Michelin-recognized Candente plans third Houston location in the Heights

Candente, Houston’s only Michelin-recognized Tex-Mex restaurant, is headed to 2020 Lawrence St. in the Heights in 2027, adding a third local location for a brand that has moved well beyond its Montrose roots. The expansion gives Michael Sambrooks another foothold in one of the city’s most competitive dining markets, where a single well-known restaurant can influence the surrounding mix of shops, bars and walk-up traffic.

The Heights site sits near 20th Street and North Shepherd Drive, a high-visibility corner in a neighborhood that has become a magnet for destination dining. Candente officials said the response from the Heights has been very positive even though the opening is still about a year away, and Sambrooks said the team is working with a developer and designers to make the new restaurant the strongest one yet.

The project builds on the restaurant’s growing profile after Candente earned Michelin Recommended status in the first Texas guide, which Michelin announced on Nov. 11, 2024. That inaugural selection included 116 restaurants statewide, with 24 in Houston. Candente was the only Houston-area Tex-Mex restaurant included, a distinction that helped separate it from the city’s crowded field of taco shops and casual Tex-Mex spots.

Michelin describes Candente as a very large Tex-Mex restaurant with an expansive patio and bar seating that stretches the length of the kitchen. The guide also highlights the restaurant’s tortilla soup, brisket enchiladas and fajitas made with Niman Ranch prime beef, the same core dishes expected to anchor the Heights menu.

Candente first opened in Montrose in 2019 next to The Pit Room, the barbecue restaurant Sambrooks founded in August 2016. It later expanded into Bellaire, where a second Houston-area location opened at 5101 Bellaire Blvd. on Dec. 22, 2025. The Heights location extends that growth pattern deeper into the inner loop and signals that Sambrooks Hospitality sees continued room for a branded, sit-down Tex-Mex concept with citywide appeal.

For the Heights, the opening points to a neighborhood that is no longer just a collection of popular restaurants but a bona fide dining corridor. A Michelin-recognized name arriving at 2020 Lawrence St. adds another layer to a market already shaped by competition, visibility and the draw of restaurants that can pull diners across Houston.