![]() At Houston’s, I don’t have to worry, since almost every table is a booth. Usually I’ll scan a restaurant to make sure I’m getting the best available seat. When she and I walked in around noon on a Wednesday in late December, the tables were filled with shoppers and colleagues from nearby offices. It’s also where my mom always wants to have lunch. This was the place where Shaquille O’Neal, Dominique Wilkins, and many other sports stars came to eat when they were in town. It had been ten years since I’d been back to the Houston’s across from Lenox Square Mall in Atlanta. You know who else? Your date, the client you’re trying to impress, and your impossibly picky friend. ![]() You know who loves a Houston’s? My mother. I made one last pitch by explaining that what Ralph Lauren is to American fashion-approachable, reliable, and nostalgic but forward-thinking-George Biel and the Hillstone Group are to American restaurants. “Forty-eight restaurants under 15 names in 15 states,” I said. “And how many places do they have now?” she asked skeptically. Whether Biel knew it or not, he was defining a uniquely American style of eating out that was unpretentious yet discerning. It wasn’t fast-food burgers, but it wasn’t fancy European-style dining, either. When Houston’s debuted, I argued, it identified and then filled a void in the American dining scene. George simply liked the ring of it, not to mention the city’s pioneering reputation at the time as home to NASA and big oil, I told her. Texas-born founder George Biel, the brains and passion behind the group, began his career as a server at Steak and Ale. I quickly explained that Hillstone Restaurant Group started in 1977 with the opening of Houston’s in Nashville.
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