The menu includes dishes such as steak au poivre and deviled eggs topped with caviar. Photo by Becca Wright.
A growing Houston restaurant group is ready to unveil its latest creation. Maven at Sawyer Yards will open this Friday, October 18.
Located in a former commercial trucking station on the Sawyer Yards campus (1501 Silver St.), the new restaurant is an evolution of Maven Coffee + Cocktails, the beverage-focused concept created by Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and his business partners, local entrepreneur Juan Carlos de Aldecoa and attorney Jimmy Doan as part of the Rex Hospitality Group.
Currently, Maven operates coffee shops and cocktail bars at Minute Maid Park, Toyota Center, and the Thompson Hotel, but the new Sawyer Yards location is an all-day restaurant that opens at 7 am daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The 2,400-square-foot space has been divided into a main dining room, bar, and an outdoor patio.
“The opening of Maven at Sawyer Yards — the brand’s fourth outpost in less than 16 months — is a testament to the demand for quality-driven, handcrafted food and beverage experiences,” Nina Quincy, president of Rex Hospitality Group said in a statement. “We envision our Sawyer Yards location as a neighborhood destination that lends itself to both daytime and nighttime experiences. Maven at Sawyer Yards differs from our other concepts in that it offers a complete dining experience, rooted in quality, chef-driven cuisine.”
To deliver “chef-driven cuisine,” de Aldecoa recruited his cousin, chef Nicolás “Nico” Baizan de Aldecoa, to serve as the COO for Rex Hospitality Group. Baizan brings a range of experience to his role, including a lengthy stint working for superstar chef Jose Andres, as he discussed on an episode of CultureMap’s What’s Eric Eating podcast.
“I really strive for, like Lance said, it’s more than a coffee shop,” he said about the menu at Maven’s Thompson Hotel location. “It really is a place we want people to enjoy a good dinner and create memories that you’re not able to get otherwise. One of my favorite spots in Chicago is Kasama. It started off as a pastry shop with amazing breakfast, now it’s the first Filipino restaurant to have a Michelin star.”
Baizan’s Spanish-influenced menu includes smoked fish dip, beef tartare, octopus with fingerling potatoes, and deviled eggs topped with caviar. Entree choices include steak au poivre, roasted chicken, and a take on the trendy spicy rigatoni pasta. Morning options include breakfast tacos and avocado toast, while lunch features sandwiches such as a Cuban — a nod to McCullers’ Cuban heritage — a truffle grilled cheese, and a smoked grouper melt with American cheese, which sounds like a very adult version of a fast food fish sandwich.
For drinks, the partners turned to Chicago-based cocktail consultant Paul McGee, whose resume includes legendary Chicago tiki bars Lost Lake and Three Dots and a Dash. Of course, the restaurant will serve coffee-based cocktails such as the espresso martini and carajillo as well as takes on the Old Fashioned, margarita, daiquiri, and caipirinha. Non-alcoholic cocktails will also be available as well Maven’s full lineup of coffee drinks.
“We’re looking forward to Silver Street being an expanded Maven,” McCullers said during the podcast. “Very welcoming, approachable food. A place where people don’t really know why, but they feel like that’s their spot.”
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Fans of Houston sports and Houston food can now score tickets to The Tailgate, CultureMap's all-out party devoted to everyone’s favorite way to get in the gameday spirit. The event, presented by Verizon, goes down from 6-9 pm November 11 at 8th Wonder. Find out more about it here.
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Jeremy Peña and Christian Walker each hit a three-run homer, and the Houston Astros outslugged the Baltimore Orioles 10-7 on Friday night.
A little something to make your day better pic.twitter.com/whwYikHwx2
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 22, 2025
Colton Cowser went deep for Baltimore, but the Orioles couldn’t pull this game out despite twice cutting a four-run deficit to one.
Steven Okert (2-2) got the win in relief for Houston, and the Astros — who are without injured closer Josh Hader and lefty reliever Bennett Sousa — held on. Houston signed veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel and he was with the team, but the AL West-leading Astros didn’t use him. Bryan Abreu struck out four to end the game and get his second save.
Rookie catcher Samuel Basallo, who agreed to an eight-year, $67 million contract before the game, did not start for the Orioles, but entered as a pinch hitter in the seventh and tagged out a runner at the plate the following inning.
Peña’s drive to left capped a four-run third that included two Baltimore errors. Jeremiah Jackson’s two-run double made it 4-3 in the fourth, but after Orioles starter Cade Povich (2-7) was pulled with two outs in the fifth, Yennier Cano came on and immediately gave up Walker’s homer.
The Orioles trailed 7-6 after Cowser’s solo shot in the seventh, but pinch-hitter Victor Caratini’s two-run double in the eighth made it a three-run game, and Peña’s comebacker bounced off reliever Corbin Martin and into shallow right-center field for an RBI double.
Orioles infielder Vimael Machín hit a solo homer in the eighth in his first big league plate appearance since 2022.
Houston starter Lance McCullers Jr. allowed three runs in four innings after coming off the injured list (right finger blister).
Key moment
Jackson nearly made a diving catch on Caratini’s hit with two outs in the eighth, but once the ball got past him in right, two runs scored to make it 9-6.
Adding some insurance! pic.twitter.com/wKoPuHmenr
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 23, 2025
Key stat
The Astros improved to 15-8 in games in which their opponent starts a left-handed pitcher.
Up next
Cristian Javier (1-1) starts for Houston on Saturday night against Dean Kremer (9-9) of the Orioles.