3 openings to know

3 Houston-area restaurant openings to know right now: Italian seafood, Miami doughnuts, and a sizzling Japanese staple

The summer has already been a busy time for new restaurant openings. In the past few weeks, eagerly anticipated new arrivals such as ElRo Pizza & Crudo, Benny Chows, and Trill Burgers are all drawing attention from food-obsessed Houstonians.

Let’s take a quick look at three other openings to know. One is a new effort from a prominent local restaurant group, while the others are noteworthy suburban options.

Pastore Italian Kitchen
Underbelly Hospitality will officially open the doors to Pastore this Friday, June 30. Located next to Georgia James, the company’s luxurious steakhouse, in the Regent Square mixed-use development, Pastore combines two of Houston’s most of the moment restaurant trends: Italian and seafood.

Chef Jeff Potts collaborated with Underbelly culinary director Scott Muns on the menu. It starts with raw items such as cured Gulf snapper and scallop crudo as well as shareables that include stuffed, roasted calamari. The four housemade pastas include swordfish amatriciana and ravioli en brodo.

Pastore puts its wood-burning oven to good use by serving five pizzas — including one topped with clams and another topped with figs and lemon ricotta — along with whole roasted branzino and a hearty porchetta. Pair them with a selections from the Italian-oriented wine list or cocktails created by former CultureMap Tastemaker Awards Bartender of the Year winner Sarah Troxell.

“Houston has great Italian restaurants, but we’re filling a void for seafood-forward, coastal cuisine,” Potts said in a statement. “In keeping with the ethos of Underbelly Hospitality and Italian gardens, the flavors sown through the menu will be light and fresh, rooted in seasonality.”

Notably, Pastore is Underbelly Hospitality’s first opening since the departures of founder Chris Shepherd and its original culinary director, chef Nick Fine. The company will open second locations of Wild Oats and Underbelly Burger later this year in Spring Branch.

Yonutz
A Miami-based dessert concept has arrived in Pearland. Yonutz debuted in Pearland Town Center last weekend (11200 Broadway, Suite 430).

Known for its signature smashed doughnuts, Yonutz serves treats such as the Nutella Crunch Smash Donut that's cut in half, filled with cookie dough ice cream, heated on a waffle iron-style griddle, and topped with Oreos, cereal crunch, and Nutella drizzle. The hot and cold taste experience has won recognition at the annual Dessert Wars competition and attracted an investment from former Shank Tank cast member Kevin Harrington

The menu also includes conventional, non-ice cream filled doughnuts as well as milkshakes. A "secret menu" — available to anyone who joins the company's free VIP club — offers even more choices.

“We’re big fans of the Yonutz brand and its family-friendly atmosphere,” franchisee Chris Allen said in a statement. “We’re there seven days a week with our five-year-old and one-year-old daughters, so stop in anytime to say hi and experience what makes Yonutz so special.”

The Pearland location will soon be joined by shops in Kingwood and Memorial City Mall.

Benihana
The Japanese-inspired steakhouse chain’s fifth Houston-area location will open July 13 in Conroe’s Teas Crossing Shopping Center (3061 Interstate 45 North). Known for its signature teppanyaki cuisine, the 7,000-square-foot restaurant has 17 tables where chefs prepare meals in front of diners.

Benihana’s interactive meals are built around a range of steak, chicken, and seafood entrees that are served as part of five or six-course menus. Diners can expect a lively environment with the theatrical chefs executing signature moments that include the onion volcano and made-to-order fried rice.

The restaurant also serves sushi — nigiri, sashimi, and maki — along with hot and cold appetizers. Pair them with wine, sake, beer, cocktails, or non-alcoholic sips.

“Every Benihana restaurant has its own unique story to tell,” Conroe general manager Andrew Kim said in a statement. “By crafting a fun, distinctive dining experience at each Benihana restaurant, we strive to create a special connection with our guests and neighbors and invite them on our culinary journey.”

Courtesy of Yonutz

Yonutz has opened in Pearland.

openings news-you-can-eat

service switcheroo

Street food-inspired Houston restaurant swaps counter service for servers

Photo by Andrew Hemingway

Traveler's Cart is add new dishes to its menu, including steak frites and chicken parm.

A globally-inspired Houston restaurant is making a big change to its service model. Traveler’s Cart will switch from counter service to full service beginning this Monday, November 17.

When owners Thy and Matthew Mitchell opened Traveler’s Cart last year as a more casual sister concept to Traveler’s Table, their globally-inspired Montrose restaurant, they decided counter service would match the restaurant’s street food-inspired menu and lower price point. With a year of experience, they’ve decided full service — where diners sit down and order from a server — will improve the customer experience in a number of ways.

First, they noticed that some of their online reviews go to great lengths to explain the ordering process. Moving to traditional table service will elimination that confusion.

“We want to be like a great brasserie or izakaya where people come and enjoy food and drinks at a reasonable price,” Matthew Mitchell tells CultureMap. “There’s a lack of intuitiveness about the process right now. Almost a year in, we’re still having to explain where you go and how you order. That tells you we probably missed the mark.”

He also recognizes that the inherent uncertainty of counter service — people are concerned about how long they’ll have to wait to order and whether a table will be available once they do — limits the restaurant’s appeal as a date night option or for larger groups who want the certainty of having a place to sit.

Even though the restaurant has been a financial success, according to Mitchell, he thinks Traveler’s Cart is missing out on revenue with its counter service model. “I think people order less at the counter. You may not order a cocktail, and you certainly won’t get back up and order more drinks,” he says.

Switching to full service will also help the restaurant’s perceived value. With entrees mostly priced between $15 and $25, the restaurant may feel expensive relative to other fast casual restaurants. Once servers are added, Mitchell thinks diners will appreciate the value, particularly since its prices are about half of sister concept Traveler’s Table.

“I feel like the food quality is outstanding for the price, but when it crosses that $20 or $30 threshold, people perceive it as pricey,” he says.

Traveler’s Cart has other ways to enhance the value of its offering, such as its $18, three-course lunch that includes iced tea or a fountain drink. Happy hour, available Monday through Friday from 3-6 pm, includes $8 cocktails, $3 drafts, $8 small plates, and more.

Along with the new service model, Travelers Cart is updating its menu with a number of new dishes. They include Thai chili queso, Baja shrimp tacos, salmon donburi bowl, chicken parmesan, and steak frites. The cocktail menu has also been refreshed with a Mexican espresso martini and a Tuk Tuk Old Fashioned, named for the vehicle that now sits in front of the restaurant’s entrance.

Recently recognized by the Texas Restaurant Association as Restaurateurs of the Year for the Houston region, the Mitchells hope that these changes will lead to even more success. With the service style refined and the menu dialed in, they’re already looking for another location.

Photo by Andrew Hemingway

Traveler's Cart is add new dishes to its menu, including steak frites and chicken parm.

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