Where to Eat Drink HTX

Houston Restaurant Weeks’ casual offshoot kicks off with diverse new dining options

Houston Restaurant Weeks’ more casual sibling kicks off this week. Eat Drink HTX runs from February 15-28.

Similar in style to Houston Restaurant Weeks, restaurants that participate in Eat Drink HTX serve prix fixe menus at set price points for brunch, lunch, and dinner. Whereas HRW prices are $25 for lunch and brunch and $39 or $55, Eat Drink is much less expensive — $15 for lunch and brunch and $20 or $25 for dinner.

As with HRW, participating restaurants will donate a fixed amount of money per meal sold to a local charity — $1 per $15 meal, $2 per $20 meal, and $3 per $25 meal. In 2023, the event will benefit the Houston Food Bank and Children at Risk.

This roundup shines a spotlight on some of the newer restaurants participating in this year’s event. Many opened in the fall, while others are either new locations or rebranded spots in familiar locations. All offer tempting choices and a good value.

Adair Kitchen
Both locations of the neighborhood restaurant, including the recently-opened West U outpost, are serving EDH menus for both lunch and dinner. Look for lunch options such as lemon artichoke soup, a sirloin burger, and the power bowl (brown rice, kale, avocado, and more with choice of protein). At dinner, the choices include chips and dips, parmesan truffle fries, pesto grilled salmon, and Korean glass noodles with choice of protein.

CounterCommon Beerworks and Kitchen
The Bellaire brewpub’s $20 menu starts with three different salads — wedge, Asian slaw, or mixed greens. Entree choices consist of a Korean fried chicken sandwich, Thai-style pad see ew, or a trio of grilled maitake bao. Add a pint of beer for $5.

Dinette
This Vietnamese restaurant in the Heights is serving a a two-course lunch menu. Choose from five starters including summer rolls, vegetarian egg rolls, and pork rinds with honey-fish sauce. Entree choices include pho nachos, lemongrass chicken roulade, and tofu and mushroom curry.

Figo Sugo
Bravery Chef Hall’s Italian restaurant is offering both lunch and dinner menus. At lunch, the choices include Caesar salad, mozzarella sticks, spaghetti, and two slices of pizza. Dinner options include short rib lasagna bites, baked goat cheese, parmesan-crusted chicken, and spaghetti and meatballs.

Gatsby’s Grill
This casual sibling of Gatsby’s Prime Seafood in the former Acadian Coast space on Navigation is serving both lunch and dinner menus. At lunch, diners will find options such as a burger, pasta, or fish tacos with choice of dessert. Dinner choices include seafood pasta, chicken fried steak, and salmon — or upgrade to either an 8-ounce filet mignon or 10-ounce redfish for $10.

Low Tide Kitchen & Bar
This Spring Branch seafood restaurant from the team behind Harold in the Heights is serving lunch, dinner, and brunch. Dinner options include gumbo, she crab soup, fried chicken, and shrimp and grits. At brunch, the choices include hush puppies, beignets, crab cake benedict, and a shrimp po’ boy.

Ribeye & Rye
This restaurant in Lazybrook/Timbergrove is serving a two-course lunch menu that includes a 12-ounce New York strip. Those looking for something a little lighter than steak for lunch may choose either a blackened chicken Caesar salad or pesto chicken pasta.

Rooster & Rice
The Garden Oaks location of this San Francisco import is serving two-course lunch. Start with larb popcorn chicken, sweet potato fries, or spicy cucumber salad. Entree choices feature variations of the restaurant’s signature chicken and rice, including the original, chicken cutlet, or chicken sandwich.

Taste of Mulan
Formerly known as One Dim Sum, the Midtown Chinese restaurant still features dumplings on both its lunch and dinner menus. Entree choices lean towards Sichuan dishes such as Kung Pao chicken, spicy green beans, stir-fried chicken, and soft shell crab.

Photo by Raydon Creative

Gatsby's Grill is serving both lunch and dinner.

The Upside Pub
Garden Oak’s casual watering hole is serving both lunch and dinner. During the day, the choices include potato latke balls, small queso fries, kale Caesar salad, and a “super bomb” patty melt. For dinner, choose from dishes such as wings, a California-style burrito, and a BLT.

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Coming soon to Fredericksburg

Houston restaurant vet serves up Roman-style eatery in the Hill Country

Photo courtesy of Bottega Salaria

Valerio Lombardozzi is opening Bottega Salaria in the former home of La Bergerie.

Valerio Lombardozzi’s culinary career has taken him to the world’s finest kitchens, including restaurants owned by icons like Alain Ducasse, Giorgio Locatelli, and Joël Robuchon. In Houston, he led La Table and Tavola, where he earned a reputation for being one of the city's most engaging front of the house personalities.

But his latest project might be his biggest accomplishment yet. The hospitality veteran is opening Bottega Salaria, a homey Italian osteria and artisan market, in the former home of La Bergerie at 312 E Austin St in his adopted home of Fredericksburg.

Lombardozzi says the restaurant, expected to arrive in winter 2026, fills a gap in the Hill Country dining scene, but, more importantly, it's a reflection of his personal history and time spent working at his family’s restaurant in Rome.

“[It’s about] where I grew up, how I grew up, and how I eat,” he shares.

The three-concept experience is inspired by Italy’s Via Salaria, the ancient route Italians used to transport salt from the Adriatic Sea to Rome. The menu acts as a sort of travelogue, borrowing from the different cultures along the road, and the way village fishermen and shepherds ate.

Lombardozzi is quick to say he didn’t want to open a chef-driven restaurant. Instead, the osteria will serve traditional Roman staples such as cacio e pepe, amatriciana, carbonara, saltimbocca with sage and prosciutto, and branzino carved tableside.

“I was one of the last to be exposed to the old generation of professionals who knew how to carve elegantly for the guests,” he says.

The adjacent bottega will stay open during restaurant hours, offering fresh pasta made on-site, house-made sauces, imported Italian pantry items, cheeses, salumi, breads, and biscotti. Patrons will be able to shop for individual items or put together custom gift baskets.

Outdoors, La Fraschetteria will debut a new hospitality experience in the U.S. The self-guided experience invites diners to grab wine directly from garden shelves, gather a spread of meats, cheeses, bread, or pasta, and linger around long communal tables lit by string lights.

Keeping the chit-chat going will be a thoughtful beverage program anchored by a primarily Italian wine list and imported beer. Lombardozzi says the cocktail menu might be a surprise, offering only gin and tonics, spritzes, and negronis. The latter has been made into a game where diners roll dice to determine the evening's combination of gin, vermouth, and bitters.

After dinner, guests can select an amaro from a rolling cart, sip grappa and limoncello, or sip a neat whiskey.

Lombardozzi shares that he wants Bottega Salaria to be just as comfortable for Fredericksburg locals as it is for destination travelers. Beyond daily service, Bottega Salaria plans community events such as garden wine nights with live music, Sunday movie nights, and hands-on cooking classes.

The space is designed for ease with a warm palette combining olive green and pomegranate reds. The decor blends heritage and modernity, bringing in objects like antique mirrors, plates, custom-made lamps, and even old tablecloths and curtains for an Old World feel.

"We’re not just opening a restaurant,” Lombardozzi says. “We’re creating a gathering place. A home for everyone who loves Italian food, culture, and the joy of sharing a meal with others.”

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