Foodies, rejoice. Bellaire Food Street, a shopping center in Chinatown that houses a variety of casual, primarily Asian eateries, is gearing up for a sweeping second phase development in which it plans to add 11 new restaurants.
Hoping to open as soon as late 2023, the second phase development – appropriately dubbed Bellaire Food Street 2 – is set to host 11 local and original eateries, as well as a new parking garage.
The original Bellaire Food Street currently houses 14 restaurants, including Ichiro Sapporo Ramen, Soho Chicken, Popfancy Pops, and Meet Fresh, offering cuisine from Saigon street food, to trendy, imaginative corn dogs, Asian-fusion, Taiwan Boba Tea, and coffee. Something that stands out at Bellaire Food Street is the selectiveness of cuisine and concept, e.g. housing one Korean Fried Chicken eatery as opposed to multiple.
While the development is still in its infancy, Kan wants to have all options available before choosing Bellaire Food Street 2’s tenants:
“We want to make sure we have all the options before we secure a spot for a certain type of food,” Lin Ting, marketing manager at BFS told Culture Map. “We want to bring unique food here, where it’s not everywhere. Hot pot, there’s 10 of them near here; tapioca, at least 15. [We want] something that’s a little bit different.”
Additionally, developer Kevin Kan wants to switch things up and switch focus to the next generation of affluent, diverse restaurant-goers rather than relying on mom and pop stores.
“People eat more with their eyes and cameras now, not just their palates,” he told Houston Chronicle. “When you look at Houston, you wonder, what are we doing wrong? Why are we still living in the past?”
Bellaire Food Street 2 is set to be located east of the current property. Reports say that construction could break ground by this summer. The second phase development hopes to open late 2023. Stay tuned for more details.
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