welcome to the club

Posh new Houston restaurant opens with French flair and British charm

A restaurant inspired by French cooking and British traditions opens in Houston next week. The Marigold Club, the newest concept from Goodnight Hospitality (March, Rosie Cannonball, Montrose Cheese & Wine) begins dinner service on Tuesday, June 25.

Although the restaurant occupies the former Goodnight Charlie’s space, it looks nothing like the honky tonk dance hall. Chef-partner Austin Waiter and the Goodnight partners — master sommelier June Rodil, chef Felipe Riccio, and entrepreneurs Bailey and Pete McCarthy — worked with Texas-based architects FoxFox Studios to create one of Houston’s most posh and visually striking dining rooms. As illustrated in the photos above, the 160-seat restaurant features a hand-painted mural by Pauline de Roussy de Sales, a custom-made, Murano glass chandelier with marigolds and tulips (obviously), and floral wallpaper in the hallway leading to the restrooms.

Inside the main dining room, look for green velvet ceilings, comfortable banquettes, and artwork curated by Houston-based art expert Illa Gaunt, according to a release. The space also includes an 18-seat private dining room and a 40-seat climate-controlled patio. A Steinway baby grand piano provides the restaurant’s soundtrack.

Similar attention has been paid to the food. Two years ago, Goodnight recruited former Tony’s executive chef Austin Waiter to lead the Marigold Club. To prepare for the restaurant’s opening, Waiter traveled to London where he staged at three Michelin-starred restaurants: Core by Clare Smyth (three stars), The Five Fields (one star), and Frog by Adam Handling (one star).

“Having Austin join us as a partner in our biggest and most lavish concept to date has been a complete joy,” Rodil said in a statement. “Our dream is to continue to collaborate with passionate hospitality professionals as we grow our company and enrich our community with new and exciting restaurants. Being able to bring in a new, fresh perspective while combining all of our unique backgrounds and areas of expertise makes this an especially heartfelt project.”

Waiter’s menu starts with an extensive raw bar program that includes caviar, crudos, and seafood towers. The Marigold Club team traveled to the East Coast to learn about the oysters it plans to serve Houstonians.

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After snacking on scallop crudo and tuna tartare, diners have the choice of dishes such as a Kaluga caviar sandwich, a riff on fish and chips that swaps the typical cod for shellfish and green beans, and a couple of British classics in the form of duck Wellington and roasted lamb loin.

One of the dessert options will be ice cream sundaes, which will be served on custom-built carts. Ice cream enthusiasts will have the choice of chai, clotted cream, or chocolate ice cream paired with a wide range of toppings. Other options include baba rum cake, banoffee pie, and citrus trifle.

As Waiter explained in a January episode of CultureMap’s “What’s Eric Eating” podcast, one of the things he brings to Marigold Club from Tony’s is understanding the balance between his creative vision as a chef and giving customers what they want.

“I think that the difficult part is staying true to what Felipe and I and the business partners love about food and what we’re focusing on and still making sure the guest comes first,” he says. “I’m not the one sitting there eating dinner every night. I think our guests need to take priority.”

Sommelier Ryan Cooper returns to Goodnight Hospitality to serve as Marigold Club’s wine director. He and Rodil have created a wine list that's stocked with French selections including plenty of champagne.

Although it will only open for dinner initially (Tuesday-Sunday, closed Monday), plans call for the addition of both afternoon tea service and brunch beginning in September.

“Dining at The Marigold Club is going to be unlike any other experience in Houston,” Waiter added. “Guests will get to experience little pieces of all my favorite parts of London sprinkled throughout the menu, while enjoying an ice cold martini paired with a killer raw bar program. These are just a few things The Marigold Club will have in store, and I can’t wait for the city to experience the rest.”

Photo by Arturo Olmos

Sundaes will be served tableside from custom-made carts.

chefs dinner marigold club montrose news-you-can-eat openings restaurant opening

raising the steaks

Houston's new, all-you-can-eat wagyu beef restaurant opens this week

Courtesy of Wagyu House

Meals at Wagyu House also include sushi, dumplings, and more.

While Houston has undeniably evolved as a restaurant city, local diners still love a good steak. Beginning this Friday, a new restaurant will give the city an all-you-can-eat wagyu experience.

Meet Wagyu House. Opening this Friday, May 1 in the former Peli Peli space in the Galleria (5085 Westheimer Suite 2515), the Japanese barbecue restaurant is the latest project from Chubby Group, a wagyu-focused hospitality company that first made a splash locally with Mikiya Wagyu Shabu House, an all-you-can-eat, wagyu-based shabu shabu concept that opened in 2024.

“Houston is a fantastic city with a very vibrant culture about Asian food,” Chubby Group partner David Zhao tells CultureMap. “Experiencing domestic wagyu, Australian wagyu, and A5 wagyu from Japan, the customers have been very fond of that, and we’ve seen that in the feedback. That’s why we’re very excited to bring more of our concepts here.”

What distinguishes Wagyu House from, say, a typical Korean barbecue restaurant is that all of its meats are wagyu — either domestic, Australian, or Japanese. The restaurant offers four tiers of pricing — silver, gold, diamond, or black diamond — that each offer increased access to more premium cuts of beef. For example, silver includes less premium cuts of both domestic and Australian wagyu such as chuck, brisket, and shoulder. Stepping up to gold adds in a limited amount of those same cuts from Japan, while diamond offers unlimited meats from all three countries.

Each tier also includes a selection of unlimited appetizers and snacks, such as gyoza, shrimp tempura, salmon nigiri, yellowtail nigiri, and fountain drinks. Prices start at around $55 for silver and go up to about $100 for diamond, plus any alcoholic beverages and tip. Considering Japanese wagyu can sell at restaurants for $40 or more per ounce, the restaurant offers a lot of value for meat lovers.

“It’s very difficult to get that kind of pricing,” Zhao says. “We supply the cuts and we buy the cattle as a whole instead of a third party. Because of that, we’re able to provide significant value to our customers.”

The restaurant also runs a higher food cost than most, at close to 40 percent. To make money, the restaurant needs to be busy all the time, Zhao explains.

“The only way we’re profitable is to squeeze our occupancy cost to three or four percent instead of 13 percent,” he says. “Our dollar per square foot has to be ridiculous. We have to have lines out the door. We have to pack the house daily.”

Wagyu House offers diners the opportunity to get even lower pricing by joining its membership program. Priced at $58 per year, members receive lower pricing on their meals as well as access to a concierge service that will make priority reservations that allow them to skip ahead of non-members for tables. As Zhao points out, members earn back the cost after two or three visits, making it a useful option for the restaurant’s most ardent fans. Even better, it’s valid at all of the company’s locations, which will grow to as many as 100 by the end of 2026.

All-you-can-eat concepts are having a moment in Houston, especially with sushi, where restaurants like Seven Sushi & Robata are drawing crowds. Wagyu House is a more premium experience, but Zhao understands why these concepts appeal to diners.

“There's a dopamine hit when you go to a restaurant and you don’t have to think about menu pricing,” Zhao says. “You get value. That’s a big component. You don’t have to worry about what you order. You can have it all at an amazing price point.”

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