Tacos and Rooftop Oysters: Mercado Opens in Wedgewood Houston

The new Mercado has tacos and a rooftop oyster bar. Discuss.

Over in Wedgewood Houston, Mercado by Butchertown has opened the doors to its coastal, Baja-influenced eatery at 625 Hamilton Avenue. The sister restaurant to Butchertown Hall, the multi-story space offers various seating options including a communal dining table, raw bar accommodations, large booths, and outdoor patio space where guests can order picadillo tacos with pickled red onion, seared scallop tostadas with lime crema, Mexican aguachiles, and different flavored margaritas. Inside, Mercado’s decor is punctuated by oversized terracotta planters filled with various cactus species and bare-blasted walls with market-style awnings dotted across the interior.

Up on the rooftop: Ramone’s, an oyster and cocktail bar perched atop the highest hill in Wedgewood Houston, boasts a menu of raw and cured items to accompany the frozen margaritas, Champagne, and sparkling wines available at the bar. Both Mercado and Ramone’s are open now daily starting at 5 p.m.

Speaking of Butchertown Hall, they’ve also just opened Cherries

It’s been a busy week for restaurateur Terry Raley (Butchertown Hall, Mercado, Liberty Common) — along with Mercado and its accompanying rooftop bar Ramone’s, he also opened Cherries with partners Aaron Armstrong and Brett Diaz (the duo behind the newly reopened Last Chance Liquors). The 1,70o-square-foot space in East Nashville features a patio equipped with a full outdoor bar, fire pits, and ample lounge and dining seating for over 150 people. Along with vinyl rock and eclectic decor, you’ll find wood-fired skewers, burgers, street-style tacos, and chargrilled oysters on the menu — in fact, almost the entire food menu will be cooked over an open fire. Cherries is open Tuesday to Sunday from 4 p.m. to midnight.

Arnold’s Country Kitchen is making a comeback. Sort of.

After closing back in 2022, locally beloved Arnold’s Country Kitchen is staging a comeback via a short-lived pop-up running this week. From November 20 to 22 starting at 11 a.m., you can get your fill of Arnold’s old-school daily meat-and-three menu with a few twists. Reservations were also available for two seatings on Thanksgiving Day: one from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and another from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Both have sold out, but you can try and secure a place on the waiting list by emailing arnoldsmeatand3@gmail.com

Retrograde is now slinging cocktails at night

Retrograde is trying on a new look after the sun sets. The new City Heights coffee shop at 2714 Clifton Avenue just debuted the Bar at Retrograde, offering both classic and new cocktail creations after 5 p.m. Notable selections on the drinks menu include the Bloodletter with red wine, apple brandy, pomegranate, and hibiscus; Sidecar Named Desire with apple butter, apple brandy, lemon, cider cinnamon syrup, and Cointreau; and the Retro Fashioned with whiskey, pecan maple brown sugar, and black walnut bitters. The bar also features a wine menu curated by Kelly Boutwell of the Serious Sip, with selections from organic, off-the-beaten-path vineyards and various wines on tap.

Iggy’s rolls out a new fall menu

Ryan and Matthew Poli’s modern Italian hang in Wedgewood Houston is shifting gears for the fall. The new menu at iggy’s, which launched last week, fuses the restaurant’s popular handmade pasta with seasonal ingredients in dishes like Bear Creek Farm steak tartare with chipotle, egg yolk, radish, red onion-crème fraîche, and Dozen Bakery sourdough toast; arugula pesto linguine with citrus, pine nuts, and five-year-aged parmesan; squid ink radiatore fra diavolo with braised octopus, fermented Peruvian chilies, and Domaine Salvator extra virgin olive oil; butternut squash caramelle with crispy guanciale, brown butter, sage, maple-sherry reduction; and duck and foie gras ravioli with celery root, confit chestnuts, lovage, and Brussels sprouts.

iggy’s