New Houston Restaurant Recommendations

[royiv 9044]

It's bizarre. It goes weeks or months with zero activity and then maybe there will be a truck or two on the lot for a day working on it. It feels like they work on it when they have money. I can't imagine what the property taxes are on it that they've been paying for years now with no revenue.

[txduck87 975]

We had a terrific dinner at Mimo on Saturday night.  Food and service were spot on.  Sorry, no pics. 
Note - they don't serve spirits, so I asked about BYOB.  They allow, with a $20 corkage fee.

Went last weekend . Same experience. Service was fantastic which, in my opinion, is incredibly hard to find these days. Great food and reasonable wine. Highly recommend.

[billfromlaketravis 11290]

Sort of new and an oldie. Black Walnut Rice Village completed their renovations. Menu looks new? 

Their chicken fried steak slams. Excellent bloody marys as well. They make their mix in house. That's key. 

Rice Village has always been the best location. Good to see them level up some. 

[billfromlaketravis 11290]

Lazy Bagel in Midtown is pretty solid in Midtown if you don’t want to deal with the lines/parking at Hot Bagel. 
 

Very fresh, good texture. They don’t have a poppy seed bagel or chive cream cheese which borders on bizarre. 

[royiv 9044]

16 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Lazy Bagel in Midtown is pretty solid in Midtown if you don’t want to deal with the lines/parking at Hot Bagel. 
 

Very fresh, good texture. They don’t have a poppy seed bagel or chive cream cheese which borders on bizarre. 

The owner of Hot Bagel died unexpectedly this week at the age of 62.

[billfromlaketravis 11290]

1 minute ago, royiv said:

The owner of Hot Bagel died unexpectedly this week at the age of 62.

I’m sorry to hear that. RIP. Definitely the best bagel in the city. 

[Storm the Field 5255]

18 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Lazy Bagel in Midtown is pretty solid in Midtown if you don’t want to deal with the lines/parking at Hot Bagel. 
 

Very fresh, good texture. They don’t have a poppy seed bagel or chive cream cheese which borders on bizarre. 

Brazos Bagel is opening up their brick and mortar location at Durham and I-10 very soon, possibly by next weekend. Very good bagels. Been selling them at farmers markets and other restaurants for a while now.

So happy to finally have a Heights-area replacement for Golden Bagel. Been a bagel desert in this neck of the woods since they closed. 

[billfromlaketravis 11290]

3 hours ago, Storm the Field said:

Brazos Bagel is opening up their brick and mortar location at Durham and I-10 very soon, possibly by next weekend. Very good bagels. Been selling them at farmers markets and other restaurants for a while now.

So happy to finally have a Heights-area replacement for Golden Bagel. Been a bagel desert in this neck of the woods since they closed. 

I mean… Hot Bagel is pretty close to the Heights. It’s real close to Durham and I 10. 

[Jimbaround 972]

I mean… Hot Bagel is pretty close to the Heights. It’s real close to Durham and I 10. 

Getting to Hot Bagel from I-10 is a pain in the ass if there is any traffic.

[huge 3774]

On 1/28/2024 at 9:01 PM, Jimbaround said:

Getting to Hot Bagel from I-10 is a pain in the ass if there is any traffic.

Its a pain in the ass period.  And I would know.  One thing I don't miss about the area.

[Da Fino 2670]

26 minutes ago, huge said:

Its a pain in the ass period.  And I would know.  One thing I don't miss about the area.

Are you the poster that flipped the bronco right around there?

[tokamak 6324]

Jun. Best meal I've had in a while. Fucking spectacular michelada, too. Best one I've ever had, period.

[huge 3774]

23 hours ago, Da Fino said:

Are you the poster that flipped the bronco right around there?

Not me dog.

[billfromlaketravis 11290]

Brazos Bagel appears to be open. 

[GreenspointTexas 9385]

52 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Brazos Bagel appears to be open. 

Went yesterday at 10am. Sold out of bagels

 

went by there today at 845am, line around the corner. Had to settle for Parlour Donuts instead

[tx 3 putt 75477]

8 minutes ago, GreenspointTexas said:

Went yesterday at 10am. Sold out of bagels

 

went by there today at 845am, line around the corner. Had to settle for Parlour Donuts instead

damn

are they that much better then heb bagels ?

[billfromlaketravis 11290]

2 minutes ago, GreenspointTexas said:

Went yesterday at 10am. Sold out of bagels

 

went by there today at 845am, line around the corner. Had to settle for Parlour Donuts instead

Heights problemos. NY Deli in Meyerland almost always has an empty seat at the counter. 
 

Hot Bagel is usually OK if it’s not Saturday or Sunday morning. 

[elfenix 34109]

3 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

damn

are they that much better then heb bagels ?

are heb bagels even bagels or are they ring shaped rolls (like at panera)?

[Storm the Field 5255]

22 hours ago, GreenspointTexas said:

Went yesterday at 10am. Sold out of bagels

 

went by there today at 845am, line around the corner. Had to settle for Parlour Donuts instead

I stopped by around 8:15 on Friday. They were sold out of most of their bagels. Had to settle for poppy seed, which were still good, but not as good as their everything bagels. There were at least 20 people in there and another dozen or so came in during the ~15 minutes I was there. Ran out completely not much later in the morning.

Until the initial hype subsides, I'm gonna settle for occasionally popping in on may way to work on Friday mornings and just grabbing some to bring home for the weekend. Either that, or make sure to get there by 7:45 or so on the weekends.

Edited February 5 by Storm the Field

[Storm the Field 5255]

18 hours ago, elfenix said:

are heb bagels even bagels or are they ring shaped rolls (like at panera)?

Exactly. HEB bagels are just circles of soft bread with a hole in the middle.

If you have to settle for grocery store bagels, the single bagels they sell in the bakery case at Kroger are way better than HEB, and actually have a proper bagel texture. One of the very few areas where HEB pales in comparison.

[patrickdrinksbeer 787]

Brazos Bagel is opening up their brick and mortar location at Durham and I-10 very soon, possibly by next weekend. Very good bagels. Been selling them at farmers markets and other restaurants for a while now.
So happy to finally have a Heights-area replacement for Golden Bagel. Been a bagel desert in this neck of the woods since they closed. 

i had never heard of this place before like a week ago and have no idea what’s going on, but this is a weird IG post

[GreenspointTexas 9385]

8 hours ago, patrickdrinksbeer said:

i had never heard of this place before like a week ago and have no idea what’s going on, but this is a weird IG post

Swung by there this morning, place was empty. I was the only customer the entire time I was there. It was odd. Got a plain bagel breakfast sandwich. It was good. Tried to get an espresso based drink…. They said barista isnt there, so no coffee. I personally prolly wont be back
 

Reading the tea leaves, it looks like a partnership or a renter/rentee relationship gone bad. Either way, RIP Brazos Bagels

[GreenspointTexas 9385]

Oh, and he went back and deleted the 3 IG posts he made in the past week since opening the brick and mortar. Clearly he isnt associating himself with that location anymore

[Js1 83354]

43 minutes ago, GreenspointTexas said:

Swung by there this morning, place was empty. I was the only customer the entire time I was there. It was odd. Got a plain bagel breakfast sandwich. It was good. Tried to get an espresso based drink…. They said barista isnt there, so no coffee. I personally prolly wont be back
 

Reading the tea leaves, it looks like a partnership or a renter/rentee relationship gone bad. Either way, RIP Brazos Bagels

Tried to go yesterday morning - they said no, had someone sitting on the patio telling people they weren't serving that morning. 

[Storm the Field 5255]

9 hours ago, patrickdrinksbeer said:

i had never heard of this place before like a week ago and have no idea what’s going on, but this is a weird IG post

This is the weirdest thing I've ever seen in the restaurant business. Open for a total of like 15 hours before calling it quits.

They were slammed Thursday-Sunday and selling out of everything. Posted Sunday night that they were taking Monday off and shortening hours Tuesday to continue working out some of the kinks but then planning to resume normal hours as of today. Typical soft opening shit. Less than 48 hours after that post, the owner calls it quits.

Only 3 possibilities I see:

1. Epic partnership collapse.

2. Landlord/tenant nightmare.

3. Owner had a mental breakdown or drug/alcohol psychotic break after the stress of opening weekend. 

 

Edited February 7 by Storm the Field

[Storm the Field 5255]

And now there's already a story out.

 

Quote

 

When Zac Wilson opened Brazos Bagel Feb. 1 near the Heights, he couldn’t have asked for a better debut: Customers waited in line before 7 a.m. to order his bagels. There was social media buzz and news coverage. The shop sold out of its inventory within hours.

 

Less than a week later, Brazos Bagel is closed and no longer operating out of the shop at 2155 Durham.

The limited number of hand-rolled, boiled and baked bagels Wilson and his team produced could have been Brazos Bagel’s downfall as well, he said.

Over the weekend, Wilson said the shop made 60 dozen bagels — or nearly three times the amount they were used to — to meet the high demand. Still, customers wiped out the inventory quickly.

 

Robert Martinez, one of the partners behind Brazos who is a commercial real estate broker and has helped open restaurants in Houston, said “it just didn’t work out” and that the split with Wilson was as “amicable as possible.”

 

“When we finally got open, the model we had was not a sustainable business model,” Martinez said. “We couldn’t meet the capacity of the demand.”

In coming weeks, he and another investor will rebrand the shop as Space City Bagels, which was their original plan before teaming up with Wilson, Martinez said. 

Wilson said he’s dedicated to maintaining the quality of his bagels, which he has described as a mix between New York and Montreal style, even if he can’t produce enough to be as large as some national chains.

 

“There’s always going to be a limited supply,” Wilson said.

 

 

[TonyTexas 10423]

7 minutes ago, Storm the Field said:

Only 3 possibilities I see:

1. Epic partnership collapse.

2. Landlord/tenant nightmare.

3. Owner had a mental breakdown or drug/alcohol psychotic break after the stress of opening weekend.

Was definitely #1. But since the partner is also a real estate guy, it could also be #2. 
 

Quote

When Zac Wilson opened Brazos Bagel Feb. 1near the Heights, he couldn’t have asked for a better debut: Customers waited in line before 7 a.m. to order his bagels. There was social media buzz and news coverage. The shop sold out of its inventory within hours.

Less than a week later, Brazos Bagel is closed and no longer operating out of the shop at 2155 Durham.

Wilson announced the closure on social mediaTuesday night and confirmed he split with his business partners. The team had opened a brick-and-mortar space after growing a following for Brazos Bagel through a series of pop-ups the past few years. Wilson plans to sell his bagels at various locations throughout Houston in the meantime.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

“I had really hoped this was going to work but things happen,” Wilson said. “We’ll continue to make as many bagels as we can.”

The limited number of hand-rolled, boiled and baked bagels Wilson and his team produced could have been Brazos Bagel’s downfall as well, he said.

Over the weekend, Wilson said the shop made 60 dozen bagels — or nearly three times the amount they were used to — to meet the high demand. Still, customers wiped out the inventory quickly.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

“I expected some enthusiasm, but I didn’t expect that kind of enthusiasm,” Wilson said.

Robert Martinez, one of the partners behind Brazos who is a commercial real estate broker and has helped open restaurants in Houston, said “it just didn’t work out” and that the split with Wilson was as “amicable as possible.”

“When we finally got open, the model we had was not a sustainable business model,” Martinez said. “We couldn’t meet the capacity of the demand.”

In coming weeks, he and another investor will rebrand the shop as Space City Bagels, which was their original plan before teaming up with Wilson, Martinez said. They still plan to sell Little Dreamer Coffee, a popular purveyor amongst Houston coffee fans.

For now, he said, they plan to fly in bagels from New York City and hope to hire a new baker.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

“We had to find a better solution,” Martinez said. “We had to look at this like a business.”

MORE FROM BAO ONG: Turkey Leg Hut accused of firing co-owner, other employees over email in viral social media posts

 

A sign is displayed at Brazos Bagel, 2155 Durham Dr., is shown Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Houston. Little Dream Coffee was featured at Brazos Bagel.

Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer

For Wilson, the Brazos brick-and-mortar was a chance to bring more bagels to Houston, which he believes is lacking for the fourth largest metropolis in the country.

The 50-year-old bagel maker, who was a former rock musician and spent years working in kitchens, first launched his business in Ojai, Calif., with his wife back in 2020. Their pandemic project became a business that followed them to Houston, which they moved to a few years ago.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

While the brick-and-mortar Brazos business is gone, Wilson said he wants to keep rolling out more bagels. He plans to drop off his baked goods at locations such as restaurants Kojack’s and Henderson & Kane, coffee shops Antidote and Black, and markets outside of the loop.

Wilson said he’s dedicated to maintaining the quality of his bagels, which he has described as a mix between New York and Montreal style, even if he can’t produce enough to be as large as some national chains.

“There’s always going to be a limited supply,” Wilson said.

 

 

 

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/food-culture/restaurants-bars/article/brazos-bagel-houston-closed-18653084.php?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=sftwitter&utm_medium=referral

Edited February 7 by TonyTexas

[elfenix 34109]

unplanned popup.

[Storm the Field 5255]

So, sounds like he wasn't gonna be able to produce nearly enough bagels to keep the store from routinely running out and covering rent and whatnot.

Seems like something you'd usually try and determine before opening, right?

[TonyTexas 10423]

18 minutes ago, Storm the Field said:

So, sounds like he wasn't gonna be able to produce nearly enough bagels to keep the store from routinely running out and covering rent and whatnot.

Seems like something you'd usually try and determine before opening, right?

I guess the BBQ model doesn’t work in the bagel biz. 

[royiv 9044]

What's with the picture on the Instagram post? Is this guy some sort of bagel Heisenberg?

[huge 3774]

New spot for North Italia opens today in City Centre.  Shame the parking is such a beating.  $10 valet at dinner.

[GreenspointTexas 9385]

Yeah, brazos bagel dude had no clue what he was getting himself into. Couldnt sell more than 2 bagels a minute… wtf?

[GreenspointTexas 9385]

Prolly went something like this:

 

 

[billfromlaketravis 11290]

1 hour ago, huge said:

New spot for North Italia opens today in City Centre.  Shame the parking is such a beating.  $10 valet at dinner.

When I go to City Centre, I usually park by Postino and walk over. Unfortunately, several hundred people usually have the same idea. There’s usually a few spots, but it’s competitive. 

[tx 3 putt 75477]

1 hour ago, GreenspointTexas said:

Yeah, brazos bagel dude had no clue what he was getting himself into. Couldnt sell more than 2 bagels a minute… wtf?

he was over whelmed and freaked out is my guess 

[Storm the Field 5255]

Culturemap has a more in-depth article out:

Quote

 

Wilson tells CultureMap he was delighted by the neighborhood’s enthusiasm for his bagels. Although he says Brazos tripled its daily output compared to what it made before the shop opened, they couldn’t make enough bagels to meet his partner’s requirements. Both parties quickly realized they had different expectations regarding daily output and decided to end the partnership.

“They wanted to see more volume coming out of my side of the team,” he says. “We couldn’t scale up fast enough for them . . . We made a decision to part ways.”

 

Unfortunately, even in the soft opening, it became clear that Wilson’s bagel making methods would not be compatible with the demands of a busy shop. Tasked with producing 60 dozen bagels per day, Martinez says Wilson and his team produced fewer than 40 dozen. While he respects Wilson’s commitment to quality, he also wants to meet the community’s demand.

“This is a business. I believe food is passion. I live and breathe it,” Martinez says. “You also have to create jobs and make money for it to stay open. If you run out at 10 am on a Saturday, that’s difficult.”

Wilson’s departure means that Martinez and the shop’s investor will return to their original plan and operate the space as Space City Bagels. The shop will be closed for a few days to redecorate with vintage Astros memorabilia and items that pay homage to Houston’s status as the home of NASA. In addition, Martinez says he’s secured a commercial kitchen where a new bagel maker will work until he can build a kitchen on site.

 

https://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/brazos-bagel-space-city-bagel-heights/

Edited February 7 by Storm the Field

[tx 3 putt 75477]

3 hours ago, Storm the Field said:

So, sounds like he wasn't gonna be able to produce nearly enough bagels to keep the store from routinely running out and covering rent and whatnot.

Seems like something you'd usually try and determine before opening, right?

it’s not to damn hard to find some latin kitchen help that will quickly pick up things and pump out enough to meet demand 

 

look into that kitchen at truth bbq, and see who’s working that pit room 

[Storm the Field 5255]

3 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

it’s not to damn hard to find some latin kitchen help that will quickly pick up things and pump out enough to meet demand 

Sounds like one problem is the shop itself doesn't have enough kitchen space to produce what they need on-site. 

[tx 3 putt 75477]

Just now, Storm the Field said:

Sounds like one problem is the shop itself doesn't have enough kitchen space to produce what they need on-site. 

no where to park his trailer ?

[billfromlaketravis 11290]

3 hours ago, TonyTexas said:

I guess the BBQ model doesn’t work in the bagel biz. 

Pretty much this. Bagel Heisenberg would have been better off popping up at the farmer market on Airline. He’d sell out in 20 minutes with pretty low overhead. Go play golf for the rest of the day. Profit.

The silver lining is restaurant groups and investors know the Heights is thirsty for decent bagels. I’m sure a suitable alternative will emerge.

Authenticity and freshness is key for bagels. Just make them how they make they’re made in NYC, and the product should be pretty good. I don’t know if that’s a sustainable model for a restaurant in Houston. I’ve had subway bagels in NYC that are better than anything I’ve had in Houston. 

[tx 3 putt 75477]

Was Golden Bagel the place that shut down ?

 

place was good and couldnt make it 

[Js1 83354]

4 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

Was Golden Bagel the place that shut down ?

 

place was good and couldnt make it 

I loved that place 

[tx 3 putt 75477]

7 minutes ago, Js1 said:

I loved that place 

everyone did 

[billfromlaketravis 11290]

4 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

Was Golden Bagel the place that shut down ?

 

place was good and couldnt make it 

Golden Bagel had a location problem. White Oak + on the trail has to be the most expensive rent in the Heights. Also very limited free parking. It was pretty good with above average coffee. 

[Storm the Field 5255]

22 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

Was Golden Bagel the place that shut down ?

 

place was good and couldnt make it 

Talked about this before with a buddy of mine who has spent a lot of time in the restaurant biz, has owned and/or managed a couple different places. Said it's tough (though clearly not impossible) to run a profitable breakfast place in an area like the Heights if you're only selling low-priced to-go items like pastries or bagels. Need people to buy ~$15 entrees, overpriced coffee, mimosas/bloodys....etc. to get average per-customer-transaction something closer to $20 than under $10. Either that or you need to own the building outright and not be paying rent.

Edited February 8 by Storm the Field

[billfromlaketravis 11290]

1 hour ago, Storm the Field said:

Talked about this before with a buddy of mine who has spent a lot of time in the restaurant biz, has owned and/or managed a couple different places. Said it's tough (though clearly not impossible) to run a profitable breakfast place in an area like the Heights if you're only selling low-priced to-go items like pastries or bagels. Need people to buy ~$15 entrees, overpriced coffee, mimosas/bloodys....etc. to get average per-customer-transaction something closer to $20 than under $10. Either that or you need to own the building outright and not be paying rent.

Did Andy’s own their building? I assume not because they shared a wall with another tenant. 

[tx 3 putt 75477]

Golden bagel wasn't cheap

[b_p 467]

For the sushi lovers, some of the best sushi I’ve had lives here in Houston. Hidden Omakase and their offspring Sushi by Hidden and Norigami are as good as anything I’ve had.

[Storm the Field 5255]

On 2/7/2024 at 12:16 PM, Storm the Field said:

Culturemap has a more in-depth article out:

https://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/brazos-bagel-space-city-bagel-heights/

Well that was quick. Space City Bagels soft-opened this morning, less than a week after Brazos shuttered. I may pop in on the way to work Friday morning and give it a shot.