What's Eric Eating

On today's episode Eric is joined by a newcomer to the podcast, as he's joined by CulutureMap contributor Brianna McClane. Brianna shares a bit about her background, then the pair dive into some of the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene including the closure of Riel and Shipley Do-Nuts being acquired by a California based private equity firm. Plus, the duo give some picks for restaurants to check out during Houston Restaurants Weeks. In the Restaurants of the Week portion, Kitchen Rumors and Alora are featured.    Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: 10 Eateries Participating in Houston Restaurant Weeks for the First Time Top-Rated Houston Restaurant will Close After 8 Years in Montrose Favorite Houston Doughnut Shop Swaps One Private Equity Owner for Another Mexico City-Inspired Taqueria Rolls into Massive Fifth Ward Development National Ice Cream Shop Scoopi

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Nilesh Ranchod and Rajen Giga of 2 Phat Bastard Pies. Nilesh and Rajen speak with Eric about how they first became friends, coming to Houston from Zimbabwe, moving from environmental company work to the food industry, their fusion approach with their savory pies, how they're pies are different, flavors that were inspired by Houston, transitioning from catering to an everyday business model, opening inside The Post, the spicy options they offer, dishes they're developing, and more!   Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: Houston Trattoria and BBQ Joint Team Up for Hill Country Flood Relief Houston Greek Restaurant Reboots with Fresh Location and Refined Style Favorite Houston Doughnut Shop Swaps One Private Equity Owner for Another Top Houston Barbecue Joint Fires Up a New Location at Hobby Airport Convivial Canadian Sports Bar Sets Opening D

The Swanky Maven Felice Sloan makes triumphant return to the podcast! Eric and Felice discuss some of the latest happenings in the Houston restaurant and bar scene including the opening of the new permanent location of the cult-favorite burger concept Boo's Burgers, the debut of a new limited time pop-up cocktail bar Navi's at The Post Oak Hotel, and the reopening of the Colorado Club. In the Restaurants of the Week portion, Latuli is featured.  Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: Cult-Favorite Houston Burger Pop-Up Sets Opening Date for Permanent Location Tilman Fertitta's Posh Hotel Crafts a Limited Time Cocktail Speakeasy Premier Houston Nightclub Group Reopening Iconic Strip Club This Month Favorite Houston Doughnut Shop Swaps One Private Equity Owner for Another Top Houston Barbecue Joint Fires Up a New Location at Hobby Airport

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Randy Hines and Michael Horne of Kolache Shoppe. The pair catch Eric up on what's been happening with the brand over the past few years, getting ready to open the new Memorial location, how the new location compares to the others, why Memorial was the right area, Randy's experience with franchising the concept, lessons learned from the Kingwood store closure, how Michael got started with the Kolache Shoppe, doing collaborations, future plans, and much more! Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: Cult-Favorite Houston Burger Pop-Up Sets Opening Date for Permanent Location CityCentre Uncorks a Chic New Wine Bar Serving Steak and Charcuterie Star Houston Pitmaster Flames Out On Food Network Barbecue Competition Austin Burger Favorite P. Terry's Sets Opening Date For Third Houston Store Self-Taught Chef Slices Into Houston with High-Quality Sus

Monica Danna is back! She joins Eric to discuss some of the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene including FM Kitchen + Bar being folded into PKL Social and the new ghost kitchen concept Kaisen Sushi Houston making a big splash. In the Restaurants of the Week portion, Succulent Fine Dining is featured. Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: Inner Loop Pickleball Bar Expands Into Neighboring Burger Joint Self-Taught Chef Slices Into Houston with High-Quality Sushi To Go Star Houston Pitmaster Flames Out On Food Network Barbecue Competition Austin Burger Favorite P. Terry's Sets Opening Date For Third Houston Store 10 Eateries Participating in Houston Restaurant Weeks for the First Time

Time to announce the winner of The Ultimate Houston Dessert Draft, who's picking the winner you ask? Michelle Wallace of b'tween Sandwich Co.! Michelle joins Eric on the podcast today to not only pick the winner of the draft but also let us know how things are going at b'tween Sandwich Co., the advice she gave to Greg Gatlin before he began competing on Food Network's BBQ Brawl, and whether a brick + mortar of b'tween Sandwich Co. is in the works. Plus, Michelle shares her thoughts on how the drafters did, their selections, why she selected [redacted] as the winner, and more! Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: 10 Eateries Participating in Houston Restaurant Weeks for the First Time Two Week Dining Event Celebrates Houston's Latin-Owned Restaurants Award-Winning NYC Chefs Join Houston Rising Star for Pop-Up Dinner Veteran Houston Bartender Shakes Up the Heights with New Tropica

On today's episode of the podcast, you're in for something a lot sweeter than normal... because well it's The Ultimate Houston Dessert Draft! Listen as Eric, alongside Local Foods Group's Chelsea Thomas, the Hangry Houstonian Danielle Dubois, Fluff Bake Bar's Becky Masson, Underground Creamery's Josh Deleon, and Heights Grocer's Mary Clarkson attempt to craft the best dessert lineup. The drafters will be selecting a lineup of 6 desserts in total withe each drafter making one selection in each of the following categories: cookies, cake, frozen, pastries, tableside, and a wild card. For the tableside category, drafters may select any dessert that is either prepared or finished at the table. That means lit on fire, sauced, scooped, sliced, etc. For the frozen category, all forms of ice cream, gelato, frozen yogurt, bingsu, kakigori, shaved ice, sno balls, etc. are available. The wild card category is any additional dessert that hasn't already been selected. The Draft Rules Rule 1: No drafter may select the sa

Season 4 of The Bear premiered on Hulu a couple of weeks ago so it's time to get our into our now yearly discussion with the Ultimate Date Night Draft winner himself, Justin Yu. Eric and Justin dive into a full spoiler conversation all about season 4 including the financial challenges that the restaurant faced this season, the difficulty of changing the menu so much, how that frequency can also speak to a level of selfishness (looking at you Carmy), how tough it is for a restaurant to find the right puzzle pieces to make the concept run smoothly, how those puzzle pieces were reflected in this season, Sydney's big decision this season, the work/life balance of everything, Carmy's journey, restaurants that live on stodges, and much more! Plus, Justin shares with Eric what restaurants he's excited about, what's new at Theodore Rex, and the best wings in Houston. Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles a

On today's podcast Eric is joined by Michael Fulmer to discuss Bobby Heugel and Jackie Stromm uniting for a new cocktail bar concept and Michael's beef with an overused word in food media. In the Restaurants of the Week portion Good God, Nadine's and Ichijiku Neighborhood Sushi are featured. Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: Exclusive: New Cocktail Bar from Houston Hospitality Stars Coming to the Heights Growing Burger Chain Slides into First Houston Location Country Star Koe Wetzel Opens New Location of his Lively Bar in Houston Houston Restaurant Served Beyoncé a Southern Feast for her First Meal in H-Town Houston's Best New Restaurant Shows Off at CultureMap Tasting Table Dinner

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Bryan Caswell and Allison Knight of Latuli. The pair discuss with Eric why the Memorial area was the right place for Latuli, the scale of it, developing the menu, the nods to previous concepts of Bryan's, the staff, what the opening process has been like for Allison, the unusual design of Latuli, making it kid friendly, how things are going so far, adding lunch service, the vision for the concept, and more. Plus, Allison shares about her background and what led her to wanting to open a restaurant. Also, Bryan speaks about his time away from the spotlight and what changed for him to want to go from consulting to a more permanent position.  Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: Exclusive: New Cocktail Bar from Houston Hospitality Stars Coming to the Heights Country Star Koe Wetzel Opens New Location of his Lively Bar in Houston Houston Restau

Eric's back! Today he's joined by Chelsea Thomas to go through the latest happenings in the Houston restaurant and bar scene. The duo discuss chef Thomas Bille winning Best Chef Texas at this year's James Beard Awards, Tristen Epps winning Top Chef, and Austin based Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group coming to Houston after claiming a space in Autry Park. In the Restaurants of the Week portion, King Steak is featured.  Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: Innovative Houston Chef is the City's Newest James Beard Award Winner Houston Chef Tristen Epps Dishes on his Top Chef Victory and What's Next Michelin-Recognized Austin Restaurant Group Reveals First Houston Project Houston Restaurant Served Beyoncé a Southern Feast for her First Meal in H-Town Immersive, Speakeasy-Style Tiki Bar Brings the Underworld to Montrose

Bobby Heugel is back for an in-depth conversation with Eric about the current state of the restaurant/bar scene in Houston. Bobby speaks with Eric about a plethora of topics including the current state of Thorough Fare Hospitality, whether there's oversaturation in the Houston food scene, why Michelin benefits the winners more than the city, the challenges with tariffs, why fresh build aspirations are decreasing, negotiating with landlords, the gen z customer/worker, and much more! Eric is taking a brief hiatus from the podcast but the show will be back with a new episode on July 8th with Justin Yu, followed by a new Ultimate Draft episode on July 15th. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts to get notified as soon new episodes release. (Although Eric reserves the right to return sooner... like I don't know... maybe if someone wins a James Beard Award when the winners are announced) For more info and tickets to CultureMap's Tasting Table event series click here. You can also

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Daniel Vaughn, the BBQ editor for Texas Monthly and who's also fresh off the release of Texas Monthly's Top 50 BBQ Joints for 2025. Daniel speaks with Eric about how the Houston BBQ scene has changed in the last decade, the turnover for Houston BBQ joints on the list this year, why certain joints in Houston became honorable mentions or fell off the list entirely, why neither Franklin's BBQ nor Snow's BBQ made the list this year, small town BBQ spots making a comeback, the absolutely outstanding top 3, why Burnt Bean Co. BBQ deserved the number one spot, whether Michelin's selections played a role at all with Texas Monthly's selections, and much more!    Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: Two Top 10 Pitmasters React to Texas Monthly's New Top 50 Barbecue List 7 Houston-Area Barbecue Joints Make Texas Monthly's New Top 50 List Pizzeria Own

Michael Fulmer is back joining Eric on the podcast today! The guys dive straight into the News of the Week with more reactions to Texas Monthly's Top 50 BBQ spots and Cecil's Pub getting a new home. In the Restaurants of the Week portion Silk Road and Doko are featured. Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: Two Top 10 Pitmasters React to Texas Monthly's New Top 50 Barbecue List 7 Houston-Area Barbecue Joints Make Texas Monthly's New Top 50 List 40-Year Old Houston Pub Reopens in Montrose with Pizza and Patio Power Houston Haunt Earns Only Texas Spot on Bon Appètit Best New Bars List Family Friendly Garden Oaks Restaurant Coming Soon to Magnolia

On a special episode of What's Eric Eating, Eric Sandler was joined by three people very much in the know about the Texas BBQ scene, to discuss the Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ restaurants in Texas list! Renowned photographer and entrepreneur Robert Lerma The pitmaster and owner of Truth BBQ in Houston and Brenham, Leonard Botello IV, who ranked inside the top 10 of this list! And Ernest Servantes, the chef/pitmaster/co-owner from Burnt Bean Co. Barbecue, who ranked at the very top of this list! Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: Lively new neighborhood bar shakes up Washington Ave. with diverse menu 7 Houston-area barbecue joints make Texas Monthly's new top 50 list Ben Berg's New York-Inspired, Fancy Burger Joint Will Soon Shutter

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Mary Clarkson to dive into some of the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. The pair discuss the recent closings of PostScript and B.B. Lemon and the recent openings of Succulent Fine Dining and King Steak. In the Restaurants of the Week portion, Hachi and Burnt Bean Co. Barbecue are featured. Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: Ben Berg's New York-Inspired, Fancy Burger Joint Will Soon Shutter Predicting 13 Barbecue Joints That Could Make Texas Monthly's New Top 10 Houston's New Napa Valley-Inspired Restaurant Sets Opening Date Houstonians Will Get the Royal Treatment at this Lively New Steakhouse East Coast-Inspired Eatery Shakes Up Rice Village with 'World's Coldest Martini' Dough-Obsessed Pizzeria Picks River Oaks for First Houston Location

Chef Allie Peña and chef-owner Aaron Bludorn of Bludorn join Eric on the show today. The pair speak with Eric about Allie taking over as executive chef at Bludorn, why Allie pursued the job, why Aaron felt Allie was the right choice, new ideas Allie has for Bludorn, staples that she plans to keep, her time running the Bar Bludorn kitchen, how Bludorn has exceeded Aaron's expectations in terms of the city's response to it, the Michelin aspect of it all, and more! Plus, they discuss Douglas Keane coming to Houston, any possible interest in The Woodlands, how things are going with Perseid, and Allie goes through the lightning round! Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: Houstonians Will Get The Royal Treatment at This Lively New Steakhouse Massive, German-Inspired Beer Garden Coming to New Energy Corridor Project Houston's Most Pretty-in-Pink Restaurant Quietly Closes in Upper Kirb

On today's edition of the podcast Eric is joined by Lawton Driscoll to go through some of the latest news from the Houston restaurant/bar scene. The pair discuss new restaurant Kirkwood coming this fall from the Mac Haik Restaurant Group, John Avila's new concept Pinballz Pizzeria, and Nancy's Hustle opening daily now for dinner. In the Restaurants of the Week section Agnes and Sherman is featured.  Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: New Houston Pizzeria Serves Up Slices and Vintage Vibes in the East End Michelin-Recognized Houston Restaurant Now Open for Dinner Daily Houston's Most Pretty-in-Pink Restaurant Quietly Closes in Upper Kirby River Oaks Gourmet Grocer Unveils Cozy New Name and Big Dallas Plans

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Jamie Allen of Juliet. Jamie speaks with Eric about his career before his journey into the culinary world, why he decided to switch careers, creating Candy Shack Daiquiris, the inspiration for Juliet, why the movie theater theme for the concept, developing the menu, his influences in the creation of Juliet, what has made Juliet a hit from day one, his team behind the restaurant, the celebs that've visited, the rose wall, plans for expansion, possible other concepts, his work with Haii Keii, the lack of media coverage, and more! Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: New Houston Pizzeria Serves Up Slices and Vintage Vibes in the East End Veteran Houston Chef Steps in to EaDo Barbecue Joint Michelin-Recognized Houston Restaurant Now Open for Dinner Daily Houston's Shuttered Kosher Steakhouse Reopens as Non-Kosher Neighborhood Grill

Today on the podcast Eric is joined by a returning Felice "Swanky Maven" Sloan to discuss some of the latest news from the Houston restaurant/bar scene. The pair speak about Jason Goldstein's new non-kosher steakhouse concept, Cactus Club Cafe opening it's 3rd US location in Houston, and Greg Gatlin of Gatlin's BBQ making his BBQ Brawl debut in June on Food Network. In the Restaurants of the Week portion Tavola is featured.    Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emailing him at eric@culturemap.com. Check out some of his latest articles at Culturemap.com: Houston's Shuttered Kosher Steakhouse Reopens as Non-Kosher Neighborhood Grill Canadian Comfort Food Restaurant Puts Down Roots in Prime Houston Spot Michelin-Recognized Houston Restaurant Now Open for Dinner Daily Astros Pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. Serves Up a New Pickleball Bar in Midtown