‘End’ Game

A flurry of new restaurants is just one reason to head to Houston’s East End this spring.

LLast year, a landmark gift from the Kinder Foundation fastracked plans to expand Buffalo Bayou Park east of Downtown. It’s yet another indicator that Houston’s East End neighborhood is one worth visiting. Of late, it seems to be an especially popular choice among restaurateurs.

Watering hole Eight Row Flint, known for its ranch water and stellar tacos, recently opened a second location on Harrisburg near popular wine bar How to Survive on Land and Sea. A custom rick house anchors the expansive main dining room, and eclectic art decorates the walls. The stairway leads to an openair rooftop patio with seating for 80.

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With her new “social club” Best Regards, commercial realtor Morgan Hansen will bring the same international ambiance and energy from her extensive travels to the Heights. Best Regards will serve cocktails, wine, bubbly and mocktails, plus bar bites, and will host DJs and a variety of live music performers.

A Highland Village-area go-to recently adopted a more casual format and rebranded as Eloise Nichols All Day Café The menu revise leans family-friendly and affordable, more like its sister concept Adair Kitchen

Tulum, a rooftop tiki bar and restaurant now open in EaDo, boasts a soaring, multi-level interior with suspended lush accents, bamboo lighting fixtures, Aztec tiles, and a striking mural. Come for Caribbean cocktails, scratch-made Mexican dishes, and a rooftop complete with chaise lounge furniture.

By

Evan

W. Black

Meanwhile, the Gatsby Hospitality Group, which made waves last year with Gatsby’s Prime Seafood and, before that, Gatsby’s Prime Steakhouse in Montrose, quietly opened its latest concept on Navigation. With an aim of being an area go-to, the “craft-casual” Gatsby’s Grill homages the El Segundo neighborhood with Latin-tinged offerings and chic comfort food. And on the other side of the bayou, the nine-hole public course East River 9 has bowed, with a driving range, putting green and pickleball courts and a full-service restaurant that boasts a mean burger. 

Ben Berg announced that his Buttermilk Baby soda-fountainstyle restaurant will open this fall in the M-K-T Heights development. Berg will put his spin on diner food, a la fried chicken, burgers and biscuits, served in a fast-casual setting.