Pivot to catering
Houston barbecue joint will soon shutter due to $72,000 of unpaid rent
Fainmous BBQ is asking for help.
Unpaid rent is forcing a Houston barbecue joint to shutter its brick-and-mortar location, but the restaurant’s popular catering business will live on. In an emotional social media post, Jamie and Karen Fain shared that Fainmous BBQ, their restaurant in Sawyer Yards, will soon close due to unpaid rent of $72,000.
Widely considered the only East Tennessee-inspired barbecue restaurant in Houston, Fainmous moved from its original location in Westbury to Sawyer Yards in 2019. In a 2025 article in the Houston Chronicle, the Fains explain the location didn’t pan out the way they thought it would, prompting them to focus on catering. When the restaurant reopened for dine-in, it offered barbecue sandwiches for as little as $8, but it hasn’t been sufficient to pay back the rent they owe.
The social media post also discusses their challenges with other tenants at the property. With the unpaid rent due by Sunday, February 15, the restaurant's time at the development appears to be coming to an end.
Lovett Commercial, which owns the property, provided CultureMap with a statement about the situation:
We’re aware of the recent fundraising effort and the public conversation surrounding it. Like many businesses, we experienced significant impacts during COVID, particularly related to development timelines and operations. With that context in mind, ownership has worked extensively and in good faith with Fainmous BBQ over a prolonged period, providing meaningful flexibility on rent, including a structured payment plan that ultimately was not fulfilled.
The accumulation of several years of incomplete payments has contributed to the current outstanding balance and situation. Our priority remains finding a responsible and equitable resolution for all involved, and we remain hopeful that a constructive path forward can be achieved.
For the Fains, the path forward is to leave. Towards that end, the couple have started a GoFundMe to facilitate their exit from Sawyer Yards and a move to a new catering kitchen. So far, it has raised approximately $2,000 out of $3,500 requested.
