So, Did The Restaurant Business Make a Comeback Last Year?
Yes, and No, but there’s plenty to look forward to
The hospitality industry took a hard hit during the COVID pandemic, first forced closings than supply chain stoppages and worker shortages. But things seemed to be doing good last year with more than 70 eatery and bars opening in Houston.
“Last year seemed to be one of extremes,” says Jonathon Horowitz, president of Houston Hospitality Alliance. “We saw tremendous activity in terms of new openings and there was a significant amount of investment in higher-end concepts with expensive buildouts. At the same time, we saw many closures — on all ends of the spectrum — as the industry still is battling its way back from the pandemic years and has been dealing with difficult inflationary pressures for a couple years now (food costs, labor costs, rent increases, etc.). Add to that the two natural disasters we endured (creating extended closures for numerous businesses), and many in the local industry are finding themselves still in survival mode. While we do see some upticks in consumer confidence and spending, the industry is not completely out of the woods; I believe we will continue to see high-profile closures and sell-offs along with the continuation of new opening activity.”
Mike Shine, the new executive director of the Texas Restaurant Association Greater Houston Chapter agrees.
“It was a tenuous year, and I think 2025 will be, too,” he says. “Restaurants that survived the pandemic did so with CARES Act money and landlord help, and that has gone away now. But new problems are here like inflation and property insurance increases. We’re still only back to 65 to 80 percent of what we did in 2019.”
Shine sees more familiar eateries closings in 2025, as well as more openings from established eateries with multiple locations and those that can make connections with developers and landlords. Think food halls restaurants in mixed-use developments.
One example is Fielding’s River Oaks, which opened in December on the ground floor of the Novel River Oaks Building home to luxury apartments. Fielding’s Culinary Group has two other very popular locations — Fielding’s Wood Grill and Fielding’s Local Kitchen and Bar — both in The Woodlands. The modern space sports a large bar, a lounge with live music, a dining room, and two patios. The upscale menu offers breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner. The menu prices reflect the rise in food costs, as most of the newer restaurants do.
Kicking off the new year, is Perseid (per-see-id), named for the summer meteor shower as a nod to Houston’s space city reputation, is the first formal partnership between Austin’ Bunkhouse Hotel and local Bludorn Restaurant Group. If you’ve ever stayed at the San Jose in Austin, you know the quirky, retro-merged-with-modern aesthetic the Bunkhouse imbues its projects with. The first Houston property, Hotel Saint Augustine, opened last December in the verdant Museum area next to The Menil Collection, the 71- room, multi-building campus features an all-day lobby lounge, listening room, and an intimate event space. With architecture by renowned Texas firm and longtime collaborators Lake|Flato, five small two-story buildings spread across 2.2 acres blend seamlessly into the neighborhood’s residential character, intersected by a series of lushly landscaped courtyards and winding outdoor pathways amidst mature heritage oaks. Each building is connected by open air bridges and porches to create a residential feeling, with brick exterior walls leading to screened porches and a series of inviting, lush gardens from Austin-based landscape architects Ten Eyck, working alongside Hempstead’s The John Fairey Garden for years cultivating mostly native plants that will provide lush views year-round.
Bludorn and front of house partner, Cherif Mbodji concocted a menu of light bites for breakfast, lunch, and snacking for the Augustin Lounge that includes things such as shrimp and grits, a smoked salmon dip, and a Wagyu hotdog. The more formal Perseid, opened in mid-January, as a quintessential neighborhood bistro with a menu described as an “intersection of refined comfort, classic technique, and a focus on flavor.”
Bludorn Restaurant Group, run by the chef and his wife Victoria Pappas Bludorn (yes, that Pappas family) hit the ground running with the original Bludorn before opening Navy Blue and then last year, before the hotel opened, they opened Bar Bludorn in Memorial City. Perseid should be a beacon for the neighborhood as well as a popular dining option for hotel guests.