“He thought I was an undercover IRS agent trying to set him up,” Moore says.Īt the time, Moore and his three partners were starting a restaurant even though they had no food experience between them beyond working as a busboy. McKnight’s employer was having legal problems, and he was paranoid something else was going on.

When Moore showed up to the food court to offer McKnight a job, the cook didn’t believe the opportunity was real. The relationship that would spark McKnight’s career got off to an awkward start. He had the best work ethic I’ve ever seen in my life.” “He was doing absolutely everything,” Moore says.

McKnight went by “Sonny,” but his boss liked to call him “the Blur.” He was 74.Ī short, wiry man, McKnight spent more than 50 years in kitchens, working with a level of speed and enthusiasm that immediately caught the attention of Wendell Moore, a co-founder of the hickory-burning, Memphis-style barbecue restaurant that scouted McKnight while he was working at a downtown food court. The restaurant is known for its build-your-own pitas, rice bowls and salads, with ingredients like falafel and halal chicken, beef, and lamb.Ernest McKnight, the pitmaster and executive chef who helped grow Red Hot & Blue from a Rosslyn, Virginia, barbecue joint to an international chain in the 90s, died of lung cancer January 17. Gyro Republic’s first location opened in Sugar Land in 2019. A representative for Gyro Republic says the restaurant is eyeing several more locations in neighborhoods like The Heights, Midtown, Montrose, Westchase, and West Houston. Those two locations, at 4808 Waterview Town Center Drive near Grand Mission, and at 7549 Southwest Freeway at The Pillars at Houston Baptist University, are just the beginning. Gyro Republic, the fast-casual Sugar Land restaurant that serves made-from-scratch Halal street food, will open two more locations in the Houston area later this summer. Gyro Republic to add more Houston locations

Sales of many of the dishes benefit anti-animal cruelty organizations. The restaurant, which will open in an old Whataburger spot later this summer, sells dishes like a buffalo chicken sandwich topped with pickled jalapeños, a double Impossible Meat burger topped with vegan cheese, and loaded fries with cashew “queso” sauce, grilled onions, and pico de gallo. Project Pollo, a small San Antonio-based chain that serves up soy-based vegan takes on fast food staples, will soon open a location in Katy. A vegan fast food joint will bring “chikn” sandwiches to Katy And end date for the pop-up has not yet been set. In addition to using peak-season tomatoes, the One Fifth: Red Sauce Italian will also serve up fresh semolina pasta from BOH Pasta, and pepperoni pizza cooked on One Fifth’s wood-burning stove. The lastest pop-up will be a red sauce Italian restaurant focused on pastas, pizzas, dishes like chicken parmesan, and more. Since then, the restaurant has hosted pop-ups while the chef prepares to open a handful of new eateries elsewhere in Houston. One Fifth’s original run - in which the chef explored five different restaurant concepts in five years - ended earlier in 2021. One Fifth, Chris Shepherd’s multiple-restaurants-in-one concept, will become an American-style Italian joint for its next takeover, starting Saturday, June 26. One Fifth’s next iteration will be a red sauce Italian restaurant Trying to stay on top of Space City’s endlessly vibrant dining scene? Keep up with the hottest new openings, essential eateries, and more by subscribing to the Eater Houston newsletter, and following us on Twitter and Facebook. Welcome to AM Intel, a (mostly) daily round-up of Houston’s hottest bits of dining intel.

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