Three restaurants opened in 2026 at two addresses on North Shepherd Drive, 1801 and 1835. Directly across the one-way pair, at 1815 North Durham Drive, one of the city's better-known Gulf Coast chefs is building a 149-seat restaurant set to open this fall. Two blocks south on Durham, a Japanese sandwich shop's Houston flagship also lists a fall 2026 opening. Terry Black's Barbecue sits further south at 1329 North Shepherd.
The Heights got plenty of new places this year, but the North Shepherd and Durham corridor is the only stretch where they clustered. Elsewhere in the neighborhood, openings landed one to a street. On the 1800 block, they stacked up. As of early October 2026, the Shepherd side of that block is open and the Durham side is still a construction site.
The Shepherd Side, by Address
Listed in order of street number, here is what has opened on the corridor since February:
- Star Rover, 1801 N. Shepherd Drive, Ste. B. Restaurateur Ford Fry opened this steakhouse on Feb. 26 in the space Superica used to occupy. Superica's last day was scheduled for Feb. 15, so the space sat empty for less than two weeks. Steak dinners are served nightly with salad, bread rolls, fries and onion rings. You can pick a ribeye, filet or skirt steak, or go with blackened redfish or chicken. Brunch runs on weekends, and dessert is soft serve or pie in flavors like coconut, chocolate and apple.
- Paris Baguette, 1835 N. Shepherd Drive, Suite B. The bakery café opened May 18. It is run by franchisee Jim Wang of JW Concepts.
- KOYO Hand Roll Bar, 1835 N. Shepherd Drive. The Webster-born hand roll concept held its grand opening Thursday, July 16, in a 26-seat space. Every roll is assembled to order at the counter and served right away, so the warm nori and the chilled seafood are still at their best when they reach you.
Those three openings sit at two street numbers. DiningOut's coverage of KOYO's opening named Paris Baguette and Star Rover as part of the same wave on North Shepherd and called the street one of Houston's busiest dining corridors.
All three run on very different schedules. A morning pastry, a hand roll at lunch and a steak dinner all now happen on the same short walk.
Terry Black's Took a Different Approach
The biggest opening of the year landed further south. Terry Black's Barbecue opened its first Houston location at 1329 N. Shepherd Drive on Aug. 18. Siblings Christina, Mike and Mark Black own the business, which honors their father, Terry Black. The company was founded in 2014 and also has locations in Austin, Dallas, Lockhart, Waco and Fort Worth.
The building is designed around the smoke. In the middle of the restaurant, a pit house holds six 1,000-gallon offset smokers burning post oak, and diners can watch them from the dining room. The restaurant also offers VIP pit tours led by a pitmaster, plus an elevated loft for semi-private events. The menu covers both lunch and dinner. Meats are hand-cut to order, with dino beef ribs, brisket, pork ribs, house-made sausages and chopped beef, along with sides made from scratch each day and Terry Black's frozen black margarita.
Star Rover was built in a space that already existed. Terry Black's is the corridor's single large destination. With these two at either end, the 1300 and 1800 blocks of North Shepherd now cover lunch through late dinner seven days a week.
The Durham Side Is Where the Block Gets Finished
Across the one-way pair from Star Rover and KOYO, chef Graham Laborde is building Little Bird at 1815 North Durham Drive. The Houston Chronicle reported on Sept. 3 that the restaurant is opening "this fall," without giving a specific date.
The site has a long history. It started as a gas station, then housed Flying Fish, and most recently The Kid, a restaurant and bar. Little Bird will seat 149 people. Plans call for a full-service bar, several private dining spaces, a patio and two courtyards, one of which gets a 60-foot pergola and an antique cast-iron fountain. There will also be a hand-carved wooden oyster bar and a mural commissioned from Houston artists Whitney Garrett-Yarbrough and Dayle Booth.
Laborde has shared few menu details so far, other than that the food will lean heavily on seafood. Julia Doran of Tiny Champions is consulting on pastry. Justin Ware, operations director for Johnny's Gold Brick, Winnie's and Starduster Lounge, is running the drinks program. Laborde grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana, and cooked at Commander's Palace, Stella! and Boucherie in New Orleans. In Houston he opened Bernadine's, which closed in 2017, and then partnered with Benjy Mason on Winnie's.
"I've been describing Little Bird to my friends as Winnie's older sister. She's grown up — she's professional, she has a 'real job'— but she hasn't forgotten how to have fun. She still knows how to party."
Graham Laborde, in a statement reported by the Houston Chronicle
Little Bird's size changes what the 1800 block is. The Shepherd side is built around counters and quick meals: a 26-seat hand roll bar and a bakery café. A 149-seat restaurant with private rooms and courtyards adds the kind of space people book for occasions. Until it opens, the block covers casual meals well and big dinners mainly through Star Rover.
Sandoitchi Is Still Listed as Coming Soon
Two blocks south on Durham, Sandoitchi's Houston flagship has been announced for longer than any other project on the corridor. Its opening estimate has moved twice:
- August 2025: According to WhatNow, co-owner Keith Tran called 1603 N. Durham Drive the brand's Houston flagship. The report estimated a December 2025 opening.
- January 2026: The Houston Chronicle's list of anticipated openings for the year said "around summertime."
- Now: Sandoitchi's Houston page says the restaurant is coming to the Heights and lists "Opening Fall 2026." The menu it describes includes a katsu sando, egg salad, a strawberry cream sando and matcha.
As of Oct. 4, no exact opening day has been announced. Shifting dates like these are normal for restaurant build-outs, and fall still has two-plus months left. Treat both Durham projects as targets, not confirmed dates. If both open on schedule, the Durham side of the corridor will add a sandwich counter and a full-service seafood restaurant before the end of the year.
Everywhere Else in the Heights, Openings Came One Street at a Time
This year's other Heights openings show why the North Shepherd and Durham cluster stands out. Each one landed on a different street:
| Business | Address | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Wise Street Eats | 209 Heights Blvd. | Opened June 14 |
| Enso Matcha | 718 W. 18th St. | Included in the Chronicle's June openings roundup |
| Atlas Cocktail Bar | 729 W. 19th St. | Opened July 2026 |
| Angie's Pizza and Bar Angie | 1002 W. 11th St. | Open by late July |
| Love Croissants | 801 W. 16th St. | Scheduled to open Oct. 1 |
All five have local operators. Enso Matcha is run by co-owners Anh Ngo, Danny Kim and Tyler Ho. Atlas was founded by An Bui. At Angie's, chef Angelo Emiliani leads the kitchen, his sister Lucianna "Louie" Emiliani handles pastry, and Bar Angie operates upstairs. Love Croissants is a permanent location from chef Omar Pereney and his Culinary Matters group.
Each one adds a new stop to its own street. Heights Boulevard, 11th, 16th, 18th and 19th each gained one place. North Shepherd gained three at two addresses, and Durham has two more on the way within a few blocks.
If you live near the 1800 block, the near-term calendar is simple. Star Rover, Paris Baguette and KOYO are open on the Shepherd side. Terry Black's is open further south. Little Bird and Sandoitchi are the two dates still to watch on Durham.
A new restaurant on your corner is easy to see. How a run of openings like this affects the value of a home a few blocks away is harder to judge. If you own near the North Shepherd and Durham corridor and want to understand what this year's changes mean for your property, Arriaga Realty can walk you through it. Schedule a Free Valuation & Consultation.
