Bol, 3201 Louisiana, opened January 30. Sharing the space with its recently opened sister concept, Pok Pok Po, Bol is the newest venture from Kahani Social Group known best for its upscale Indian restaurant, Amrina, in The Woodlands. Chef Jessi Bindra leads the new fast casual bowl concept with Kahani's founders, and brothers, Preet Paul Singh and Surpreet Singh.
The interior of Bol is sleek and modern with dark surfaces gleaming under purple neon lighting. Guests can choose from banquettes or table seating. The small space allows for up to 24 diners. Like the adjacent Pok Pok Po, the restaurant will be open Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. with extended hours to midnight on Friday and Saturday.

Chef Jassi says the concept is a reimagining of the classic bowl with an infusion of global inspiration and bold flavors. "Every element-from the base to the proteins, toppings and sauces-is designed to let guests craft a meal that's as unique and satisfying as they are, whether they're craving comforting spices or vibrant, fresh ingredients."
Guests can choose either a bowl, wrap or salad then get jiggy with whatever base and toppings they desire. Base options include brown, basmati or masala rice. For proteins, there are halal and sustainably-sourced choices such as happy chicken, paneer, lamb keema, beef, cumin potatoes and more. The choices keep coming as guests customize the toppings which include spiced avocado, pickled onion, roasted corn, veggies and Jassi's hummus. There are samosas and papadum chips for snacks plus soft drinks, mango lassi, juices and beer.
Leaf & Grain, 600 Travis, is coming to Chase Tower in early summer 2025, followed by another location at 9655 Katy Freeway the same summer. These two new restaurants will make number 5 and 6, respectively, for the healthy eating concept from founder Deets Hoffman and business partner Edward Thompson.

The locally-owned business focuses on fresh ingredients for its bowls, salads, soups and entrees that are nutritious as well as delicious.  The menus vary slightly from location to location but there are options like the Alamo Grain Bowl loaded with brown rice, kale, avocado, house TX cheese blend, cherry tomatoes, black beans, totopos and roasted chicken thigh. It's served with a chipotle-lime vinaigrette. Other grain bowls include the Good Greek and Common Table.

There are salads such as Buffalo Chicken and MFH Veggie Boost plus tomato or tortilla soup. Sandwiches are served on scratch-made ciabatta or pain de mie and include Chicken Pesto, Southwest Turkey and Texas-Style Chicken Salad. There are also entree plates including Lemon-Caper Salmon and French Country Dinner.

But wait. There's More...
Murray's Pizza and Wine, 9655 Katy Freeway, will also open in summer 2025 adjacent to the new Memorial Leaf & Grain. Hoffman and Thompson have been hoping to break into the Memorial area for over a decade, then the former Texadelphia spot became available and they fell in love with the space, enough to open another Leaf & Grain location. Hoffman added, "The only complication was that it was twice the size of what we needed, so we thought this was the perfect opportunity to open the pizza concept we had been working on as well."

It's not quite as spontaneous as it sounds, however. Hoffman and Thompson had been working on the pizza idea since 2019 but the pandemic put the kibosh on that venture for a bit. Now the new Murray's, named for Hoffman's wife, Murray Hoffman, will take over half the Memorial space with the other half occupied by Leaf & Grain.

Murray's will serve artisan pizzas, with the dough being a major focus. With the sourdough bread at Leaf & Grain having earned rave reviews, Hoffman and Thompson believe the pizza dough at Murray's will showcase their strengths.

Murray's will also offer small plates but a big part of the business will be the bar offerings.
NoPo Cafe, Market & Bar, 1244 N. Post Oak, closed January 13 after three and a half years. A Berg Hospitality Group concept, it was a more casual eatery than most of the other Berg restaurants and projects. However, there's a silver lining for both owner/founder Benjamin Berg and Houston bagel lovers.

Beginning in February, the 2,400 square-foot space will be transformed into two new projects. The first is Bagel Bob's NYTX, a bagel shop and delicatessen owned by Robert Orzo, a native New Yorker who now makes Houston his home. In the early days of Berg's acclaimed B&B Butchers & Restaurant, Orzo made the bagels, breads and rolls for the steakhouse and the two have been friends ever since. Berg hails from New York as well.

Bagel Bob's will occupy 500 square feet of the building as a counter-service outpost of the Dairy Ashford location and seat 20 guests. In addition to the New York-style bagels, there will be bagel sandwiches.

The remaining space will be used as a satellite commissary for Berg Hospitality in which its restaurants' staples will be produced. It will also serves as a research and development kitchen for executive pastry chef Ruchit Harneja to experiment with new dessert creations.
Kirby Ice House, 1421 N. Loop W., broke ground this month on the upcoming Heights location, expected to open in fall 2025. It will be the fourth ice house for the bar and patio concept, which has locations in Upper Kirby, Memorial and The Woodlands.

The 24,000 square-foot ice house will occupy a three and a half acre site off the 610 Loop. That means plenty of parking with approximately 300 spaces. A massive new ice house needs a massive new bar and the Heights outpost will break the record of 'longest bar in Texas', currently held by The Woodlands location. At 146 feet long, it will be plenty of room for Houstonians to belly up to the bar.

It will offer signature cocktails, a curated wine list and over 50 beers on tap. In keeping with its ice house roots, there will be large indoor and outdoor spaces for socializing, game watching or just relaxing after a hard day's work. There will also be scheduled live entertainment.

As with its other outposts, the Heights location will host a rotating lineup of food trucks along the back patio.

Mico's Hot Chicken, 2400 N. Shepherd, has moved to its new location and reopened January 30. There are still interior finishes to be made but it is open for both indoor and outdoor seating.
Angry Chickz, 18207 Egret Bay Boulevard, is coming to Webster in late March 2025. The fast casual Nashville hot chicken brand  was founded in the East Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles in 2018 by David Mkhitaryan. It has since grown to 26 locations in California, one in Nevada and another in Arizona. The Webster store is the first for Texas.

Its menu offers four different combos which do not include a drink.  The chicken sandwiches here are called sliders, with a fried chicken tender, coleslaw and pickles. There is also an option of a chicken tender, served on a slice of white bread and topped with pickles. While the first three combos come with fries, Combo #4 is two hot chicken tenders served over rice instead.
There are bowls like the Angry Fries and Angry Mac plus the Hangry Fix which is two chopped tenders over rice with mac and cheese and secret sauce. Fries, rice, mac and cheese and coleslaw are all available as sides, too.

As for the spice levels, customers should be aware that they lean toward the hotter side, even for medium. There's country(no spice), mild, medium, hot, x-hot and angry, the latter of which requires a signed waiver. You've been warned.

Golden Chick, 10966 Grant, opened January 27 in the east Cypress area. It's the second franchised location for Sebastian Burton and Britney Golston, both of whom were longtime employees of the company prior to partnering in their first franchise. Golston continues in her role as a new store opening coordinator despite her busy schedule as a franchisee. She and Burton also have a third location planned in the next few months on South Wayside.
The Grant road location will be one of only two greater Houston area Chicks to offer breakfast. It will be served from 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. with a menu of items like biscuits and gravy, breakfast burritos and its Golden Supreme Breakfast Sandwich.

The newest location makes number 15 in the Greater Houston area for the fried chicken brand which was founded in Texas in 1967. It has since expanded to more than 230 stores across five southern states, with Nevada in its sights next.
White Elm Brasserie, 14079 Memorial, had its last day of service January 26, as reported by CultureMap Houston. The reason cited was the downturn in business. The restaurant's lease was set to expire in February so co-owner Christopher "Chico' Ramirez and his wife decided that its was time to let go and focus on another project. .

White Elm originally opened in August 2020 as White Elm Cafe Bakery as a collaboration between Ramirez and Stacy and Scott Simonson, owners of Chez Nous in Humble. The pastry program was being led by Tasos 'Bread Man' Katsaounis at the time. In 2022, White Elm changed names and pivoted to a full service restaurant.

Ramirez, however, is not leaving the Houston restaurant scene. He has plans to open Johnny Rita's Cocina & Cantina at 5602 Fulton. There was an architectural barriers project filing for the property with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation this week.

Restaurants Reported Open January 2025:

Alora, 2502 Dunlavy, opened January 2
Barbacana, 907 Franklin, opened December 14
Beans & Brews Coffeehouse, 8727 Harlem, opened late December 2024
Georgia James, 3503 W. Dallas, reopened January 1
Hopdoddy Burger Bar 4936 Waterview Town Center, opened late January
Jinya Ramen Bar, 9240 Broadway, opened January 29
Kendal & Kelby Cheesecakes, 29110 Highway 290, opened December 7
Maximo's, 6119 Edloe, reopened January 15
On the Kirb, 3800 Southwest Freeway, opened January 10
Paris baguette, 2501 Research Forest, opened January 18
Perseid, 4110 Loretto, opened January 16
Pho Prime, 8850 Metropark, opened mid-January
Portillo's, 7511 FM 1960 W., grand opening January 14
Portillo's 1019 Westside Parkway, grand opening January 13
7 Brew, 156 El Dorado Boulevard, opened January 6
Shipley Do-nuts, 8002 FM 1464, opened late January


Restaurants Reported Closed January 2025:

Backstreet Cafe, 1103 S. Shepherd, closed January 1 for relocation
Cru Food & Wine Bar, 2800 Kirby, closed December 18
The Flying Dutchman, 9 Kemah Waterfront, closed December 31
Roka Akor, 2929 Weslayan, closed early January
Tris, 24 Waterway, closed January 2

Here's a look at this weekend's tasty food and drink happenings:

6th Annual Gumbo Cook-Off at Cedar Creek Bar & Grill

Saturday, 1 to 6 p.m.
1034 West 20th

Gumbo enthusiasts can get their fill at Cedar Creek's annual Gumbo Cook-Off, as gumbo crews, breweries and cooks compete for the titles of Best Gumbo and People's Choice. Expect live music, cocktails and cold beer, a mechanical bull, game and prizes, fun for the kiddos and plenty of tasty gumbo. Tasting wristbands are $35.

Beats & Brews by MAVEN at Thompson

Sunday, noon to 2 p.m.
1717 Allen Parkway

Channeling the new “coffee club culture,” MAVEN at Thompson is hosting its first Beats & Brews event, mashing laid-back DJ sets in a cozy coffee shop atmosphere. Guests can unwind, recharge and connect over craft coffees and indulgent bites. The event is free to attend.

Willow’s Smokehouse & Tavern Pop-up at Lil' Danny Speedo's Go Fly a Kite Lounge

Sunday, 2 p.m. to sold out
823 Dumble

Enjoy drinks, bbq and good times with friends in the East End Houston as acclaimed local pitmaster Willow Villarreal of the the soon-to-open Willow’s Smokehouse & Tavern pops up at fellow neighborhood hangout Lil' Danny Speedo's Go Fly a Kite Lounge, less than a mile from the tavern's future home.

Have a Nice Day Lunar New Year at The Ion

Sunday, 4 to 8 p.m.
4201 Main

Creative collective Have a Nice Day invites folks to support Houston’s vibrant small business community and welcome the Year of the Snake at this free Lunar New Year market. Expect over 25 vendors, chefs, creators, crafters and makers including Burmalicious by Suu, Khoi Barbecue, Agnes and Sherman, Burger Bodega, The Custard Box, Pudgy's Fine Cookies and more, plus an exciting lion dance performance at 8 p.m., complimentary drinks, and lucky red envelope giveaways.

Galveston Restaurant Week

All weekend long

Galveston Restaurant Week closes out this Sunday, as island eateries feature discounted prix fixe menus in benefit of United Way of Galveston, Galveston’s Own Farmers Market’s community-based food programs and Family Service Center of Galveston County. This year’s restaurant roster includes local favorites BLVD Seafood, Good Dough Kolache Bakery, Fish Company Taco, Little Daddy's Gumbo Bar, Mosquito Cafe and more. Two or three-course dinners run $20 to $60, two-course lunches are $10 to $30, and brunches will be priced $10 – $40.