What's Eric Eating

On today's episode, Eric is joined by Mary Clarkson of Heights Grocer and Montrose Grocer to go through some of the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. The duo discuss the string of recent closures including Istanbul Grill , The Dogwood , Voodoo Doughnut , and Blue Tuba . They also discuss Levi Goode's newest venture. In the Restaurants of the week portion Anthonys New York Ital...

Eric is joined by Houston BBQ Festival co-founder Michael Fulmer on today's edition of the show. The pair discuss some of the latest news from the Houston culinary scene including Ronnie Killen deciding to close Killen's , Ronnie reducing his restaurant footprint as of late, and Hopdoddy Burger Bar being acquired by a new ownership group. In the Restaurants of the week portion is Chef's Table and...

On today's episode Eric is joined by Fred McBride of Captain Mc's Seafood . Fred speaks with Eric about how went from being a music teacher to pursuing a career in culinary, learning about commercial fishing, how he made connections with restaurants, getting his foot in the door with Chris Williams, why he decided to create a restaurant, wanting to go with more of a fast casual concept rather than...

Chelsea Thomas, a.k.a. Date Night Draft 3.0 Winner, of Local Foods Group makes her triumphant return to the podcast! Chelsea joins Eric today to discuss some of the latest news from Houston food scene including the biggest news of all - Evelyn Garcia, Henry Lu, and Adrian Torres becoming James Beard Award winners . The pair speak about what the wins mean for Houston, why Houston continues to show...

Today on the podcast Eric is doing things a bit different today... ok a lot different. Eric is joined by former food writer and now Tarot reader Amber Ambrose . Eric has 9 items regarding Houston food, including certain foods like barbecue, current trends, and new restaurants that Amber will be giving readings for. Find out what the cards say on this unique episode of the show!   Got a question fo...

Today on the show Eric is joined by Raffi Nasr of Craft Pita to go through some of the latest happenings from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. Eric and Raffi discuss Sambrooks Hospitality Group opening a location of Candente in the Heights next year, a LA based hospitality group bringing a new Italian concept to Uptown, and the duo discuss the latest season of Top Chef. In the Restaurants of...

Eric, on today's edition of the show, is joined by JD Davy and Paul Rice of Recess . The guys speak with Eric about how they first started working together, where the idea for Recess came from, what parents/kids can expect from the playground area, the design of the playground, how the business differentiates itself from daycares or camps, the membership/reservation options for parents, the style...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by CultureMap contributor Brianna McClane . Brianna and Eric discuss some of the latest news from the Houston culinary scene including the closure of the original location of State Fare , The Rice Box opening a location in Clear Lake, and Gyro Hut takes over the leases of 3 Houston area Halal Guys locations. In the Restaurants of the Week portion, Eleven Eleven...

Eric's doing things a little different for the show today. On this edition of What's Eric Eating Eric is joined by Brock Wagner of Saint Arnold Brewing Company and Asa Hanrahan of the Flying Saucer & Rodeo Goat for an extensive conversation about the current state of craft beer. The trio discuss, the early days of the craft beer explosion, whether there was a shift in interest for local craft...

On this edition of the podcast Eric is joined by Houston BBQ Festival co-founder Michael Fulmer. Since the news edition of the podcast has been off for a couple of weeks, the duo catch up on some of the biggest news from the Houston culinary scene including Betelgeuse Betelgeuse owner Chris Cusack getting arrested for health code violations, Mack McDonald getting set to open a new steakhouse conce...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Mark Clayton and Terry Williams of Squable . The guys speak with Eric about the opening days of Squable, working with Bobby Heugel and Justin Yu, developing the menu, making some pivots after opening, making the food approachable, the cocktail program, learning what the neighborhood wanted, changes to the front of house over time, being the old heads on 19th...

Today on the show Eric is joined by Christopher Huang of Narwhal Jousting Club . Christopher speaks with Eric about how computers pushed him towards the restaurant industry, learning on the job, opening Ninja Ramen, why ramen at first, how Ninja Ramen evolved over time, why he decided to close Ninja Ramen last year, Starcraft, opening Narwhal Jousting Club, why they abandoned the initial sandwich...

Today on the podcast, Eric is joined by Mary Clarkson of Heights Grocer and Montrose Grocer . Eric and Mary discuss some of the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene including Joe & the Juice picking Houston for it's first Texas location and the team behind Mimo debut their new sandwich restaurant concept La Rosa to great success. In the Restaurants of the Week portion Exilio L...

On today's edition of the podcast, Eric is joined by Jason Kerr and Benjy Mason of Shredders Pizza . The duo discuss with Eric how the idea for Shredders Pizza came about, finding their audience, pizza delivery being the coolest job for a time, going down a pizza style rabbit hole, developing the dough recipe, the topping options, pushing each other in the right ways, managing the demand, their go...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Felice Sloan, a.k.a. The Swanky Maven . Eric and Felice cover some of the latest happenings from the Houston food scene including Burger Chan opening it's 2nd location, the upcoming closure of Picos , and Bandista rising up the Best Bars in North America rankings for 2026. In the Restaurants of the Week portion,  Jantra is featured. Got a question for Eric? E...

On today's edition of the podcast, Eric is joined by Julian Haynes of Cosmic Ice Cream Co. to discuss his career, Cosmic, and more. Julian speaks with Eric about why he got into the ice cream business, how he left the oil & gas field, the first iteration of Cosmic, learning to make ice cream, getting the initial ice cream bug from a Portland concept, why Webster was the right location for thei...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Alba Huerta and Vanessa Alba of Julep as well as Robin Wong of Blood Bros. BBQ . Alba shares her insights on the creation of The Parlor at Julep , why the multi-use space at Julep was the perfect vehicle for The Parlor, trying different things with The Parlor that they wouldn't do at Julep, the modern cocktail movement, the new techniques they're using, creat...

On today's edition of the podcast, Eric is joined by Houston BBQ Festival co-founder Michael Fulmer. Eric and Michael cover some of the latest news from the Houston culinary scene including giving a recap of the 2026 Tastemaker Awards , Captain Fred's upcoming affordable seafood concept opening near Third Ward, and the great quest for a Topo Chico replacement. In the Restaurants of the Week portio...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Paige and Andrew Alvis and German Mosquera of Long Weekend . The trio speak Eric about the creation of Long Weekend, where the idea came about, balancing being family friendly with higher end adult offerings, the former King's Bierhaus space being the right location for the concept, the renovations they made, how they utilize the space for the best experience...

On today's edition of the show Eric is joined by Raffi Nasr of Craft Pita . First Raffi catches Eric up on his own personal news, the birth of the pita prince! Then the guys dive into the latest news from the Houston culinary scene including the 2 planned concepts that may arrive to a Houston area golf course from Michelin starred chef/owner Michael Fojtasek and Houston's ranking in Food & Win...

On today's edition of the podcast Eric is joined by David Anderson III and Dominick Lee of Fancy's . The pair speak with Eric about how they started working together, their work on Augustine's , how the opportunity for Fancy's came about, the difference between Fancy's and Augustine's, why the River Oaks area was the right spot, bringing people together from all walks of life, the food, the amount...

On today's edition of the podcast Eric is joined by Mary Clarkson of Heights Grocer and Montrose Grocer . The pair dive into some of the latest news from Houston restaurant and bar scene including the 6 James Beard Award finalist nominations from Houston, Be More Pacific shuttering, and Julep's ranking on North America's Best Bars of 2026 list. In the Restaurants of the Week portion Latuli is feat...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Jabril Riddick of Southern Jerks . Jabril speaks with Eric about his decision to go on his own to open his own concept, why he decided on fried chicken as the cuisine for his concept, why Houston is the perfect place to showcase fried chicken with a twist, the flavor profile, making the sides standout, how the Jerk Burger ended up on the menu, wanting to open...

Eric is joined once again by the Swanky Maven Felice Sloan on today's edition of the show. The pair dive into some of the latest news from the Houston culinary scene including, the closing of the Upper Kirby location of Fleming's , Simone Biles opening a restaurant at Bush Intercontinental, and the new Mediterranean concept from Ohio coming to Houston. In the Restaurants of the Week portion The Gr...

On today's edition of What's Eric Eating, Eric is joined by Tom Cunanan, Daniel Davidson, and Brian Doke of The Green Room . The trio speak with Eric about their respective careers, the early days, what brought Tom to Houston from DC, Brian's journey from helping others open concepts to working for himself, the decision behind carving out a portion of Heights & Co. for their new concept, Tom's...