Oru, 746 W. 24th, debuts November 18 in the Arts District. The new Japanese concept comes from Comma Hospitality, a restaurant group founded by brothers Samee and Saber Ahmed. Blending technique-centered cuisine with artistic elements like fashion and decor, the duo have successfully created acclaimed restaurants such as the group’s flagship Neo, a 13-seat omakase concept housed in Glass Cypress, the company’s luxury fashion brand shop. The more playful Kira followed in August 2024 as an upscale handroll and cocktail bar that is also a vinyl listening room.
The menu at Oru takes liberties with the omakase experience by offering the dishes a la carte, allowing guests to create their own tasting line-up of plates that have been carefully composed by chefs Luis Mercado and Paolo Justo. The chefs each bring global expertise to the high quality sushi offerings, fusing their own culinary backgrounds with Japanese techniques.
Mercado has created masu nigiri with recado negro and purslane, drawing on Mexican flavors. Recado negro is a Yucatan pepper paste that creates an umami bomb of flavor with the raw fish. The chefs’ combination of tradition and innovation have resulted in bites like a reverse beef Wellington, which features a thin slice of A5 wagyu wrapped around a deep-fried egg roll, stuffed with a mushroom duxelle. Plates include Texas barbecue trout with Korean spinach and Alaskan black cod, slow-cooked with seaweed butter and gamtae glaze.
The ethos of “waste not” means that vegetable trimmings and seafood offcuts are utilized to make super flavorful broths, pickling brines and fermented condiments, including a fermented miso soup.
The design itself is modern, minimalistic and artsy, allowing the intimate space to feel cozy, while letting the food become part of the design itself.
Doc’s Jazz Club, 1201 Westheimer, softly opens to the public November 11, with tickets now available. The grand opening celebration takes place November 15. Located in the historic Tower Theatre, it’s an expansion of Jazz, Tx in San Antonio, founded by jazz pianist Brent “Doc” Watkins. The Jazz, Tx venue has been popular for nearly a decade in the Pearl District, bringing in a line-up of multi-genre musicians for nearly a decade with its contemporary Texas music hall ambiance. The new Houston club will be three times as big, providing an entertainment and dining concept that promises to be thrilling for jazz enthusiasts and music lovers, but also folks looking for a sophisticated evening of cocktails and steakhouse cuisine.
The Tower Theatre is the perfect atmosphere for an upscale supper club, with the Art Deco-style of the old movie theater adding to the romance of a golden age. Though the Tower Theatre began as a cinema in 1936, it has been a video store, nightclub and different restaurants over its nearly 90-year period. Now, musicians from all over the country will be performing on its newly-built stage.
The restored theater is the anchor for Radom Capital’s redevelopment project in Montrose which includes Nando’s Peri Peri, Mala Sichuan and the upcoming 1111 cocktail lounge. The restoration was undertaken by Card and Company Architects of San Antonio, with the theater now boasting a performance stage, mezzanine level, cabaret seating and an upstairs bar. While there’s all the glitz of a jazz-era nightclub, the sound and lighting technology is state-of-the-art with an 18-foot video wall injecting additional modernity.
In addition to performances by Watkins himself and a line-up of local talent that spans the musical spectrum, the club elevates the dinner theater experience with a menu that offers guests fine dining dishes like foie gras, grilled octopus and coq au vin. Leading the kitchen is chef Jose Avila whose resume includes San Antonio’s Hotel Emma. While his menu offers contemporary plates like short rib empanadas and pork belly chicharron paella, there is also a carved-to-order Chateaubriand, a dish that harkens back to an era of high-class dining establishments.
Watkins says of the highly-anticipated club, “Music and food create timeless connection. Our mission is to rekindle that human energy and make Houston a home for it.”
There will be nightly performances and guests can make dinner-and-show reservations through its proprietary TurnTable ticketing platform. There are also memberships available for preferred seating, advance access and dining deals.
Cupbop, 5116 Fairmont Parkway, is celebrating its grand opening in Pasadena November 14. Offering Korean bbq in a cup, the concept was featured on season 13 of ABC’s Shark Tank. On screen, owners Junghun Song and Dok Kwon scored a one million dollar investment by Mark Cuban, though he is not currently listed as an investor.
Song founded the Korean bbq concept as a food truck in Salt Lake City in 2013. Kwon, a hedge fund investor, joined the brand in 2020, after being one of the truck’s first, and highly impressed, customers. The duo have taken Cupbop worldwide with hundreds of locations across the United States and Indonesia. The Pasadena store is the first for the Greater Houston area with a planned location for northwest Houston in December at 12620 FM 1960 Road West.
The menu offers cups of Korean flavors that are customizable, allowing customers to create a “cup of wow” with options like rice, noodles, cabbage, protein, veggies and sauces. Its signature cups include Rock Bop, with crispy Korean fried chicken, and the B Bop with bulgogi beef. There is also Piggy Bop with Korean-style pork. With its custom menu, guests can create dairy-free, gluten-free and vegan cups, too.
The Perch, 806 Main, will open in early 2026 as part of the expansion of the JW Marriott Houston Downtown. The rooftop restaurant and bar will be an elevated dining experience, literally and figuratively. With its Main Street location, the space will offer city views, along with a rooftop pool.
Open to both hotel guests and destination diners, the restaurant will have executive chef Rafael Gonzales at the helm creating a seasonal menu of dishes that reflect the chef’s two decades of hospitality experience as well as the diversity of Houston’s culinary influence. There will also be a curated wine list along with signature cocktails and mocktails.
The bar and restaurant will be open for lunch, happy hour and dinner.
Fuzzy’s Taco and Margs, 4360 Kingwood, celebrated its grand opening November 6 in The Livable Forest. Like its recently opened Sugar Land location, it offers full service dining, compared to the counter service of the earlier restaurants. The vibe is still laid back, but now guests can place their orders with a Tacotender.
The menu has been updated as well with new tacos, as well as fan favorites. There’s the Sonora Relleno with its stuffed and fried poblano pepper, plus crispy Baja Fish Tacos. You don’t have to claim a political party to enjoy both the Texas Brisket Taco and the Cali-style Steak Taco. There are enchilada plates and nachos, too.
The new model has also expanded its cocktail list with the Watermelon ‘Rita. Fuzz Driver and Paloma ‘Rita, which comes with a dunked grapefruit Jarritos. The cocktails are available frozen or on the rocks.
The Kingwood store is owned and operated by brothers Miro and Andrew Nazarian who also operated the Sugar Land location.
Tripping Tacos, 5600 Richmond, is celebrating its grand opening November 8 and November 9. The food truck serves halal Mexican cuisine, much of it made with halal Angus beef. It’s the newest concept from Ahmad Kilani, founder of both Clutch City Cluckers and Juicy Joint.
Some of its craveable dishes include Drip Drip Ramen and Trippin’ Tamales along with pupusas, birria and barbacoa tacos. For a sweet treat, the menu offers the Churro-Berry Gasm, a dessert of crispy churros topped with fresh strawberries, Mexican crema and cinnamon-maple sprinkles.
The ribbon cutting begins November 8 at 5 p.m. along with a live mariachi performance by Elegancia de Mexico. The first 150 customers will receive a free beef birria combo and drink. After that, all attendees will receive 50 percent off the entire menu. There will also be a prize wheel with giveaways like free merch, food and gift cards. There will also be a taco-eating contest.
The fun continues November 9 at 10 a.m. with 50 percent off all menu items while supplies last.
P. Terry’s, 4815 Katy Freeway, is heading to Houston in spring 2027. Though there are three other locations in Richmond and Spring, this will be the first within Houston city limits. It will be preceded by a location in Cypress in Bridgeland, which is expected to open in 2026.
The Houston location will be a double drive-thru stand with no indoor dining. The burger brand was founded in Austin in 2005 and is known for its inexpensive, but high-quality burgers and hand-cut fries. It also serves chicken burgers, breakfast sandwiches and banana bread. For beverages, there are sodas, freshly-squeezed lemonade and hand-spun milkshakes.
Rustika Cafe and Bakery, 19227 Katy Freeway, is coming soon to Katy, according to its website. We have reached out for more information regarding the projected opening date.
It will be the second location of the bakery which was founded by pastry chef Francis Reznick in 1994. It has become a family operation with Reznick’s children and grandchildren lending a hand.
The original cafe at 3237 Southwest Freeway offers breakfast and lunch, along with pastries, coffee drinks and empanadas. There are tempting desserts like Key lime pie, brownie cheesecake and tres leches. Reznick also creates beautiful special occasion cakes on order.
Oheya by Uchi, 904 Westheimer, is launching a happy hour omakase November 12 and it’s a very good deal. The tasting restaurant is an intimate and exclusive hideaway that is definitely a splurge. However, the happy hour tasting gives diners an opportunity for a luxurious experience that won’t bust the belt or the wallet.
The happy hour tasting menu features 10 courses for $50 and is only available Wednesday through Sunday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Because the seating is limited, reservations are required in advance, and once word is out, they’ll be going quickly.
The happy hour menu showcases sushi like kurodai nigiri and dry-aged bluefin akami, plus items such as pork belly with miso mustard and hirame crudo. There’s also masu tamaki, wagyu sausage skewer and a pistachio-raspberry candy bar to finish off the meal.
There are also a la carte add-ons including hamachi, edamame, kanpachi and more. The drinks specials include select cocktails ($6), wines by the glass ($5), beer by the glass ($4) and $4 sake.
The post Openings and Closings: Oru and Doc’s appeared first on Houston Press.
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
