Bobby & Justin's new project

Rumor no more: Bobby Heugel and Justin Yu reveal plans for new Heights restaurant

The former Southern Goods space has new tenants.

Photo by Eric Sandler

Two of Houston's most acclaimed culinary personalities are joining forces on another project. Anvil owner Bobby Heugel confirmed the rumors that he's teaming up with James Beard Award-winning chef Justin Yu on a new restaurant that will open in the former Southern Goods space at 632 W. 19th St. The two already own Better Luck Tomorrow, the Heights bar that won the this year's CultureMap Tastemaker Award for Bar of the Year.

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Thrilled about our upcoming project at 632 W 19th St in the Heights. @tetsujustin and I are very excited to be partnering with @anvilbitterbear @dreww_grimma and @clytnmrk to create a very special place. That’s all we have for now (really), but we will share more details when able. We are looking forward to extending our already growing relationships with Houston’s incredible Heights neighborhood, as well as trying to meet the huge expectations that come with a space where a wonderful restaurant preceded us. Thank you Houston for your ongoing support, which has allowed us to share our success with three of the most talented people we’ve worked with. • • • • • #houston #htx #htown #texas #ighouston #houstoncity #houstontexas #igofhouston #htine #downtownhouston #houston_insta #tx #hou #713 #dthtx #texans #igtexas #myhouston #houstonfood #houstoneats #houstonheights #houstonrestaurants #houstonfoodie #htxrestaurants #hourestaurants #heightshouston #restaurants

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Nov 19, 2018 at 11:15am PST

Details are light. Heugel confirmed to CultureMap it doesn't even have a name yet — but he did note that the "project" will be a restaurant as opposed to a bar. Whatever it ultimately winds up being called, the people involved make it worth paying close attention to.

At this point in their career, Heugel and Yu need no introduction, but the rest of the team brings significant experience as well. Terry Williams is the one-time Anvil bartender who now oversees operations for Heugel's bars. Mark Clayton is a highly talented cook who worked for Yu at Oxheart, and Drew Gimma is the former Common Bond head baker who now works at Better Luck Tomorrow.

Better Luck Tomorrow has already earned wide acclaim; even though it primarily operates as a bar, the food program is sophisticated enough that Bon Appetit and Food & Wine named it to their lists of the country's best new restaurants. With the duo actively working on a restaurant, and hiring the culinary talent to make it successful, who knows what they're capable of achieving?

openings the-heights

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New York Times critic awards Houston restaurant 2 stars in glowing review

Courtesy of ChòpnBlọk

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Let’s just call 2025 the year of ChòpnBlọk. In a review published Tuesday, December 16, the New York Times has awarded the Houston restaurant two stars (“very good”).

Written by chief restaurant critic Tejal Rao, the review touts many of the same qualities that the Times already praised when it included ChòpnBlọk on its list of America’s 50 best restaurants.

Rao writes that she usually avoids restaurants that serve food in bowls, but she’s impressed by the way that chef-owner Ope Amosu has put a West African spin on the concept.

“For inspiration, Ope Amosu looked to the kind of chain restaurants that were built to scale, where flavors are often subdued to appeal to the broadest possible audience, focus-grouped to death. But the delight of ChòpnBlok is in its sure sense of self, its lively, multidimensional cooking and clear, delicious vision for modern food from the Black diaspora,” Rao writes.

She singles out specific dishes, including the Nigerian red stew with short rib, the Black Star bowl with shrimp, and the signature Motherland, made with chicken, greens, and plantains. “It’s utterly simple, but draws you in for more with the mouthwatering twang of not-too-much MSG — an international shortcut to building umami that tends to be used carefully, and layered with other forms,” she writes.

The review also touches on the way Amosu switched the restaurant from counter service to full service — described as “warm, informal, and quick with the jokes” — and his time working at Chipotle to learn the basics of the restaurant operations.

A two-star review is only the latest instance of ChòpnBlọk receiving national attention. In addition to the Times 50 best list, Esquire recently named it one of America’s best new restaurants. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand designation for 2025. Amosu earned a semifinalist nomination for Best Chef: Texas in the 2025 James Beard Awards.

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