This just in
Dynamic Houston duo opening new neighborhood restaurant in Montrose
Bobby Heugel and Justin Yu are opening a new restaurant in Montrose.
One of Houston’s six James Beard Award-winning chefs has unveiled his next project. Justin Yu, who won Best Chef: Southwest in 2016 for his groundbreaking restaurant Oxheart, will open a new restaurant in Montrose, the chef and his business partner Bobby Heugel announced.
Located in the former Vibrant space at 1931 Fairview, the duo describe the still-unnamed eatery as “an ambitious, full-service neighborhood restaurant.” Heugel and Yu, along with partners Rainier Cockrell, Steve Flippo, and Gary Baumgartner, purchased the property from Vibrant founder Kelly Barnhart. It is expected to open in in the spring of 2026.
Other details, including specifics about what style of food it will serve, are not being shared at this time. If one were inclined to speculate, perhaps Yu will give a fulltime home to Yuston’s, his occasional pop-up that pays homage to classic American fare in the style of Hillstone (formerly known as Houston’s).
Yu is one of Houston’s most acclaimed chefs. In addition to his James Beard Award, he also won a Food & Wine Best New Chef Award in 2014. Theodore Rex, his restaurant in downtown Houston’s warehouse district, earned a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide. Along with Heugel, Yu is a co-owner of Thorough Fare Hospitality, which operates cocktails bars Anvil, Refuge, and Better Luck Tomorrow; neighborhood bars Catbirds and Blue Lagoon, and Heights restaurant Squable.
The new restaurant will be the duo’s first food-focused project since Penny Quarter, an all-day cafe and wine bar that shuttered in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This new restaurant isn’t the only project Thorough Fare has in the works. In addition to the Montrose restaurant, Heugel and veteran Houston bartender Jackie Schromm are opening Donna’s, a new cocktail bar in the former Ready Room space in the Heights.
Vibrant, an all-day cafe where every dish is gluten-free, dairy-free, and non-GMO, closed its original Montrose location in February. The restaurant’s location in Memorial Park remains open and is not affected by Heugel and Yu’s acquisition of the Montrose property.
