LMJ's coffee concept

Astros fan favorite Lance McCullers, Jr. opens 2nd coffee and cocktails spot, with 2 more on the way

A Houston coffee shop and cocktail bar revealed an ambitious plan that will take it from one location to four in the coming months. Maven Coffee + Cocktails — a beverage concept that counts Astros fan favorite Lance McCullers Jr. as one of its partners — just opened its second location with two more on the way soon.

Photo by Chloe KIssner

Maven partners Blake Fertitta, Lance McCullers, Jr., and Juan Carlos Martinez de Aldecoa. (Oh, and Orbit.)

McCullers and his business partners Juan Carlos Martinez de Aldecoa and Blake Fertitta opened the first Maven this summer at Minute Maid Park as part of their Rex Hospitality company. It quickly developed a following for its cold brew coffee as well as coffee-based cocktails such as the carajillo and frozen espresso martini.

Maven has already built on that success with a new location at Toyota Center that opened for the Rockets home opened against the Golden State Warriors. They’ll follow that up with an outpost at the upcoming Thompson Hotel that opens next month in the Allen mixed-use development and the brand’s first brick and mortar location in Sawyer Yards that will open in early 2024.

“I have always been a coffee aficionado and craved to one day open a coffee shop that spared no expense and whose motto would be quality over everything,” McCullers tells CultureMap. “My love for Houston made it an easy choice to find a plot of land to make this dream become a reality. I wanted to bring a new fresh mind and attitude to the hospitality space where we create amazing atmospheres for both our guests and employees.” (The man who coined the phrase “Bury Me in The H” shared his intense love for Houston in this in-depth interview with CultureMap last year.)

The Toyota Center location is a cart located near the Frost East Club (Sections 118-122) that serves a range of cocktails including gin and tonics, margaritas, Old Fashioneds, and coffee-based cocktails. In addition, Maven’s frozen espresso martini can be found throughout the arena’s main concourse.

Maven’s location at the Thompson Hotel will be located on the first floor. It will serve coffee, pastries, and cocktails to both hotel guests and locals. As CultureMap has previously reported, it will joined by three new restaurants from Las Vegas-based TableOne Hospitality.

Similarly, the brick and mortar location will serve pastries, coffee, and a range of cocktails. Plans call for a space that will transition from a family-friendly coffee shop during the day to an upscale bar in the evenings.

“Unlike most coffee shops that are quick to market and lack details, Maven Coffee + Cocktails locations are beautifully designed and decorated with ample seating, an indoor/outdoor area, and a drink and lite bites menu that has been curated by industry experts,” McCullers says. “This ensures that along with the coffee, every visit and encounter with our spaces are of the highest quality.”

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a major award

California-inspired Houston restaurant makes Robb Report best new list

Photo by Paula Murphy

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A Houston restaurant is basking in the national spotlight. Robb Report named Zaranda, chef Hugo Ortega’s California-inspired downtown restaurant, to its list of The 10 Best New Restaurants in America.

Published Tuesday, June 16, Zaranda ranks No. 10 on the list. Culinary editor Jeremy Repanich hails Ortega and his wife/business partner Tracy Vaught, writing that Zaranda “may be their best restaurant yet,” which is lofty praise considering their H-Town Restaurant Group also includes Hugo’s, Caracol, Urbe, and Xochi. It's the only Texas restaurant on the list, which is topped by Lilo, a 24-seat tasting counter in Carlsbad, CA.

“Their take on Las Californias cooking incorporates influences of Asia: In the aguachile negro, for example, lime-cured shrimp has the salty punch of soy sauce,” Repanich writes. “At this seafood-focused restaurant, the whole-grilled fish is a must. It’s served with a trio of excellent sauces, from the salsa verde with its sharp acidity to the charred-tomato salsa that has a rounder, fruitier, and smokier flavor profile.”

Ortega and Vaught opened Zaranda in October 2025. Located next to Discovery Green in the Norton Rose Fulbright Tower, the restaurant is named for a wire basket used to cook seafood over an open flame. It has earned significant praise, including a nomination for Best New Restaurant in the 2026 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, a spot on Texas Monthly’s list of the state’s best new restaurants, and an honorable mention on Texas Monthly’s list of the state’s 25 best new taquerias.

Repanich writes that the restaurants that intrigued him most over the past year were smaller and more intimate than places he’s selected in previous years. He mentions Perseid, Aaron Bludorn’s restaurant in Houston’s Hotel Saint Augustine, as one example of that style of restaurant that just missed making the list.

“Nevertheless, plenty of kitchens that did make the cut share that same intimacy, with artful, unfussy cooking; even the handful of tasting-menu spots revealed a softer, lighter side of fine dining,” Repanich writes. “Ultimately, that’s what the 10 best new restaurants in America for 2026 have in common: a refined sense of play that stays with you long after the meal is over.”

Robb Report frequently includes Houston restaurants on its best new list. In 2024, upscale sushi restaurant Katami made the list, as did Navy Blue and Jūn in 2023 and March in 2022. It also named James Beard Award winner (and CultureMap wine columnist) Chris Shepherd the best chef in the world in 2019.

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