cup of jo

Favorite Austin coffee shop brews up first Houston location in the Heights

One of Austin’s favorite coffee shops is opening in the Heights on Friday, February 14. Jo’s Coffee will open its first Houston location at 1023 Studewood Street.

Founded in 1999 by Texas hotel legend Liz Lambert and her brother Lou, the original Jo’s is located next to Austin’s Hotel San Jose. Even those who’ve never had a cup of coffee there will recognize Jo’s often-imititated “I Love You So Much” mural. Bunkhouse Hotels, the hospitality group Lambert founded that’s now part of Hyatt, still operates Jo’s and decided the time was right to bring it to Houston.

“Everyone here at Bunkhouse has absolutely fallen in love with Houston; and considering our growing presence with the opening of Hotel Saint Augustine and then Hotel Daphne later this year, opening up a Jo’s here felt like a natural progression,” Bunkhouse Hotels president Lisa Bonifacio tells CultureMap in an email. “We believe Jo’s will really resonate with Houstonians, especially in Houston Heights, and we are so excited to bring another little taste of Bunkhouse to the city.”

To ensure the Houston location of Jo’s offers the proper Austin vibes, Bunkhouse worked with Austin’s Hip.Hop.Design Studio on the interior design and purchased custom furniture from Austin’s RAD Furniture, which is located near the original Jo’s on South Congress.

Jo’s is best known for its House Blend, a medium roast coffee, and signature drinks such as the draft Iced Turbo, made with coffee, espresso, hazelnut, chocolate, and cream. It also offers wine, craft beer, and frose. Food options include breakfast tacos and locally-baked pastries.

Bunkhouse also wanted to ensure that Houston has an offering that’s unique to its location. Named for a style of house that’s seen through the Heights, the Bungalow is a vanilla latte kicked up with cinnamon and a little cayenne.

“Celebrating the locals that make a city great is a huge part of how we approach everything at Bunkhouse,” Bonifacio explains. “We want this Jo’s Coffee to feel singular to Houston Heights for everyone who comes in.”

To celebrate the opening, Jo’s will offer customers free drip coffee all day on Friday. In addition, it will give away a limited number of Jo’s Coffee posters, as seen on the shop’s Instagram.

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Bunkhouse has made a splash in Houston in the past few months. As Bonifcaio notes, the company opened the Hotel Saint Augustine, its first Houston property, in December. Later this year, it will add the Hotel Daphne, a new property on 20th St, in the Heights. Could another Jo’s location be far behind?

“We’re always looking at growth and to the future, but right now, we’re focusing on getting it right with this first Houston location,” Bonifcaio writes.

Photo by Chad Wadsworth

Jo's Coffee has arrived in Houston.

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head east

Eagerly-anticipated Houston barbecue joint hosts weekend preview pop-ups

Courtesy of Eastbound Barbecue

Get a first taste of Eastbound Barbecue this weekend.

One of Houston’s most eagerly anticipated new barbecue joints is giving diners a preview of what’s to come. Eastbound Barbecue will host “Sneak Peak Weekends” every Saturday and Sunday beginning this Saturday, December 20, until the restaurant opens in early 2026.

Held at the restaurant’s location in the East End (1105 Sampson Street) from 12-4 pm (or sold out), the weekend service gives diners their first chance to try Eastbound Barbecue’s smoked meats, sides, and desserts. That includes, smoked brisket, baby back ribs, jalapeno & cheese sausage, hatch chili lasagna mac & cheese, herbed potato salad, and more. Save room for the two dessert offerings, salted caramel banana pudding and cookie butter cake.

To distinguish Eastbound’s barbecue, chefs Lopez and Granville use different seasonings than other restaurants, such as rosemary salt in the brisket rub and a miso-caramel sauce that gives its ribs a sweet and savory bite. During the preview, Eastbound’s prices are noticeably lower than many other Houston barbecue joints, with brisket priced at $29 per pound, ribs at $26 per pound, and pulled pork at $22 per pound.

As CultureMap reported in August, Eastbound unites four friends, Ryan Penn, Ryan Powell, Luis Lopez, and Jake Granville, who also held senior roles at various restaurants owned by prominent Houston chef Ronnie Killen. Since then, the four partners have finished many of the improvements they needed to make prior to opening, including closing in the patio and installing offset smokers on the property.

For Penn, leaving the Killen’s organization after almost 20 years was a difficult decision, but one he felt he had to make. “I could have worked for [Killen] forever and been happy. It was more along the lines of, if I don’t do this now, I don’t want to be 70 and wish that I had,” he said at the time.

Courtesy of Eastbound Barbecue

Get a first taste of Eastbound Barbecue this weekend.

news-you-can-eat barbecue openings