What's Eric Eating Episodes 404 and 405
Bobby Heugel gets candid about the future of restaurants in Houston
Bobby Heugel is this week's guest.
On this week's episode of "What's Eric Eating," hospitality veteran Bobby Heugel joins CultureMap editor Eric Sandler to discuss the current state of the restaurant industry. One of the founders of Anvil. Heugel is a co-owner of Thorough Fare Hospitality, the company behind Refuge, Squable, Better Luck Tomorrow, Theodore Rex, and Catbirds.
While those places have achieved considerable fame and financial success, Heugel is concerned about the future prospects of independently-owned restaurants and bars. He and Sandler discuss the increased costs for materials, labor, and real estate that make it more expensive than ever to operate a business. They also look at some of the behind-the-scenes requirements of leasing real estate that didn't exist when he opened Anvil in 2009.
It has him concerned that quirky, ambitious establishments won't be able to call Houston home.
"I hear more about the struggles than I did in the past. If you compare this era to 2010, 2012, which I know was a big boom for independent restaurants in the city, I know there was a lot of optimism at that time. We opened Anvil in 2009. I did Underbelly, Hay Merchant, and Blacksmith after that," he says.
"That optimism is not here anymore. There's so many more financial barriers. There's no way that we open Underbelly today. It's not possible. WE don't get approved as tenants. We can't afford to open the restaurant. It never exists. That building gets sold to a developer who wants to turn it into an AT&T store."
Listen to the full episode to hear Heugel's thoughts on the kind of concepts he thinks are still viable. He also provides a brief update on the first year of operations at Catbirds.
On this week's other episde, Chelsea Thomas, staff writer for The Infatuation Houston, joins Sandler to discuss the news of the week. Their topics consist of Shake Shack closing two Houston locations and the extension of Houston Restaurant Weeks.
In the restaurants of the week segment, Thomas and Sandler share first impressions of Thai Tail, the fast casual restaurant from the owner of Kin Dee, and Ramen Moto, the new izakaya from Tiger Den chef and founder Mike Tran.
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