Local restaurant group to expand 2 concepts to Katy lifestyle center

Gr8 Plate Hospitality is heading west — west Houston, that is. 

The locally based restaurant group inked leases for two of its concepts at Houston-based NewQuest Properties’ Stableside at Falcon Landing in Katy in the Cinco Ranch area, according to a press release. The Union Kitchen will open its sixth location in a 5,000-square-foot space with seating for 450 guests, while the third storefront of Jax Grill will be 4,000 square feet with seating for 350. 

The restaurants are scheduled to break ground this summer, and the construction is expected to finish by early 2019, per the release. Both locations will feature large patios with outdoor seating and views of a shared green space. Click through the gallery above to see renderings of the concepts and the lifestyle retail center.

Total investment costs for the new storefronts are estimated to be $2.2 million, a spokesperson said. The Union Kitchen, at 9920 Gaston Road, suite 100, will hire about 60 employees, while Jax Grill, at 9910 Gaston Road, suite 200, will need about 40 people to work in the restaurant. 

Owners Paul and Doris Miller tapped two Houston-based firms as the designer and general contractor: Mark Boucher of Houston-based Boucher Design Groupis doing the design, while Charles Chapman of Corinthian Contracting is overseeing the build-out. Chapman also constructed The Union Kitchen’s Ella Boulevard and Washington Avenue locations, per the release.

David Littwitz of Littwitz Investments Inc. represented Gr8 Plate in the lease negotiations, a spokesperson said.  

Stableside is on 34.4 acres at the intersection of Gaston Road and Falcon Landing Boulevard in the Cinco Ranch area. The restaurants’ neighbors at the lifestyle retail center will be the 121,000-square-foot VillaSport Athletic Club and Spa, whose lease kicked off phase II of Stableside, and the 102,473-square-foot Kroger Signature store, which anchored the first phase of Stableside. That first phase was announced in September 2015 and completed in late 2016.

Across Gr8 Plate's three concepts — The Union Kitchen, Jax Grill and The Rollin’ Kitchen, which is an events and catering concept — the company has more than 400 employees, per the release. The Union Kitchen has locations in Bellaire, the Memorial area, Kingwood, Ella Plaza and on the ground floor of a new luxury apartment complex, Elan Memorial Park, off Washington Avenue. Jax Grill has stores in Bellaire and on Shepherd Drive just south of Katy Freeway. 

The Millers recently won the Texas Restaurant Association's Outstanding Restaurateur award, per the release. In January, they were recognized as the Greater Houston Restaurant Association Restaurateur of the Year.

Full story: Houston Business Journal