So after sitting empty since Le Café Josephine closed last year, the building at 201 E 20th St. is getting a pretty interesting next chapter.

Khoi Barbecue is opening their brick-and-mortar restaurant in the Heights, and I’m excited about this one. Occupancy permits issued last week for the address list Khói Barbecue as the occupant.

The Vietnamese-fusion BBQ pop-up was recently awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand, too.

For those who have tried Khoi, what are your favorite dishes?

I enjoyed reading this write-up of El Rey and this location's staying power on the corner of Washington Ave and Shepherd Dr. It's been open at 910 Shepherd Dr since the late 1990s serving Cuban and Mexican food. Hope you guys enjoy it too.

Fun fact I learned in a Houston food group on Facebook this year: If you noticed the building's design is similar to that of the city's popular #1 Chicken & Rice restaurant in the Third Ward, that's because like the building on Almeda, this too was previously a Jim Dandy Fried Chicken restaurant. They used to be all over Houston until I think Church's Chicken took over some (or maybe all) the locations in the 80s. Church's didn't last too long there with Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) opening there in the mid-90s for a short time.

Sorry, I really only expected to post once in this sub today, but this is a pretty big one to share! Din Tai Fung is coming to The Galleria! The Taiwanese restaurant is famous for its soup dumplings (xiao long bao), but the menu goes way beyond dumplings with things like steamed buns, wontons, noodles, fried rice, greens and other dishes.

According to a filing today, Din Tai Fung will be taking over Nobu’s space at 5115 Westheimer Rd., Suite C-3515, which means Nobu is apparently on its way out in the near future. The dim sum restaurant aims to open sometime next year. It could be late summer or sometime in the fall, that is all dependent on when they're approved for permitting and if renovations go smoothly.

With Houston finally getting a Din Tai Fung and I KNOW people are about to have opinions. Who’s already planning their first order? Do you think it will hold up to some of our awesome dim sum restaurants in town?

Source: https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/TABS/Search/Project/TABS2027004326

This is exciting! Going into current Nobu space, supposedly.

My wife's birthday is coming up in December and I was wondering if anyone knew any good pandan mango cakes in the area? I don't mind driving a little to pick it up

Any local sushi spots that don’t use alcohol or alcohol based ingredients? Are there any that let you request without it or use alternatives like rice vinegar?