What's Eric Eating

On today's podcast Eric is joined by Chelsea Thomas of The Infatuation Houston to dive into some of the latest happenings from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. Eric and Chelsea discuss Magnol French Baking's announcement of their new location in the Heights, Arizona based breakfast concept Hash Kitchen bringing multiple locations to Houston , and Bazaar Food and Wine , Houston's newest food f...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu of JŪN . Evelyn and Henry speak with Eric about why the spot on 20th street was the right location for JŪN, what convinced Henry to come to Texas for this concept, the development of the menu, their time working pop-ups together, the moment things got real for them, what Henry has learned so far about the Houston culinary scene as w...

On the podcast today Eric is joined by Mary Clarkson to go through some of the latest news hitting the Houston restaurant and bar scene. The pair discuss Emmanuel Chavez of Tatemó being the only chef of the 11 Houston semifinalists to be named a James Beard award finalist this year, the announced 2nd location of Pinkerton's Barbecue , and Ben Berg's big push into downtown with 3 new restaurants. I...

Last week the Houston culinary scene lost one of it's most prominent chef's, Alex Au-Yeung. Alex, the owner of Phat Eatery, passed away due to cancer on March 21st at the age of 52. Today's episode is dedicated to him and celebrating his memory. Eric alongside Terry Wong, Stevie Vu, Isabel Protomartir, Felice Sloan, Thomas Nguyen, and Abbas Dhanani, share stories and memories of Alex. Plus they di...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Michael Fulmer from the Houston BBQ Festival ! Eric and Michael discussed... The results of the 2024 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards The opening of Houston restaurant Late August What they expect from Bar Bludorn Plus reviews of Houston restaurants including Prime 131 , and Pizzana ! Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler . You can also reach Eric by emai...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Travis Tober and Karole Hardwick of Nickel City . The pair speak with Eric about their respective careers in the bar industry, how Travis' travels with Aviation Gin influenced his idea for Nickel City, why they decided to bring Nickel City to Houston, opening the first Nickel City in Austin, Karole's biggest adjustment coming from a fine dining steakhouse to...

It's a swanky feeling kinda day as Eric is joined by the Swanky Maven herself Felice Sloan to discuss the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. Felice and Eric discuss Dozier's BBQ & Meat Market closing at the end of March, the closure of Pastore Italian Kitchen , and L.A. based Pizzana opening it's first location in Houston. In the Restaurants of the Week section Duchess is f...

On today's podcast Eric is joined by Jacques Varon and Max Lappe of Baso . The pair speak with Eric about how they both got into professional cooking, how they first began working with each other, their time in California working at Angler, coming to Houston to open their own restaurant, why they decided to go with a basque style of cooking at Baso, what basque cooking means, the philosophy behind...

Eric is back on a regular podcast schedule this week and today he's joined by the returning Monica Danna to discuss the latest happenings from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. The pair discuss Alex Padilla leaving The Original Ninfa's after 18 years, Portillo's opening soon in Houston with 2 locations, and a new cocktail bar called High Five Mini Bar heading to the Stomping Grounds in Garden...

On today's podcast Eric is joined by Ricardo Molina of Molina's Cantina . Ricardo speaks with Eric about his family's history in the restaurant business, starting the business back in 1941, the changing of locations over the years, keeping a balance between staying current but also paying homage to the restaurant's roots, the evolution of the drink program, not being able to say "ice cold" on thei...

Today on the podcast, Eric is joined by Cinda and Armando Palacios of of Palacios Murphy Hospitality . Cinda and Armando speak with Eric about how they first met, where the idea of combining Tex-Mex with fine dining came from, the story behind Armando getting fired from Ninfa's for giving out sopapillas, starting Armando's Restaurant , developing the "you gotta be at Armando's" environment early o...

On today's edition of the podcast CultureMap Editor Eric Sandler is joined by Mary Clarkson to discuss some of the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. The pair speak about Tilman Fertitta's recent multimillion dollar development purchase, Harold's in the Heights shuttering after 10 years, and Tacos Doña Lena opening it's 2nd location in the former Dak & Bop space on W. 18th...

Today on the podcast CultureMap Editor (yeah that's right someone got a promotion) Eric Sandler speaks with Jason Ryczek of Little's Oyster Bar . Eric and Jason discuss how Jason's culinary career first began, how his time in San Francisco helped shaped him, what got Jason into caviar, coming to Houston, working with Pappas, developing the menu, keeping the menu dynamic, becoming a big fan of yell...

Today on the podcast CultureMap Editor (yeah that's right someone got a promotion) Eric Sandler is joined by Michael Fulmer to dive into the latest happenings from the Houston restaurant and bar world. The guys discuss Katami topping Texas Monthly's Best New Restaurants in 2024 , Houston's newest food hall Conservatory Galleria opening it's doors, and Eric getting stepping into his new role at Cul...

On today's podcast Eric is joined by Julia and David Grossman of Fusion Eats and Fusion Taco . Julia and David speak with Eric about how they met, what brought David back to Houston from New York, Julia's interest in the food truck scene early on in her career, the early food truck days, David's time at Branch Water, transitioning from food trucks to brick and mortar, how their menu has evolved, t...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Chelsea Thomas of The Infatuation Houston to go through some of the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. The pair discuss the opening of PostScript which features the return of chef Bryan Caswell, the opening of MF Lobster & Ceviche by the team behind MF Sushi , the recently shuttered coffee shop The Tipping Point getting a second life b...

On this week's episode, Eric speaks with Jason Gould of Common Bond , and 1891 American Eatery & Bar ! They discussed bringing the first classic croissant to the Houston restaurant scene, the decision to close the downtown Brasserie, trying to change the way we think about sports bars, expanding the Common Bond brand, and how the Houston restaurant scene has changed over the last 20 years! Fol...

We're back to normal programming this week as Eric is joined by regular cohost Mary Clarkson to dive back into the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. Eric and Mary discuss the bagel drama happening with Space City Bagels formerly known as Brazos Bagel just a short time ago, Dominick Lee returning to Houston with the upcoming opening of his new restaurant Augustine's , and Sorre...

Time to find out who won The Ultimate Houston Date Night Draft ! To determine our winner, Eric has enlisted the help of June Rodil of Goodnight Hospitality . Listen as June reveals the winner of the Date Night Draft, why [redacted]'s lineup won her over in the end, what she would have selected if she had participated, Eric's team 7 picks, and more! Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler . Y...

You know what your special someone deserves from you for Valentine's Day this year? You to listen to this episode of What's Eric Eating because then you'll be fully prepared to plan the best possible date night. That's right, it's the Ultimate Houston Date Night Draft on today's edition of the podcast. Join Eric Sandler, Felice Sloan, Rafael Nasr, Justin Yu, Mary Clarkson, and Evelyn Garcia as the...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Ernest Servantes of Burnt Bean Co. Barbecue and Robert Jacob Lerma . The guys speak with Eric about how they first became friends, eating birria tacos in Robert's backyard before it was cool to eat birria tacos in your backyard, how Ernest got started in competition barbecue, transitioning away from competition barbecue, why Seguin was the right spot for Erne...

The Swanky Maven herself Felice Sloan joins Eric on today's podcast to go through some of the latest happenings from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. Eric and Felice discuss the 11 Houston restaurants/chefs named James Beard Award semifinalists, the sudden closure of Buffalo Bayou Brewery , and saying their goodbyes to Clare Smith's Alice Blue . In the Restaurant's of the Week portion Tavola...

On today's edition of the podcast, Eric is joined by Felipe Riccio and Austin Waiter of Goodnight Hospitality . The pair speak with Eric about the vision for Goodnight Hospitality's new concept The Marigold Club , the status of the concept currently, what exactly is continental cuisine, the type of food customers can expect from the concept, the service experience at The Marigold Club, lunch/dinne...

On today's edition of the podcast Eric is joined by Michael Fulmer to dive into some of the latest happenings from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. Eric and Michael discuss Common Bond claiming a spot in Tanglewood for their 5th bistro location, Layne's Chicken Fingers opening their third Houston area location, and the opening of Hando's new second location in Spring Branch. In the Restaurant...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Morgan Weber of HiWay Cantina . Morgan speaks with Eric about why he and the rest of the team at Agricole Hospitality decided to change things up in the east end of Houston by closing Indianola and Miss Carousel, coming up with the ideas for HiWay Catina and Lightnin's Good Times , the development process for HiWay Cantina, making HiWay's menu items distinct...