This Black-owned restaurant received a stamp of approval from Jay-Z and Beyoncé!
Taste Kitchen + Bar Downtown
Houston’s Taste Kitchen + Bar is a beloved Southern comfort and brunch restaurant owned by University of Houston alum Chef Don Bowie. Its current location is situated in downtown at 420 Main St. and opened in 2022. Customers can line up as early as 8 a.m. for brunch items that include peach cobbler waffles, steak and eggs, and elevated grits. Also featured on its menu is smothered chicken, greens, candied yams, jerk lamb chops paired with smoked gouda mac and cheese, cajun or smothered fries, and also various cocktails desserts.
“At Taste, we don’t just serve food—we serve soul,” Bowie told Houston Style Magazine. “Each dish tells a story rooted in tradition, culture, and celebration.”
Taste Kitchen + Bar has seen an influx of customers over the years, but over the weekend, Bowie received an order from none other than Jay-Z and Beyoncé, who is a Houston native. The couple were in town for her “Cowboy Carter Tour,” with concerts held June 28 and June 29 at the NRG Stadium.
According to Fox 26, Beyoncé and her family placed a $1,000 pickup order, which included fried and grilled lobster tails, chicken and waffles, caesar salad, surf and turf, and deep fried bread pudding. Jay-Z had specifically tried the Taste of New Orleans dish, which is catfish and shrimp paired with a cajun cream sauce and served over dirty rice that has bits of pork. Jay-Z reportedly shared after eating the meal that he does not eat pork and hadn’t for 50 years, but he was so impressed with the dish that he was not concerned, Bowie told the outlet. The restaurant owner was even invited to a meet-and-greet backstage after the June 29 concert.
“So it went out with dirty rice, and what happened was his guy called back and was like ‘Yo what’s in that seafood dish.’ And I was like ‘What dish? Oh, my bad man. Let me send you some of the white rice’ and he said, ‘Man, it don’t even matter, big bro said he loves it he don’t even care,’” Bowie told Fox 26.
Bowie added that was the highest compliment he could have received as a restaurateur, and he took to Instagram to acknowledge and thank both Jay-Z and Beyoncé for choosing Taste during their return to Houston.
“We’ve received a lot of compliments over the years, but this might be the best yet…When Jay Z, Beyoncé, and their family choose Taste, it’s more than a meal… it’s a moment. A reminder that soul food done right speaks to everyone, every time,” Bowie wrote.
