Top Celebrity Chef Vows to Bring the World’s Coolest Backyard Party to Houston’s New Wonder Park: Two Major New Restaurants and Concerts On Tap for Levy Park

Fort Worth celebrity chef Tim Love’s had plenty of opportunities to open a Houston restaurant over the years. But nothing really beckoned to him until Levy Park.

“The opportunity to be in the park will really drive this brand,” Love says. “It’s a great fit. Both restaurants are built to be outside. The restaurants open up to the park, entirely. It’s the ultimate backyard barbecue.”

Love’s burger joint Love Shack and wood-centric meatery Woodshed Smokehouse are both invading Space City — and the heralded, relatively transformed $15 million park. The long-anticipated restaurants are scheduled to open in Levy Park in 2019, bringing a shared love of live music, al fresco vibes, and good eats.

PaperCity first broke the news that Love would bring restaurants to Levy Park back in February 2017.

Both of Love’s new Levy restaurants revolve around local, live tunes (from acoustic acts to buzz-worthy bands) and the great outdoors. It’s time to bring some North Texas Love to a major outdoor dining experience, with a full-blown park for a backyard. One concert is promised for each day, either at Love Shack or Woodshed. Love has a lengthy list of regular musicians and one-offs he plans to use.

Love is pleased he finally took the plunge in this part of Texas. “The Houston food scene is on fire, and it has been for the last few years,” he says. “It’s the leading city in Texas for food right now, in my opinion. Houston is such a great, creative land. We’re hoping we’ll be very welcome here.”

Double Love Restaurants

For starters, expect barbecue — and then some. Woodshed Smokehouse doesn’t fall under the traditional barbecue category; this isn’t the kind of place where you line up and pick up a tray with wax paper. It’s full service. It’s much more than you would think — and it’s all about the wood. The restaurant has mastered eight different types of wood. “We braise with wood, we steam with wood, we marinate with wood,” Love says. They grill with wood. They roast with wood.

Each menu item was designed with ‘What would wood Love do?’ in mind. Beef, lamb, pork, cabrito, wild game, and fish are all covered, as well as some dishes you’d never even dream of — lamb brisket, bulgogi salmon tacos, and rabbit-rattlesnake sausage included.

Woodshed wants to keep you guessing. A flag announces the animal of the day, roasted and made into fresh tacos with fresh salsa, cotija, and lime.

Wood is used creatively across the menu, even when it comes to veggies and desserts. There’s a farrow salad made with chile-rubbed hickory wood.

Did we mention the sausage of the day and the cobbler of the day? Just imagine a cobbler with all different elements smoked — the flour with pecan, the cherries with hickory.

You can pair it all with 25 beers and wines on tap “and a killer specialty cocktail list.” The best part? You can grab your wine or beer in growlers and stroll with them along the park. And the beautiful backdrop is an extended playground for foosball, Ping-Pong, Frisbee, corn hole, you name it.

“It’s as if you went to your friend’s house that has the coolest backyard you’ve ever been to in your life, and they hired a band every day. And had tremendous food. That’s the vibe,” Love says. Specifically, a backyard in Houston. “The thing about Woodshed is we kind of cater to whatever city we’re in. In Houston, more seafood. A little bit of Cajun-Houston influence.” About 65 percent of the menu is a set core, and the rest is up for a Space City evolution.

“We’ll adapt as we learn more about Houston over the next six months,” Love says. “Every restaurant I open, I do six weeks total before we open exploring different restaurants around the local area, meeting local people, local purveyors.”

The first Houston spot in his sights? The farmer’s market a half block away.

The Picnic Man

Love Shack will be on the other end of Levy by the dog park.  It’s a tried-and-true burger shack.

“Nothing fancy at all. Just really high-quality burgers made from half tenderloin and half brisket, all house-ground and hand-pattied,” Love says. “It’s simplicity at its finest.”

The grub is thick and hearty, such as the Dirty Love Burger with bacon and fried quail egg, or Amore Caliente, a burger patty with poblano chile, guacamole, and more on a flour tortilla. Love is particularly proud of the nachos and the root beer on tap.

He’s tinkering with a picnic idea. Get those checkered blankets ready to go. “We may set up cool picnic baskets you can take into the park. Pick up a burger while your dog plays around. Grab a quick beer, a bottle of wine,” Love says.

And it doesn’t matter many Hopdoddy’s or Shake Shacks sweep into Houston. The celebrity chef insists, “There’s always room for an awesome new burger joint, no matter where you go in the world.”

Of course, Texas is not just anywhere.

Tim Love has earned props for his signature urban western cuisine with restaurants from Seattle to Nashville. But home is where the heart is. His restaurants Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, Queenie’s Steakhouse, White Elephant Saloon, and the original Love Shacks and Woodshed Smokehouses are all in the Lone Star State.