"Guests from The Woodlands have supported Bari from the beginning, often traveling to our River Oaks District location and asking us to bring the experience closer to home," Pedro Teyuca, co-owner and operator of Bari Hospitality Group, said as the group's second restaurant opened on Wednesday, September 30, at 24 Waterway Avenue. Two days later, Bludorn Hospitality Group is scheduled to open Bar Bludorn across the street at 25 Waterway Avenue. Chef Aaron Bludorn has said the same thing about his own customers: many Woodlands guests were already making the drive to the original Bar Bludorn in Memorial.
Both operators describe the same thing. Their Woodlands regulars were already driving into Houston for dinner, so the restaurants moved closer to them. On this one Waterway Square block, nearly every dining room has changed hands since the start of 2025. Most of the new tenants are concepts that started in Houston and came north to be near diners they already had.
One building, three suites, all new since 2025
At 24 Waterway Avenue, the suites are better known by number than by building name. Each one has its own recent history.
- Unit 110, Kokoro Handroll Bar. Duckstache Hospitality opened it on March 10, 2025. The concept started in Houston in 2019.
- Suite 125, Bari Ristorante. This was TRIS, Chef Austin Simmons' restaurant. TRIS took over the former Hubbell & Hudson Bistro and closed for good on Jan. 2, 2025. Bari's 2025 announcement named the former TRIS space as its site, and the restaurant opened there on Sept. 30, 2026.
- Suite 160, Lankford's. Baja Cantina and Fiesta closed here on Nov. 10, 2025. Lankford's, the Houston family burger business that dates to 1937, ran a reservation-only soft opening and then fully opened its third location here on Jan. 31, 2026.
That is three Houston-born concepts in three neighboring suites, all opened within about 19 months. Lankford's is a decades-old burger counter, and Bari is a 250-seat Italian dining room. They sit at very different price points, but all three companies grew up south of here and chose the same address for a Woodlands location.
Bari's Woodlands menu brings over River Oaks District favorites like Fritto Misto, Pappardelle Bolognese and the pizzas, and keeps the tableside Branzino alla Griglia, Truffle Pasta and Bananas Foster. It also adds dishes made only for this location. Among them are Crab Fingers "Scampi" in a spicy lemon-butter sauce, a breaded fried burrata, Lasagna Casareccia, and tableside Chateaubriand and Fiorentina. Italian Master Chef Renato de Pirro is leading the opening alongside Executive Chef Marcelo Mintz, who will stay on to run the kitchen day to day.
The size of the room matters if you plan to book a group. Bari has two private dining rooms that seat up to 40 guests each and can be combined, plus a bar lounge for up to 30. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Weekend brunch starts October 4 and runs Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Weekday happy hour includes $10 burgers and $10 individual pizzas.
Across the street, the Memorial tavern takes its first step out of town
Bar Bludorn's Woodlands address is 25 Waterway Avenue, Suite 100. That suite was Baker St. Pub and Grill until the pub closed in March 2024. It is the group's first restaurant outside Central Houston. It is also the first expansion of Bar Bludorn, the neighborhood tavern that opened in Memorial in 2024.
The opening date has moved once. In early September, the Houston Chronicle reported Sept. 26. The group's own announcement was later updated to Friday, October 2, 2026. If you are planning a first visit this weekend, check that the doors are open before you go.
Bar Bludorn is a sister restaurant to Bludorn, Navy Blue and Perseid in Hotel Saint Augustine, and the Woodlands version is not a straight copy. Gensler designed the space, and it adds a private dining room and an outdoor patio. The menu pairs Bar Bludorn signatures with new American bistro dishes from Chef Aaron Bludorn that include Texas touches. "Expanding beyond Central Houston is a big step for us, and Howard Hughes Communities has been a great partner to take it with," Bludorn said.
Once Bar Bludorn opens, the two highest-profile openings of the fall will face each other across Waterway Avenue, a couple of days apart. Both come from Houston groups whose founders say Woodlands regulars were part of the reason for the move.
The chef who left the block stayed in town
One name connects the old version of this block to the new one. Austin Simmons was executive chef at TRIS, the restaurant in the suite Bari now occupies. After TRIS closed, Simmons stayed in The Woodlands. In August 2025, Howard Hughes announced two chef partnerships together: one with Simmons and one with Aaron Bludorn.
Simmons opened Charolais on July 14 at 1900 Hughes Landing Blvd., Suite 350, on Restaurant Row. It is a steak restaurant built around his beef program, with customized steak boards. Howard Hughes' Jim Carman called Simmons a familiar local talent whose return had people excited. Simmons said The Woodlands community had been important to his story.
That splits the trend between two Howard Hughes districts. Hughes Landing has the chef who grew up in The Woodlands dining scene, and Waterway Square has the Houston groups that came north to join him. The Houston Chronicle's coverage of Bar Bludorn also pointed out that Charolais had opened nearby in July. Hughes Landing has been growing too. Azzurro Italian Coastal Cuisine at 1950 Hughes Landing Blvd. expanded in May 2025, adding a longer bar and 20 tables.
The two restaurant districts also share a calendar this fall. Williams Sonoma recently opened a 5,000-square-foot store at 1925 Hughes Landing Blvd., Suite 300. Its community celebration on Friday, October 9, starts at 6 p.m. with a live cooking demo by Chef Aaron Bludorn, who will make a signature dish from Bar Bludorn The Woodlands and follow it with a tasting. That puts a Waterway Square chef at Hughes Landing one week after his own opening.
The first two weeks, dated
Here is what is on the calendar around the new tables:
- Wednesday, Sept. 30: Bari Ristorante opened at 24 Waterway Avenue.
- Friday, Oct. 2: Bar Bludorn is scheduled to open at 25 Waterway Avenue. The same evening, Starlight Swans offers glowing pedal-boat rides from Riva Row Boat House, 2101 Riva Row, on the Waterway.
- Sunday, Oct. 4: Bari's first weekend brunch, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Thursday, Oct. 8: Chad Ware Band plays Market Street's Fall Concert Series, 6 to 8:30 p.m.
- Friday, Oct. 9: Aaron Bludorn's cooking demo and tasting at Williams Sonoma, Hughes Landing, starting at 6 p.m.
- Friday, Oct. 16: Another Starlight Swans evening at Riva Row Boat House.
On either Friday with a swan-boat date, you can pair an early table on Waterway Avenue with a ride from Riva Row Boat House. Kokoro's handrolls or a Lankford's burger work for a quicker meal at the same address. On Oct. 9, the demo at 1925 Hughes Landing Blvd. is in the same district as Charolais at 1900 Hughes Landing Blvd., so a steak dinner afterward stays on Hughes Landing.
At Nan & Co Properties, we follow The Woodlands at the scale of a single suite on Waterway Avenue, because those changes show what a neighborhood is becoming before any listing does. If you want to talk through how these new tables and the rest of Waterway Square fit the way you live here, our team is glad to help. Discover the Nan Difference.
