Two units at The Stomping Grounds, 1223 W. 34th St., are sitting empty, and both have already been claimed. Barnaby's Cafe is taking the former LuLoo's Day & Night space. It hasn't opened a new restaurant in seven years. Pho Prime is moving into the former Pho Fix. It's a Vietnamese brand that only launched in early 2025, and this will be its third location.
One operator almost never expands and the other expands fast, and both picked the same Garden Oaks courtyard. Neither restaurant is confirmed open as of October 8. So the question for anyone who walks over for pizza or a glass of wine is when they open, since who is coming is already settled.
Seven years between Barnaby's openings
Barnaby's started at 604 Fairview St. in Montrose in 1992. It's a dog-friendly café named after the owner's childhood Old English sheepdog. Over three decades it added Downtown, the Heights, Memorial, Midtown, the Museum District and River Oaks. The Houston Chronicle reported in July that the Garden Oaks café will be its 10th Houston-area restaurant and its first new location since 2019.
That gap matters. A chain that waited seven years to open its next café didn't pick a spot casually. It picked one of the larger rooms in the development. The Chronicle describes the old LuLoo's unit as one of The Stomping Grounds' largest interiors. LuLoo's ran it as an all-day café and bakery from the Blood Bros. BBQ team.
Barnaby's listed the Garden Oaks location on its own website before The Stomping Grounds had announced it. The listing describes the café this way:
"a place for neighbors, families and culture-seekers to gather and connect"
The listing also says the café will serve lunch and dinner. When the Chronicle visited in July, Barnaby's door decals were already up on the storefront and the old LuLoo's signage was still hanging. As of that report, no opening date had been announced, and none of our research since then turned one up.
Pho Prime is on a much faster clock
The other new tenant moves at the opposite pace. Pho Prime debuted in Houston in early 2025 and already had two locations, in Alief and Pearland, when it announced Garden Oaks. It belongs to Mamba Hospitality Group, run by co-owners Kiet Duong and Julie Nguyen, who also run Crawfish Cafe.
Here's how the group explained the choice to What Now Houston:
"After the success of our first two locations, we saw an opportunity to bring Pho Prime to one of Houston's fastest-growing neighborhoods."
Duong gave a similar answer to the Houston Business Journal, saying the team had "spent the past few years working to scale the brand" and saw Garden Oaks as a strong market for it. The menu leans on slow-simmered broths and unlimited noodles, and the Oxtail Pho is one of the dishes the brand is known for.
Pho Prime gave a date when it announced, which Barnaby's did not. The owners planned a grand opening for October 3, depending on final permit approvals and construction progress. That date has passed. As of October 8, the Pho Prime locations page still lists the Garden Oaks address under "coming soon." A target that was conditional from the start has slipped past its date, but nobody has said the opening is off.
The unit Pho Prime is taking was home to Pho Fix, which served its last day on June 8, 2026, according to the Chronicle. What Now Houston's July story puts the closure in January instead. This post goes with the Chronicle's date because it came from the closure announcement itself.
Where the two units stand right now
| Unit | Previous tenant | Incoming tenant | Status as of Oct. 8, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Former Pho Fix | Pho Fix, closed June 8, 2026 | Pho Prime, Mamba Hospitality Group | Oct. 3 target was conditional; brand site still says "coming soon" |
| Former LuLoo's Day & Night | All-day café and bakery from the Blood Bros. BBQ team | Barnaby's Cafe, 10th Houston-area location | Door decals were up in July; no opening date announced |
What's open around the lawn while you wait
Neither newcomer is moving into an empty center. RE:VIVE Development first planned The Stomping Grounds back in 2017. Its current list of brand partners for the property includes these places to eat and drink:
- Bollo Woodfired Pizza
- La Mex
- Himari
- High Five Mini Bar
- Sonoma Wine & Cheese
- Little Sister
- Fat Cat Creamery
- Cooking Girl
The same list includes six non-food tenants: Threadfare, Tulum Wellness Spa, Paint Nail Bar, Kid Create Studio, New Mom School and Flowe. That mix shows the center already gets daytime traffic from errands and appointments. A café serving lunch and dinner from one of the largest rooms on the property fits that pattern.
All of this surrounds the 8,000-square-foot Green Space, which The Stomping Grounds describes as its event and gathering area. The most recent dated event we found was a Plant Social market and bingo night on Friday, September 18, 2026, from 6 to 9 p.m., listed by 365 Things to Do in Houston. The center says it runs weekly programming on the lawn, but its events page currently shows a heading with no dated listings under it.
Checking before you walk over
Online information about this center lags behind what's actually happening there. The Stomping Grounds' own tenant directory still includes LuLoo's and Pho Fix, even though both have closed. The events page is blank. Pho Prime's site still has the Garden Oaks location as "coming soon" days after its target date.
For now, the most reliable signs of an opening are physical ones. In July, the Barnaby's decals went up on the door before any announcement from the center. Lights on and staff inside the old LuLoo's and Pho Fix units on W. 34th will likely be your first sign that either one has opened, ahead of any update online.
When both open, the courtyard will add a lunch-and-dinner café from a name that has been in Montrose since 1992, plus a pho counter that will be the third location for a brand that only debuted in early 2025.
Watching which established operators sign leases in a neighborhood courtyard is part of how we read a market. If you're weighing a home within walking distance of W. 34th, or just want to talk through what's changing in Garden Oaks, Jennifer Delaney is happy to walk it with you. Let's connect and find your next home or investment.
