of Dunlavy and West Dallas, will feature two new restaurants from James Beard Award winner Chris Shepherd, including an all-new version of his Georgia James steakhouse. Sambrooks Management Company, the company behind The Pit Room, Candente, and 1751 Sea & Bar, will open Andiron, a live fire steakhouse, in the the historic Star Engraving Company at 3201 Allen Pkwy.

openings news-you-can-eat

we gotta go

Beard-winning Houston chef shares first details of new Montrose restaurant

Photo by Kirsten Gilliam

Pasta and cold seafood will be on the menu at House of Louie.

Houston hospitality veterans Bobby Heugel and chef Justin Yu are sharing more details about House of Louie, their new neighborhood restaurant that’s opening this summer in the former Vibrant space at 1931 Fairview Ave. It’s the duo’s first new restaurant since opening Squable in 2019.

Almost a year after announcing their plans for the project, chef Yu, a James Beard Award winner and Food & Wine Best New Chef honoree, shares in press materials that the restaurant’s name and spirit takes inspiration from an establishment operated by his aunts, Betty Louie and Josephine Yeung, for over 30 years in the Los Angeles area.

“House of Louie was how I fell in love with restaurants. There was a magic there,” Yu said in a statement. “It was always a happy place for me, and for all its guests who came from all around the Los Angeles area to go to it. It was just one of those restaurants where it was exactly what you wanted, when you wanted it, but also a restaurant that gave you more than you expected.”

Yu describes the menu as having a “French-Italian soul” that will also incorporate “the smirk of Modern American cooking,” which allows the chef to sidestep criticisms of whether or not his food is a sufficiently authentic version of those two culinary traditions. As with Theodore Rex, his downtown restaurant that holds a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide, dishes at House of Louie will be defined by well-sourced ingredients and delicate saucework.

Meals at the restaurant could begin with dishes such as salads or raw seafood items, including yellowtail alla scapece (cured in chardonnay vinegar) or spot shrimp marinated in Pernod with bergamot and fennel pollen. Pastas, which will be in-house, include a fried lasagna with ragu bianco and Comte cheese fondue. Entrees include roast duck and chicken brined with house-made giardiniera, the spicy topping typically associated with Italian beef sandwiches. Of course, vegetables will be well-represented throughout the menu.

Bobby Heugel, Yu’s partner in the Thorough Fare Co. hospitality group and the founder of bars such as Anvil and Refuge, is overseeing the bar’s cocktail program. Expect martinis galore and seasonal cocktails made with Gulf Coast ingredients. One example is the The Fair View, a riff on the classic Rome with a View made with local roselle hibiscus, Becherovka, dry sherry, and gen tian tea, that’s finished with sparkling wine and pineapple.

The duo aren’t ready to share interior photos, but they describe the renovations as a “simple remake” that enlisted support from local craftspeople including Garnish Design (Milton’s, Tiny Champions), ObjektFab, and Ford Design Finishes. “Just like when you cook a beautiful piece of fish or a carrot that was cared for as it was grown, you do just enough to something beautiful to make it yours,” Yu added.

Joining the project are general manager Tyler Jay Wang, whose resume includes acclaimed Boston establishments No 9 Park and Drink, and executive chef Kirk Thompson, who worked for various Underbelly Hospitality concepts and served as the executive chef at Leo’s River Oaks when it won Best New Restaurant in the 2025 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards.

House of Louie will be open daily for dinner. Friday lunch and weekend brunch service will be added in the future.

Photo by Kirsten Gilliam

Pasta and cold seafood will be on the menu at House of Louie.

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