Memorial-area French brasserie quietly closes after 5 years

A Memorial-area French restaurant has quietly served its last meal. White Elm Brasserie closed after service on Sunday, January 26, co-owner Christopher “Chico” Ramirez tells CultureMap.

Ramirez cited a downturn in business as the primary reason for the decision to close the restaurant. White Elm’s customer counts declined after both the derecho and Hurricane Beryl, including a more than 30-percent decline during Houston Restaurant Weeks, Ramirez said. The slow sales continued into the usually busy holiday season, when only one group chose the restaurant for a holiday party — down from eight in 2023. With the restaurant’s lease expiring in February, Ramirez says that he and his wife made the difficult decision to move on.

First opened in 2020 as White Elm Café Bakery, the restaurant united Ramirez — a hospitality veteran whose resume includes both The Boot and Field & Tides — with Chez Nous owners Stacy and Scott Simonson. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the restaurant combined an extensive selection of pastries made in-house with a French and Mediterranean-inspired menu from chef Stacy Simonson. In 2022, the restaurant changed its name to White Elm Brasserie as it moved to a slightly more upscale experience that included full service and cocktails.

While Ramirez will miss his time in the Memorial area, he’s already working on his next project, a Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurant called Johnny Rita’s that’s coming to the north Houston neighborhood of Lindale Park later this year. White Elm chef de cuisine Jesus Salinas will lead the kitchen. Expect more details as its opening becomes more imminent later this year.

French-inspired restaurant have had tough luck in Houston over the past several months. Last May, Benjy Levit shuttered his short-lived French concept Eau Tour and replaced it with Italian concept Milton's. In September, Philippe Schmit quietly closed his French bistro PS-21 after approximately a year-and-a-half in business.