Two once-promising East Downtown destinations are closing their doors. EaDo bar Miss Carousel and Gulf Coast-inspired restaurant Indianola have shuttered, owners Vincent Huynh, Ryan Pera, and Morgan Weber of Agricole Hospitality announced.
These two closures are effective Monday, July 31 per a statement. Current plans call for renovating, developing, and reopening the two spaces located at 1201 St. Emanuel Street, according to press materials.
“In the nearly five years since we opened Indianola and Miss Carousel, we’ve learned a lot about running businesses in East Downtown. With so much action – from sports games to entertainment and nightlife – happening in this vibrant neighborhood, we had to take a close look at these concepts and determine what wasn’t working,” Weber, Pera, and Huynh collectively noted in a statement.
Fans of the two spaces and Agricole Hospitality's concepts can take heart that the spaces are slated to open by the end of the year. Satisfying Houston's never-ending hunger for Texas' native cuisine, Weber, Pera, and Huynh plan to open a Tex-Mex restaurant and cantina in the former Indianola space.
Meanwhile, the trio expects to transform the always elegantly chill Miss Carousel — which looked like the type of spot Ryan Gosling would frequent in Crazy, Stupid, Love — into a laid-back bar that “better utilizes the ample square footage with plenty of sports and event watching, bar games, and capacity for live music and DJ entertainment,” press materials note.
Expect CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler to report on grand opening dates, details, and more information on both new concepts later this year as they come.
A former Bar of the Year nominee in the CultureMap TasteMaker Awards in 2020, Miss Carousel became popular for its chic design, chill vibe, and next-door proximity to Indianola for pre-gaming or post-dinner drinks.
“If nothing else,” Sandler noted in 2020, “this EaDo bar’s stylish room full of mid-century modern furniture serves as proof of one essential truth — Julia and Morgan Weber have excellent taste. Morgan Weber, and the bar’s staff, have excellent taste in drinks, too, as evidenced by the lengthy cocktail menu that can cover just about any craving.”
As Agricole Hospitality’s first proper restaurant since opening Coltivare in 2014, Indianola arrived with high expectations — especially with founding chef Paul Lewis (Cullen’s, Osteria Mazzantini) leading the kitchen, Sandler noted in 2018. Named for the Gulf Coast town where immigrants entered Texas in the 19th century, the restaurant's fare was so inspired by those various immigrant communities who have made their way to Houston.
“We are so proud of what our team created, but we have come to the difficult realization as business owners that we missed the mark on the concepts guests in EaDo want and need,” Agricole's owners added in a statement. “We’re committed to this neighborhood and are eager to create two new spaces – a fresh, more casual restaurant and an everyday bar and gathering space – that speak more directly to the specific desires of our guests.”
For those keeping track, Agricole owns and operates no shortage of acclaimed local restaurants and bars: Coltivare, Eight Row Flint (with locations in the Heights and East End), EZ’s Liquor Lounge, and Vinny’s. Most recently, EZ’s scored the sole Texas spot in Esquire magazine’s Best Bars in America list.
Miss Carousel was once nominated for Bar of the Year in the 2020 Tastemaker Awards.
