A Restaurant Dedicated to Poutine is Coming to the Energy Corridor

Tubs Poutine is opening in the next couple of weeks, making it quite possibly Houston’s first brick-and-mortar spot dedicated to the Canadian staple.

The paperwork on its new lease will be finalized tomorrow. Owner Brian Nguyen, didn’t want to give away the address until the ink has dried, but he was able to tell Eater that Tubs will open up shop in the Energy Corridor.

The 1,700-square foot space will have five or six regular poutines on offer, like the traditional Quebec kind topped with cheese curds and gravy, along with varieties covered in ground beef and bacon, rotisserie chicken and peas, or barbecue pulled pork and coleslaw. There’s even a vegetarian option with peppers, onions, mushrooms, and spinach, as well as breakfast poutine smothered in eggs and other breakfast staples like ham and hollandaise.

“Our poutine is limitless as far as variety,” Nguyen told Eater. “If crawfish is in season, we’ll have a crawfish poutine, maybe even a lobster poutine, and people can customize from there.”

This is the first foray into food for the lawyer, who says he has yet to decide whether he’ll leave law behind to pursue poutine full time. His front-of-house manager, Caroline Nguyen, however, is a service industry veteran and happens to be his sister. The Nguyens tapped Chef Lyle Mathes to head up Tubs’ kitchen, who’s cooked in various executive chef and kitchen manager roles for high-profile gigs like the Jimmy Kimmel show, the Houston Rockets, the New England Patriots, American Idol, the Los Angeles Lakers, and Universal Studios.

Named for Brian’s adorably chunky toddler, Tubs has been doing pop-ups around the city and has no plans to stop, instead, it’ll be ramping up event-based operations once the brick-and-mortar is locked down. Look for Tubs’ booth at Houston’s Children’s Festival in the beginning of April and another pop-up in the middle of the month at a yet-to-be-disclosed location.

Brian says when Tubs opens full time, it’ll be serving seven days a week through lunch and dinner hours, with possible late-nights on Friday and Saturdays. Stay tuned for hours of operation, official opening date, and location.

• Tubs Poutine [Facebook]