Azumi

Azumi opened in July 2024 at the Westheimer Road entrance to Houston's River Oaks District, a Houston concept from Atlas Restaurant Group (its third in the city, alongside Loch Bar). The modern Japanese restaurant is led by executive chef Timur Fazilov, who previously worked in Masaharu Morimoto's restaurants in Doha and Miami before taking over Azumi's sushi program. At the opening, Atlas Restaurant Group president and CEO Alex Smith said, "Chef Fazilov and the team have created an elevated Japanese dining experience that reflects the innovation and fusion of Houston's culinary landscape."

The concept centers on a sushi bar serving seafood flown in daily from Tokyo alongside Miyazaki A5 wagyu and a hot kitchen menu, backed by one of the region's largest sake lists and a full craft cocktail program. A daily 3-6pm happy hour, available at the bar and on the patio seven days a week, anchors a lively bar scene.

For Dry January 2026, Azumi's bar team put forward two named zero-proof cocktails at the same $14 price point as its alcoholic drinks: the Boketto, built on Seedlip Garden non-alcoholic spirit with jasmine green tea, cucumber and yuzu, and the Matcha Colada, a tropical blend of matcha, coconut, pineapple and lime. Both drinks were reported with matching names, ingredients, and prices across independent local coverage (including Community Impact), indicating a genuine, repeatable NA offering rather than a single press mention, even though Azumi's drink menu itself is not fully alcohol-free.