Fresh Summer Crop of New Restaurants in the Heights

Fresh Summer Crop of New Restaurants in the Heights

This summer will be a busy time for the Heights foodie community, with four highly-anticipated restaurants set to open in the next few months. Spanning a wide range of cuisines and atmospheres, there’s sure a be a new favorite out there for every brand of foodie. 

 

Ritual

Ken Bridge of Delicious Concepts is a Heights resident and the brains behind several favorite neighborhood eateries, including Republic Diner, Shepherd Park, and Pink’s Pizza. His newest concept, Ritual, will soon open to the public in the vacant spot on White Oak and Studewood where  the EL Cantina Superior once was. Ritual is currently open for invitation-only previews, but should be open in earnest at the end of June. The casual steakhouse restaurant will feature an in-house butcher shop, giving diners a chance to see their entrees in a more complete form before ordering. Don’t say you weren’t warned. In-house charcuterie will be paired with a wide selection of local beers. Meats will be sourced form Black Hill Ranch, with owner Felix Florez overseeing the whole operation. In addition to standard cuts of meat like ribeye and sirloin, Ritual will offer more hard-to-find cuts not stocked at the average supermarket. 

 

Pinkerton’s Barbecue

Carnivores, rejoice! In addition to the aforementioned artisan steakhouse, there’s another meat-centric restaurant coming to the neighborhood. Pinkerton’s Barbecue will open in late August or early September, serving Central-Texas style BBQ imagined by Grant Pinkerton, of smoked alligator fame. (In case you missed it, Pinkerton caused quite a stir at the Houston Barbecue Festival with his smoked alligator, prepared whole so that it looked like it was about to slither off the pit.) Check out Pinkterton’s Instagram to see previews of the menu and information about pop-up nights held between now and opening day. Pinkerton’s will be located at 1504 Airline Drive. 

 

Arthur Ave Italian American

If hearty, cheesy just-like-mom-used-to-make Italian dishes are your jam, you’re going to be a big fan of Arthur Ave Italian American, coming to 1111 Studewood in July. The menu will feature classics like spaghetti and meatballs and chicken parmesan. The owners of Helen Greek Food and Wine in Rice Village are behind Arthur Ave, and hope to bring the kinds of dishes popular with Italian-American immigrant communities in Boston and New York to the Heights.  Evan Turner, winner of the CultureMap Tastemaker Sommelier of the Year award, is developing the wine list, and Lainey Collum is the beverage consultant responsible for the rest of the bar. 

 

Pi Pizza

Finally, a brick and mortar location of the popular food truck Pi Pizza will be opening in the former home of Funky Chicken at 181 Heights Blvd in August. Owner Anthony Calleo will no longer be operating the food truck, instead choosing to focus on the new location. The menu will feature a menu of staple pizzas as well as rotating specialty pies and appetizers and sandwiches from Calleo’s Sandy Witch Sandwich Company. The restaurant will feature an art installation of skateboards decorated to feature film and music icons.

 

We can’t wait to try out all of these promising new restaurants! Luckily, the grand openings are all spread out from each other a few weeks, so we don’t have to make any tough decisions about where to go first. Yum!

 

 

Image: Boudin Benedict by Pinkerton’s BBQ, from @PinkertonsBBQ on Instagram

For more information, please visit: http://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/06-09-16-houstons-14-most-anticipated-summer-res

Source: CultureMap