the ion's lobby bar

Houston restaurant royalty reveals menu and ‘Golden Girls Chic’ vibe at new Midtown restaurant

David Cordúa, right, leads The Lymbar.

Photo by Dylan McEwan

A veteran Houston chef’s new Midtown bar and restaurant is taking shape. When it opens later this fall, The Lymbar will mark chef David Cordúa’s return to Houston's dining scene.

Cordúa's name is well known to Houston diners. The chef worked with his father, legendary Houston restaurateur Michael Cordúa, at Cordúa Restaurants — the hospitality group behind Churrascos, Americas, and Amazon Grill — before the duo parted ways with the company in 2018. They're teaming up again on this new project.

Located inside The Ion, Rice University’s innovation district in the former Sears in Midtown, The Lymbar describes itself as an all-day neighborhood craft cocktail bar and restaurant. Named for the street in Meyerland where Cordúa grew up, the restaurant will serve an eclectic menu of Latin and Mediterranean-inspired dishes in a space designed by local firm Gin Design Group (Eunice, Daily Gather).

“The Ion already has an exciting buzz of ‘greenergy’ with great minds, start-ups and entrepreneurs coming together. The Lymbar will be their living room,” Cordúa said in a statement. “The vibe is ‘Golden Girls Chic’ with inspiration from childhood nostalgia like ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ and Shel Silverstein.”

Cordúa provided CultureMap with a preview of some of the menu items he plans to serve at The Lymbar. Those looking for a bar snack may order the 'Rosespud', oversized potato and plantain chips served with dips such as onion dip, chimichurri, and red curry romesco or items such as foie gras doughnut holes, Monte Cristo empanadas with raspberry dill vinaigrette, and sweet corn flan with Cracker Jacks. The truffle twinkie that won him the top prize at the first Truffle Masters competition will also be available.

Meals will begin with seasonal small plates such as fresh corn gnocchi with smoked tomato sauce, labneh and basil as well as rotating flatbreads like caramelized onions with new potatoes. Entree options include a stuffed chicken ballotine with sherry cream sauce and morels that draws upon the chef’s French training or go South American with a dish like arroz tumbado with oven-roasted branzino.

Expect to see The Lymbar’s build-your-own-taco boards on Instagram. They’ll combine proteins such as chicken shawarma, achiote pork belly, and sesame-seasoned tri-tip with basmati rice and house sourdough pita.

The chef has recruited an experienced group to help him open the restaurant. They include: executive chef Adolfo Lopez, Jr. (Brenner’s on the Bayou, Churrascos); general manager Jaime Rangel (Cordúa Restaurants); manager Travis Wingate (Churrascos, La Griglia); and bar manager Sean Stapleton (The Refuge in the Woodlands).

“We’re the lobby bar of The Ion,” Cordúa added. “We’ll be a place that celebrates the creativity and innovative spirit that makes Houston one of the best cities in the world.”

Already home to a location of Common Bond On-The-Go and Second Draught, a craft beer bar, The Ion will also soon welcome Late August, a Afro-Asian restaurant from Houston chef and Top Chef finalist Dawn Burrell.

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New York Times critic awards Houston restaurant 2 stars in glowing review

Courtesy of ChòpnBlọk

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Let’s just call 2025 the year of ChòpnBlọk. In a review published Tuesday, December 16, the New York Times has awarded the Houston restaurant two stars (“very good”).

Written by chief restaurant critic Tejal Rao, the review touts many of the same qualities that the Times already praised when it included ChòpnBlọk on its list of America’s 50 best restaurants.

Rao writes that she usually avoids restaurants that serve food in bowls, but she’s impressed by the way that chef-owner Ope Amosu has put a West African spin on the concept.

“For inspiration, Ope Amosu looked to the kind of chain restaurants that were built to scale, where flavors are often subdued to appeal to the broadest possible audience, focus-grouped to death. But the delight of ChòpnBlok is in its sure sense of self, its lively, multidimensional cooking and clear, delicious vision for modern food from the Black diaspora,” Rao writes.

She singles out specific dishes, including the Nigerian red stew with short rib, the Black Star bowl with shrimp, and the signature Motherland, made with chicken, greens, and plantains. “It’s utterly simple, but draws you in for more with the mouthwatering twang of not-too-much MSG — an international shortcut to building umami that tends to be used carefully, and layered with other forms,” she writes.

The review also touches on the way Amosu switched the restaurant from counter service to full service — described as “warm, informal, and quick with the jokes” — and his time working at Chipotle to learn the basics of the restaurant operations.

A two-star review is only the latest instance of ChòpnBlọk receiving national attention. In addition to the Times 50 best list, Esquire recently named it one of America’s best new restaurants. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand designation for 2025. Amosu earned a semifinalist nomination for Best Chef: Texas in the 2025 James Beard Awards.

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