Chef and pit master Reginald Scott of Coarse Restaurant prepares green tomato croutons with smoked catfish dip and hot sauce caviar at the restaurant in Houston, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Local chefs and larger chains alike opened the doors on new restaurants in March.
A coffee brand, enormously popular in Vietnam, opened one of its flagship coffee shops off Bellaire Boulevard. A local couple launched their dream business, combining Yemeni and Mexican flavors in pastries and lattes. Southern, Indian and Italian restaurants all came to Houston.
Here’s our list of 11 new cafes and restaurants that opened in the Houston area last month.
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READ MORE: From crawfish to a Mexican cafe, Houston saw these 12 bars and restaurants open in February
If you’re opening a restaurant, cafe, bakery or bar, please reach out to aviva.bechky@houstonchronicle.com to let us know for a future roundup.
Brassica Sandwiches + Salads
1413 S. Voss Rd. Suite A
Originally from Ohio, Brassica just made its Texas debut.
Erika Gene Clark/Brassica
Originally from Ohio, this fast-casual Mediterranean concept debuted in Houston last month with pita sandwiches, falafel and fries. Customers can choose a base — sandwich, salad or hummus — with dips, toppings, proteins and veggies. This marks the small chain’s first expansion outside its home state.
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Smoke fried chicken with homemade biscuits, ahi verde ranch, candy paint preserve, strawberry black pepper jam and honey butter is photographed at Coarse Restaurant in Houston, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Chef Reginald Scott spent years selling barbecue, sauces, and pickles at Houston farmers’ markets and food halls. In March, he finally opened a standalone brick-and-mortar, serving Southern food with international influences. Imagine fried green tomatoes with smoked catfish dip and hot sauce “caviar,” or brisket ramen with crispy puffed beef tendon. The name nods to his challenging journey to opening a restaurant, Scott said — plus, the courses of a meal.
Dum N Grill
1910 Country Pl. Pkwy. #150, Pearland
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Pearland got a new Indian fusion restaurant from a small but fast-expanding chain. The menu includes both Indian and Indo-Chinese dishes. Customers can get samosas, an array of tiffins (light meals) that include both dosa and idli, tandoori chicken and a wide range of biryanis. For dessert, try an apricot delight or gulab jamun brulee.
Federal American Grill
Federal American Grill opened a sixth location last month.
Federal American Grill
This local chain opened its sixth location in mid-March, bringing oysters, smoked pork belly, salads, burgers and surf-and-turf to River Oaks. Federal American Grill offers brunch, too, with biscuits and gravy, quail knots and steak and eggs all on the menu. For cocktails, customers might get a margarita, a Moscow mule or one of five riffs on an Old Fashioned; wine and beers are also available.
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The Green Room
The Green Room will seat 26 and offer both a tasting menu and a la carte options.
Bear Media Co.
This 26-seat restaurant from Daniel Davidson and Tom Cunanan offers a five-course dinner party menu, plus à la carte options. Tuna tartare, scallop crudo, risotto alla plancha with diver scallops, steak and dry-aged duck dressed with dark cherry jus are all on the menu. Wine and cocktails are both available, with the latter focusing on seasonal drinks and riffs on the classics.
Memorial Trail Ice House
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Memorial Trail Ice House made its grand re-opening in March.
Joey Massey
Memorial Trail Ice House closed more than two years ago, but in March, it finally held a grand reopening. The bar aims to be a family-friendly neighborhood space, with cocktails, mocktails and beers all available. The grab-and-eat food includes burgers, wings and wraps, all of which can be eaten while watching a game, listening to live music or getting ready to sing karaoke.
Moda Cafe & Bakery
18321 W. Airport Blvd. #210, Richmond
This Mediterranean and Turkish cafe in Richmond offers breakfast and brunch, with options like a gözleme (stuffed flatbread); crepes and pancakes; avocado toast; and a Turkish-style mixed breakfast platter. Later in the day, gnocchi, manti, smoked beef sandwiches and cheeseburgers are all on the menu. Baklava is listed with 10 different shapes and flavors.
Truffle & Rye Market + Cafe
Truffle & Rye focuses on sandwiches with Italian flavors.
John Mumm
This new breakfast-and-lunch spot, from husband-and-wife duo Joey and Kaitlyn Chavez, serves up coffee, pastries and sandwiches. Joey Chavez — who’s worked at restaurants including the French Laundry and Brennan’s of Houston — is focusing on Italian flavors at the new endeavor. Customers can grab a mortadella sandwich with stracciatella and pistachio, or a spicy salami with whipped ricotta cheese and pepper spread. Salads, pastries and wine are on offer too, as are specialty lattes like a toasted macadamia coffee or mocha-pistachio creation.
11754 Bellaire Blvd. #100
The breakthrough energy coffee is shown at Trung Nguyen Legend in Houston Thursday, March 19, 2026.
Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle
One of Vietnam’s biggest coffee brands just landed in Houston. Trung Nguyen Legend arrived in a 4,700-square-foot space with several different blends of Vietnamese coffee — including one that’s made smoother by processing it with synthetic enzymes that mimic a civet’s digestive tract. The Asiatown cafe also whips up trendy coffee drinks topped with everything from whipped egg to coconut to salt foam.
Wah Coffee
3407 Montrose Blvd. Suite B-1
A banana bread latte at Wah Coffee, flavored with hazelnut, cinnamon and banana.
Wah Coffee
In Richmond, Wah Coffee serves up everything from Korean fried wings to burgers to cardamom tea to a banana bread latte. Now, the brand is bringing those foods to Montrose. In a spot that once housed a Starbucks, the new cafe sells drinks like its brown butter maple latte. The brand has plans to expand to Sugar Land and Manvel, too.
Efrain Ayllon sorts pastries at Yemex Bakehouse & Specialty Coffee, a new Mexican-Yemeni cafe, opening in Houston, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
Efrain Ayllon and Rawan Alsagheer left their tech jobs to start this dream business, a fusion Yemeni-Mexican cafe that draws on the foods each of them ate growing up. Those influences are clear in the basil conchas, the tomato-feta-za’atar Danishes and the halal chorizo croissant that the husband-and-wife duo put on the menu. Their drinks are equally inventive. One, called the Areekano, infuses a standard Americano with the flavors of a cheese-and-date Yemeni dessert called areeka — complete with grated cheddar on top.