Towards the end of 2024, Houston restaurateur Michael Sambrooks had a tough decision to make. The founder and owner of Sambrooks Hospitality Group, known for its collection of Texas smokehouse restaurants specializing in live-fire cooking, opened Andiron restaurant, a sumptuously designed, high-end steakhouse in 2023.
But in late 2024, after much consideration, Sambrooks decided to transition this fine dining concept into a more relaxed fine casual format, embracing one of last year’s national restaurant trends. After all, there was no need to reinvent the wheel. His other concepts in the city, classic barbecue outpost The Pit Room and fantastic Tex-Mex hit Candente, are incredibly successful, catering to a wide audience that ranges from young professionals to families.
Sambrooks saw that a more approachable, tavern-style neighborhood eatery would be better aligned with the overall portfolio, and with the wants and needs of his loyal customers.
Steak tartare, curried mussels and Caesar salads are among the new sharable plates on the menu at … [+]
Fine casual meets live fire at Andiron
The new Andiron Grille & Patio, which opened in early November 2024, retains its live-fire promise and top-level hospitality commitment while embracing a concept that’s more accessible to a larger slice of the Houston dining pie.
“Our new vision is the result of listening to our customers as well as our neighbors,” says Sambrooks. “While traditional fine-dining elements remain in place, most notably in terms of quality of ingredients and level of kitchen execution, Andiron Grille & Patio reflects a more wallet-friendly proposition where great food, drinks and everyday dining come together in a more inviting atmosphere.”
A menu offering sharable options and gentler pricing, a come-as-you-are vibe, a convivial new cocktail patio, and a informal structure projected via service and tabletop adjustments turned out to be a hit with local diners. Fire-kissed prime steaks and carefully crafted entrees are still on the menu for those seeking a more high-end experience, as the space and vibe lend themselves to both dining styles.
At Andiron
At Andiron Grille & Patio, the kitchen’s custom, 22-foot-long woodfire grill burns a variety of wood including post oak and hardwood charcoal (such as binchotan), overseen by executive chef Michael O’Connor. Live-fire technique continues to enhance the new menu of American Prime steaks and Japanese Wagyu steak frites, prime rib sandwiches, burgers and roasted bone marrow.
“We want this to be a place to come in and grab a terrific bite and a friendly drink any time of day, any day of the week. It’s a new chapter for Andiron,” says Sambrooks. And he wrote it while protecting his signature stamp on the Houston dining scene – the smoke-licked, live-fire cooking which he championed with his first restaurant, The Pit Room.
Establishing a legacy with barbecue and Tex-Mex
Opened in 2016, the wee barbecue joint was an enormous hit, establishing itself as a major player in the Lone Star State’s booming barbecue movement. Within its first year of operation, The Pit Room scored a place on Texas Monthly’s influential list of the top 50 barbecue joints in Texas – a pivotal achievement for a fledgling smokehouse and for Sambrooks, who spent years behind the scenes at other barbecue spots before staking out his own pitmaster prowess.
Michael Sambrooks and Chef Michael O’Connor fuel the fire behind the new Andiron Grille & Bar, in … [+]
Following the traditions of iconic Central Texas-style barbecue, The Pit Room’s core menu of brisket, beef ribs, pork ribs, turkey, chicken and variety of house-made sausage is coddled by the hazy vapors of burning post oak, a Texas native wood prized for its flavor and bark-building properties, known for imparting mild, smoky, sweet nuances and ability to hold a consistent high heat. Post oak smoking epitomizes the cherished low-and-slow credo of the most successful Texas barbecue temples.
But the smoke immersion doesn’t end there. The Pit Room created a sensation when it began serving breakfast tacos on handmade flour tortillas larded with smoked brisket fat drippings. The sucess of The Pit Room led Sambrooks to open a second outpost, which opened in April 2024 in a larger footprint than the original – proof that his smokehouse magic has cast a considerable spell in Houston.
For his next project, Sambrooks transfered his love for fire and smoke to a Tex-Mex restaurant, located just down the street from the original barbecue joint in Houston’s Montrose neighborhood. Sister restaurant Candente opened in 2019, combining traditional barbecue elements while embracing the campfire aromas of mesquite wood, a beloved flavor agent for south and west Texas barbecue.
Sambrooks tapped in to his love for classic Tex-Mex when opening the hugely popular Candente.
With a name chosen to suggest incandescence, Candente’s grills sear fajitas made from prime skirt steak and ribeye infused with the unmistakable nuances infused by the distinctively strong, smoky, earthy flavors of mesquite smoke.
These flavors show up in other menu favorites, too: smoked brisket nachos and tacos, smoked seafood campechana, smoked birria de res, mesquite-grilled redfish on the halfshell, and smoked chicken flautas and enchiladas. Even a humble staple like queso is elevated with smokey undertones, a version so good that it can easily be eaten by the spoonful, alternating with the addictively piquant salsa verde that comes to the table with warm tortilla chips.
While The Pit Room and Candente have a firm grip on the city’s dining allegiances, Andiron Grille & Patio is firing up its new attitude as Sambrooks keeps giving Houston diners what they want, how they want it.