what about your friends?

Rapidly expanding Houston restaurant group befriends Rice Village with shareable plates and craft cocktails

The menu includes this penne pasta.

Courtesy of ALife Hospitality Group

A rapidly growing Houston restaurant and bar group will soon arrive in Rice Village. ALife Hospitality is opening FRNDS Restaurant & Lounge on April 1.

Located in the former Mi Luna space at 2442 University Blvd., FRNDS (pronounced “friends”), aims to be a gathering spot for groups. Although ALife is well established with concepts such as Kamp, Lost & Found, and the recently-opened Bungalow Downtown Dining, the new establishment will be its first in Rice Village.

“The space sort of picked us,” ALife partner Junior Martin tells CultureMap. “While looking for new opportunities, we viewed several locations in different areas of the city. After touring the property during the day and at night, it gave us a vision of what was missing from the Rice Village area and from our hospitality offerings to the city of Houston.”

Those offerings begin with a menu of tapas-style shareable plates created by ALife culinary director Mark Holley. Best known for his time at seafood restaurant Pesce and his current role at Davis Street at Hermann Park, Holley’s menu includes Coconut Curry Shrimp Skewers, Crab Avocado Dip, and Red Curry Fried Calamari. Diners will also find truffle pasta, shrimp cocktail, and baby back ribs. For his part, Martin recommends the wagyu dumplings and chicken satay.

“Several of the menu choices are shareable items to enjoy with your friends,” Martin adds. “This fosters a vibe of fellowship with your group and allows [everyone] to explore multiple menu items together.”

FRNDS pairs its dishes with a range of craft cocktails. Highlights include the Pineapple Patron and a popcorn cocktail that comes with a sidecar of kernels.

FRNDS Pineapple Patron cocktail Behold the Pineapple Patron.Courtesy of ALife Hospitality Group

Renovations to the space include adding royal blue and purple booths, marble bar and table tops, and wood accents.

Rice Village has seen a number of new openings in the past few months, including Navy Blue, the new seafood restaurant from the Bludorn team; Sushi by Hidden, an omakase restaurant from the owners of Hidden Omakase; a new location of Chinese American restaurant the Rice Box; Australian-inspired coffee shop Bluestone Lane; and Eau Tour, a French restaurant from Local Foods owner Benjy Levit.

ALife Hospitality FRNDS Restaurant & Lounge Rice Village openings news-you-can-eat

domo arigato

Award-winning ramen shop sets opening date for new Memorial location

Courtesy of Ramen Tatsu-ya

Ramen Tatsu-ya opens in Town & Country Village on Tuesday, December 9.

Memorial-area diners will soon be slurping noodles and chowing down on Sweet & Sour Yodas. Ramen Tatsu-ya is opening its second Houston-area location this Tuesday, December 9.

Located in Town & Country Village (600 West Sam Houston Pkwy North, #605), the new Ramen Tatsu-ya builds on the success of the restaurant’s first Houston location that opened in 2017. It has earned a following for its signature tonkotsu broth, which takes up to three days to prepare.

The menu also includes small plates such as sweet and spicy Brussels sprouts (aka, Yodas), karaage, and gyoza. They can be paired with a full range of drinks, including beer, sake, frozens, and non-alcoholic sips such as lemongrass-cucumber limeade and strawberry-yuzu lemonade.

“Houston has been so good to us since opening our first ramen shop in Montrose in 2017,” Tatsu-ya CEO Todd Coerver said in a statement. “We’re excited to bring our authentic, Japanese-style ramen to Memorial City, and we aren’t stopping there. A third opening in Houston is planned for summer 2026.”

Ramen Tatsu-ya Memorial Briks mural Houston artist Briks painted the restaurant's mural.Courtesy of Ramen Tatsu-ya

The restaurant will open at 2 pm. The first 50 people to dine in will receive a t-shirt that features an image of the location’s mural, which was created by Houston artist Briks.

Founded in 2012 by chefs Tatsu Aikawa and Takuya Matsumoto, Ramen Tatsu-ya took Austin by storm. Fans lined up an hour or more to get a bowl of soup, and the restaurant earned a spot on Bon Appetit’s 2013 list of the country’s best new restaurants. Memorial/Town & Country will be the restaurant’s ninth location, following a to-go window that opened on the Drag near the University of Texas earlier this year. More are coming, as Coerver’s statement makes clear.

Ramen Tatsu-ya joins a dynamic mix of new and new-ish restaurants in Memorial and Town & Country Village, including neighborhood restaurant The Henry, classic American restaurant Relish Restaurant & Bar, Murray’s Pizza & Wine, and Michelin-recognized live-fire concept Credence.

Courtesy of Ramen Tatsu-ya

Ramen Tatsu-ya opens in Town & Country Village on Tuesday, December 9.

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