Ford Fry’s Retro Steakhouse In The Heights Is More Than Nostalgia — Your First Taste Look at Star Rover

Chef Ford Fry has us feeling a bit nostalgic for some of those old-fashioned, long-shuttered Houston restaurants like The Stables and one of his favorite haunts The Hoffbrau Steak & Grill House with his new Star Rover. You know the sort, the uncomplicated places with uncomplicated menus, straightforward neighborhood eateries you could frequent quite frequently.

Drifting back in reverie to his happy childhood spent in Houston, the talented restauranteur who has built his reputation across the south (Atlanta, Houston and Nashville) opening compelling, layered restaurants has a new Houston spot dubbed Star Rover. It takes over The Heights’ space of Superica, Ford Fry’s take on Tex-Mex, which recently shuttered.

So what is a Star Rover? Expect a vintage pastiche of modestly priced steakhouses of the past, where the steaks – the star of this show – are more approachably priced.

“I think it’s simply the ease and familiarity of those places that draws me in,” Fry says. “We tried to create an updated experience of that. The food and drinks should be better than they were back in the day, but still feel really good.

“The music should feel just right too. That’s what we’re aiming for.”

Named for the 1915 Jack London science fiction novel, the first incarnation (there are just two) is Star Rover Sound in Nashville, which features an acoustic sound stage and a rotating list of musicians who sing for their supper while you partake in yours. Houston’s own new Star Rover comes without the stage.

The cool, kitsch vintage theme is not only carried out on the menu, but also in the design with a bottle green painted brick wall with old, faded framed portraiture and taxidermy birds caught in flight, tables cloaked in red-and-white checked cloths lit with what was once likely grandmother’s chandeliers, casting a subtle glow.

But unlike many of the flashier, expense-account steak joints that boast USDA prime cuts of today with beef prices at an all-time high, Fry has opted to serve upper 2/3 Choice beef, often branded as Top Choice or premium Angus, a grade that sits at the top tier of USDA Choice.

And instead of serving a slab of beef on a sizzling plate with all the sides at an additional charge, the sides come with the steak. For example, order up a 12-ounce ribeye ($62.95), a 6-ounce filet ($53.95) or perhaps a modest 10-ounce chopped steak ($29.95) and a plate of soft, warm milk rolls brushed with melted butter and sea salt arrive, as well as a generously sized crisp iceberg salad scattered with bacon bits and chunks of blue cheese, tossed with the kitchen’s own green goddess dressing.

Did we mention the basket of bottomless onion rings and wedge potato fries that descend upon the table as your entrees are served?

Aside from the beef options, of which there are several, you can dive into a CFC, code for chicken fried chicken, napped in a white bacon-studded gravy ($35.95) and a 7-ounce blackened redfish dressed with a demi glaze and their green herb butter ($42.95). Another option? Make any land-raised protein a surf and turf meal with the addition of a crab cake or butterflied lobster tail (each addition costs $20). Coupled with it all, you’ll find steak-friendly wine varietals and classic cocktails that never go out of style, from a stiff Manhattan to a Long Island iced tea made fancy with a splash of Mexican Coke.

While you might pull away from the table with your belt loosened a notch or two, you shouldn’t leave without pie. Yes, house-made apple, chocolate chess, coconut and buttermilk wedges, served warm, a la mode if you like (I do like) with vanilla soft-serve ice cream.

Star Rover is open from Mondays through Thursdays from 4:30 pm to 10 pm, Fridays from 4:30 pm to 11 pm, Saturdays from 10 am to 11 pm and Sundays from 10 am to 10 pm. The restaurant is located at 1801 N Shepherd Drive in The Heights in the old Superica space, right next to La Lucha.