Rice Village

How the Village grew up

Rice Village belongs to the City of Houston and has no government of its own. Its first businesses opened in the late 1930s on the land between two neighborhoods: Southampton Place, founded in 1924 just north of what was then Rice Institute, and West University Place, incorporated the same year across an unpaved road that would become Kirby Drive. Those households needed groceries and gas stations, and the Village grew to supply them. Rice Food Market, an early grocer that Houstonia dates to 1937, stood on the southwest corner of Rice Boulevard and Kelvin, later moving across the street, where it stayed until the early 2000s. The Village has always grown to fit the houses around it, and the houses around it keep getting bigger.

Then the chains arrived. In 1988 a six-story former savings bank on Dunstan became a 24-Hour Fitness, and national retailers followed. In 1991 Weingarten Realty knocked down the 1941 Village Theatre and remade three blocks into the Village Arcade with a multistory garage; Rice University later came to own those blocks. As the modest houses of West U and Southside Place gave way to much larger ones in the 1990s, landlords pushed toward a more expensive mix of shops.

Where to sit down

Houstonia's list of favorite Village restaurants makes a good map. Hamsa, at 5555 Morningside Drive, is Sof Hospitality's modern Israeli restaurant, known for salatim, hummus, grilled skewers and whole roasted Baladi eggplant. Navy Blue, at 2445 Times Boulevard, is a seafood restaurant from chef Aaron Bludorn, in the former Politan Row space. Café Rabelais, at 2442 Times, has been a French restaurant staple since 2000, and its mussels in white wine cream sauce are the signature.

The Village has always grown to fit the houses around it, and the houses around it keep getting bigger.

For something simpler, Local Foods, at 2424 Dunstan Road, is a café from restaurateur Benjy Levit, known for sandwiches like the truffle egg salad. Levit also runs Milton's, a trattoria at 5117 Kelvin Drive that took over the space of his French bistro Eau Tour. Hungry's, at 2356 Rice Boulevard, is a longtime Village café with Sunday brunch, and Coppa Osteria, at 5210 Morningside, handles pizza and pasta.

Shopping runs from Rice Village Diamonds, at 2376 Rice Boulevard, to Isidora Flower & Gift Shop, at 2509 Rice Boulevard, and Hemline, a women's clothing boutique at 2513 University Boulevard. Ella Coffee shares its space at 2418 Sunset Boulevard with Simone on Sunset, a wine and cocktail bar that takes over in the evening.

The Bellaire thread

The Village sits at the eastern edge of West U, about three miles east of Bellaire City Hall. There is an older thread between the two places, too. Edward Teas's nursery, whose former site is now Bellaire's Evelyn's Park, landscaped the Rice University grounds as well as the Bellaire Boulevard esplanade.

The district's own site is rice-village.com.

Sources

• Houstonia, Rice Village history (2024): https://www.houstoniamag.com/news-and-city-life/2024/11/rice-village-history
• Houstonia, best restaurants in Rice Village and West University (2024): https://www.houstoniamag.com/eat-and-drink/2024/01/best-restaurants-rice-village-west-university-houston
• Café Rabelais: https://www.caferabelais.com/
• Hamsa: https://hamsahtx.com/
• Navy Blue, Rice Village district listing: https://rice-village.com/tenant/navy-blue/
• CultureMap Houston, Navy Blue (former Politan Row space): https://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/03-18-22-navy-blue-seafood-restaurant-rice-village-aaron-bludorn-cherif-mbodji-victoria-pappas-bludorn/
• Local Foods Rice Village: https://order.toasttab.com/online/local-food-rice-village
• Paper City, Milton's replaces Eau Tour: https://www.papercitymag.com/restaurants/miltons-houston-restaurant-italian-handmade-pasta-lasagna-benjy-levit/
• Hungry's, Rice Village: https://hungryscafe.com/locations/rice-village/
• Coppa Osteria: https://www.coppaosteriahouston.com/
• Rice Village Diamonds: https://www.ricevillagediamonds.com/contact-us/
• Isidora Flower & Gift Shop: https://www.isidoraflowers.com/contact/
• Hemline Rice Village: https://shophemlinericevillage.com/
• Community Impact, Ella Coffee relocates in Rice Village: https://communityimpact.com/bellaire-meyerland-west-university/dining/ella-coffee-relocates-to-new-spot-in-rice-village/
• Simone on Sunset: https://simonesonsunset.com/
• Evelyn's Park Conservancy, about the park: https://www.evelynspark.org/about-park
• Rice Village district: https://rice-village.com/

En español

Rice Village es una zona comercial de la ciudad de Houston, no una ciudad, entre Southampton Place y West University Place, a unas tres millas al este del ayuntamiento de Bellaire. Sus primeros negocios abrieron a finales de los años treinta, y Collegiate Cleaners, abierta desde 1947, es, según Houstonia, el negocio más antiguo. En 1991 se demolió el Village Theatre de 1941. Para comer: Hamsa, cocina israelí moderna, en 5555 Morningside Drive; Navy Blue, mariscos, en 2445 Times Boulevard; Café Rabelais, cocina francesa, en 2442 Times; Local Foods, sándwiches, en 2424 Dunstan Road; y Hungry's, con brunch los domingos, en 2356 Rice Boulevard. El vivero de Edward Teas, cuyo antiguo terreno es hoy Evelyn's Park en Bellaire, diseñó los jardines de Rice University y el camellón de Bellaire Boulevard. Más información: rice-village.com.