Nem núöng cuôn, grilled pork sausage rolls, is seen at Xeo Yum along Long Point Road in Houston, Wednesday, June 24, 2026.
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Everything from a Brazilian-Cuban sandwich shop to a bar inspired by Chicano culture debuted last month in the Houston area.
The Houston Chronicle’s No. 1 restaurant of 2025, Aga’s, expanded to Katy. Chef Claire Smith — of late restaurants Alice Blue, Shade and Canopy — launched an all-day cafe by the Menil Collection. A longtime matcha pop-up established a brick-and-mortar.
MORE OPENINGS: Restaurant specializing in bun bo hue, long-simmered spicy Vietnamese soup, to expand
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Here’s our list of 17 restaurants, bars and cafes that opened in June. Let us know what you think.
If you plan to open a restaurant, cafe, bakery or bar soon, please reach out to aviva.bechky@houstonchronicle.com to let us know for a future roundup.
102 W. Grand Parkway S., Suite 100, Katy
Aga’s new take out location opens in Katy, Tuesday, June 16, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
The number one restaurant on the Houston Chronicle’s most recent Top 100 Restaurants list launched a second location. Longstanding community favorite Aga’s brought its Indian-Pakistani dishes to a takeout- and delivery-only restaurant in Katy. Owner Shaukat Maredia told the Chronicle that 75% of the menu would remain the same. Customers can still pick up their favorites: karahis, biryanis, the signature chicken lollipops.
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The Branch
The Branch is the latest offering from the group behind Lucille’s and Late August.
Lucille’s Hospitality Group
On the 12th floor of the Forme apartment building, the Branch marks the latest offering from Lucille’s Hospitality Group, the restaurant group behind Lucille’s and Late August. The bar and lounge stars a raw bar, crudo specials, oysters, caviar and charcuterie, with wellness-focused cocktails to sip.
Chroma
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Chroma, by chef Claire Smith, serves global comfort food.
Becca Wright
Chef Claire Smith returned to the Houston restaurant scene last month with Chroma, an all-day cafe on the Menil Collection’s campus. Smith had made a name for herself here with Shade, Canopy and Alice Blue, but she closed her last restaurant two years ago. At Chroma, she serves global comfort food: campechana with summer gazpacho, the chicken flautas from Alice Blue, Thai red curry snapper.
Signature cocktails at Concrete Rose are inspired by a Tupac Shukar poem.
Mike Lazo
Chicano culture sits front and center at Concrete Rose, an upscale bar near Daikin Park. The ceiling mural shows Mexican immigrants, and the framed photos spotlight Houston’s Hispanic culture. The business name, and the names of the signature drinks, take inspiration from the Tupac Shakur poem “The Rose That Grew from Concrete.” The Concrete, for instance, combines cognac, rum, prosciutto-washed coquerel calvados, apple-turmeric syrup and fragrant bitters. The No One Else Even Cared uses tequila, tomato-yerba cordial and rum, and it comes with both avocado sorbet and an avocado chip.
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Ema Japanese Cuisine
6700 Woodlands Pkwy. Suite 250, The Woodlands
Ema Japanese Cuisine replaced Prime Beef Shabu in The Woodlands.
Ema Japanese Cuisine
Prime Beef Shabu closed in The Woodlands, and Ema took its place. Sushi rolls dominate much of the menu, with everything from a classic California roll to the salmon-avocado-peppered tuna Texans offering. Nigiri and sashimi are both available, as are a selection of grilled meats, katsu curries, udons, ramens and fried rice.
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Co-owner Tyler Ho makes matcha tea at Enso in Houston, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. The popular pop-up is opening its first location in the Heights.
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Enso has long been a darling of Houston’s matcha scene as a pop-up. Now, for its first brick-and-mortar, owners Anh Ngo, Danny Kim and Tyler Ho created a minimalist space that leans on Japandi (Japanese-Scandinavian) style. They serve both specialty lattes — in flavors like blueberry lavender, mango, cherry vanilla and pandan — and traditional, unflavored matcha with different tasting notes.
Galaxy Pizza
Galaxy Pizza opened in Spring with modified Detroit-style pies.
Rebekah Flores
This new pizzeria stars a modified Detroit-style dough, aged four days and baked in a conveyor oven. Garlic butter infuses the crust. Signature options here include a triple-pepperoni offering, a bacon-ham-pepperoni-pineapple creation and a “Salad Days” pie topped with spinach, tomato, garlic, feta and artichoke hearts.
La La Land Cafe
9935 Barker Cypress, Cypress
La La Land opened a new location in Cypress.
CS Visuals
La La Land Cafe expanded to a drive-thru location in Cypress. At the new store, customers can grab banana cloud lattes and mango passionfruit coolers. For breakfast, they might pick up an avocado toast and can even get it topped with an extra garnish of white truffle oil and burrata.
Ojo de Agua
10720 Kuykendahl, Suite 10B, The Woodlands
Mahi mahi a la talla at Ojo de Agua.
Ojo de Agua
This Mexican City-inspired restaurant expanded from the River Oaks area to The Woodlands. Its wellness-inspired menu includes tacos, ceviche, acai bowls, salads, sandwiches, fresh juices and cocktails.
700 Town and Country Blvd., Suite 2640
A variety of bagels from PopUp Bagels, which is opening its first Houston shop at Twon and Country.
Alex Stein/Alexander Stein
This fast-expanding bagel chain just launched its first Houston location. Customers are meant to “grip, rip and dip” the bagels in cream cheese, instead of slicing them in half. The menu sticks to the classics: five bagel flavors, plain and scallion cream cheese, whipped butter and the occasional limited special flavor. Customers must order at least three bagels with smears.
Qurbah House of Coffee
2000 Reflection Bay, Pearland
This new coffee shop in Pearland opened at the beginning of June with drinks and pastries. Among its lattes are a salted caramel mocha and banana bread matcha; Qurbah also sells sweets like a fruit- and chocolate-covered waffle. It offers both patio and indoors seating.
Rizwan’s Biryani Desi Kitchen
Rizwan’s Biryani has long served Karachi-style biryani out of a grocery store. Now, it has moved into a full restaurant. Customers can try the namesake chicken and beef biryanis, or dishes like chicken pulao, white karahi and zarda, a sweet Pakistani rice.
Sultan Gate Roastery
23441 Kingsland, Suite 300, Katy
This trendy new Middle Eastern coffee shop opened with baklava, Turkish delights, crepes, waffles and more. Around the store, which is decorated with green arches, customers can pick out an assortment of nuts, sweets, chocolates and pastries. Signs hovering above the countertop advertise offerings like kunafa, legumes and candy.
Tricolore Italian Fast Table
Tricolore serves desserts including panna cotta and nutella-stuffed chiacchiere.
Giuseppe Traina at Tricolore Italian Fast Table
Giuseppe “Joe” Traina launched Tricolore as a Katy ghost kitchen this winter before opening a dine-in restaurant with about 30 seats halfway through June. Its menu features classic Italian dishes: tonnarelli cacio e pepe, gnocchi with gorgonzola, tagliatelle alfredo with truffle. For dessert, a diner might order panna cotta or nutella-stuffed chiacchiere.
Wise Street Eats
Wise Street Eats serves casual food including burgers and sliders.
Levi Young
This street food concept just expanded from Spring to the Heights, bringing its halal food into Houston proper. Get sliders, loaded fries, gyros or a rice bowl. A dirty mac wrap — combining mac and cheese, Cajun fries and chicken tenders in a flour tortilla — puts the restaurant’s hearty comfort food ethos on display.
The bánh xèo Saigon, shrimp and pork belly crispy savory crepe is seen at Xeo Yum along Long Point Road in Houston, Wednesday, June 24, 2026.
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
At the Conservatory food hall, Cuong Nguyen built a following for banh xeo, Vietnamese savory crepes stuffed with shrimp, pork belly and bean sprouts. He was forced to close when the hall shut down. But now Nguyen is back in Spring Branch, cooking his signature banh xeo as well as tamarind wings, pho and vermicelli plates. He wants to make the crepes a more popular staple of Vietnamese cuisine in Houston — and indeed, he said, customers have already come from as far as Beaumont to try them.
The El Jardin sandwich, made with black bean purée, sofrito, mustard greens and tostones, is photographed at Yuma in Houston on Thursday, June 18, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Husband-and-wife duo Mike Hartley and Miriam Leek-Meira sold Brazilian and Cuban sandwiches out of their pop-up for years. Last month, they turned Yuma into a full restaurant. The cubano, with roast pork, ham, gruyere, pickles and mustard, is the best-seller. But they also offer sandwiches like caipira — a Brazilian-inspired cheesesteak — and the chicken-based El Penny Cubano Banh Mi. A full bar emphasizes cachaca- and rum-based drinks.