Last Call for Fajitas and Margaritas. The Original Location of Little Pappasitos Is Closing.

This stings almost as much as the closing of Little Pappas Seafood House. Diners will have just a few weeks to visit the original location of Little Pappasito’s Cantina on Richmond Avenue before it officially closes in September.

The Pappas Restaurant group announced via a statement to Culturemap Houston that they are closing on Sunday, September 13—a decision based on the “long-term outlook” of the restaurant. The company encouraged diners to visit Sito’s #1 in the final weeks to give it a deserving send-off and to share their favorite memories on the Pappasitos website. Fortunately, there are several other locations to visit in the region, but for some, it just might not feel the same.

Brothers Chris, Harras, and Greg Pappas first opened the restaurant in 1983, growing the restaurant to more than 20 locations in Texas and Georgia, serving what would become many Houstonian’s favorite spot for fajitas and a margarita.

It’s another crushing loss of an orignal Pappas location. Pappas Restaurants similarly closed its original location of Little Pappas Seafood House in Montrose, instead replacing it with the ritzier seafood restaurant Little’s Oyster Bar. The sign from Pappas Seafood still stands in homage, but the menu is noticable more upscale, sturgeon caviar and lobster served on ice or with gnocchi.

Word is out on whether a new restaurant will replace Little Pappasito’s Cantina (Houstonia sent a request for comment). However, we do remember that this location was serving as a test kitchen for new dishes for the concept. Houston Chronicle‘s Bao Ong reported in August 2024 that the restaurant was dishing out noticeably different items, including snapper crudo and guacomole zhuzhed up with pepitas and radish. Could a new Pappas concept replace it? Time will tell.

Kahani Social, the restaurant group behind Amrina in The Woodlands and Kitchen Rumors, is closing two of its Midtown restaurants on Saturday, August 29, according to a realse. Pok Pok Po opened first in December 2024, offering Indian-style halal fried chicken that was also gluten-free. Bol opened next door in January 2025, offering customizable bowls and wraps with Indian flavors in a fast-casual format.

Kahani co-founder Supreet Singh said in a statement that it’s not the final goodbye to either Pok Pok Po or Bol. Select items from Pok Pok Po’s menu will still be available through delivery in The Woodlands, and the restaurant group is actively looking for “the right opportunities to bring them back in ways that make them even more convenient and accessible,” he says. 

This Indian Restaurant in Rice Village announced its closing on Friday, August 21, on social media. Chron reported that Shiva had served the community for 35 years, serving an assortment of what it deemed “authentic” Indian dishes, including items cooked in tandoor, or clay oven, and various curries. 

Another shift in the Gr8 Hospitality roster. The Houston-based restaurant group closed the remaining location of its Italian restaurant, Passerella, on Sunday, August 23 after roughly four years in business. Gr8 Hospitality, which operates yhe Union Kitchen outposts, Jax Grill, and wine bar Vine Memorial, first opened Passerella opened in May 2022 and followed that up with a second location on Houston’s Washington Avenue in May 2023. That location closed in March 2025, after roughly two years.

Paul Miller, who ran the restaurant with his wife Doris, told Culturemap Houston that diners interpreted the more upscale atmosphere as a space for a special occasion dinner, meaning Passerella didn’t draw enough business to remain opened. Gr8 Hospitality’s newest restaurat, Jax on the Tracks, also opened and closed this year after six months in operation after similarly failing to land with diners as a weeknight spot.

It’s the end of an era for one of Houston’s most notable nightlife spots. ALife Hospitality abruptly closed Kamp on August 9 after six years of business. The owners announced the closure in a social media post, explaining that they couldn’t agree on a lease extension with landlords. Noise complaints from neighboring residents and parking challenges also contributed to the closure.

Like many other restaurants, owners noted that this “isn’t the end” for Kamp, and told fans to “stay tuned” for the next concept.

The indoor-outdoor bar, which hosted day parties and transformed into a late-night club with DJs and cocktails after 8pm was a hotspot for celebrities and hip-hop stars, including Slim Thug, Rick Ross, Kodak Black, and French Montana. Drake, who now notably resides in Texas, was one of its more frequent famous visitors.

Many patrons and bargoers hit social media with their best and bittersweet memories of this Southside bar and Sunday Funday hotspot following the announcement of its closure in early August. Jeremy Gore, who helped run the bar, said in an Instagram post that they closed the bar due to inability to reach a lease agreement.

This Midtown restaurant, which showcased Afro-Mexican foodways and clinched a Texas Michelin Guide recommendation in 2024, closed in early August. A representative says Late August is transitioning into an event-focused dining operation in the Ion District, and its operator, Lucille’s Hospitality, will continue to provide event services and private catering.

Chef Chris Williams, who owns Lucille’s Hospitality, seems to be making some shifts. Two years after opening Rado Market in Third Ward, below the historic Eldorado Ballroom, Lucille’s Hospitality sold the coffee shop and restaurant to comedian Ali Siddiq and his daughter, chef Jaden Gaines, earlier this summer. The restaurant group is also opening the Branch, a wellness-focused restaurant with a raw bar, daily crudo, oysters, cavia, and charcuterie, in the Forme, a local luxury apartment building. It continues to operate Lucille’s, an ode to chef Chris Williams’s great-great-grandmother in Houston’s Museum District, and Emile’s Black Point Bistro, a coastal restaurant in Nova Scotia, Canada.