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Just before debuting Superica and La Lucha in the Heights, it looks as if Atlanta-based chef Ford Fry is plotting yet another expansion of his growing Houston dining empire.
The Houston Chronicle hinted at Fry’s plans for a restaurant housed in a new development at 1818 Washington Avenue, describing the building’s first tenant as an “Atlanta-based celebrity chef” and the restaurant as a “New American seafood concept,” but didn’t name him. What really connects Fry to this project is a limited liability corporation formed in 2017 by Ford Fry Restaurants partner and chief financial officer Daniel Van Loh called “Washington Avenue Fish Camp,” though it’s unclear what exactly the restaurant would be named just yet.
Van Loh was also responsible for registering the limited liability corporations formed to open Superica and La Lucha, Fry’s new-to-Houston restaurants that are set to open in the Heights in mid-September. If the “Fish Camp” project comes to fruition, Fry would then own four restaurants in Houston — Superica, La Lucha, State of Grace, and this as-yet-unnamed eatery. It’s possible that it could be an outpost of The Optimist, Fry’s Downtown Atlanta seafood restaurant that promises a “seaside fish camp experience” and dishes like whole-roasted trout, raw oysters, and lobster rolls.
A rendering of the development from Lovett Commercial, the developer behind the project, indicates that Fry’s forthcoming seafood restaurant could occupy a 7,240 square foot space in between Center Street and Washington Avenue, complete with an additional 1,086 square feet of patio space. At the development, Fry’s new seafood restaurant would join nearby eateries like Tacodeli, Platypus Brewing Company, and B&B Butchers.
Eater has reached out to a representative for Fry for more details on this possible seafood restaurant, but the building that will house it is expected to arrive sometime in late 2020. Stay tuned for updates.
