{"id":192699,"date":"2025-09-01T23:42:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T23:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/192699\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T23:42:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T23:42:11","slug":"hustling-houston-vietnamese-restaurant-signs-24-unit-franchise-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/192699\/","title":{"rendered":"Hustling Houston Vietnamese restaurant signs 24 unit franchise deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

On this week\u2019s episode of \u201cWhat\u2019s Eric Eating,\u201d chef Thomas Bille joins CultureMap editor Eric Sandler<\/a> to discuss his restaurant Belly of the Beast. Bille has had a busy last 12 months, having secured both a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin guide and the 2025 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Texas<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The conversation begins with Bille recalling the circumstances that led him to close Belly of the Beast\u2019s original location in Old Town Spring, followed by a year-long stint as the executive chef of short-lived modern Mexican restaurant Chivos. Even while he was building a following in the Heights at Chivos, he explains that he always wanted to reopen Belly of the Beast, a goal he and his wife Elizabeth realized in late 2023. <\/p>\n

Even with all the recent success \u2014 Bille recounts what he was feeling when he heard his named announced as a Beard Award winner \u2014 the chef is already thinking about the next iteration of Belly of the Belly, which would feature a live fire grill. In such a scenario, the current location would evolve into a new version of Belly of the Beast\u2019s original taqueria concept. <\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, if I had money, I\u2019d be doing that soon,\u201d Bille quips about opening Belly of the Beast 3.0. \u201cWe have plans. There are evolutions of things. Finding the right space \u2014 nothing too crazy, nice little patio, full bar \u2014 I think we\u2019d be able to do quite a few different things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen to the full episode to hear Bille\u2019s take on what his James Beard Award means for the culinary scene in the state of Texas. He also has some charming answers during the show\u2019s Lightning Round segment.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In this week\u2019s other episode, Sandler and co-host Michael Fulmer discuss the news of the week. They begin with a conversation about Casaema earning a spot on Bon Appetit\u2019s list of America\u2019s 14 best new breakfast spots. Then, they turn to the openings of Handies Douzo in Spring Branch and Katz\u2019s in Memorial City.<\/p>\n

In the restaurant of the week segment, Fulmer and Sandler discuss Yiayia\u2019s Greek Kitchen, the new concept from Pappas Restaurants that\u2019s an evolution of Yia Yia Mary\u2019s. They share thoughts on the design transformation from Pappadeaux to Yiayia\u2019s and share some of their favorite dishes from their meal. <\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

Subscribe to “What’s Eric Eating” on Apple podcasts<\/a>, Spotify<\/a>, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hear it Sunday at 9 am on ESPN 97.5<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On this week\u2019s episode of \u201cWhat\u2019s Eric Eating,\u201d chef Thomas Bille joins CultureMap editor Eric Sandler to discuss…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":192700,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[4345,12212,10084,107594,358,3187],"class_list":{"0":"post-192699","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-houston","9":"tag-news-you-can-eat","10":"tag-openings","11":"tag-saigon-hustle","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-tx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115131694915186367","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}