Medium Rare, the Washington, D.C.-based restaurant chain that dared to ask if you’d like another steak frites after your first one, is closing its Houston location come Sunday, Sept. 6. It was just two months shy of two years in operation at 3201 Louisiana St.
The news came out of the blue on Instagram around 3 p.m. Thursday. Medium Rare wrote little else about its closure other than it was happening.
“To our Houston community, thank you for welcoming us and supporting us over the past two years,” the statement read. “If you’ve been meaning to make one more trip, this is your weekend! Come get your last Houston Medium Rare fix before we close Sunday night after dinner.”
Restaurateurs Mark Bucher and Tom Gregg opened the first Medium Rare in Washington D.C. in March 2011. The concept was built around a single prix-fixe menu: artisan rustic bread, a mixed green salad, and a culotte steak and french fries with a secret sauce. In Houston, the price was $32.95, and you could request a complimentary second helping of steak frites on the house.
(The culotte is a cut of beef from the top sirloin, also known as the sirloin cap or the picanha. It features a generous layer of fat that renders down when cooking, contributing to the cut’s moist and beefy flavor.)
Medium Rare had a generous brunch prix-fixe that included bottomless bloody Mary’s, screwdrivers, and mimosas as well as bread service and a choice between steak frites or other breakfast items.
The Houston location was announced back in November 2023 for the Mix at Midtown, a full-block retail development. The Medium Rare group’s eighth restaurant was set to take the corner spot once inhabited by the beloved French eatery Artisans. It opened a year later to considerable attention: Eating out, as you know, had become expensive, and that was especially true for places that served good steak.
Houston Chronicle food critic Bao Ong noted Medium Rare was consistent and affordable in his June 2025 review. One remark Ong made that stood out was how quiet the dinner service was. I don’t think the restaurant’s weekday hours of operation (5 p.m. to 10 p.m.) were a good fit for that busy stretch of road near Spur 527. Also, for a corner establishment in a trendy development, the space and its small signage were easy to miss.
“It’s not goodbye. Just goodbye for now. You can still find us in DC, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Dallas,” Medium Rare said.
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This article originally published at Steak restaurant Medium Rare is closing its Midtown Houston location Sunday.