Simply Eldridgeous! New eateries on Eldridge Parkway enhance the culinary landscape: Pho and Noodle houses and West Houston's first Cevicheria

ENERGY CORRIDOR, CULINARY CORRIDOR 

Seems like a few new eateries open up on Eldridge Parkway every month: Here are the latest additions to the smorgasboard of lunch and dining choices: Pho Basil Vietnamese Noodle House has become Matsu Sushi Bar's new neighbor, heating up the local rice pasta competition following the recent debut of Nom Nom Noodles in a retail center nearby that already features bullritos and smashburgers; Not to mention that there are already several Thai restaurants in the area; two Japanese sushi venues; a Kim Son cafe, and a Taipei Cafe, to make the Asian cuisine offerings more diverse.

PHO BASIL store front next to MATSU Sushi Bar

NOM NOM NOODLES signage on newly-opened store next to Bullritos

Pho Basil Vietnamese with its Neighbors in the Retail Center: Matsu Sushi Bar and Cleaners

At the corner with Sandbridge, Chatters Cafe has been succeeded by Alma Cebiche Restaurant and Bar virtually overnight. A unique concept created by a talented immigrant chef from Ecuador, the novel cevicheria is poised to add new tones to the neighborhood's Latin American culinary and flavor repertoir following the recent closure of Benny's Mexican Restaurant at the corner of Eldridge and Westheimer, which had offered more conventional South-of-the-border fare, as opposed to Latin America's own take on  sushi idea: seafood "cooked" with lime juice.  

Most intriguing restaurant signage - especially at night
(though some may mis-read it as alms, as opposed to alma, -- Spanish for soul)

South American Soul Restaurant from across the hedges at Sundown

A Greek eatery is also in the works near Kroger in the same retail center as the "green" salad-themed restaurant "tossed", across the parking lot from Pecan Creek Grill. 

Further North, at the intersection with Enclave Parkway, Cafe Express set up shop a few months ago in the space that previously contained a Red Onion Cafe, following the grand-opening of Sharky's across the street in the structure with the church-like turret on top that was once known as Enclave Sports Grill.  

Sharky's with roof-top turret; Japanese Sushi Restaurant also listed on  Sign

Members Choice Credit Union offers new banking choice on Eldridge

Houston's energy corridor is not only seeing improvements in transportation infrastructure (road widening and new sidewalks), a construction boomlet, and the opening of a new restaurant seemingly every few weeks; financial institutions are also setting up new locations to serve the ever growing Energy Corridor workforce and new or future residents of luxury apartments that have recently been completed or will soon open their doors.  

    

Member Choice Credit Union recently opened a branch in a former Comerica branch location on Eldridge Parkway near Olive Hill Drive.

Photo of new member choice credit union branch with "Now Open" banner (8/9/2012)
1503 Eldridge Parkway - Houston Texas 77077

Former Comerica Bank branch is now home of members choice credit union

Jersey Mike's Subs (photos) Eldridge Parkway

Jersey Mike's Subs in the Energy Corridor
Located next to Bullritos burrito shop on Eldridge

Jersey Mike's Subs - Houston West / Energy Corridor
1635 Eldridge Parkway #500, Houston, TX 77077 

New Energy Corridor Apartments East of Eldridge Parkway near Briar Forest

1700 - 1800 S. Eldridge Parkway at Crescent Circle Drive
Houston TX 77077 - USA

Newly-finished Crescent Plaza Drive Apartments
11/24/12 UPDATE: Branded "Domain" (signage was yet installed when photo above was taken)

View of newly completed apartment development across Eldridge Parkway
and as-yet undeveloped land (looking East from sidewalk at Ray Miller Park)

That Big Net out West on Katy Freeway - TopGolf's West Houston Skyline Alteration Project on Course

A variation on the theme of horizon-modification is evolving in the burbs: It's not just construction cranes that are changing the skyline out West. 

What's that big net there going to catch?

TAKE A GUESS:

• o   Migratory birds on the way to and from Central and South America.
• o   Monarchs en route to their winter haunts in Mexico.
• o   Small planes taking off from West Houston Airport.
• o   Top dollars of energy company executives.

TopGolf's massive golfing and entertainment center past the Wafflehouse and Sams' at the the Highway 6 - Katy Freeway Overpass is already making its mark on the neighborhood -- even before project completion and grand opening -- with its enormous golf-ball-containment nets soaring above the roofs of the surrounding apartment complexes, warehouses, and stores. 
  
Like they say, everything is bigger in Texas -- or it better be, you-all. Even companies from other states come here to help make the point. TopGolf reportedly dropped $15mil on the project, it's biggest yet, which is to feature food, games, sports, and music live with liquor license. Panem et circenses plus for well-heeled energy-company executives and for area workaholics in need of a well-deserved break alike.

Ready to Net Energy Corridor Dollars
TopGolf coming to town
(Sams Club Store and BP's corporate campus in the background) 

TopGolf Grand Opening Buzz: The Wait will soon be Over

The entertainment complex is taking shape (9/8/2012 photo)

The hiring flag is hoisted too

Downstream from the Top Golf course: Will any of the chip-fitted golf balls
make it down here, ready to embark on a journey all the way to Galveston Bay
via Buffalo Bayou?

Also see earlier H-Town West blog post: 
TopGolf Houston construction pics (August 2012) Memorial Brook Boulevard Houston TX 77084 (spelled Top Golf - two words - on City of Houston permit)

Bird eye's view of TopGolf project site on Google Maps/ Satellite View with pic of  Wafflehouse located on the corner of I-10 West-bound frontage road and Highway 6 .
No signs of construction yet on the empty parcel between Katy Freeway
and Bellhaven University on Park Row - Houston Texas 77084

Ce what? From Cafe Chatters to Ceviche y Alma Peruviana - and back to the chattering concept

4/1/2013 UPDATE: The Chatter's signage is back up on the building. Apparently, Cebiche was just  a brief Latin interlude.

New Latin restaurant opening in the Energy Corridor, offering South American soul ("alma") and "cebiche" ... Really? Is that a new Tex-Peru version of ceviche, or the appellation original for the truly authentic Andean variant? -- Intriguing. The press release upon grand opening might have served as an opportunity to educate the less-Latin-savvy public. Perhaps it's just clever marketing: something new and different to pique the interests of exotic-cuisine-friendly local palates and linguists alike, not to mention would-be polyglots and spelling-bee aspirants.  

And as to the branding ... Is that how soul is spelled in Peruvian?
You better know the name of the place you are headed to, for deciphering the signage is something of a challenge
Perhaps the Latin America expats at CITGO on the next block have an advantage here

Chatter's Cafe & Bistro shortly before it closed
(ironically with NOW OPEN sign)

1275 Eldridge Parkway, Houston, TX 77077  

Various local foodie news outlets report that the new Alma & Cebiche restaurant is the creation of the former chef at Samba Grille, who moved West to greener pastures (and better business prospects) when the Latin American venue at Bayou Place in the Downtown Theater District closed earlier this year. 

  

Eldridge Parkway is indeed aflutter with excitement and adorned with "coming soon" and "now open" signs (Cafe Express, Sharky's American Grill, and The King's Head are recent arrivals on the dining and waterhole front; not to mention the massive Top Golf project North of I-10 at Highway 6, which is rapidly taking recognizable shape), while the Central Business District is struggling and jugging along -- plastered with "For Lease" signs, if not lock-out notices from the landlord for non-payment of rent.   

Notable recent exception: Pepper Jack just opened a restaurant y cantina in what used to be Cabo, a margarita venue with the second-floor equivalent of a patio on the edge of the Theater District and not far from Old Downtown Houston Market Square. To their credit, they even kept the original swordfish sign, changing only the name.  

  
For pure nostalgia value, a last look at Samba Grille: 

The last samba at Bayou Place in Downtown Houston's Theatre District
Summer 2012

And for good measure: Cabo, in all its original colorful glory:

Signage at Cabo, now Pepper Jack's Mexican Grill and Cantina
419 Travis Street Houston, TX 77002

And its reincarnation as Pepper Jack's: "Yes, We Are Open Now".

The light will switch to Green any minute now

Sharky's American Grill in former Enclave Sports Grill location [UPDATE: Restaurant closed}

Mar 10, 2014 UPDATE: Silvia (of Silvia Enchilada Queen fame) to open new restaurant in this location, as reported by the Houston Chroinicle.
Feb 24, 2014 UPDATE: Sharky's is out of business. The landlord changed the locks for nonpayment of rent:

Landlord's lockout notice on Sharky's restaurant door (2/15/2014)

Sharky's American Grill with GRAND OPENING sign hoisted
Eldridge Parkway South of intersection with Enclave Pkwy
1140 Eldridge Parkway  Houston, TX 77077 U.S.A.

Sharky's Grill at night in black and white with turrent on top of building
Sign lists neighbors: Sushi Restaurant Enclave Vision

The Enclave Sports Grill used to occupy the same space
N-Sushi Japanese Restaurant also nearby on corner of the retail center  facing the Holiday Inn

Corner of Enclave and Eldridge Parkway - Cafe Express opening and more office construction ahead

The new Café Express is located at the South-East corner of the intersection of Enclave Parkway and Eldridge Parkway. This area has recently seen the completion of sidewalks on both sides of Enclave Parkway that connect the corporate campuses that line the Parkway to the Terry Hershey hike and bike system, which runs alongside the banks of Buffalo Bayou and Langham Creek. The project is  meant to enhance walkability and bikeability for area-employees and residents. It forms part of the forward-looking mobility concept for the Energy Corridor District - an area that is poised to experience significant growth in the near future - and the West Houston area more broadly.

Bench with Terry Hershey Bike & Hike Trail System Map North of corner of Eldridge Parkway and Enclave Parkway
Blue signage of Cafe Express visible on the building in the background

The signalized Eldridge-Enclave intersection has crossing lights for pedestrians with coordinated sound-track that issues walk-and-wait commands; which could be particularly useful for the vision-impaired, while it may annoy others.

Located across the street are a Holiday Inn with an inhouse restaurant and bar, a Capital One Bank branch, and several other restaurants, among them newly-opened Sharky’s Grill, a Japanese sushi restaurant. There is also a sandwich shop.

Within the shopping center East of Eldridge Parkway Café Express has the Houston Barbecue Company, Achille Italian Café, and Beans Café as neighbors. There are also a few other business in the shopping center, including a tavern, a realtor’s office, and a dentist.  

   

To the North, the red KBR logo prominently appears on top of a Class A office building of recent vintage that towers over Buffalo Bayou and the adjoining riparian parkland.  

The office property is named Eldridge Oaks One, and is awaiting its Number Two namesake, to be built on what is currently green space with a few trees in the NW corner of the intersection. The parcel still has a Transwestern project sign touting the attributes of the first stage Class-A Eldridge Oak office building, which saw completion in 2009.

Nov 11, 2012 Update: The Transwestern project sign has since been replaced with one providing information on the next office tower (Eldridge Oaks Phase II) to be constructed on the empty lot, which should be completed by 2014.

King's Head in West Houston

New British Pub in the Energy Corridor -

sans the pub-fare, but with German Beer (apparently), and European sports games on the screens

A Dental Office is upstairs

The King's Head Pub (signage on building)
and Franziskaner Weissbier logo on the umbrellas

The Pub will be within easy walking distance from the new apartments built behind the building
on Crescent Plaza Drive

The King's Head's coordinates: The new Pub is located in what used to be Tobin's Lounge
Eldridge Parkway Houston TX 77077

New construction activity accelerates at Eldridge Parkway (updated November 2012)

Earth-moving work recently commenced on open land between Eldridge Parkway and existing
Eclipse Apartment property.

Area in South-East corner of Eldridge Pkwy and Briar Forest Dr that has seen surge in construction activity in 2011-2012 (Googlemaps image with thumbnail photo of apartment construction at South -East edge of Crescent Circle Drive

Alzheimers Assisted Living facility coming soon
(Nov 2012 photo of construction site)

New child care facility (Goddard School - Houston) in the making East of Eldridge Parkway near Briar Forest
among other construction projects at Crescent Circle Drive / Plaza - Houston TX 77077

Bird eye's view of Ray Miller Park West of Eldridge Parkway and Crescent Circle Drive (East) with new apartment construction project in progress (in left lower corner of map (UPDATE: branded "Domain").
 Construction activity that was commenced inside the circle recently is not yet shown on this Google Map Satellite View image

Goddard School on Eldridge Parkway (updated with photos)

The Goddard School as seen from Eldridge Parkway (Dec 2012 photo added)

Goddard School - Entrance and parking lot on Crescent Circle Drive (11/18/2012 photo added)

Expected surge in population moving into newly constructed apartments in the Energy Corridor also has child-care providers set up new facilities in the area.

Goddard School Coming Soon Sign at Crescent Circle off South Eldridge Parkway opposite Ray Miller Park

1720 Crescent Plaza Drive Houston, TX 77077 - Child care facility at center across the green space
Construction site at Crescent Circle Drive between Eclipse Apartments and Eldridge Parkway

Eldridge at Briar Forest - Area Map
The new aparments at Crescent Circle now have a name: Domain