Honest Mary’s is coming home! Though the health-conscious eatery started in Austin, its roots lie in Houston, where its fifth location will open doors at 2047-A West Gray St. in the River Oaks shopping center.
The Houstonia reported that the healthy living restaurant will open in the fall of 2025. Honest Mary’s owner, Nelson Monteith, told What Now Houston that it looks like the opening will be closer to Winter 2025, as the new location is currently in the back half of construction.
“River Oaks is going to be especially meaningful. It’s beautifully designed, with a stunning patio on one of Houston’s most iconic intersections,” Monteith said.
“The River Oaks Shopping Center has always stood out to me — growing up in Houston, it felt like the classic shopping center.”
Joining Monteith in leading the company is longtime friend and restaurateur Andrew Wiseheart, best known for Contigo and Ladybird Taco. Wiseheart came on board in 2021 as co-owner and COO, bringing decades of hospitality and culinary leadership to help scale the Honest Mary’s mission across Texas.
As a Houston native, Monteith shared his excitement about finally opening Honest Mary’s in the city where he grew up.
“It feels like a return to my hometown,” he said.
“There’s something really special about bringing the concept we built in Austin back to where I’m from.”
The Houston native opened his first Honest Mary’s with his wife, Mary (and yes, the restaurant is named after her :D), in the Arboretum area in 2017 with the goal of providing healthy, fast, and fresh meals to the community.
“We want to be a place where customers can trust what they’re eating, that it is genuinely life-giving, and that shows up in our food standards that we abide by,” Monteith said.
Helping their guests and team become “the best version of themselves,” Honest Mary’s provides nourishing food that is made fresh, right in front of its customers.
The menu at the new Houston eatery will be consistent with other locations. Honest Mary’s offers six signature bowls, one of which is a seasonal rotating bowl.
“It will have seasonal ingredients that are particular to that specific season,” Monteith shared.
The fresh and healthy dining option gives a new meaning to BYOB, with its build-your-own-bowl option. Guests will have the option to create fully customizable bowls, starting with a base, add in a protein, top that with their option of a plethora of veggies and a variety of toppings and sauces, and you’re out the door and on the way to a “life-giving” day.
“The hope is that when you leave Honest Mary’s, you will be better off than when you arrived,” Monteith said.
While the bowl concept is not new, the real healthy additions just may be. You’re not going to get any artificial ingredients, no refined sugars, and no meat loaded with hormones. According to its website, Honets Mary’s customers will instead receive items from the Dirty Dozen Organic list, wild-caught tuna, and seed oil substitutions.
In addition to the bowls, the healthy-eating eatery offers a bounty of desserts, including an Almond butter cookie and sipping broths. Customers can either enjoy chicken bone or seaweed mushroom broths, with a set of additions to put in the broths. For drinks, Honest Mary’s offers house-made Teas and aguas frescas.
“Fast food usually leaves you feeling depleted — the food’s not great for you, the service is average at best, and the space isn’t inspiring. We wanted to flip all of that on its head,” Monteith shared.
While the concept will serve as a space where you can come and sit down with a friend, romantic partner, or family, Honest Mary’s is also fast-casual, getting folks in the doors and out the doors loaded with good eats.
“The food is life-giving because it’s healthy and made from scratch. The service is life-giving because you’ll be greeted, treated like a person, and offered genuine hospitality. And the space is life-giving because it’s beautiful, thoughtfully designed, and created with this neighborhood in mind,” Monteith said.
With the help of the landlord, Kimco, and the architecture design company Odom out of Austin, the new Houston Honest Mary’s is on its way to being a premier location for vitalizing community members who enjoy the outdoors in the River Oaks area.
While Mary of Honest Mary’s is now focusing on home and house, helping raise the couple’s three children, Monteith is far from alone in this new venture.
Mary continues to serve as the establishment’s “biggest cheerleader,” and Nelson now has a new partner, friend, and restaurateur of Contigo and Ladybird Taco, Andrew Wiseheart, who joined the Honest Mary’s team in 2020.
While Mary Monteith now focuses on home life and raising the couple’s three children, she remains Honest Mary’s biggest cheerleader. Wiseheart and Monteith now lead the brand together, steering its growth and refining its operations with a strong commitment to both people and product.
But the father of three remains true to not only his business but the little people in his life who surely bring him an immense amount of joy.
“Everything we do about our concept is meant to be approachable for the whole family,” Monteith said.
The entrepreneur plans to do a “kids eat free” night. There will also be a kids’ bowl and snacks, and coloring sheets to keep the kiddos entertained while visiting Honest Mary’s.
As construction draws to a close, Honest Mary’s in the River Oaks Shopping Center intends to host a grand opening. Keep your eyes peeled on their social media for the latest dates.
You can expect to see more iterations of Honest Mary’s pop up in the state. Monteith confirmed that another location will open in Austin in early spring in the Seaholm neighborhood. He also plans to bring another Honest Mary’s to the Houston area, but you’ll have to come back here to find out when and where exactly.
For now, get ready to see this life-giving eatery rise to new heights when Honest Mary’s opens its doors at the River Oaks shopping center this Winter 2025.
