Houston’s New Mega Food Hall Prepares to Open — Your Guide to POST Market, a Chef Driven Foodie Paradise
C.In a 53,000 square foot space within POST, Houston’s new huge 550,000 square foot mixed-use hub in the old Barbara Jordan Post Office building at 401 Franklin Street, discover POST Market. This food hall will open on November 13th with more than 30 different food kiosks and restaurants. It will contain flavors from almost every corner of the world.
One can stroll through these market-like surroundings and prepare a progressive dinner (or lunch or brunch) with a bite and a serving.
The vendors are organized from smallest to largest, starting with groups of “grab-and-go” kiosks concentrated at the north and south entrances to larger ones in the middle of the market hall. Seating is plentiful and scattered, including at the top of Skylawn, where farmers at Blackwood Land Education Institute, a 33-acre nonprofit teaching farm in Waller County, grow organic vegetables, fruits, and herbs for the POST Market restaurants and bars.
With such a forward-thinking company, it’s no surprise that some big names in the food world have been led to come up with several unique concepts. One of the top chefs making their Houston debut at POST Market is the Norwegian chef Christopher Haatuft, whose Lysverket restaurant made him a sensation in Norway. Haatuft launches Golfstrømmen Seafood Market, its first American restaurant and market designed to sell and serve only sustainably and ethically caught seafood at POST Market. (Golfstrømmen is Norwegian for the ocean current of the Gulf Stream that connects the Gulf Coast of Texas with Norway’s rich fish banks.)
Meanwhile, Filipino-Brazilian chef Laila Bazahm, whose Hawker 45 restaurant in Barcelona was named one of Conde Nast’s 30 best restaurants in Barcelona, will introduce Hawker Street Food Bar, her first food spot in the US. A riff on the street food vendors in Asia, it will combine the best of Southeast Asian and Latin American street food.
Wine lovers will want to meet sommelier Mark Bright, partner and wine director of San Francisco’s Michelin-starred Saison restaurant, who will be opening its first seasonal Cellar at the Post Market. Bright sources some of the rarest wines from around the world and curates a selection of its favorite producers.
Roberta’s, the Brooklyn-born pizzeria famous for its wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizzas and Italian-inspired salumi, keeps people queuing for a table around the block in New York. The now two-coast concept with a presence in Los Angeles, New York – and now on the third coast – comes with a range of creatively composed dishes that transcend traditional culinary boundaries.
The POST Market brings some of Brooklyn’s coveted pizzas.
Brandon Hoy and Carlo Mirarchi’s creation has become a New York institution since it opened in 2008. “Roberta’s pizzas are wonderful things with no particular geographic origin,” writes the New York Times.
Austin’s Thai Kun, named one of Bon Appetit’s Best New Restaurants in America in 2014, will also open a location in Houston’s new Food Hall. Chef Thai Chanthong’s Thai Kun serves authentic Thai street food like fried crab rice, panang curry, Khao Moo Dang (Thai BBQ pork) and classic Pad Thai.
Austins Thai Kun comes to the POST Market.
The real food wonderland of the POST Market
The market hall offers up-and-coming food and beverage entrepreneurs a platform to build their business – especially during the pandemic recovery – with inexpensive “plug-and-play rooms” equipped with all the necessary cooking equipment, seating, tools and POS systems . For many chefs who started out at the wheel of a food truck, they have found a turnkey home here on solid ground.
Owners like Chef Nick Graves, creator of Lea Jane’s Hot Chicken – inspired by a childhood road trip that included picnics “full of love, laughter and fried chicken” – will be serving some of his favorite Southern dishes, including the iconic Nashville Hot Chicken and Mac-n-Cheese.
Speaking of spices: Austin cook Sidney Roberts stumbled headlong on her cowboy boot heels in London and ate her way through the best Indian restaurants there. Their new restaurant (founded as a food truck in Austin), G’Raj Mahal, is described as “Indian food with a rock-n-roll attitude”. This adventurous eater explores her way through the 28 states of India and immerses herself in the varied cuisine of the country.
Houston foodies can also discover Rollin Phatties, who as the first Pakistani food truck of its kind began to combine authentic South Asian flavors with international elements to conjure up fusion dishes. Rollin Phatties specializes in Paratha Rolls, also known as “Phatties”, wraps with tender meat from the charcoal grill and homemade sauces.
Rollin Phatties is just one of the places you can find in Houston’s new mega-food hall – the POST Market.
Abu Omar Halal started with Houston’s first and only halal food truck. In the POST Market he is expanding his arsenal of Mediterranean fast-casual food with healthy salads, sandwiches, rice bowls, kebabs and falafel. In good company, they share the Halal theme with another concept on wheels called Taco Fuego. A South Houston-inspired restaurant with a Latin flair that you can find at the Post Market, which specializes in charcoal grilled dishes including halal quesabirrias.
Where Texan chefs thrive
Many top-class chefs from Texas also appear at the POST Market. Like Paul Qui, who achieved culinary fame by winning the Top Chef and the James Beard Award (Best Chef Southwest). Qui brings his East Side King restaurant in Austin, a Japanese street food joint founded by Qui and Moto Utsunomiya during their time at Uchi and Uchiko. Although it is inspired by Asian cultures, rock bands and art, it is good to know that only natural pork products are used, raised without antibiotics or hormones.
In addition to Qui, Manila-born chef Soy Pino cooked to expand the canon of Filipino cuisine in the States to offer dishes such as fried chicken adobo, vegan kare kare and lechon and lumpia.
Do you fancy pasta? Mike Tran, who introduced us to Tiger Den, the Japanese ramen and izakaya restaurant in Houston’s Chinatown, debuts the themed ramen, where the homemade noodles are served in a fragrant broth that is simmered for over 20 hours.
Armed with an MBA from Rice University, the Houstonian Ope Amosu left the corporate world to wear the white collar of a chef. As a child of Nigerian immigrants, he hosted a series of lively West African pop-up meals called ChòpnBlok. Celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson even called him on his TV series No Passport Required and noticed Amosus boldly seasoned healthy plates.
Chef David Guerrero is also back. The owner of the Andes Café, named after the longest mountain range in the world that connects seven South American countries, is reviving the restaurant, which he closed in early 2020, to revive South American favorites.
“My goal is to make food that will trace my history from Quito to Houston,” says Guerrero. “I want to show the resilience of South American cuisine to a wider global audience.”
For those craving a toasty hot bowl of Vietnamese phos, check out SOUPreme, an authentic Pho and Bun Bo Hue spot created by Tuan and Thy Tran from family recipes that have been passed down through the generations, including their signature recipe for Bone broth.
Calling all carnivores. Check out Salt & Time Butcher Shop, brainchild of Ben Runkle and Bryan Butler. They run this butcher shop and a boutique grocery store that offers high quality, locally sourced meat, homemade sausages, charcuterie, and gourmet foods. Salt & Time Butcher’s original Austin store was recently named one of Food & Wine magazine’s “Best Butcher Shops in America” and Bryan Butler was named “Best Butcher in Texas” by the Texas Beef Council in 2017.
Salt & Time shows a reverence for meat.
The Butcher’s Burger is this duo’s answer to the question of who makes the best burger. They take up the challenge and bring meat burgers straight from the ranchers they know and trust.
Dessert and coffee selection from POST Market
A stroll through this market can’t end unless it’s a sweet note. Do you want to feel like a child again? Get to Sweets with L&L and treat yourself to a sweet, billowing cloud of cotton candy. Owner Tameia Frank Jones named the place after her two daughters who no doubt helped create their 20 delicious flavors.
Parisian Julien Eelsen learned to turn crpes on the knee of his grandmother and aunt (aunt). His Whisk Crepes Cafe first debuted in Dallas six years ago, serving both sweet and savory crepes, made from scratch every day. Now it arrives in Houston.
I scream, you scream, we all scream for Flower & Cream. A world class artisanal ice cream parlor based in Houston dedicated to creating unique flavors using locally sourced ingredients and delicious mix-ins made fresh every day.
GELU Italian Ice is a fresh, dairy-free, gluten-free and fat-free cool alternative for those who cannot tolerate dairy products.
Healthful Thrive Juices offer guests nutritious yet tasty juices, smoothies and dishes that support the heart, mind, body and soul. Founder James Kelso is a health conscious fitness enthusiast from New Orleans who through family heritage and culture has cultivated a garden fresh menu of juices, smoothies, and foods.
You can get some serious juices at Thrive.
Coffee? Only if it’s brewed by the biochemist who became Weihong Zhang coffee roaster at the Blendin Coffee Club. First introduced to Sugar Land in 2017, they serve more than 10 different single-origin coffees selected from around the world. Any bean can be traced from tree to cup with knowledge of the bean’s route, including each country, region, farmer, and even a specific batch. Every unroasted bean is inspected on site and then freshly roasted in the shop.
Yes, the POST Market is not a small snack bar. This place offers a wide variety of food.
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