What's Eric Eating

Eric is back and on today's edition he's joined by Felice Sloan, a.k.a. the Swanky Maven . Felice and Eric discuss some of the latest news coming from the Houston culinary scene including, world renowned dim sum concept Din Tai Fung heading to the Galleria area, the closure of Barbacana , and Drake Leonards adding owner to his title. Then in the Restaurants of the Week section, DAO'N Korean Modern...

On today's edition of What's Eric Eating, Nicole Routhier of Le Colonial stops by to speak with Eric about why she felt like she was destined to become a chef, making her way to America, how the opportunity to write a cook book came about, coming to Houston, the challenges of introducing Le Colonial, building up trust with customers, evolving her cuisine over time, going back to New York to open a...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Mary Clarkson of Heights Grocer and Montrose Grocer and the duo discussed... Houston Wine Merchant has a new owner! Jonathan Horowitz will now run operations at the Tea Room for the Junior League of Houston They share their lingering thoughts on the Michelin Guide for 2026 The one year anniversary for Montrose Grocer ! Restaurant of the Week - House of Louie...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Carlos Andrade and Shaun Stockton of Mack Allen's . The guys speak with Eric about why Mack Allen's was the right place for them in their respective careers, the motivational styrofoam cup, developing the menu, their desire to be more than just simply a steakhouse, making their wine program more approachable/affordable compared to other steakhouse wine progra...

The 2026 Michelin Guide is here which means it's time for another roundtable discussion and reaction on What's Eric Eating. Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Chelsea Thomas of [redacted, listen through to the end of this episode to find out where] and the Mel Kiper Jr. equivalent for the Michelin Guide, Misha Govshteynto, to breakdown the new batch of Houston restaurants that were recognized,...

Aaron Bludorn is back on the podcast! He joins Eric today to discuss the opening of a 2nd location of Bar Bludorn , why the Woodlands was the right spot for the 2nd location of the concept, why he decided to go with a 2nd location of Bar Bludorn rather than go with a new concept or a new location of one of the other Bludorn Hospitality Group concepts, the food options at the 2nd location versus th...

This week Mary Clarkson joins Eric to discuss: News on restaurants Southern Jerks , BARI Ristorante , and more! Restaurant of the Week - Fine dining steakhouse Mack Allen's Got a question for Eric? Email him at eric@culturemap.com . Follow Eric on Instagram @ericsandler and check out some of Eric's latest articles online at Culturemap.com : Love Croissants opens first stand-alone bakery with Heigh...

What's Eric Eating with host Eric Sandler! This week's special guest is Brian Gendron, the owner of The Riot Comedy Club ! Eric and Brian discussed how he got his start in comedy, some of the comedy legends who have stood on their stage, changing locations to a new spot on Washington Ave, their new food service, and more! Got a question for Eric? Email him at eric@culturemap.com . Follow Eric on I...

What's Eric Eating with host Eric Sandler! This week he's joined by special guest Rafael Nasr, the founder of Craft Pita ! This week the pair discussed... Food & Wine naming Houston chef Lucas McKinney their best new chef Picos has found a new home , on Westheimer Hamari sushi coming to Briar Grove And Rafael has a new pop up, with a Peruvian-Chinese fusion menu! PLUS, restaurant of the week -...

Joe Cervantez and Raz Halili of Parkwood American Grille and Pier 6 Seafood & Oyster House join Eric on the podcast today. The pair speak with Eric about the initial idea of the Parkwood American Grille concept, why this style of cuisine, developing the menu, building the steak program, the vast array of caviar options on the menu, making chicken nuggets in house, balancing the steaks/seafood...

Felice Sloan, a.k.a. The Swanky Maven , is back! Felice joins Eric to discuss some of the latest happenings from the Houston food scene including H&H Bagels opening their first Houston location, Ronnie Killen's push to get a Michelin Star, and the closure of the final remnants of Underbelly Hospitality. In the Restaurants of the Week portion Parkwood American Grille and chrôma are featured.  ...

Today on the podcast, Eric is joined by Douglas Rodriguez and Pedro Teyuca of Exilio Latin Flair . Pedro was unable to join for the first portion of the podcast so Douglas speaks with Eric about his career, where it's taken him, why he came to Houston, getting the "Godfather of Nuevo Latino Cuisine" moniker, winning a the James Beard Rising Star Chef Award back in 1996, redesigning the menu at Exi...

It's a Post Labor Day edition of What's Eric Eating! Today Eric is joined by Houston BBQ Festival co-founder Michael Fulmer to discuss some of the latest happenings from the Houston food scene. The pair speak about the decision by Pappas Restaurants to close the original location of Pappasito's and Graham Laborde's new gulf coast seafood concept called Little Bird . Then in the Restaurants of the...

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Juan Antonio Hernandez, a.k.a. Tony, and Aquiles Chávez of Pochitos Mariscos y Más . The duo speak with Eric about working together, where the name of the concept came from, creating the new menu for Pochitos Mariscos y Más, the fusion of ideas in creating some of the menu items, the origin story of the sushi hot dog, Aquiles being happy to be back in Houston...

Chelsea Thomas is back on the podcast today to speak with Eric about all the latest happenings and annoying things happening in the Houston food scene. The pair discuss Pizzaro's expanding with 2 new locations and CultureMap contributor Brianna McClane's Steak Night Round Up article . In the Restaurants of the Week portion, The Audrey is featured. Then the duo react/discuss former Houston Chronicl...

On today's edition of What's Eric Eating, Eric is joined by Marco Thompson and Mauricio Alvarado of Osteria di Mercato . Marco and Mauricio share how they both got into the world of culinary, what brought them back to Houston, working together at Osteria di Mercato, what brought each of them to the concept, why the small menu, developing the menu, the benefits of working in a small concept, the ne...

Today on the show Eric is joined by Raffi Nasr of Craft Pita ! The guys dive into some of the latest news from the Houston food scene including Chris Williams' restaurant Late August closing, Agnes and Sherman being recognized by Bon Appetit as one of it's Best New Restaurants of 2026 , Pochitos Mariscos y Más soon featuring a new menu created by chef Aquiles Chávez, and the Michelin Guide making...

On today's edition of What's Eric Eating, Eric is joined by Luis Lopez, Jake Granville, & Ryan Penn of Eastbound Barbecue . The guys speak with Eric about how they got their respective culinary starts, their experiences working with Ronnie Killen, why the time was right to start Eastbound Barbecue, what aspect about the new concept appealed to them, developing the menu to incorporate other ite...

Today on the podcast, Eric is joined by Mary Clarkson of Heights Grocer and Montrose Grocer . Eric speaks with Mary about some of the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene including the closure of Barbecue Inn after 80 years of service, Pudgy's Fine Cookies / Underground Creamery head to Meyerland to open their 2nd collaborative location, and the hometown chef that Beat Bobby Flay...

Time to reveal the winner of The Ultimate Chain Restaurant Draft ! Graham Laborde of Winnie's joins Eric on today's podcast to serve as the special guest judge for the draft. Graham speaks with Eric as to why he felt [redacted] won the draft, what stood out from the winners selections, who was closest in beating [redacted], restaurants he was surprised didn't get picked, the rest of the teams sele...

It's draft day on What's Eric Eating! Eric, Sarah Dowling of Baso , Abbas Dhanani of Burger Bodega , Raffi Nasr of Craft Pita , and Chelsea Thomas are drafting The Ultimate Chain Restaurant line up on today's edition of the podcast. First though, what is the definition of a chain restaurant? For podcast drafting purposes, The Ultimate Chain Restaurant Draft defines a chain restaurant as having at...

Today on the show Eric is joined by Paul Friedman of Chef's Table . Paul speaks with Eric about pursuing a career in culinary, designing restaurants at first, wanting to become a professional chef, working with Mike's Kitchen, coming to Houston, losing everything, how he and Thomas Nguyen started Peli Peli, why Chef's Table was the right next move for him following Peli Peli, why his son Kyle is p...

On today's edition of the show, Eric is joined by Houston BBQ Festival co-founder Michael Fulmer to discuss some of the latest news from the Houston food world including Relish Restaurant & Bar moving to a new location, Island Grill already claiming the former home of Relish, and the return of Houston Restaurant Weeks . In the Restaurants of the Week portion Charolais and Coarse are featured. ...

Time for part 2 of Eric's conversation with Justin Yu of Thorough Fare Hospitality . Today Justin speaks with Eric about his new concept House of Louie . Justin shares with Eric why he decided to do another restaurant, why he went with a French/Italian style, where the name came from (sadly it's not named after Eric), the excitement for fried lasagna, the other menu items they're excited for peopl...

No news or restaurants of the week on today's podcast because it's time to get our yearly spoiler filled discussion about The Bear with Eric and Thorough Fare Hospitality's Justin Yu! The guys speak about the choice to center the final season around one day of service, how they related to the story, the chaos of the kitchen, customers taking a long time at a table, getting to relive the chaos the...