Liberty Kitchen & Oysterette is Now Open; Plans for an Austin Expansion and New Concepts in Houston

In a sudden surprise opening on Friday, Liberty Kitchen & Oysterette debuted after a construction delay last month. The highly anticipated restaurant will begin its lunch and dinner services today (October 21) where short-lived Tex-Mex restaurant Vida once stood. The talent behind BRC, Liberty Kitchen and Petite Sweets, Lance Fegen, Lee Ellis and Travis Lenig, have crafted an eclectic seafood-forward menu with Southern flair. Think BRC meets Liberty Kitchen but in a sleeker, more sophisticated setting with high-end twists on many of the dishes. Lunch service will be 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner service will begin at 5:00 p.m. Travis Lenig will leave his Heights-area Liberty Kitchen post to cook up more refined versions of those offerings here. An oyster bar at the center of the restaurant emphasizes their commitment to refined bivalve creations, even serving up grilled oysters for the raw oyster skeptics. This San Felipe oyster bar is far from the only place on Ellis and chef partner Fegen's minds right now. They've also been working on other concepts: Cowboy Surfers and Lee's Fried Chicken & Doughnuts.

Liberty Kitchen & Oysterette [Facebook]

A rep for the restaurant group tells Eater that they've already signed a lease for Cowboy Surfers at 3322 Ella Blvd., where That Pizza Place on Ella once stood in the Garden Oaks/Oak Forest neighborhood. It'll feature what Ellis calls the five food groups: pizza, tacos, burgers, fried chicken and vodka. (But with a "gourmet twist on all of them.") As far as Lee's Fried Chicken & Doughnuts, it will open up directly behind Liberty Kitchen in the Heights. Apart from expanding all over Houston, they're also planning on opening an Austin location of Liberty Kitchen Oyster Bar. They've signed a lease for a place around 5th and Pressler but are still awaiting permits to begin contstruction. (We're thinking it's somewhere near Tacos & Tequila: TNT but haven't firmed up those details just yet.)
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