houston's newest patio bar

New, 2-acre patio bar fires up brick oven pizzas next to White Oak Music Hall

A massive new bar has opened near White Oak Music Hall. Woodland Social brings many of the most popular facets of Houston’s growing patio bar scene to the Near Northside.

Photo by Sean Rainer

The bar's patio includes 10,000-square-feet of turf.

Named for its location at 313 E. Woodland St., Woodland Social unites the brothers behind Piper’s Hospitality Group (Preslee’s Southern Good Eatery and Piper’s Burgers) with White Oak Music Hall developer Will Garwood. The two-acre property has an 8,000-square-foot main bar area and a 15,000-square-foot outdoor patio that includes 10,000-square-feet of turf.

Designed to be both kid and pet-friendly, the expansive patio includes amenities that have been a hit at other patio bars, including lawn games, three volleyball courts, cabanas, hammocks, and a 20-foot LED screen. Inside, patrons will find an 80-foot, 32-seat bar, 18-foot ceilings, and floor-to-ceiling windows. Sports fans can follow all the action on the 21, 75-inch TVs.

“Our vision was to build a bar that would stand out and showcase the natural light and outdoor scenery at every seat,” co-owner Justin Piper said in response to CultureMap’s request for comment. “From the glass skylights, floor to ceiling windows, sliding glass doors, Brazilian teak wood ceilings, brick and stucco finishes to the tropical landscaping and spacious outdoor sections, there isn’t a bad seat anywhere.”

“The Woodland Heights area lacked a destination for families with children, was pet friendly, and had the space to accommodate people of all ages to come together and enjoy a lively social atmosphere. We decided that our two-acre footprint was the perfect space for doing just that,” Justin’s brother and business partner West Piper added.

Woodland Social pairs all that space with a robust food and drink menu. The Pipers developed a menu of five, 12-inch brick oven pizzas — available with traditional, gluten-free, or cauliflower crust — that are each designed to feed one or two people. They are:

Classico - Tomatoes, fresh basil, mozzarella, and olive oil
Cheese Please - Mozzarella, provolone, romano, and parmesan
Local Favorite - Mozzarella, provolone, pepperoni, and hot honey
The Veggie - Mushrooms, spinach, mozzarella, and provolone
Meat Me - Pepperoni, Italian sausage, capicola, Genoa salami, mozzarella, and provolone

Since pizza and beer are a natural pairing, Woodland Social offers 20 draft options as well as 20 more in cans or bottles. The wine list includes 30 selections, including more than a dozen by-the-glass.

The bar’s cocktail program offers its interpretations of a number of classics, including the Old Fashioned, Mai Tai, French 75, and, of course, an espresso martini. The bar creates its own syrups and infuses its own bitters, Justin Piper adds.

In addition, it serves nine frozen cocktails, including a watermelon mojito, strawberry daiquiri, and a pineapple margarita. Even better, the frozen cocktails are available in individual servings or as flights of three or six for $14 or $26, respectively. Those who eschew alcohol will find both mocktails and alcohol-free beers.

“There really is not another venue of our size and location that we can compare to,” co-owner Brandon Piper added. “We have over 20,000 square feet of outdoor space and can accommodate over 500 people. To cover parking, we have over 130 parking spaces to accommodate those traveling and not ubering. Woodland Social is a massive indoor and outdoor entertainment destination and will attract sports watchers, happy hour hangouts, families, pet lovers, and people who just want to relax to great music.”

Woodland Social opens at 4 pm Monday-Thursday and 12 pm Friday-Sunday. Patrons under 21 are welcome until 9 pm.

Relish responds

Houston restaurant breaks silence about wage theft allegations

Photo by Julie Soefer

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A Houston restaurant has broken its silence about a lawsuit that accuses it of wage theft. Relish Restaurant & Bar issued a statement about allegations made by an employee that it improperly allocated money from the restaurant’s tip pool:

For more than a decade, we've worked hard to build a restaurant where our employees feel valued and respected. Our team is central to everything we do, and we take our responsibilities to them seriously. We remain committed to fair and lawful employment practices, and firmly deny the allegations that have been made. Given that this is an ongoing legal matter, we will not comment further at this time. Thank you for understanding.

According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, employee Michael Baron alleges that Relish and its owners, Addie and Dustin Teague:

Used his and other employees’ tips to pay the maitre’d, who also had managerial roles, such as disciplining employees. The maitre’d was allegedly paid at least $21,000 in 2026 from pooled tips, according to the lawsuit. The maitre'd position is not included in the restaurant's notice about which workers get paid from the pool, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit further alleges that the practices at Relish’s Town & Country location violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal law that governs how tipped employees are paid. Under the law, restaurants are allowed to pay tipped employees as little as $2.13 per hour, because the vast majority of their income is generated by customers’ tips. The law also governs which other employees — such as bartenders and other customer-facing positions — are eligible to receive a share of an employee’s tips. Salaried managers or employees in supervisory roles are not eligible to receive tips.

Baron is represented by attorney Josef F. Buenker, whose firm specializes in employment law, as noted by its domain name houstonovertimelawyer.com.

In March, a federal court ruled that Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille must pay $21 million for misallocating tips to more than 700 servers.

Relish is known for its classic American fare such as burgers, fried chicken, steaks, salad, and seafood. Its River Oaks location, which has been open since 2016, will soon close before moving to the RO mixed-used development next year. Relish’s Town & Country location will remain open.

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