gumbo for all

Comforting Houston seafood restaurant sets Rice Village opening date

Rice Village’s wait for buttermilk lobster bites and shrimp and crab lemon risotto will end next week. Liberty Kitchen & Oysterette will open its newest location next Wednesday, November 5.

Located in the former Gratify space at 5212 Morningside, the new Liberty Kitchen will be the restaurant’s third outpost, joining its siblings in River Oaks and Memorial. Like those locations, the new Liberty Kitchen will serve a seafood-oriented menu that features dishes such as fried shrimp, gumbo, cioppino, and Texas redfish on the half shell.

New for this location is a Chef’s Table menu of seasonal dishes that will rotate throughout the year. At opening, selections will include braised octopus with Sichuan cucumbers, green curry mussels, seared monkfish, and spiced rack of lamb.

Culinary Khancepts — the hospitality group behind Liberty Kitchen, State Fare, Leo’s River Oaks, and others —tasked its in-house Star Commercial Construction Group and Laura Loreman Interiors with redesigning the 3,500-square-foot space. Details include Kelly green leather booths, chandeliers, and two patios.

“It was exciting to reimagine the brand in a way that feels cohesive with what’s come before while giving Rice Village its own lively personality,” designer Laura Loreman said in a statement.

Liberty Kitchen will celebrate Rice Village’s grand opening with a special brunch service on Saturday, November 15. Look for live music, cocktail specials, and dishes such as a caviar omelet.

In addition, all three Liberty Kitchen locations will serve Gulf Coast oysters on-the-half-shell for $1 all day, every day from November 5 until December 31.

“Rice Village is a vibrant mix of families, students, and professionals — it has a pulse all its own,” Culinary Khancepts CEO Omar Khan added. “We’re thrilled to bring Liberty Kitchen’s coastal spirit and approachable energy to this part of Houston.”

The restaurant opens at 11 am Monday through Friday for lunch and dinner and 10 am Saturday and Sunday for bruch and dinner. Happy hour is served from 3-6 pm Tuesday through Friday and from 4 pm until close Sunday and Monday.

Liberty Kitchen & Oysterette Rice Village

Photo by Ben Brown

Liberty Kitchen opens in Rice Village on November 5.

openings news-you-can-eat

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