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    cute cookies

    Elegant new cookie bakery with Food Network cred rises in The Heights

    Eric Sandler
    Nov 23, 2020 | 3:51 pm

    A new bakery has debuted in The Heights just in time for the holiday cookie season. The Bearded Baker (518 W. 11th St.) held a quiet soft opening over the weekend and will begin normal, to-go sales this Wednesday, November 25.

    The Bearded Baker specializes in custom decorated sugar cookies as well as drop cookies in varieties such as brown butter chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin. It will also sell “cakeletts,” 4-inch round cakes in flavors like dark chocolate with peanut butter-Swiss meringue buttercream.

    Allan Hursig is the bakery’s founder and the literal bearded baker. After a career in the energy industry ended abruptly, Hursig began making cookies for friends and family. He developed a social media following by making custom decorated cookies for Texas country music bands and an appearance on the 2019 Food Network Christmas Cookie Challenge, where he finished first runner-up.

    “I focused on the quality of the designs and also [making cookies that] taste good,” Hursig tells CultureMap. “I never grew up with a sugar cookie that was soft and moist, usually they were dry and crumbly and kind of chalky.”

    Hursig credits his cookies’ soft, slightly chewy texture to using good ingredients and precise techniques. Instead of making icing from a mix, he starts with powdered sugar and egg whites. Bearded Baker cookies are also known for their intricate designs, which have made them popular with various corporate clients and showers of all kinds.

    “I don’t want to be one of those cookie people that says you can only have three colors for this price,” Hursig says. “I’ll go out on small details and really take the time to make it elevated, even above what their idea was.”

    Moving from his home kitchen to a commercial environment will allow Hursig to ramp up production. He says he once spent 20 hours baking 800 cookies, not including the time to decorate them. It will also provide him with better work-life balance.

    “The hardest part for me was, when you work from the house, you don’t have any escape,” Hursig explains. “It’s hard to get any relaxation. I’m trying to watch a movie, but there’s 10 dozen cookies that need something done to them.

    “Also having employees is going to be amazing.”

    Christmas cookies.

    Bearded Baker Christmas cookies
    Courtesy of The Bearded Baker
    Christmas cookies.
    openingsdessertsnews-you-can-eatthe-heights
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    Aga's on the move

    Cherished Houston Indo-Pak restaurant opens to-go only location in Katy

    Eric Sandler
    Jun 19, 2026 | 9:01 am
    Aga's to go Katy exterior
    Courtesy of Aga's
    Aga's To Go opens Wednesday, June 24.

    Goat chops, curries, and naan are coming to Katy. Aga’s Restaurant & Catering, the cherished Indo-Pak restaurant that’s a staple of Houston’s South Asian community, will open its first new location in 25 years on Wednesday, June 24.

    Called Aga’s To Go, the new restaurant will be located at The Shoppes at Grand Crossing (102 W. Grand Parkway S., Suite 100). As it names implies, the restaurant is a to-go only facility that’s designed for both takeout and delivery via third party apps. While diners won’t be able to eat at the restaurant, they will be able to enjoy Aga’s cuisine at home in a more convenient than by traveling to the original location in Southwest Houston.

    The new restaurant will serve about 100 of the original location’s most popular offerings — all in compliance with the standards of zabiha halal. Customers can look forward to ordering kababs, boti, biryani, curries, freshly baked breads, and, of course, the signature goat chops.

    “This new location is a direct response to the growth of our business and the tremendous support we’ve received from customers throughout Katy and west Houston,” Zain Maredia, Aga’s head of growth and strategy, said in a statement. “Many of our guests make a considerable drive to enjoy Aga’s, and we’re excited to bring our food closer to them while creating new opportunities for our team and our company. Katy has been one of our strongest customer bases for years, making it a natural next step as we continue to grow.”

    Aga’s has plans for additional to-go only locations, according to press materials. Long term, the restaurant has its eyes on full service locations in other Texas cities such as Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas, CEO Shaukat Maredia tells the Houston Chronicle.

    The Maredia family purchased Aga’s in 2010. Since then, they’ve grown the restaurant’s location at 11842 Wilcrest Dr. into a more than 16,000-square-foot behemoth that serves hundreds of diners every day. Along the way, Aga’s has earned wide acclaim, including multiple nominations for Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year in the CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, a no. 1 rating in the Houston Chronicle’s list of the city’s top 100 restaurants, and a spot on the New York Times’ list of The 26 Best Dishes We Ate Across the U.S. in 2024.

    Writing for CultureMap in 2023, Burger Bodega owner Abbas Dhanani hailed Aga’s as “the best Pakistani restaurant not just in Houston, but in the nation.” His top recommendations include the goat chops, chicken shinwari karahi, butter chicken handi, and white kabab karahi

    All that attention has drawn considerable interest from other media, including this deep drive from YouTube superstar Mark Wiens that’s racked up more than 1.7 million views.



    The restaurant funds college scholarships for high school seniors. This year, 25 students, including some from Katy, received a total of $100,000.

    “We’re incredibly grateful for the support we’ve received over the years,” Maredia said. “Houston has embraced our food, our family, and our story. Food has a unique way of bringing people together, and we’re excited to continue sharing that experience with even more guests through our new Katy location.”

    Aga's to go Katy exterior

    Courtesy of Aga's

    Aga's To Go opens Wednesday, June 24.

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