New Cocktail Bar In The Heights Brings a Lush Setting, Creative Drinks and Late Hours — Best Regards Shakes Things Up

Native Houstonian Morgan Hansen has opened Best Regards, a scratch cocktail bar in The Heights, taking over the former spot where Chivos once stood. A newcomer, in a sense, to the hospitality industry, Hansen previously worked on the investment sales side of the business, selling single tenant restaurant and retail centers.

This leads us to assume when Hansen saw the expansive 4,000 square-foot space in a prime Houston neighborhood replete with loads of outdoor seating, she knew this could be the right place to launch her elevated social club.

Poised at the intersection where Yale meets West 11th Street, Hansen collaborated with the design firm Studio Five to create an interior that features a mix of materials from imported stone, brass and glass throughout to expansive sliding doors that connect the indoors to the lush terrace just on the other side of the threshold.

Hansen has done her homework bringing back ideas she’s gleaned from cocktail bars all around the globe. Then she consulted with industry veterans Chris Manriquez, Andres Castro and Sebastien Laval of MAD and Le Colonial to help bring Best Regards to fruition.

“Bringing Best Regards from concept to opening has been a thrilling experience, and I’m excited to welcome Houstonians to our beautiful and lush social lounge,” Hansen says.

Best Regards offers both classic cocktails ($14 each) — including a French 75, daiquiris, a gimlet and martinis (gin or vodka, you pick) — as well as their own signature cocktails ($16 each). These signature drinks include  one dubbed No Paper Trail, a spicy blend of mezcal, jalapeno agave, a chili tincture and guava puree and the cheeky cocktail Waystar Rumco, which fans of the hit HBO series Succession will no doubt be tempted to try.

In addition, you’ll find mocktails, champagne and wine, as well as coffee spiked drinks care of Tenfold Coffee. That means buzzy blends like the requisite espresso martini, a chocolate mocha and vodka-tinged caramel macchiato.

You can come to Best Regards with friends and share one of four assorted boards layered with cheeses, pickles and charcuterie too. There are even brunch boards on the weekends (each ranging in price from $38 to $64 and feeding two to four people.) With guest DJs and an array of live music, Best Regards (222 W 11th Street) brings a little of everything.

Best Regards is open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 4 pm to midnight, Thursdays from 4 pm to 2 am, Fridays and Saturdays from 2 pm to 2 am and Sundays from 2 pm to midnight.