Kirby Ice House 4

First look at modern Houston ice house's new location near the Heights

Houston’s favorite modern ice house will expand its footprint this week when Kirby Ice House opens its fourth location this Friday, August 29.

Located in the Heights-adjacent neighborhood of Shady Acres (1421 North Loop West), Kirby Ice House Heights occupies a 3.5-acre property with 24,000 combined square feet of indoor and outdoor space. That means room for 800 people and 400 free parking spaces (drivers, please drink responsibly).

As has become a Kirby Ice House tradition, each new location opens with the “longest bar in Texas.” The Heights location is no different — at 146 feet, it’s five feet longer than the bar at the company’s location in The Woodlands that opened in 2022.

That bar will be pouring beers from dozens of taps alongside wines by-the-glass or bottle. Kirby Ice House also serves cocktails such as a cucumber-lime Moscow Mule, blood orange paloma, and lemonade Old Fashioned. A rotating roster of food trucks serves customers who want a bite with their beers. Taken together, the extensive selection and massive footprint have helped each location of Kirby Ice House rank among the highest’s grossing bars in Texas.

“The beautiful thing about Kirby Ice House is that there’s something for everyone,” said co-owner and founding partner Danny Evans. “The fundamentals of Kirby Ice House are simple: Great service, ice cold beer, huge patios and the best place to watch games and host big events. It’s a Texas thing.”

Other details will be familiar to anyone who’s visited Kirby Ice House’s other locations in Upper Kirby, Memorial City, or The Woodlands. More than 40 TVs allow patrons to follow sports. Interior details include posters that honor Hollywood legends and plenty of neon signs.

“When Kirby opens, the area moves,” added Kirby Ice House president Russ Morgan. “Foot traffic increases, new leases get signed, and cities benefit. That’s the impact we’re proud to bring and the reason we’re excited about what’s next.”

Photo by Hasan Yousef

Welcome to the new Kirby Ice House.

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Relish responds

Houston restaurant breaks silence about wage theft allegations

Photo by Julie Soefer

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A Houston restaurant has broken its silence about a lawsuit that accuses it of wage theft. Relish Restaurant & Bar issued a statement about allegations made by an employee that it improperly allocated money from the restaurant’s tip pool:

For more than a decade, we've worked hard to build a restaurant where our employees feel valued and respected. Our team is central to everything we do, and we take our responsibilities to them seriously. We remain committed to fair and lawful employment practices, and firmly deny the allegations that have been made. Given that this is an ongoing legal matter, we will not comment further at this time. Thank you for understanding.

According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, employee Michael Baron alleges that Relish and its owners, Addie and Dustin Teague:

Used his and other employees’ tips to pay the maitre’d, who also had managerial roles, such as disciplining employees. The maitre’d was allegedly paid at least $21,000 in 2026 from pooled tips, according to the lawsuit. The maitre'd position is not included in the restaurant's notice about which workers get paid from the pool, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit further alleges that the practices at Relish’s Town & Country location violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal law that governs how tipped employees are paid. Under the law, restaurants are allowed to pay tipped employees as little as $2.13 per hour, because the vast majority of their income is generated by customers’ tips. The law also governs which other employees — such as bartenders and other customer-facing positions — are eligible to receive a share of an employee’s tips. Salaried managers or employees in supervisory roles are not eligible to receive tips.

Baron is represented by attorney Josef F. Buenker, whose firm specializes in employment law, as noted by its domain name houstonovertimelawyer.com.

In March, a federal court ruled that Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille must pay $21 million for misallocating tips to more than 700 servers.

Relish is known for its classic American fare such as burgers, fried chicken, steaks, salad, and seafood. Its River Oaks location, which has been open since 2016, will soon close before moving to the RO mixed-used development next year. Relish’s Town & Country location will remain open.

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