Here’s a closer look at Houston/San Antonio’s newest eateries, drinking spots, hotels, conference areas, private rooms, and other spaces available for events this spring. The new and renovated Houston and San Antonio venues are available for corporate parties, weddings, fundraisers, outdoor functions, business dinners, team-building activities, conferences, meetings, and more.
The Monarch San Antonio
Rendering: Courtesy of The Monarch San Antonio
The San Antonio skyline is home to a highly anticipated new 17-story luxury hotel, located in the Hemisfair District. The Monarch San Antonio opened in the beginning of March as part of Curio Collection by Hilton. The $185 million property features 200 guest rooms, including 28 suites, and three different restaurants. The building’s design is from San Antonio-based Overland Partners, with interiors by The Gettys Group and KBAA. Butterflies inspire both the hotel’s name and decor, with graceful curving architecture and sculptural forms. The hotel’s restaurants include wood-fired steakhouse Oak & Amber, the Yucatán-inspired Aleto rooftop restaurant, and a French bistro called The Nectarie Café.
The Monarch offers 15,000 square feet of versatile event space, including eight distinctive venues and the 5,000-square-foot divisible Meridian Ballroom (pictured), which can accommodate up to 400 for banquet-style events and 500 for theatre-style events. Other spaces include the divisible 1,187-square-foot Solana, which can accommodate 90 for banquet-style events or 100 for theatre-style events, and the divisible 837-square-foot Zephyr, which can accommodate 50 for banquet-style events and 80 for theatre-style events. The event spaces are all located on a single floor featuring abundant natural light and state-of-the-art technology. Outdoor spaces include the 3,000-square-foot Kaleidoscope Terrace and the 3,000-square-foot La Mariposa, a $2 million public art installation anchoring both the hotel and its surrounding park. Devised as a stunning three-winged pavilion, La Mariposa’s wings are made of stained glass and LED lighting to create a radiant glow.
Hotel Daphne
Photo: Julie Soefer
Artsy hospitality brand Bunkhouse Hotels added to its portfolio of properties in Texas with the opening of Hotel Daphne in December 2025, joining the company’s new(ish) Hotel Saint Augustine in the city’s Montrose neighborhood. The 49-room Hotel Daphne is located in Houston Heights in a newly constructed five-story building with painted white brick (the hotel’s architecture is designed in collaboration with Blanchard A+D). Inside, design standouts include a lush semicircular modular sofa in the lobby and rooms with a residential feel, thanks to rich velvet, mohair seating, dark wood, and headboards upholstered in psychedelic landscape textiles. Select rooms are graced with private terraces overlooking the hotel’s courtyard. The idyllic courtyard includes an 860-square-foot event lawn that boasts a capacity of 30. This venue can be combined with the hotel’s jewel box-like 350-square-foot library to provide more space for meetings and get-togethers. The library with its custom tables featuring onyx chess sets seats 14 or accommodates 20 standing guests.
Soleil
Photo: Courtesy of Soleil
Hospitality company The Bastion Collection and Houston catering company Café Natalie collaborated on a new Houston event space at 1800 Post Oak in Uptown’s BLVD Place development. Known as Soleil, the elegant, versatile space is decorated with Ebony Datuk millwork and lit with natural light, a programmable lighting system, and LED inlays. Oversize LED screens are built into the walls, which is a perfect touch for immersive storytelling and brand integration. Soleil can be used for anything from intimate cocktail receptions to seated dinners for up to 200 guests. The menu for events is courtesy of the Bastion Events culinary team, which can offer food built around Italian, French, Mexican, or Mediterranean cuisine.
Hypsi
Photo: Julie Soefer
Hotel Daphne’s all-day restaurant and lounge Hypsi is led by two-time James Beard Award-nominated chef Terrence Gallivan, and the restaurant’s opulent design is inspired by the neighborhood’s history of private drinking clubs. A fireplace elevates the cozy feel, as well as plush seating in eclectic prints and fabrics. A tableside mozzarella cart, handmade pastas, and Italian spritzes and wine drive home the Italian-style aperitivo theme, as interpreted with Gulf Coast ingredients. Hypsi offers 1,500 square feet of indoor space and 2,100 square feet of outdoor space, with 49 seats indoors and 49 seats on the patio. Full buyouts are available.
Jue Let
Photo: Andrea Calo
Jue Let, a hip new cocktail bar from chef Jennifer Hwa Dobbertin, the creator of San Antonio’s acclaimed restaurant Best Quality Daughter, opened in November 2025 in the Pearl. Named after one of James Beard’s childhood mentors, the space includes ornately decorated ceilings, richly patterned curtains and tapestry, and dramatic lighting. On the menu, find drinks like a “Mint Jue Let” with ingredients like coconut green tea syrup, as well as creative bar snacks like French onion dip with silken tofu. Jue Let offers multiple spaces for private events. The downstairs private lounge accommodates groups of up to 14 seated guests. The price for this room is $120 per hour plus tax, with a one-hour minimum commitment. A $50 deposit is taken at the time of booking, and food and beverage are separate. Upstairs, a larger private lounge accommodates groups of 10 to 18 guests. The price for this room is $240 per hour plus tax, with a two-hour minimum commitment. A $100 deposit is taken at the time of booking. Food and beverage are separate.
Maison Chinoise
Photo: Becca Wright
Contemporary Chinese restaurant Maison Chinoise opened in Houston’s River Oaks Shopping Center in October 2025. This is the second Texas location of Maison Chinoise from hospitality brand Lombardi Family Concepts, with executive chef Jordan He at the helm. Expect to find dishes like Imperial Peking duck, pork soup dumplings, and Sichuan salt and pepper lamb lollipops on the menu. A palette of moody greens, soft beiges, and deep browns with cherry blossom accents make up the restaurant’s decor, as envisioned by Houston firm NDD Design. The restaurant spans 3,700 square feet of main dining space and features a 900-square-foot covered, temperature-controlled patio, with seats for 130 guests in the dining room, bar, and patio.
Moon
Photo: Brian Kennedy
Moon, the sister bar to Soleil, also located at 1800 Post Oak, revolves around craft cocktails, curated DJ sets, and live performances. The space itself is a moody, jewel-box bar inspired by lunar phases, with decor like high-gloss wood paneling, black marble countertops, and reflective metallics. A dramatic emerald-toned crystal installation frames Moon’s glowing bar. Moon’s cocktail program is by Michelin-recognized mixologist Rubén Rolón, including drinks like “The Cosmos” with green cardamom-infused Grey Goose, shio-koji cranberry, lime, and grapefruit. The food here is created by the Bastion events team, including truffled croque-monsieur or wagyu sliders with fries. The main dining room and bar are available for private events, and the Champagne Room is tucked beside Moon, accommodating up to 15 seated guests or 30 standing guests under a chandelier of delicate champagne bubbles.
Zaranda
Photo: Paula Murphy
Award-winning chefs Hugo Ortega and Ruben Ortega opened a new restaurant in downtown Houston in October 2025 called Zaranda, drawing inspiration from California and Baja California in Mexico. That translates to dishes like seafood grilled in a wire basket over coals, soft shell crab tacos, charred-over-coals braised lamb shank, and even a tableside Caesar salad. Californian and Mexican wine is also a major highlight at Zaranda. Christina Wilburn of Gin Design Group is responsible for the restaurant’s coastal California look, including light wood finishes and a color palette inspired by the sea and desert. The restaurant spans 7,000 square feet, with seating for 180 guests indoors and 50 guests outdoors. A private dining room (pictured) seats 30, featuring a curved wood bamboo design and floor-to-ceiling windows. The Ballena Bar is on the second level, accessible via elevator or stairs, with a view of the main dining room and seating for 70.
Otto’s Ice House
Photo: Courtesy of Otto’s Ice House
Otto’s Ice House opened in San Antonio’s Pearl district from Houston restaurateur Levi Goode last spring, and the restaurant is now available for private events. This is the first outpost in San Antonio for Goode, who chose to make his mark with a family-friendly, dog-friendly, and live music-focused watering hole overlooking the banks of the San Antonio River. The easygoing menu offers Texas craft beer, Texas wagyu beef, all-natural hot dogs, and chile con carne pie. Otto’s Ice House’s main dining room seats 65 guests. The covered patio seats 40 guests, while the backyard seats 140 guests and includes a dedicated bar. Events for up to 60 seated guests could take over a covered patio and a portion of the backyard, while the entire backyard and covered patio can accommodate up to 180 seated guests.
Tago
Photo: Courtesy of Tago
A new restaurant inspired by Mexican hotspot Tulum opened in Houston in June 2025. Tago moved into Midtown in a 4,500-square-foot space decked out with indoor greenery and glowing lanterns. The menu is appropriately tropical, serving dishes like birria tostadas, grilled snapper, and fried lobster tacos with cabbage and shishito créme. Specialty cocktails revolve around rum and tequila, as in “The Secret Admirer,” which is mixed with reposado tequila, Rosaluna mezcal, strawberry, lime, and volcanic spice with a black lava salt rim. A 2,700-square-foot patio feels beachy as well, with cream-colored pillows on wooden chairs and couches. Tago can accommodate 400 to 500 guests for events inside and on the patio as well.
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Photo: Taylor Bennett & Hunter Mitchell
Get away in scenic New Braunfels at the newest property from Texas-based hospitality brand French Cowboys, located on the banks of the Comal River. What was once known as Heidelberg Lodges, a historic retreat that stretches back to the 1930s, is now Petit Cowboy. The 23-cabin, 48-room property is fully transformed, with refreshed exterior and interior finishes for each unit and cheerful, colorful interior designs that lean into the France-meets-Texas theme. The pool deck features updated loungers, while additional amenities include a communal game area, a designated grilling space, and a pickleball court featuring a newly refinished playing surface. The Pool House & Bar serves family-friendly food like pretzels, nachos, pizzas, and brownie sundaes. Petit Cowboy can accommodate up to 220 guests on property for a full buyout.