Uchi Houston

Uchi Houston is the Montrose outpost of chef Tyson Cole's Japanese restaurant group, Hai Hospitality. Cole, who won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2011, opened the original Uchi in Austin in 2003; the Houston location followed in 2012 inside a converted building on Westheimer Road, becoming an acclaimed omakase and contemporary sushi destination in its own right.

On June 17, 2025, Uchi Houston relaunched its beverage program with a full bar for the first time, developed under Hai Hospitality beverage director Jason Kosmas (a co-founder of Employees Only in New York) and staffed by bartenders Liah Crumbley and Carley Rice. Alongside new spirits-driven cocktails, the relaunch introduced a dedicated zero-proof section and expanded low- and no-ABV options -- as Kosmas put it, guests "will also enjoy the same robust selection of wine, sake and beer, as well as low- and no-ABV cocktails."

The zero-proof list runs seven cocktails deep: the Mitsu Mitsu (Ritual ZP gin, rosemary, yuzu honey), Akabanaa (Ritual ZP spirit, hibiscus, lime, agave), Shokuzen (Ritual aperitif, zero-proof wine, citrus oleo), Zero Spritz (Crodino, yuzu, de-alcoholized sparkling wine, soda), Orenji Yuzu (orange, yuzu, sparkling), Jonetsu (passion fruit, lychee, lemon), and the Ube Coconut Boba (coconut water, ube, coconut foam, boba). The bar backs these with Athletic Brewing's Upside Dawn and Free Wave NA beers, a non-alcoholic Sapporo lager, and three Oddbird non-alcoholic wines (Blanc de Blanc, Presence, and a GSM blend).

The program has drawn local notice: CultureMap Houston featured Uchi's three Ritual-based zero-proof cocktails in its January 2026 Dry January roundup of the city's best spirit-free sips, noting the drinks "pair seamlessly with its Japanese-inspired menu."