SNEAK PEEK AT PITCH 25

Houston Dynamo legend Brian Ching kicks off hot new EaDo bar

Houston Dynamo legend Brian Ching kicks off hot new EaDo bar
Brian Ching is ready to welcome patrons to Pitch 25. Photo by Eric Sandler

This story originally appeared on CultureMap/Houston.

ne of Houston’s most eagerly-anticipated new bars is ready to kick things off in EaDo. Pitch 25 Beer Park, the beer garden and soccer bar that unites Dynamo legend Brian Ching with The Kirby Group, opens its doors to customers for the first time on Friday, June 8.

Pitch 25 blends the beer garden aspects of Kirby Group concepts Heights Bier Garten and Holman Draft Hall with unique soccer elements to create a space that’s unlike anywhere else in Houston. That starts with the venue’s indoor soccer pitch, which is big enough to hold four-on-four matches. In addition, framed jerseys and artwork pay tribute to Ching’s career; he remains the Dynamo’s all-time leading scorer and led the team to two MLS Cup championships.

Even with 42 TVs, Pitch 25 is more than a sports bar. It has a mix of seating options — everything from couches and high-top tables to swings — a huge patio with a stage, and even a few games like shuffleboard and corn hole that will appeal to people who refer to all professional sports as “sports ball.”

Although the retired player had previously invested in a few bars and restaurants, Ching readily admits he needed assistance in operating the 25,000-square-foot venue. To bring his vision of a soccer bar to fruition, he partnered with his longtime friends Andy Aweida and Jeff Barati, who enlisted Kirby Group food and beverage director Steven Salazar and executive chef Brandon Silva to create the food and beverage options. But this isn’t just some branding agreement where an athlete slaps his name on a business, Ching tells CultureMap that he expects to be a regular presence at Pitch 25.  

“I’ll be here pretty much everyday, to be honest. It’s the first business I’ve helped grow from idea to what it is now, and it’s right across the street [from his office with the Dynamo],” Ching says. “It’s something I want to be a part of, because my name is on it. I feel like my reputation is on it. It’s not something I’m going into with just, here’s my name. I want to grow and learn every aspect of it.”

Like Holman Draft Hall and Heights Bier Garten, Pitch 25 features 100 taps of beer (mostly craft along with some national brands) and wine. Although it doesn’t have a set cocktail menu, the bartenders can make classics like an Old Fashioned, a French 75, or a margarita. Two frozen drinks will also be available.

Silva’s food menu focuses on sandwiches, burgers, salads, and vegetable starters. The Brian Ching burger includes pineapple and fried spam in tribute to his Hawaiian heritage.

All of those food and drinks will be available throughout the World Cup. Pitch 25 will open early for some matches, starting at 9 am on Thursday, June 14 for the opening match between Russia and Saudi Arabia. Reservations are available for groups who want to watch the matches together. 

“I think everybody that walks into this place kind of steps back and goes ‘wow.’” Ching says. “It’s big, it’s unique, it’s different. I think if we can capitalize on that, the World Cup will be a great time for people to come and enjoy.”

Salazar adds that it will be a challenge adapting to the early mornings, but his team is ready. “It’ll be long days, but we’re fully staffed. There’s 40 people ready to work the floor,” he says.

Even when the Cup champion has won the final match — Ching says he's rooting for Messi to lead Argentina to victory — Pitch 25 will be ready to provide EaDo residents and revelers with a new place to party. Salazar and his team certainly aim to achieve a business that's worthy of Ching's reputation. 

“We’re not underachievers here. We open big. We dream big. We serve high-quality products,” Salazar says. “If it’s in the realm of possibility, we aim to please. We’re all about hospitality and delivering for our customers.”

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Pitch 25; 2120 Walker St.; Open Monday through Friday from 3 pm to 2 am, Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 2 am.

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Get your popcorn ready! Composite image by Brandon Strange.

Filed the column early this week with Astros’ baseball that counts arriving Thursday! Ideally that arrival occurs with Minute Maid Park’s roof open under sunny skies with temperature in the mid-70s and only moderate humidity (that’s the forecast).

As they ready for their season-opening four game series, the Astros and Yankees enter 2024 with streaks on the line. The Astros take aim at an eighth consecutive American League Championship Series appearance while obviously aiming ultimately higher than that. The Yankees are a good bet to fail to make the World Series for the 15th consecutive season, which would be a new Yankees’ record! At its origin in 1903 the franchise was known as the New York Highlanders. The name became the Yankees in 1913, with the first franchise World Series appearance coming in 1921. So that was 18 years of play without winning a pennant. Maybe that gives the Yanks something to shoot for in 2027.

On the more immediate horizon, the Astros and Yankees both start the season with question marks throughout their starting rotations. It’s just that the Astros do so coming off their seventh straight ALCS appearance while the Yankees are coming off having missed the postseason entirely for the first time in seven years. Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole can spend time Thursday chit-chatting about their days as Astro teammates because they won’t be pitching against one another. Cole’s absence hurts the Yankees more than Verlander’s should the Astros. Cole was the unanimously voted AL Cy Young Award winner last season, and at eight years younger than Verlander the workload he was expected to carry is greater. Cole is gone for at least the first two months of the season, the Astros would be pleased if Verlander misses less than one month.

Whoever does the pitching, the guy on the mound for the Astros has the benefit of a clearly better lineup supporting him. The Yankees could have the best two-man combo in the game with Aaron Judge batting second ahead of offseason acquisition Juan Soto. Two men do not a Murderers’ Row make. Gleyber Torres is the only other guy in the Yankees’ projected regular batting order who was better than mediocre last season, several guys were lousy. The Astros have six guys in their lineup (Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman, Chas McCormick, and Yainer Diaz) who were better in the batter’s box than was Torres last season. The Yanks have hopes for a healthy and huge bounce back season from the brittle and 34-years-old Giancarlo Stanton. Good luck with that.

Man with a plan

We have to see how things play out over the season of course, but it is exciting to see new manager Joe Espada’s progressive outlook on a number of things. Acknowledging that Astros’ baserunning has too often been deficient, Espada made improving it a spring training priority. The same with Astros’ pitchers doing a better job of holding opposing base runners at first with base stealing having occurred with the highest success rate in MLB history last season. Tweaking the lineup to bat Alvarez second behind Altuve is a strong choice. Having your two best offensive forces come to the plate most frequently is inherently smart.

Opting to bat Tucker third ahead of Bregman rather than the other way around also seems wise business. Let’s offer one specific circumstance. An opposing pitcher manages to retire both Altuve and Alvarez. Tucker walking or singling is much more capable of stealing second base and then scoring on a Bregman single than the inverse. Or scoring from first on a ball hit to the corner or a shallow gap. I suggest in a similar vein that is why the much older and much slower Jose Abreu should bat lower in the lineup than Chas McCormick and Yainer Diaz. Though Espada giving Abreu veteran deference to get off to a better season than Abreu’s largely lousy 2023 is ok. To a point.

Eye on the prize

The ceiling for the 2024 Astros is clear. Winning a third World Series in eight years is viably in play. The floor is high. Barring an utter collapse of the starting rotation and/or a calamitous toll of injuries within the offensive core there is no way this is only a .500-ish ballclub. That does not mean the Astros are a surefire postseason team. The Rangers may again have a better offense. The Mariners definitely begin the season with a better starting rotation. In the end, other than when it impacts team decision-making, prognostication doesn’t matter. But these two words definitely matter: PLAY BALL!

To welcome the new season we’ll do a live YouTube Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast about 30 minutes after the final out is recorded in Thursday’s opener.

Our second season of Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast is underway. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics weekly. On our regular schedule the first post goes up Monday afternoon. You can get the video version (first part released Monday, second part Tuesday, sometimes a third part Wednesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available at initial release Monday via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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