John-Henry Perera

Houston

Food Editor at Chron

Food and Gulf Coast editor for @Chron | Ex-food reporter for @HoustonChron | Recovering audience producer | Boy dad x 2 | Girl dad x 1

Articles

30 years ago, these were Houston's best Italian restaurants

3 weeks ago | chron.com | John-Henry Perera

Teresa Byrne-Dodge was more than 3,500 miles away when her byline appeared in r/Houston on Reddit. My Table Magazine shut down in 2017, but someone found one of its earliest restaurant guides and took a screenshot of it to share. "Dining in the City: Houston's Best Italian Restaurants," published in 1995, is a valuable find for Houston restaurant lore sickos (like myself). Byrne-Dodge was more measured, telling Chron it was a pleasant "skip" down memory lane.
Why have multiple older Houston restaurants closed recently?

3 weeks ago | chron.com | John-Henry Perera

Four longtime Houston restaurants announced they were permanently closing over the weekend. One Houston hospitality expert says this was months in the making, and the future looks grim if things don't improve. Bloomberg Creative/Getty Images/Bloomberg Creative One by one, they fell. Four Houston restaurants, all longtime businesses, announced over a single weekend in late May they would be closing permanently.
Some Houston H-E-B stores are selling the holy grail of all beef

3 weeks ago | chron.com | John-Henry Perera

A cut of wagyu beef, specifically Kobe, on display in Porto, Portugal. San Antonio-based grocery chain H-E-B is selling A5 wagyu beef at select Houston stores ahead of Father's Day in limited quantities. Cavan Images/Getty ImagesA5 wagyu is the holy grail of beef eating. As such, it's more difficult to come by than your run-of-the-mill meats. That said, H-E-B is opening a lane for those who would love to sample the legendary product—provided you can afford it.
Houston cocktail lounge named one of best bars in America

3 weeks ago | chron.com | John-Henry Perera

Benjy Levit poses for a portrait inside Lee's in Houston, Texas. Julie Soefer/Lee's/Courtesy to ChronFor Houston restaurateur Benjy Levit, the third time's the charm. Levitt's Rice Village cocktail lounge Lee's landed a prestigious mention in one of the most popular food magazines in the country.
Houston's weird Fuddruckers demolished. Here's what's replacing it.

4 weeks ago | chron.com | John-Henry Perera

Goodbye, Fuddruckers. Though I kinda knew you that one time. You had the grace to hold yourself while those around you drew. They drew on your woodwork. And they boarded up your doors. They set the crane on you. And they made you change your name. Go check out the old Fuddruckers at 3929 Southwest Fwy while you still can. The Houston landmark, a distinctive blue magnet for large plywood and graffiti, has now become rubble after nearly 30 years.
One of Texas' most popular barbecue restaurants is going national

1 month ago | chron.com | John-Henry Perera

Terry Blacks Barbecue Restaurant. USA, Austin, 900 Barton Springs Rd, Austin, TX 78704Ranimiro Lotufo Neto/Getty ImagesTerry Black's BBQ, one of the most recognizable names in the Texas barbecue landscape, is taking its show on the road. The Austin restaurant chain is opening its first out-of-state location in Nashville, Tenn., the Nashville Business Journal reported Thursday.
Busy River Oaks restaurant gets second act inside Houston Loop

1 month ago | chron.com | John-Henry Perera

The new Hudson House in Rice Village in Houston, Texas. Becca Wright/Hudson House/Courtesy to ChronA New York City-inspired restaurant from a Dallas hospitality company is getting a second act in Houston. Vandelay Hospitality Group is opening a second location of Hudson House in Rice Village, promising it will have the same charm as its River Oaks outpost. According to a press release, the new Hudson House will open May 21 at 2414 University Blvd.
Fertitta's restaurant group opens new concept along Texas Gulf Coast

1 month ago | chron.com | John-Henry Perera

The Texas Gulf Coast restaurant takes its cues from Louisiana-style cooking with lots of seafood. Landry's Inc. While Tilman Fertitta continues his ambassadorial spelunking in Italy and San Marino, his Houston hospitality company presses on without him. Landry's, Inc. just opened a new restaurant concept in Corpus Christi. Landry's Kitchen opened earlier this week at 5025 S Padre Island Dr. The address previously housed a Joe's Crab Shack, also a Landry's Restaurants brand.
Alix Earle, Texans-playing boyfriend rave about top Houston sushi spot

1 month ago | chron.com | John-Henry Perera

Nigiri at Katami. A social media star and her boyfriend, who plays for the Houston Texans, recently raved about a meal at this hot Houston sushi restaurant. Casey GiltnerAlix Earle, the social media star famous for her "Get Ready With Me" videos on TikTok, dropped an eat-in-progress review of Katami in Houston this week. The upscale Japanese restaurant is doing fine, but maybe it'll do even better because of the Alix Earle effect?
Restaurant space at center of infamous Texas shootout gets new tenant

1 month ago | chron.com | John-Henry Perera

People load motorcycles on to a trailer in front of the Twin Peaks restaurant Monday, May 18, 2015, in Waco, Texas. About 170 members of rival motorcycle gangs were charged with engaging in organized crime Monday, a day after a shootout at the restaurant killed nine people and wounded 18. (Jerry Larson/AP)Jerry Larson, FRE / APIn this May 17, 2015 photo, authorities investigate a shooting in the parking lot of the Twin Peaks restaurant, in Waco, Texas.