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Openings & Closings: Saint Arnold for Lunch, Goro & Gun for Dinner
Houston Press
Fri., Mar. 22 2013
By Katharine Shilcutt
A happy Friday morning comes with some happy news from around the
city. First is the announcement that Goro & Gun -- the hotly awaited
downtown ramen shop on Main Street -- will officially be open for
business today at 4 p.m. Goro & Gun is only serving dinner for now,
but lunch looks to be in its future.
Saint Arnold Brewery also started serving its lunch program this week,
with today as its third day in operation. "Getting hungry for today's
@SaintArnold lunch," wrote founder Brock Wagner on Twitter yesterday
afternoon. "Come eat the noble swine cooked with root beer. Claim you
only drank root beer too." Chef Ryan Savoie will be serving a new,
three-course prix-fixe menu every weekday from 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m,
with menus announced in advance on Saint Arnold's website.
A reader wrote in earlier this week worried that Cafe Rita -- the much
loved Armenian-Lebanese mom-and-pop restaurant -- on Dairy Ashford had
closed. Don't worry, foul fans: Cafe Rita has simply moved. Its new
address is 2352 Dairy Ashford, which westsiders will know as the old
Steak It Easy spot.
Now for the sad news: Houston is losing a legend. Marfreless is
closing after 40 years of being known as the city's preeminent makeout
bar and one of its hidden treasures. The bar behind the blue door in
the River Oaks Shopping Center never had a sign, but its fans always
found their way.
"Marfreless' owners have been trying to do whatever they could to keep
the bar operational but other entities involved weren't budging in
regards to the rising cost of doing business, making it impossible to
keep the business at this location," the bar stated on its
website. "To save this distinguished community establishment,
Marfreless is currently looking at other locations."
Meanwhile, Montrose juice bar Roots Juice closed after less than a
year in business. Whitney Radley reports in CultureMap that "while the
details following former general manager Becki O'Brien's late-February
departure are unclear, we're happy to report that the juices are still
on the menu and back to normal -- except that they're now on the menu
next door at Roots Bistro."
In other noteworthy closures, Les Givral Kahve on Market Square served
its last banh mi last Friday. Owner Qui Ly was tight-lipped as to why
the shop was closing -- especially in the wake of all the new openings
around a reinvigorated Market Square -- but told the Houston
Chronicle's Syd Kearney there "is a slight chance that [Les Givral]
will come back with [its] BanhMieria concept."
Lastly, two Houston locations of nationwide chain Seasons 52 Fresh
Grill are scheduled to open soon. One at 4410 Westheimer, which is the
location of a silly-sounding development called High Street (this
isn't England; we don't have High Streets in our towns or cities) and
one in Memorial at CityCentre. At least Seasons 52 Fresh Grill's
incredibly silly name matches its silly new spot on Westheimer.
Houston Press
Fri., Mar. 22 2013
By Katharine Shilcutt
A happy Friday morning comes with some happy news from around the
city. First is the announcement that Goro & Gun -- the hotly awaited
downtown ramen shop on Main Street -- will officially be open for
business today at 4 p.m. Goro & Gun is only serving dinner for now,
but lunch looks to be in its future.
Saint Arnold Brewery also started serving its lunch program this week,
with today as its third day in operation. "Getting hungry for today's
@SaintArnold lunch," wrote founder Brock Wagner on Twitter yesterday
afternoon. "Come eat the noble swine cooked with root beer. Claim you
only drank root beer too." Chef Ryan Savoie will be serving a new,
three-course prix-fixe menu every weekday from 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m,
with menus announced in advance on Saint Arnold's website.
A reader wrote in earlier this week worried that Cafe Rita -- the much
loved Armenian-Lebanese mom-and-pop restaurant -- on Dairy Ashford had
closed. Don't worry, foul fans: Cafe Rita has simply moved. Its new
address is 2352 Dairy Ashford, which westsiders will know as the old
Steak It Easy spot.
Now for the sad news: Houston is losing a legend. Marfreless is
closing after 40 years of being known as the city's preeminent makeout
bar and one of its hidden treasures. The bar behind the blue door in
the River Oaks Shopping Center never had a sign, but its fans always
found their way.
"Marfreless' owners have been trying to do whatever they could to keep
the bar operational but other entities involved weren't budging in
regards to the rising cost of doing business, making it impossible to
keep the business at this location," the bar stated on its
website. "To save this distinguished community establishment,
Marfreless is currently looking at other locations."
Meanwhile, Montrose juice bar Roots Juice closed after less than a
year in business. Whitney Radley reports in CultureMap that "while the
details following former general manager Becki O'Brien's late-February
departure are unclear, we're happy to report that the juices are still
on the menu and back to normal -- except that they're now on the menu
next door at Roots Bistro."
In other noteworthy closures, Les Givral Kahve on Market Square served
its last banh mi last Friday. Owner Qui Ly was tight-lipped as to why
the shop was closing -- especially in the wake of all the new openings
around a reinvigorated Market Square -- but told the Houston
Chronicle's Syd Kearney there "is a slight chance that [Les Givral]
will come back with [its] BanhMieria concept."
Lastly, two Houston locations of nationwide chain Seasons 52 Fresh
Grill are scheduled to open soon. One at 4410 Westheimer, which is the
location of a silly-sounding development called High Street (this
isn't England; we don't have High Streets in our towns or cities) and
one in Memorial at CityCentre. At least Seasons 52 Fresh Grill's
incredibly silly name matches its silly new spot on Westheimer.