A taste of morocco

Zesty Moroccan restaurant bowls over diners with newest location now open in Upper Kirby

Houston’s fast casual Moroccan restaurant has opened its newest location. Zoa Moroccan Kitchen is now open in Upper Kirby.

The new Zoa joins sister concept Coco Crepes & Coffee in the former Velvet Melvin space at 3303 Richmond Ave. Bella Restaurants chef and CEO Youssef Nafaa developed Zoa based on his mother’s recipes from his childhood growing up in Morocco. The concept has been successful, growing to three locations and ranking sixth on Yelp’s list of the Top 100 Places to Eat in Texas 2023.

The fast-casual restaurant offers diners a mix of Moroccan flavors in the form of bowls or sandwiches. Diners can opt to assemble their own, Chipotle style, or go for a preset mix of ingredients such as the Casablanca (lamb, taktouka, vegetables, garlic aioli) and the Marrakesh (beef tagine, vegetables, green harissa).

Zoa’s seven proteins, which include beef, chicken, and lamb, are all halal. They’re paired with 21 toppings, including roasted root vegetables, confit onions, feta cheese, and cucumber-tomato salad. To finish, diners may opt for any of nine sauces such as harissa, mint-avocado yogurt, or garlic aioli.

Bowls start with a base of couscous, saffron-jasmine rice, lentils, or mixed greens. Sandwiches utilize scratch-made Fatima bread, which is named for Nafaa’s mother.

The 20-seat restaurant features Moroccan-inspired design elements such as lanterns and patterned tiles, a mural wall, and a patio that looks out onto Richmond. It’s open daily from 10:30 am until 10 pm.

Zoa will celebrate its grand opening this Thursday, August 24. The first 100 customers will receive either one of 90 gift cards for a free bowl or one of 10 for a free meal prep package valued at $39. In addition, all customers will receive a free bowl from 5-7 pm.

“We are so excited to open the third Houston-area location of Zoa Moroccan Kitchen,” Nafaa said in a statement. “In traditional Moroccan households like the one I grew up in, small dishes are served and passed along the table around one main course. At Zoa, the traditional table is in your bowl or sandwich. It’s a modern Moroccan dining adventure.”

Photo by Shawn Chippendale

The restaurant serves bowls and sandwiches.

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an offer he couldn't refuse

Exclusive: Killen's Barbecue will soon shutter in The Woodlands

Killen's barbecue meat platter with sides

Photo by Robert Jacob Lerma

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Fans of Killen’s Barbecue’s location in The Woodlands have a days to make one last visit. The restaurant will close this Sunday, December 7, chef-owner Ronnie Killen tells CultureMap.

Open since 2021, Killen says that he’s in final negotiations to sell the location at 8800 Six Pines Dr. to Whataburger for a new location of the iconic Texas fast food restaurant. Neither the original location of Killen’s Barbecue in Pearland nor its Cypress location are affected by the closure of The Woodlands and will remain open.

“Whataburger made me a deal I couldn’t pass up. It would take 10 years to do that kind of revenue,” Killen writes in a text, adding that the company recently made a significant payment to keep the deal’s window open through the end of the year.

He added that the costs to operate the restaurant have gone up significantly. As one example, a cord of wood cost $175 when he opened the first Killen’s Barbecue in 2013. It costs $475 now, he writes.

If the deal falls through, Killen states that he could look for a new buyer or convert the restaurant into a second location of Killen’s Burger, the retro-styled burger joint he operates in Pearland.

The restaurant’s closure had been expected since February, when Killen sold The Woodlands’ location of Killen's Steakhouse. At the time, Killen said he also planned to find a buyer for his barbecue joint in the bustling suburb. He cited the driving distance from Pearland to The Woodlands as one reason he chose to divest both locations. He still operates Killen's Steakhouse in Pearland, comfort food restaurant Killen's near the Heights, Killen's Burger, and three other locations of Killen's Barbecue.

As it approaches its 13th anniversary in the spring, Killen’s Barbecue remains a vital part of Houston’s barbecue scene. The restaurant recently earned an honorable mention from Texas Monthly and holds a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide. In July, it opened a new location at Hobby Airport.

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