Jūn

Jūn opened February 7, 2023 at 420 E 20th St. in the Heights (in the former Steel City Pops/Central City Co-op space), founded by chefs Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu. Garcia, a Top Chef Season 19 finalist, previously cooked at Jean-Georges' Spice Market and Kin Shop in New York and ran the Kin stand at Politan Row in Houston; Lu built his career in New York kitchens including Pearl & Ash and Brooklyn's Llama Inn before moving to Houston to open Jūn with Garcia. The two describe the 57-seat, open-kitchen restaurant as 'New Asian American,' drawing on their first-generation, cross-cultural upbringings across Salvadoran, Mexican, and Southeast Asian influences and a shared love of wok cooking and fermentation.

Jūn was a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best New Restaurant in its debut year, and in June 2026 Garcia and Lu won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Texas at the ceremony in Chicago, with Garcia telling the room, 'Houston, I love you so so much... It is a city of dreams and hopes.' The restaurant has also drawn coverage from Texas Monthly and CultureMap Houston. In March 2026, Jūn added a full liquor license, layering new cocktails (Pink Lady, Post/Shift, a Carajillo) atop the wine- and sake-based low-ABV program Garcia and Lu had run since opening.

That expansion hasn't touched the kitchen's non-alcoholic side: Jūn's dedicated 'Zero Proof' menu remains intact, mirroring the restaurant's cross-cultural cooking with five house-built drinks — the Oye Morro (Salvadoran horchata, pineapple, coconut, lime), the savory N/A Michelada (Topo Chico, fish sauce, hoisin, chili, lime), Suero (Topo Chico, lime, black salt), a Tamarind Arnold Palmer (tamarind Jarritos, cold brew oolong tea, lemon), and Miles Away (passionfruit, vanilla, Topo Chico). CultureMap Houston has repeatedly spotlighted the program in its Dry January coverage, calling out the Oye Morro and N/A Michelada by name.