The Room
Squable opened in 2019 in the Heights — a partnership of Justin Yu (Theodore Rex, James Beard Best Chef Southwest) and Bobby Heugel (Goodnight Hospitality, Anvil) bringing serious chef-driven cooking to the Heights neighbourhood. Mark Decker runs the kitchen day-to-day. The dining room is intentionally restrained — exposed brick, a long bar along the western wall, banquettes along the eastern wall, a wood-fire grill visible from most tables.
Eater Houston named Squable on its best-new-restaurant list in 2020. The room handles the Heights neighbourhood's working-Saturday crowd through the week and a more-leisurely brunch service on weekends.
The Food
Modern American with a serious wood-fire programme. The wood-grilled bavette, the seasonal Gulf snapper, the wood-fired vegetable plates run as the menu's spine. The hand-rolled pasta programme is the second move. The brunch service handles a serious eggs-and-bacon-and-grits American spread alongside specials that draw on the dinner kitchen's wood-fire bench.
Wine programme is one of the Heights' most-considered — small-producer, weighted toward Italy and the Loire, with an honest by-the-glass programme. Cocktail bench runs the Anvil house book. Service is informed and warm.
Best Occasion Fit
First Date: The bar at Squable is one of the Heights' most-reliable first-date seats. The wood-fire programme is the natural opener, the cocktail bench is the conversation, and the room's chef-driven register reads as warm without becoming theatrical.
Birthday: Birthdays at Squable are wood-fire-led, family-style-friendly, neighbourhood-Heights affairs the room handles with the Goodnight-group's practiced warmth.
Team Dinner: The back of the dining room handles tables of eight to twelve and the kitchen will run a family-style menu — antipasti opening, wood-fire centrepieces, dessert — that the corporate dinner needs without negotiation.