Houston's 'Chinese takeout bar from the future' unboxes Memorial outpost

Add another inner loop favorite to the growing list of Houston restaurants expanding to Memorial. American-style Chinese food restaurant The Rice Box will open a new location in Hedwig Village.

Slated to open in December, The Rice Box has claimed the former Georgia’s Market space at 9201 Katy Fwy for its fifth location. It joins the growing restaurant’s existing outposts in Greenway Plaza, the Heights, River Oaks, and Rice Village.

“We took our Rice Village location and miniaturized it,” Rice Box founder John Peterson tells CultureMap. “It’s got some seating, but it’s geared towards take out. We touch all of the Memorial neighborhoods there. Plus, if you go north, you have Spring Branch.”

As Peterson began considering the site, he heard from customers who moved to those neighborhoods from inner loop locations such as Montrose or Rice Military. They have fond memories of Rice Box — even going back to its food truck days — and look forward to having the restaurant near where they live now. With plans for more growth in the years to come, the enthusiasm has been gratifying.

“Being our first location outside of the 610 loop, seeing that reception, it’s exciting,” Peterson says. “We’ve got our eyes on a couple more locations. It’s fun to go into those areas and see we have old customers.”

Memorial-area diners can expect the same menu as the Rice Box’s other locations. That includes staples such as General Tso’s chicken, sesame chicken, beef with broccoli, and orange peel beef. The restaurant also serves traditional Chinese-inspired fare such as Chongqing chicken, cumin beef, mapo tofu, and chow fun noodles.

Hedwig Village will open with new versions of two dishes that Peterson had introduced previously but took off the menu. The first is an updated dumpling recipe that’s better suited for to-go. The second is a new milk bun that’s inspired by the version served at many dim sum restaurants.

“We’re continuing to make our menu better. We pay attention to customer feedback. We know the quality of the Rice Box now is completely different than when it was a food truck. We’re going into year 13, the quality will continue to improve as we enter new markets.”

In keeping with the Rice Box’s inspiration from Blade Runner and other sci-fi movies, the new location will also introduce a new, interactive element for customer ordering. Dubbed the Rice Box Multipass, Peterson describes it as an acrylic piece with a QR code. When diners scan the code, they’ll get access to the Rice Box’s ordering app. It’s previewed in the poster the restaurant released on social media.

“We’re getting closer and closer to our vision of what the Chinese takeout bar from the future is,” Peterson says.