The Woodlands Lands Two New Restaurant Favorites — Cafe Express and Sixty Vines Are Embracing The North

Residents of The Woodlands and that entire area now have two new restaurants to turn to with the opening of the beloved fast-casual pioneer Cafe Express and the wine country-inspired Sixty Vines.

This is the first Woodlands Cafe Express, the pioneering spot founded by James Beard award-winning chef Robert Del Grande and partner (and brother-in-law) Lonnie Schiller way back in 1984. The duo worked to elevate the very idea of fast-casual food by creating a menu of salads, entrees, sandwiches and the like made with high-quality ingredients. With every dish further enhanced, should you care to, with a customized condiments bar dubbed The Oasis Bar chuck full of tasty extras from pitted olives to gherkins to Cafe Express’ signature crostini breadsticks.

Located at 3091 College Park Drive, the new Woodlands area Cafe Express is similar in style to the Texas chain’s renovated River Oaks restaurant. The vibe of European-style cafes inspired the 3,200-square-foot interiors with Parisian-style metro lighting, fabrics imported from Italy and gold Spanish trims and finishes.

The Woodlands Cafe Express menu, fortunately, includes some of those famous favorites from the signature chicken deli salad to the sweet dream bar, as well as new additions like happy hour, offering drinks and light bites for around $5 daily (from 3 pm to 6 pm). There is also a family meals menu which offers entrees like Mediterranean salmon and chicken pesto Alfredo pasta, each served with a large spring mix salad designed to feed four people.

Cafe Express’ expansion won’t stop in The Woodlands. Reportedly there are plan to open the next new Cafe Express in Baybrook in the summer of 2023. It’s all part of a massive statewide expansion plan, with a target of 30 new restaurants by the year 2030.

During this opening week, The Woodlands’ new Cafe Express will be donating a portion of its proceeds to Montgomery County Food Bank, where $1 feeds four people. Montgomery County Food Bank is a partner of the Houston Food Bank and a nonprofit organization whose mission is to unite the community to fight hunger.

Cafe Express is offering diners a free sandwich from 10.30 am to 9 pm this Friday, February 3 to celebrate its opening.

Meanwhile, Sixty Vines at Market Street has just opened in a new 12,442-square-foot space at 9595 Six Pines Drive, Suite 900. Aiming to bring the wine country’s culture and cuisine to The Woodlands with an innovative wine and beer on-tap program, this new Woodlands restaurant offers 60 wines on tap in lieu of bottles to create a more sustainable way to enjoy a pour-by-the-flight, half-glass, glass or carafe. The powers that be at Sixty Vines claim its innovative wine-on-tap system offers the closest to a barrel-tasting experience. Not to mention it will save an estimated 27,000 bottles from the county’s landfill by the end of its first year at this location alone.

“Bringing wine country culture and cuisine to The Woodlands is incredibly exciting,” Sixty Vines CEO Jeff Carcara says in a statement. “Sixty Vines is an ideal destination for the community to gather and enjoy sustainable wine on tap paired with vineyard-inspired plates.”

Of course, any glass of wine (or beer, for that matter) is enhanced by the food you pair with it. Here you’ll find dishes such as assorted cheese and salumi boards, pizzas like fig and prosciutto, pasta such as braised pork pappardelle and more.

Sixty Vines is open for lunch and dinner Mondays from 11 am to 9 pm, Tuesdays through Thursdays from 11 am to 10 pm, Fridays from 11 am to 11 pm, Saturdays from 10 am to 11 pm and Sundays from 10 am to 9 pm. Brunch is available every Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 3 pm.