debut of the mack

Houston's steak and wine-fueled new fine dining restaurant sets opening date

Houston’s newest fine dining restaurant is ready to make its debut. Mack Allen’s will open this Monday, September 14.

Located on the first floor of the 28-story, 5POP office tower (4400 Post Oak Parkway), Mack Allen’s is the latest project from Houston restaurateur Mack MacDonald, who’s known locally for his Creole restaurant The Rouxpour. At a hefty 16,000 square feet, the restaurant has the ability to host as many as 500 people at a time.

MacDonald worked with Houston-based Montgomery Roth Architecture & Interior Design to create a space that includes a 2,000-square-foot lobby lounge, a U-shaped bar, three private dining rooms — including The Champagne Room that features its own bar and floor-to-ceiling windows — and a spacious garden patio that includes dozens of trees and a 10-foot fire and water feature.

Joining MacDonald in the project are executive chef Carlos Andrade (The Rouxpour. Brennan’s of Houston, etc.) general manager Shaun Stockton (Turner’s, Vic & Anthony’s, etc.), pastry chef Karen Romero (Brennan’s, Underbelly), and wine director Anthony Salazar, who brings experience from three-star Michelin restaurant Eleven Madison Park (New York) and Houston’s Michelin-starred March.

Andrade and regional chef Manny Viveros have created an expansive, New American menu that begins with starters such as seared scallops in saffron cream, tuna crispy rice, escargot with bone marrow and garlic scampi sauce, lobster bisque, and smoked duck gumbo. The restaurant also offers sushi and other raw selections, led by chef Matthew Mui, a Kata Robata veteran who also operated the pioneering Muiishi Makirritos food truck.

Entree options start with steak, including domestic prime and Australian wagyu cuts. They’re joined by choices such as roasted Chilean seabass with jumbo lump crab, braised beef short ribs, rack of lamb with foie gras fondue and gnocchi, and pan-seared snapper with crab and yuzu risotto.

The restaurant will also be open for lunch, with lighter fare that includes a chargrilled pork belly bowl, steak salad, and Cobb salad. Plans for brunch will be announced at a later date.

Salazar oversees Mack Allen’s extensive beverage offerings, which include a 1,000-bottle wine cellar and premium spirits — including a rare bottle of Macallan from McDonald’s birth year of 1954.

“Mack Allen’s represents everything I’ve learned over the past 15 years in hospitality and the opportunity to take that experience to another level,” McDonald said in a statement. “My goal was to create the kind of restaurant that becomes part of people’s lives – a place where you can celebrate a milestone, close a deal, enjoy an incredible meal with friends or simply have a great night out. We’ve taken the spirit of the classic steakhouse and expanded it with exceptional seafood, sushi and a raw bar, all within a setting that feels distinctly our own.”

For now, Mack Allen’s is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Friday beginning at 11 am and dinner on Saturday from 5-10 pm. Valet parking and self-parking in the building’s garage are available. Reservations are available on OpenTable.

Photo by Michael Anthony

The Champagne Room features its own bar.

openings river oaks news-you-can-eat

globally-inspired cafe

Houston's Ismaili Center adds an all-day cafe with tacos, chai, and more

Courtesy of Tapestry

Tapestry is now open at the Ismaili Center.

Montrose’s newest all-day cafe has quietly opened in one of the neighborhood’s most noteworthy destinations. Tapestry is now open at the Ismaili Center (2323 Allen Pkwy).

Led by well-regarded Houston catering firm Jackson & Company, Tapestry is a 70-seat, 2,000-square-foot space located on the building’s first floor. Designed to serve both area residents and the facility’s visitors, the restaurant is open Tuesday-Sunday beginning at 8 am, with dinner served on Friday and Saturday.

“For decades, Jackson & Company has played an integral role in Houston’s hospitality story, creating experiences rooted in warmth, care, and bringing people together,” Ismaili Center spokesperson Omar Samji said in a statement. “They are an ideal partner to help bring this vision to life and create a café that reflects the spirit of the Ismaili Center — welcoming, peaceful, and open to all.”

The restaurant’s menu takes a global approach, incorporating influences from across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Of course, in keeping with Muslim dietary practices, no alcohol or pork is served at the cafe. In addition, menu items are clearly labeled for vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, nut-free, or dairy-free diets.

In the morning, the restaurant serves items such as açaí bowls, beef chapli kolaches with mozzarella, breakfast tacos wrapped in paratha flatbreads, and breakfast plates with a diner’s choice of scrambled eggs, hash browns, and turkey bacon, plus vegetable sides.

At lunch and dinner, look for everything from chicken tenders and vegetable samosas to butter chicken, chicken koobideh, flatbreads, and biryani. Desserts such as rice pudding and a bastani ice cream sandwich (made with rose-pistacchio ice cream) complete the meal.

Beverage offerings start with coffee and chai. They also include different flavored lemonades — choices include peach, lemongrass-lychee, and mint — as well as soft drinks, juices, and a mango lassi.

“We are honored to bring Jackson & Company’s signature standard of hospitality to a space designed to unite people,” added Sébastien Laval of Jackson & Company. “Tapestry at Ismaili Center helps extend that mission into everyday life using food as a common denominator — whether someone is stopping in for morning coffee, meeting friends for lunch, enjoying the gardens after a walk along Buffalo Bayou, exploring the Center’s exhibitions, or attending one of its many public programs.”

Open since November 2025, the Ismaili Center is an 11-acre campus that features a prayer hall, rotating art installations, a black box theater, spaces for weddings and other events, and 9-acres of outdoor space and landscaped botanical gardens. It is the only Ismaili Center in America and one of only seven in the world.

Courtesy of Tapestry

Tapestry is now open at the Ismaili Center.