One of Houston’s favorite breakfast joints has a new owner. Adair Concepts recently acquired both locations of Buffalo Grille from founder John McAleer and his family.
Nick Adair, president of Adair Concepts, tells CultureMap that he and his sister Katie Barnhart saw purchasing Buffalo Grille as an opportunity to add another family-friendly neighborhood restaurant to their portfolio that includes Skeeter’s Mesquite Grille, Tex-Mex staple Los Tios, all-day concept Adair Kitchen, and others.
Siblings Nick Adair and Katie Barnhart lead Adair Concepts.Courtesy of Adair Concepts
“What we try to do is neighborhood, community-first restaurants. We think Buffalo Grille fits into that really well,” he says. “A lot of their customers are our customers. We respect the Buffalo Grille brand a lot. Growing up, it was part of our breakfast circulation.”
To be clear, Adair isn’t planning any sweeping changes. Buffalo’s Grille’s signature giant pancakes, egg dishes, and pecan-smoked bacon will remain unchanged as will comfort food staples from the lunch and dinner menu such as chicken fried steak, loaded baked potatoes, and burgers.
Instead, he sees an opportunity to make some improvements and updates that will bring the 40-year-old restaurant more in line with contemporary tastes. Over the course of the next few months, diners might see some new menu items or an espresso machine that will serve lattes and coffee options.
“We’d love to add to their lunch offerings with sandwiches and salads,” he says. “More adding to and not taking away — certainly speciality coffees, pastries. They don’t have any of that. We think we can add in that sense.”
Since Buffalo Grille’s business is primarily focused on breakfast and lunch, Adair will use the restaurant’s kitchen to launch a new baking program for all of Adair Concepts. Soon, the company will bake all of its own breads, hamburger buns, pastries, and other items.
Having taken over on May 1, the Adair siblings have been getting to know their new employees and learn about how they’ve made both the West U. and Memorial-area locations of Buffalo Grille such enduring neighborhood staples. Now, they’re ready to start putting their touches on the restaurant.
“Over the next six weeks, they were in need of kitchen and equipment upgrades. We’re getting started on that,” he says. “Through the summer, we want to start adding the things we discussed such as pastries and coffee. We’ll do some cleanup to the interiors.”
Although terms of the deal were not disclosed, Adair emphasizes that the transaction was more about maintaining the restaurant’s legacy than a specific dollar amount.
“The McAleers were ready to start a new chapter in their lives. They didn’t want to hang up almost 40 years of history in West U. and Tanglewood,” Adair says. They just wanted someone that was going to go in and run these restaurants.”
Later, he adds, “We’re not going to change everything that makes it great. We want to honor that, but we can help turn the page and breathe some new life into the concept.”
