What's Eric Eating
Every week, CultureMap Editor Eric Sandler examines the Houston culinary landscape, giving you the latest news, restaurant reviews, and interviews with some of the most interesting people in the scene. New episodes of the What's Eric Eating? podcast drop every Tuesday and Thursday.
Episodes
May 30, 2024 • 39 mins
Chris Williams of Lucille's Hospitality Group returns to the podcast for the first in quite some time. Chris and Eric catch up on the latest happenings with the group. The pair speak about the development of Late August, how things are going with Late August so far, how Chris started working with chef Sergio Hidalgo, the signature elements on the Late August menu, the brilliance (and beauty) of Danny Davis, working with Gin De...
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May 28, 2024 • 28 mins
On today's edition of What's Eric Eating, Eric is joined by Monica Danna to discuss some of the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. Monica and Eric discuss Doris Metropolitan owners' revealing new plans to open a new Mediterranean restaurant called Októ.
Plus, The Clé Group opening an upscale cocktail lounge called Fancy's, that also serves a small food menu including shareables and sushi.
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Plus, The Clé Group opening an upscale cocktail lounge called Fancy's, that also serves a small food menu including shareables and sushi.
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May 23, 2024 • 26 mins
Today on the podcast, Eric is joined by Roberto Espinosa and Eric Wilkerson of Tacodeli. The guy speaks with Eric about how they began working together, why Roberto decided tacos was the right route to go, Eric going from Y2K consulting to tacos, the direction they took with their tacos with both traditional/non-traditional options, how they grew the business, why they decided to come to Houston, what made their new Houston lo...
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May 21, 2024 • 22 mins
On today's podcast Eric is joined by Chelsea Thomas of The Infatuation Houston to dive into some of the latest happenings from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. Eric and Chelsea discuss the sudden closure of Love Buzz Pizza Pub, the newly announced second location of Brian Ching's soccer bar Pitch 25, and another newly announced second location but this one of the taco variety with The Taco Stand. In the Restaurants of the...
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May 16, 2024 • 48 mins
Today on the podcast Eric is joined by food writer and TV host Ali Khan. You might recognize Ali from his show Cheap Eats, which ran for 5 seasons on the Cooking Channel, or on shows like Ali vs The Dome, Food Network's Spring Baking Championship, Chopped, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, and more. Ali joins Eric to discuss how his career first started, his time writing about burgers in Houston for Texas Highways, the changing cost ...
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May 14, 2024 • 29 mins
On today's podcast Eric is joined by frequent cohost Mary Clarkson. The pair dive into some of the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene including chef Christian Hernandez bringing his new restaurant Barbacana to downtown Houston and country music star Koe Wetzel bringing a new location of his Koe Wetzel's Riot Room to Houston. In the Restaurants of the Week portion, Birdie's and Nickel City are featured.
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May 9, 2024 • 28 mins
Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Michael Posey of Wild Sol. Michael speaks with Eric about how he began working with Alex Bregman, why they decided to transition off the Breggy Bomb branding, what Wild Sol is, how Wild Sol is different from other salsas out there on the shelves, how involved Alex and Reagan Bregman's involvement, the flavor depth of Wild Sol's salsas, the collaboration with Trill Burgers, whether future ...
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May 7, 2024 • 34 mins
Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Michael Fulmer to go through some of the latest happenings from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. The guys discuss Gulf Coast Distillers' announcement that they're taking over the former Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company facility for their Tejas Beer brand, Noble 33 saying their luxury steakhouse Toca Madera will be opening in Houston in June, and Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr.'s new ...
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May 2, 2024 • 43 mins
Today on the show Eric is joined by Brock Wagner of Saint Arnold Brewing Company. It's Saint Arnold Brewing's 30th anniversary this year so Brock takes Eric back down memory lane to discuss the early days of Saint Arnold Brewing. The guys talk about how hard it was starting up a craft beer company 30 years ago, doing tastings at grocery stores, when Brock knew he had something with the company, making the move to downtown, get...
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April 30, 2024 • 33 mins
On today's episode Eric is joined by the Swanky Maven herself Felice Sloan to discuss some of the latest happenings in the Houston restaurant and bar scene. The duo speak about the new concept coming from Aaron Bludorn and his team, Gold Tooth Tony's heading to Bellaire for it's second location, Prego's surprising announcement that they will now close instead of relocating, and Craft Burger in Katy being taken over by a blue h...
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April 25, 2024 • 34 mins
Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Patrick Pham and Daniel Lee of Duckstache Hospitality. The guys speak with Eric about how they got into their respective culinary careers, what brought them together, how they came up with the idea for Kokoro, why Kokoro has proven to be a staple of Bravery Chef Hall while other concepts in the food hall have come and gone, developing Handies Douzo, what they do different with their menu ...
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April 23, 2024 • 44 mins
On today's edition of What's Eric Eating, Eric is joined by Monica Danna to discuss some of the latest new from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. Monica and Eric discuss Vibrant's new location in Memorial Park, the soon to be open restaurant called Blue Tuba that's not quite like anything Houston has seen before, and the new cocktail lounge called Plume that's opening soon in Shady Acres. In the Restaurants of the Week por...
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April 18, 2024 • 46 mins
Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Nina Quincy and Sarah Dowling of Underbelly Hospitality. Nina and Sarah speak with Eric about how their respective career paths that led them to Underbelly Hospitality, what the transition period was like at Underbelly following the departure of Chris Shepherd, the current state of Underbelly Hospitality, how things have changed at Georgia James with their new chef making the restaurant m...
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April 16, 2024 • 33 mins
On today's podcast Eric is joined by Chelsea Thomas of The Infatuation Houston to dive into some of the latest happenings from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. Eric and Chelsea discuss Magnol French Baking's announcement of their new location in the Heights, Arizona based breakfast concept Hash Kitchen bringing multiple locations to Houston, and Bazaar Food and Wine, Houston's newest food festival, debuting with more than...
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April 11, 2024 • 39 mins
Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu of JŪN. Evelyn and Henry speak with Eric about why the spot on 20th street was the right location for JŪN, what convinced Henry to come to Texas for this concept, the development of the menu, their time working pop-ups together, the moment things got real for them, what Henry has learned so far about the Houston culinary scene as well as what rodeo season means ...
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April 9, 2024 • 33 mins
On the podcast today Eric is joined by Mary Clarkson to go through some of the latest news hitting the Houston restaurant and bar scene. The pair discuss Emmanuel Chavez of Tatemó being the only chef of the 11 Houston semifinalists to be named a James Beard award finalist this year, the announced 2nd location of Pinkerton's Barbecue, and Ben Berg's big push into downtown with 3 new restaurants. In the Restaurants of the Week p...
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April 4, 2024 • 36 mins
Last week the Houston culinary scene lost one of it's most prominent chef's, Alex Au-Yeung. Alex, the owner of Phat Eatery, passed away due to cancer on March 21st at the age of 52. Today's episode is dedicated to him and celebrating his memory. Eric alongside Terry Wong, Stevie Vu, Isabel Protomartir, Felice Sloan, Thomas Nguyen, and Abbas Dhanani, share stories and memories of Alex. Plus they discuss his focus on community, ...
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April 2, 2024 • 39 mins
Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Michael Fulmer from the Houston BBQ Festival!
Eric and Michael discussed...
Eric and Michael discussed...
- The results of the 2024 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards
- The opening of Houston restaurant Late August
- What they expect from Bar Bludorn
- Plus reviews of Houston restaurants including Prime 131, and Pizzana!
Follow Eric on Instagram/Threads @ericsandler. You can also reach Eric by emai...
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March 28, 2024 • 34 mins
Today on the podcast Eric is joined by Travis Tober and Karole Hardwick of Nickel City. The pair speak with Eric about their respective careers in the bar industry, how Travis' travels with Aviation Gin influenced his idea for Nickel City, why they decided to bring Nickel City to Houston, opening the first Nickel City in Austin, Karole's biggest adjustment coming from a fine dining steakhouse to Nickel City, developing the bev...
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March 26, 2024 • 34 mins
It's a swanky feeling kinda day as Eric is joined by the Swanky Maven herself Felice Sloan to discuss the latest news from the Houston restaurant and bar scene. Felice and Eric discuss Dozier's BBQ & Meat Market closing at the end of March, the closure of Pastore Italian Kitchen, and L.A. based Pizzana opening it's first location in Houston. In the Restaurants of the Week section Duchess is featured.
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