Betel leaf with beef is cooked at Huynh’s new location at 2720 Richmond in Houston on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
August is traditionally a slow month for restaurants. Nevertheless, the region gained several more dining spots: Terry Black’s Barbecue and a specialty Mediterranean market joined Houston’s restaurant scene. Huynh Restaurant, a long-running Vietnamese spot, expanded to Upper Kirby. A Laotian restaurant launched a Sugar Land location. Several cafes debuted with drinks like sesame phin coffee and osmanthus oolong tea.
LAST MONTH: Wood-fired pizza, farm-to-table steak: Houston gained these 14 restaurants, cafes in July
Here’s our list of 16 restaurants and coffee shops that debuted in August. Let us know what you think.
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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.
The Audrey Restaurant & Bar
The Audrey, a contemporary American restaurant, opened in Houston last month.
Ben Brown
This contemporary American restaurant opened its latest outpost at Aspire Post Oak apartments in the Galleria area, following its first location in The Woodlands. A raw bar, steaks and pastas star on the menu, with dishes such as “tuna mignon,” beef Wellington, pan-seared seabass and truffle mushroom ravioli. Pastry chef Luis Robledo Richards, who previously worked at Mayahuel, created desserts including mascarpone cheesecake and coconut panna cotta.
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Dumont Creamery & Cafe
4734 LJ Pkwy Suite 300, Sugar Land
This ice cream chain originated in India, but it draws on flavors from all over the world: Mint basil sorbet nods to Italy, biscoff ice cream to Belgium. Dumont has been expanding across Texas, and its newest location is in Sugar Land. The shop also sells boba — classic, pineapple island, lychee tea, strawberry burst — and specialty coffees such as lavender and date-cardamom lattes.
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Betel leaf with beef is photographed at Huynh’s new location at 2720 Richmond in Houston on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Huynh thrived for 18 years in Houston’s original Chinatown. But the upcoming Interstate 45 rebuild will push the family-owned Vietnamese restaurant out of its first home by the end of the year. Owner Cindy Dang got ahead of the highway project by opening a second location in Upper Kirby in August. She’s serving much of the same menu: duck salad, noodle bowls, pho, rice plates and specialty soups like mi quang. But Dang also developed a few new dishes, including a carrot-y beef stew and a lettuce wrap, just for the chic new spot.
Landry’s Seafood House Sugar Land
19740 Southwest Fwy, Sugar Land
The broiled seafood platter at Landry’s Seafood House.
Landry’s Seafood House
Tilman Fertitta’s restaurant empire expanded with one more location of Landry’s Seafood. The restaurant serves Cajun coastal food — think fried alligator, a daily fish sandwich, oysters — plus smashburgers and steaks. Unlike other Landry’s, this one includes an on-site playground for kids.
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Lao’d District Sugar Land
15295 Southwest Fwy, Sugar Land
Lao’d District opened a Sugar Land branch.
Lao’d District
This Laotian and Thai restaurant grew from Asiatown to Sugar Land. Lao’d offers plenty of classic dishes — red and green curries, laab, drunken noodles, tom yum, papaya salad — but also plays around a bit with fusion. Customers can get crispy cheese rolls, wings dunked in a mix of the signature Lao’d sauce and a classic American hot sauce or “curria” tacos, a take on birria. A fruity cocktail and mocktail menu rounds out the drinks.
Long Point Social Club
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The interior of LP Cafe at Long Point Social Club.
Hasan Yousef
This new racquet and social club features 12 pickleball courts and four padel courts; it also includes LP Cafe, a bar and kitchen. Hungry players might order “pickleballs” (cream cheese and dill pickle fritters with yogurt ranch) or wings with Calabrian chili and tajin honey. Wine, beer and cocktails are all on offer, as is weekend brunch.
NY Deli & Juice Bar
NY Deli & Juice Bar blends smoothies and protein shakes at its Houston location.
NY Deli & Juice Bar
A New York-style deli that says it’s 100% halal, this mini-chain first opened in Georgia before coming to Houston. Chopped cheese reigns here, but the menu stretches on: egg and cheese sandwiches, breakfast wraps, falafel, corned beef, salads, burgers. In the mood for something sweeter? NY Deli combines mango, strawberries, kiwi and more in fruit salads, juices, smoothies and protein shakes.
Parkwood American Grille
2131 W. Parkwood Ave., Friendswood
French onion soup at Parkwood
Hungry AF Media
The team behind Pier 6 Seafood & Oyster House in San Leon just debuted a new restaurant in Friendswood. Parkwood specializes in modern American cuisine. The menu has a surf-and-turf appeal, with oysters, hamachi crudo and bluefin tuna tartare sitting alongside steaks and a burger. Customers can also opt for lamb sausage rigatoni, chicken parmesan or a roasted half chicken. To drink, Parkwood offers a number of twists on classic cocktails, plus a selection of wines by the glass and the bottle.
Press & Pour
A cinnamon roll and coffee at Press & Pour.
Thuy Pham
The Magnolia Hotel Houston gained a new day-to-night coffee and cocktail bar. In the morning, it serves pastries like a signature cinnamon roll. At night, customers come for old fashioneds and the Black Gold, a drink made with bourbon, blackberry, basil and lemon. The kitchen sells small shareables like whipped goat cheese and prosciutto toast in the evenings, with mocktails on offer too. Press & Pour seats 52 indoors, plus another 10 out on the pet-friendly patio.
Pour Decisions Craft
555 W. 19th, Suite 100-A
Pour Decisions Craft opened in Houston on Aug. 8.
Pour Decisions Craft
Pour Decisions brought its coffee out of the Bay Area for the first time with its new Houston cafe. Its signature is Vietnamese phin coffees, served with condensed milk. And its lattes lean toward trendy flavors: black sesame cream, horchata, PB&J, banana, blueberry. Teas don’t get short shrift, though. The shop offers matcha with fruit flavors from mango to raspberry, and jasmine tea comes with strawberry-lychee or salted cream. Breakfast burritos and pastries are on hand to eat.
25140 Kingsland Blvd., Suite 1000, Katy
Spectators Bar & Grill opened its fourth Houston-area location last month.
Spectators Bar & Grill
Spectators opened its fourth location in Katy, joining two in Sugar Land and one in Richmond. The sports bar seats about 275, with 45 televisions throughout the dining room, event spaces and patio. It serves burgers, sandwiches, wings, children’s food and weekend brunch.
Spread of Mediterranean food that can be found at the newly opened Taha Market.
Cassandra Flores
Olive oil, rose water and nuts grace the shelves at this Mediterranean market and cafe, the brick-and-mortar that bloomed out of Ziad and Sabrina Taha’s farmers market stand. At the couple’s new business, customers can also dine in, choosing among classics like fattoush salad, chicken shawarma and the halloumi-based grilled cheese n’Za’atar. They aim to stock the market with foods spanning from Spain to Palestine.
A barbecue plate at Terry Black’s.
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Terry Black’s finally opened its long-anticipated Houston location last month in the Heights. The Texas barbecue chain specializes in Central Texas-style meats, with six offset smokers pumping out beef ribs, brisket, pork ribs, sausage, smoked turkey and chopped beef. Diners can watch the process from pit to plate and sign up for pitmaster-run tours.
Trill Burgers opened a location at Rice University.
Trill Burgers
Rapper Bun B — aka Bernard Freeman — lectured at Rice University more than 10 years ago, co-teaching Religion and Hip-Hop Culture. Now, his smashburger mini-chain, Trill Burgers, is arriving on campus, marking a full-circle moment of sorts. The restaurant opened at Rice Memorial Center last month with both beef and vegan burgers.
UG Tea
9889 Bellaire, Suite E213
UG Tea, whose name stands for Unique Green, is the latest Asian tea chain to land in Houston, following Molly Tea and Heytea. Founded by a Taiwanese beverage group, it offers drinks brewed with fifteen-flower jasmine green tea, osmanthus oolong, red oolong and peach oolong, among others. Pure tea, milk tea, matcha, fruit tea, tea espresso and smoothies are all available.
Willow’s Smokehouse & Tavern
Willow’s Smokehouse & Tavern serves Central Texas-style barbecue.
Sarah Dominguez
Pitmaster Willow Villarreal and his partner Jasmine Barela launched Willow’s as a neighborhood restaurant serving Central Texas-style barbecue and bar bites under rainbow string lights. Beyond the barbecue essentials — brisket, pork ribs, sausage — they cook up wings and smoked crab dip. They also offer a robust drinks program: Diners might sip on the specialty Midnight in the Desert, which combines Heirloom Creme de Flora, mango, bell pepper and mezcal, or the tequila-based hibiscus-blueberry Nuclear Cabaret.