Houston’s New Loro Restaurant Brings Exclusive Menu Items, Patio Power and Boozy Slushees to Old Auto Shop On Kirby

Dubbed an Asian smokehouse, the new Loro Kirby brings the best of Southeast Asian and Japanese flavors to the table. The order at the bar and get your food brought to the table (many of them outside) restaurant on Kirby Drive is the second Loro in Houston, following the Loro in The Heights, which took over the shuttered West Eleventh Church of God’s building.

Loro’s second Houston outpost draws inspiration architecturally from Texas Hill Country dance halls, but Abel Design Group adapted to the structure of a former auto body shop that once stood in its place. The light-filled interiors, replete with pitched ceilings and light wood accents, were designed with Hai Design Studio. Open continuously from 11 am through 10 or 11 pm seven days a week, the newest Loro can seat about 120 people inside and about 70 outside on its pergola-shaded, dog-friendly patio.

Behind the range is Houston-born and raised chef de cuisine Esai Negrete. The classically trained chef boasts an impressive C.V. with stints at Yia Mary’s Greek Kitchen, Xochi and Backstreet Cafe. Before joining Hai Hospitality, Negrete was executive sous chef at Kiran’s Houston, where he oversaw kitchen operations, menu development and team training.

Whenever you’re dining, start off with some shareable snacks like the mildly spicy smoked shishito queso ($9.50) I tried. The dish is exclusive to this Loro location. It is also a collaboration with Texas “Culinary Cowgirls. It’s served with wonton chips, and if you like, you can add pulled pork ($4) or smoked brisket ($6) to the mix.

Pork tostadas ($10) made with corn tortillas are another exclusive to Lore Kirby topped with crème fraiche and shishito salsa verde.

Talking proteins, don’t miss the char siew pork belly ($16.25) served with house hoisin sauce and celery. Do take the option to make it a lettuce wrap for $3.50 more and wrap those beautifully seasoned slices in red leaf lettuce along with sprigs of Thai basil, mint and Loro’s homemade pickles. Other meat options include the oak smoked salmon ($18.50) with a cucumber-yuzu broth, parsley and lemon; crispy Thai pork ribs ($15.25) coated with a sweet chili glaze, white sesame seeds and green onion; the Sake can half chicken ($16.75) made with Gochujang glaze cilantro and lime; and the Smoked Butcher’s Cut accompanied by shishito salsa verde, cilantro, pickled onion, and coconut-scented rice. For those who can wait, starting at 4 pm, Loro will serve smoked beef brisket ($19.50) with chili gastrique and Thai herbs.

What Makes Loro Kirby Different

The first Loro restaurant came to life in 2018, the vision of James Beard award-winning chefs Tyson Cole of Uchi, Uchiko, Uchibā and Oheya restaurant fame who spent much of his career finessing his craft in Tokyo, New York and Austin, and the incomparable BBQ pitmaster Aaron Franklin of Austin’s Franklin BBQ, whose bold-faced name can be seen at the top of nearly every best BBQ list. Merging their love of Asian food and Texas cuisine, Loro’s menu features grilled and smoked meats with Asian-inspired sauces and sides with craft beer.

“Houston really embraced our first Loro location in The Heights,” Cole says. “We decided pretty early on that we wanted to open another location in the city. This location features a variety of fan-favorite dishes along with some new options attendees will only find at Kirby.”

Two new sandwiches can only be gotten at Loro Kirby, including the oak smoked pulled pork sandwich ($12.50). Served from 11 am to 4 pm, it’s garnished with sesame slaw and topped with smoked pepper BBQ sauce, while the double smash burger ($12.95) is stacked with yuzu, Thousand Island dressing, American cheese and grilled onions.

Prefer poultry? Try the crispy smoked chicken ($12.95) with citrus-cabbage slaw, pickles, honey and hot sauce or smoked turkey BLT ($12.50) layered with Piri Piri aioli, tomato dashi jam, smoked bacon and arugula.

Looking to pull in a large lunch crowd, Loro Kirby rolled out the Lunch Two Step from 11 am to 2 pm, where diners can bundle their choice of a sandwich (double smash burger, crispy chicken sandwich, or the pulled pork sandwich) and a half side (crispy potatoes, Texas sweet corn, or crunchy cabbage salad) for $15. Meanwhile, Loro offers specials from 4 pm till close Sundays through Wednesdays. For example, on Sundays and Mondays after 4 pm, Loro proffers a half rack of smoked baby back Duroc pork ribs ($18.50) served with pickles and the restaurant’s own BBQ sauce. Tuesdays and Wednesdays after 4 pm, you’ll find Tokyo shoyu ramen ($18.50) with pork char siew, egg, wood ear mushrooms and charred broccolini.

Looking for some spirited drinks? Try Loro’s boozy slushees (double “e” intended), including  frozen gin and tonic, a mango sake slushee and the killer colada. This new Kirby Loro restaurant marks the launch of the chain’s first frozen margarita, a triple-lime classic frozen drink shaken with key lime, lime leaf syrup and lime juice with Blanco tequila, orange liqueur and rimmed with smoked sea salt.

To cool down the spice in some of the dishes I tried, I sipped on Loro’s zero-proof, frozen pina horchata, a take on the pina colada combined with the famed cinnamon-scented Mexican rice drink. Pre-batched house cocktails such s a ginger old-fashioned, spiked Arnold Palmer and a Yuzu spritz also make an appearance on the drinks menu.

Loro Kirby is located at 5333 Kirby Drive. It is open Sundays through Thursdays from 11 am to 10 pm and Fridays and Saturdays from 11 am to 11 pm.