Suite 125 at 24 Waterway Ave. used to be TRIS. The steak and seafood restaurant announced an immediate, permanent closure on Jan. 2, 2025, after chef Austin Simmons resigned. Today, Sept. 30, 2026, the same suite reopens as Bari Ristorante The Woodlands. Across the street, Bar Bludorn is scheduled to open Friday, Oct. 2, at 25 Waterway Ave., Suite 100. That suite was Baker St. Pub & Grill until March 2024.
This fall's biggest Town Center openings are not new buildings or new streets. They are Houston restaurant groups moving into rooms longtime residents can still name by their old tenants. The story also comes full circle, because the chef whose departure ended TRIS has opened his own place at Hughes Landing.
| Address | Previous tenant | Current tenant | Opened |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Waterway Ave., Ste. 125 | TRIS, closed Jan. 2, 2025 | Bari Ristorante | Sept. 30, 2026 |
| 25 Waterway Ave., Ste. 100 | Baker St. Pub & Grill, closed March 13, 2024 | Bar Bludorn | Scheduled Oct. 2, 2026 |
| 24 Waterway Ave., Ste. 160 | Baja Cantina & Fiesta, closed Nov. 10, 2025 | Lankford's | Jan. 31, 2026 |
| 1900 Hughes Landing Blvd., Ste. 350 | New restaurant | Charolais by Chef Austin Simmons | July 14, 2026 |
One Building, Three New Doors in Eighteen Months
In March 2025, Kokoro Handroll Bar opened at Unit 110 of 24 Waterway Ave. Baja Cantina & Fiesta closed in Suite 160 on Nov. 10, 2025. Lankford's started a reservation-only soft opening there on Jan. 26, 2026, and had its full opening on Jan. 31. With Bari opening today in Suite 125, three storefronts at this one address have opened since spring 2025.
Bari's arrival was on the public record well before today. In November 2025, Community Impact reported a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing for Bari at Suite 125, noting that TRIS had closed in that location. The original Bari is at River Oaks District, 4444 Westheimer Road in Houston.
The Woodlands location keeps a few River Oaks dishes, including Fritto Misto, Pappardelle Bolognese and pizza. Branzino alla Griglia, Truffle Pasta and Bananas Foster are prepared tableside. New dishes for this location include Pollo Piccata with lemon-caper sauce and Scaloppine Sorrentina topped with cherry-tomato sauce and mozzarella di bufala. Italian Master Chef Renato de Pirro is leading the opening. Executive Chef Marcelo Mintz will stay on to run the kitchen day to day.
Bari also adds private event space on The Waterway. Its announcement lists two private dining rooms that each seat up to 40 and can be combined, plus a 30-person lounge. If you've been driving to Houston for a rehearsal dinner or a large client dinner, you can now look closer to home.
Across the Street, Two and a Half Years of Waiting
Baker St. Pub & Grill closed at 25 Waterway Ave., Suite 100, on March 13, 2024. If Bar Bludorn opens on Oct. 2 as planned, it will be about 31 months since Baker St. closed in that suite. The date has already moved once. An earlier forecast said late September, and on Sept. 17 the restaurant updated it to Oct. 2. It's still a scheduled date, so confirm before you plan a Friday dinner around it.
Bludorn Hospitality Group calls this its first restaurant outside Central Houston. It is also the first expansion of Bar Bludorn, a neighborhood tavern concept that started in Memorial in 2024. Chef Aaron Bludorn founded the group in 2020 with partners Cherif Mbodji and Victoria Pappas Bludorn. Its other restaurants include the flagship Bludorn, Navy Blue, and Perseid in Hotel Saint Augustine.
Gensler designed the Woodlands space, which adds a private dining room and patio seating the Memorial location lacks. The menu pairs Bar Bludorn signatures with new American bistro dishes that have Texas touches.
"Expanding beyond Central Houston is a big step for us, and Howard Hughes Communities has been a great partner to take it with," Aaron Bludorn said in the opening announcement.
Howard Hughes, the landlord, announced the Bludorn and Simmons restaurants together in August 2025. Jim Carman, the company's Texas-region president, called them new experiences for residents and visitors. Bringing the two chefs in under one announcement shows the Waterway and Hughes Landing openings were planned as one push.
The Chef Who Left TRIS Came Back to Hughes Landing
Austin Simmons was TRIS's executive chef, and TRIS closed after he resigned. On July 14, 2026, he opened Charolais by Chef Austin Simmons at 1900 Hughes Landing Blvd., Suite 350. The dining room seats 200.
The menu is built around customized steak boards. Guests pick the cuts and how they're cooked, with options including live fire, cast iron and high-temperature broiling. The beef comes from Chef & Rancher, Simmons's venture with Texas rancher Larry Ludeke, which oversees genetic selection, husbandry, processing and the final cuts. Simmons calls this approach "Hoof to Plate."
"Opening Charolais in The Woodlands means a great deal to me because this community has been such an important part of my story," Simmons said.
Simmons's old dining room now serves Italian food on The Waterway. His new one serves steak at Hughes Landing, where a Williams Sonoma also opened on Sept. 18 at 1925 Hughes Landing Blvd., Suite A300. A dinner at Charolais can now start or end with an errand next door.
Planning a Week Around the New Hours
All three new restaurants keep different hours, and that matters more than any single menu. One serves lunch daily, one is dinner-only, and one is closed early in the week.
- Bari Ristorante, 24 Waterway Ave.: Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Weekend brunch runs 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. starting Sunday, Oct. 4. Reservations are through OpenTable.
- Bar Bludorn, 25 Waterway Ave.: Open 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. Reservations are through OpenTable.
- Charolais, 1900 Hughes Landing Blvd.: Opened in July with a 200-seat dining room and the steak-board format described above.
On Sunday and Monday, Bari is the only one of the two new Waterway Avenue restaurants open, since Bar Bludorn is closed both days. Bari is also the only one serving lunch. For a weeknight drink on the patio, Bar Bludorn's Tuesday-through-Thursday 9 p.m. close comes early, so plan accordingly.
The established spots on The Waterway are still there. The Woodlands Waterway Marriott finished a renovation of more than $4 million in late February 2025 that redesigned Acqua Restaurant, refreshed its Waterway-view patio, and expanded seating in the Acqua Lounge and Great Room.
Market Street Is Refilling Suites, Too
The same thing is happening a few blocks away on retail suites. Tommy Bahama Home at 9595 Six Pines Drive, Suite 1140, was set to close in April, according to Market Street officials. Market Street now lists Aritzia as "Coming Soon" in Suite 1140. There's no store opening date yet. State construction records estimate completion on Oct. 29, 2026, while an April filing reported by Community Impact estimated February 2027.
Nike and Pressed Juicery had left Suites 885 and 1070 by mid-July. On Sept. 12, Golden Gray Boutique moved within Market Street into Suite 950, the former Draper James space. Varley is confirmed for Suite 830 with an opening date to be announced. State records list construction from Nov. 27, 2026, through May 31, 2027, so it won't be open this holiday season.
If you're buying or selling in Town Center, the tenants on these familiar blocks are a big part of what daily life here looks like. The Ferester Team tracks these changes block by block and can show you how the Waterway and Hughes Landing fit into a home search or a listing. When you're ready to talk it through, Book an Appointment.
