New Healthy Eating Restaurant Takes Over the Prime La Madeline’s Space In River Oaks — Honest Mary’s Bowls In

Joining the ranks of healthy food-focused restaurants that include Houston’s own Vibrant and Leaf & Grain is the new Honest Mary’s in the River Oaks Shopping Center. Installed in the former La Madeline space, this Austin-originated restaurant chain is the brainchild of Houston-born owner Nelson Monteith.

Named for his wife Mary, Nelson opened the first Honest Mary’s in 2017 in Austin after he and his wife struggled with health issues. Seeking a remedy, the couple turned their attention to mindful eating to heal their bodies.

“There’s healthy food, fresh food and fast food,” Monteith tells PaperCity. “It’s hard to find something that checks all three boxes. We wanted to create a place that offers nourishing, convenient food without sacrificing quality.”

Monteith is a University of Texas graduate (that’s where he met Mary) and has seen his career span ministry, real estate, banking and the energy sector. But it was during Monteith’s MBA program at the Acton School of Business that he and Mary discovered that mindful eating centered around freshly prepared foods made a real difference in how they felt.

The result of their efforts is a fast-casual restaurant offering what Nelson labeled “life-giving fast food,” built on organic, sustainably sourced ingredients, assembled and delivered from counter to customer swiftly. Collaborating with Honest Mary’s co-owner and chef Andrew Wiseheart, the duo created a streamlined menu with five chef-crafted bowls plus a seasonal selection, each constructed upon a base of greens or grains, piled with proteins and freshly cooked vegetables. All topped with a sauce or dressing.

If the Aloha poke ($13.75) of wild-caught tuna, with basmati rice, avocado, pickled onions and Asian slaw or perhaps the Mediterranean harissa ($10.25 plus $4 to add grilled chicken) on a wild arugula and black forbidden rice bed with roasted beets and sweet corn doesn’t whet your appetite, build your own bowl. About one in two Honest Mary’s customers do.

Start with grilled chicken, steak, line-caught tuna, or baked organic tofu (or keep it vegetarian with three market sides), customize it with your choice of base (including basmati rice, quinoa and organic greens), pile on two market sides (think sweet potatoes, broccoli with sesame and sweet corn), then two toppings (including pickled onions, cucumber salad and avocado), and finish it with a sauce, such as creamy poblano, lemon garlic and cashew lime crema.

With an estimated 10 percent of the American population with a gluten-sensitivity or gluten-related disorder like Celiac disease, Honest Mary’s comes in with nearly 100 percent of its menu gluten-free. In addition, this restaurant team prides themselves on using hormone-free meat, no refined sugars or artificial ingredients and, wherever possible, the dirty dozen organics. (The “Dirty Dozen” is an annual list from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) identifying the 12 conventionally grown fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide residues, recommending shoppers buy organic for these items to reduce exposure.)

Making their entrance this winter, are Honest Mary’s house-made sipping broths ($5.50/$6.75). Made with chicken-based stock and seaweed and mushroom broth, each sipper can be spiked with flavor combinations such as lemon and parsley, chili oil and lime, or ginger and turmeric (or a combination).

Honest Mary’s is located at 2047-A West Gray Street in River Oaks Shopping Center. It is open seven days a week from 10:30 am to 9 pm daily.