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    Restaurant business

    Comfort food chain Cotton Patch Cafe acquired by Dallas restaurant group

    John Egan
    Jul 2, 2026 | 4:15 pm
    Chicken fried steak, CFS, Cotton Patch Cafe

    Chicken fried steak at Cotton Patch Cafe.

    Facebook/Cotton Patch Cafe

    The Southlake-based Cotton Patch Cafe restaurant chain, known for its Texas-style comfort food, is finding comfort in the form of a new owner from Dallas.

    According to a release, Dallas-based Local Favorite Restaurants group purchased Cotton Patch Cafe from Altamont Capital Partners. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

    Local Favorite's growing restaurant portfolio includes 99 restaurants spanning 10 brands, including well-known names like El Fenix Mexican Restaurant, Snuffer’s Restaurant & Bar, Meso Maya, Taqueria La Ventana, Wok Star Chinese, Twisted Root Burger Company, Campuzano Mexican Food, and Village Burger Bar.

    The Cotton Patch acquisition “is an important step for Local Favorite Restaurants and a natural fit for the kind of brands we want under our roof,” Local Favorite founder Mike Karns says in the release. “Cotton Patch Cafe has loyal guests, a proven track record, and a Texas identity that gives it meaningful room to grow.”

    Founded in 1989 in Nacogdoches, Cotton Patch operates 46 restaurants in Texas and New Mexico. The only Houston-area location is in Spring.

    The deal also brings changes to the leadership team.

    Karns will remain with the company in the role of founder and "Free-Range Creative," overseeing its creative direction and growth strategy. Cotton Patch Cafe CEO Brandon Coleman III will become CEO of Local Favorite Restaurants.

    Local Favorite also owns and operates Sunrise Mexican Foods, which produces chips, tortillas, and other Mexican food products for retail and foodservice operators.

    Cotton Patch Cafe is known for scratch-made, comfort classics like hand-breaded chicken fried steak, along with $9.99 Texas Value Meals.

    Coleman says the acquisition won’t result in changes to the “heart” of Cotton Patch.

    “We will continue to bring the small-town spirit, big Texas value, and quality scratch-made food guests count on, with the same focus on hospitality and community that has always made Cotton Patch feel like home,” says Coleman.

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    birdie's in Houston

    Award-winning Austin restaurant flies to Houston for one-night-only meal

    Eric Sandler
    Jul 22, 2026 | 3:00 pm
    Birdie's ​Arjav Ezekiel and chef Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel
    Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelley
    Arjav Ezekiel and chef Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel have made Birdie's one of Austin's most acclaimed restaurants

    Two top Texas restaurants are teaming up for a one-night-only pop-up that will feature creative cooking and thoughtful wine pairings. Houston’s Rosie Cannonball and Austin’s Birdie’s are uniting on Monday, September 14 for an evening they’re calling Birdie’s Cannonball.

    Held at Rosie Cannonball, the event will feature a menu created by Birdie’s chef Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel and Goodnight Hospitality partner Felipe Riccio, who created many of Rosie Cannonball’s signature dishes and leads the kitchen at March, Rosie Cannonball’s Michelin-starred sister concept. Arjav Ezekiel, Birdie’s co-owner and a James Beard Award winner for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, will team up with Goodnight Hospitality partner and master sommelier June Rodil to select wine pairings for the night.

    “This collaboration came together the way the best restaurant ideas usually do: over years of eating, drinking, traveling, talking shop, and saying, ‘We should really do something together,’” Rodil said in response to CultureMap’s request for comment on the collaboration.

    “All of the Goodnight partners make a point of going to Birdie’s whenever we’re in Austin, because we genuinely love what Tracy and Arjav have built: the food, the people, and their fiercely independent spirit. Bringing our teams together feels less like a formal collaboration and more like finally hosting the dinner party we’ve all been meaning to throw,” she added.

    Both restaurants have earned plenty of acclaim. In addition to Ezekiel’s Beard Award, Birdie’s has earned a Best New Restaurant award from Bon Appetit, been named Food & Wine magazine’s Restaurant of the Year in 2023, holds a spot on the New York Times’ list of “The 25 Best Restaurants in Austin Right Now,” and earned a Recommended designation from the Michelin Guide.

    For its part, Rosie Cannonball and Goodnight Hospitality have earned their fair share of national attention, including a James Beard Award finalist nomination for Rodil, a Michelin Bib Gourmand designation for Rosie Cannonball, and Best New Restaurant awards from Esquire and Robb Report for March.

    The evening will also serve as a homecoming for Malechek-Ezekiel, a native Houstonian and a graduate of the UH Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership. The meal will be her first time cooking professionally at a restaurant in her hometown.

    Seats are priced at $200 per person, which includes food, tax, and tip. Reservations are only available to Sapphire Reserve credit card holders, as it is presented as part of Birdie’s sponsorship by Chase Sapphire. Find more details on OpenTable.

    Birdie's Arjav Ezekiel Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel
    Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelly

    Birdie's is coming to Houston.

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