Your First Look at The Woodlands’ Much Anticipated Bar Bludorn as Its Opening Beckons — Chef Aaron Bludorn Shares What’s Unique About This New Restaurant

Aaron Bludorn’s Bar Bludorn, the much anticipated new restaurant on The Waterway in The Woodlands, is now opening this Friday, October 2. To Aaron Bludorn, this is the right time to bring his Houston-area restaurant group to The Woodlands.

“I feel like we’ve done all that we can in Houston for now, and we wanted to see our brand grow,” Aaron Bludorn tells PaperCity The Woodlands. “We felt like The Woodlands was a great place to do that. To start that growth. We’re really excited about the people that live here and the community that’s here.

“I feel like they are really going to understand what we’re doing here at this restaurant.”

To this chef/owner, the goal is to create a true neighborhood restaurant, where people feel like they can just drop in for a drink, or settle in and enjoy a burger.

And dropping into The Woodlands’ very own Bar Bludorn presents several different opportunities.

This new restaurant takes over the old Baker Street pub space on The Waterway, transforming those digs into a dynamic new hotspot to be, with three distinct dining and bar experiences.

The entryway is anchored by a mid-century Herbert Mears painting that Aaron Bludorn bought more than a year ago to set the mid-century tone he wanted for The Woodlands’ Bar Bludorn. The flooring features Woodlands embedded into it in gold letters, echoing the entryway of the original Bar Bludorn (in Houston’s Memorial neighborhood), setting the stage for several other embedded gold stylings throughout the restaurant.

To the left is the bar, featuring an enormous curved bar meant to help keep conversations flowing. High-top booth seating is designed to put seated diners at the same height as those at the bar, creating a connected experience. The bar area is also larger than the one at the original Bar Bludorn restaurant in Memorial.

“I wanted guests to have the opportunity to have a full meal here while still having the, you know, being at the bar and having the full engagement of the TVs, and the energy of the bartenders,” Aaron Bludorn says.

Behind the bar area is a private dining room, equipped with full A/V capabilities, seating up to 40.

But the star of the show at The Woodlands’ Bar Bludorn is the main dining room and the open kitchen.

“There’s a lot of energy that comes from an open kitchen,” Aaron Bludorn notes. “So when you sit down here, whether you’re in the main pool or you’re in one of the larger banquettes, you feel that energy from the kitchen.”

And you’ll feel good while you do so.

Bludorn has his own specs for banquette seating, designed to make lingering over a meal especially comfortable. The chairs are designed with comfort in mind too, encouraging diners to stay a while. Maybe linger to get dessert and coffee.

There are visual treats throughout this new showcase restaurant in The Woodlands too, including works from Houston artists. Several pieces come from the late sculptor and artist David Adickes.

No Mere Copycat

The menu shares some similarities with Houston’s Bar Bludorn,  but Aaron Bludorn has added plenty of twists specifically for The Woodlands.

A prime example is the chicken.

“In Memorial we only had fried chicken,” Bludorn tells PaperCity. “It’s an upscale version of fried chicken that you would enjoy in a restaurant of this caliber. So we wanted to add roast chicken as well.”

The roast chicken at The Woodlands’ Bar Bludorn comes with four different sauces: the restaurant’s version of a ranch dressing, a green goddess dressing, a sage chimichurri and a peanut butter gravy.

“So the idea is, and you can actually get that chicken, so a half roast chicken, half fried chicken, all in the same dish,” Bludorn says.

The chickens are locally sourced from organic farm Greener Pastures in Elgin.

Steak frites is also on the menu, but even some of Bar Bludorn’s staples are getting a Woodlands twist.

Oysters, a fixture at Bar Bludorn in Houston, are served Gulf Coast-style, raw on the half shell, but diners can also try two preparations unique to The Woodlands at Aaron Bludorn’s new showcase restaurant.

“We’re doing a doing a grilled one with salsa matcha here, which is unique to this restaurant,” Bludorn says. “We’re also doing a dressed one with a michelada style flavor to it.”

The original Bar Bludorn’s country ham beignets also have been reimagined for The Woodlands.

“Instead of using country ham, here we’re going to do it with a lobster salad,” Aaron Bludorn notes. “So almost be like a lobster roll beignet. I wanted it to be unique to The Woodlands. As we grow this concept, each neighborhood will have something that’s special to them.”

And don’t expect the menu to stagnate.  Bludorn says he wants to keep things fresh so regulars won’t tire of the offerings.

Embracing The Woodlands

Aaron Bludorn is even looking beyond the restaurant itself, with plans to become part of the fabric of The Woodlands.

“Whatever we can do to be a part of the philanthropic community here — we want this to be a fixture of the community,” he says. “And in order to do that you have to be involved in those things.”

One opportunity is coming October 9, when Aaron Bludorn will host a cooking demonstration at the newly opened Woodlands’ Williams Sonoma store in Hughes Landing. Chef Bludorn will prepare a signature dish from Bar Bludorn Woodlands, followed by a tasting at 6 pm.

Howard Hughes Communities is all in on bringing Bar Bludorn to The Woodlands, making sure it happened.

“Our partnership with Bludorn Hospitality Group is another example of our commitment to delivering exceptional culinary experiences for our communities,” says Ben Martin, senior vice president, national retail strategy & leasing for Howard Hughes. “Bar Bludorn Woodlands adds a Michelin-guided concept to our growing culinary scene, reflecting our strategy of bringing high-caliber dining and retail destinations to The Woodlands. We’re excited to welcome Chef Aaron Bludorn and his team to the community.”

Bar Bludorn The Woodlands joins Bludorn Hospitality Group’s Texas staple of restaurants dreamed up by chef Aaron Bludorn alongside partners Cherif Mbodji and Victoria Pappas Bludorn (the chef’s wife). The trio operates a growing portfolio of restaurants with the flagship restaurant Bludorn, Navy Blue, Bar Bludorn (times two now) and Perseid in Montrose’s Hotel Saint Augustine. A new San Antonio restaurant is also on the way with the Bludorn team taking over the historic Liberty Saloon building in the popular Pearl mixed-use development.

But this first venture into The Woodlands is something new. And Aaron Bludorn can feel it.

Bar seating at The Woodlands’ own Bar Bludorn will be available without reservations.  While not required, reservations are available through Open Table for seatings that start this Friday, October 2 at 5 pm. Bar Bludorn Woodlands will be closed Sundays and Mondays.