Houston’s James Beard Award-Winning Street to Kitchen Chef Goes Bigger With New Location in Second Ward

Helmed by James Beard Award-winning chef Benchawan “G” Jabthong Painter, East End Thai restaurant Street to Kitchen is getting much bigger this fall.

According to a release, the restaurant, which has served up “unapologetically Thai” cuisine in Houston’s East End for three years, is relocating from its 10-table gas station digs to the mixed-use development area the Plant in Second Ward in November, joining other establishments like palleta shop Popston, Little Red Box Grocery, The Re-Up Juice Bar, and coffee shop Eden Plant Co.

Brittany Britto Garley

Located at 3401 Harrisburg Boulevard — formerly the home of the now-closed Cafe Louie and Louie’s, the 2,800-square-foot space will seat 100 guests, triple the amount of its current space, and will offer an expanded drinks menu, with wine and cocktails. The new Street to Kitchen will also add Thai omelets, a dish now served on Saturdays at the Urban Harvest Farmers Market, to its menu, offering it out of the restaurant’s walk-up window. Chef G and her husband Graham Painter, also the co-owner of Street to Kitchen, will soon begin renovating the space for Street to Kitchen, which will also have an outdoor patio, which should be completed before the end of the year.

“As a big fan of my adopted home, the great city of Houston, and with humble gratitude for the recognition from the James Beard Foundation as ‘Best Chef: Texas,’” Chef G said in a statement. “I am thrilled to be able to expand Street to Kitchen, so that we can not only serve more Houstonians, but bring our unapologetically Thai food and our philosophy of fun to the [Houston] food scene.”

Annie Mulligan for Eater

In the meantime, Street to Kitchen will still operate out of its original East End location, where it’s been hard to snag a reservation in recent months, particularly following Chef G’s major win in the Beard’s Best Chef: Texas award category.

Some diners might remember that New York-style pizzeria Angie’s Pizza was originally slated for Street to Kitchen’s intended space, but its chef, Angelo Emiliani, has instead rebranded the restaurant — now Neighbors Pizza Bar, opening it in the nearby location of shuttered wine bar How to Survive on Land and Sea on the same street.

Angie’s Pizza is already dishing 18-inch New York-style pizzas by the slice and whole pies at the Plant, using locally sourced ingredients and has plans to serve Italian ice plus cocktails, wine, and beer from its full-service bar. The restaurant is now open Thursday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. but the owner has plans to expand its hours to seven days a week.

Development and management company Concept Neighborhood announced plans for The Plant in Second Ward in 2022, billing the mixed-use development the city’s first “15-minute neighborhood,” offering a small and central community of restaurants, retail shops, gathering spaces, public amenities, and eventually residential areas and office space.