Comfort Foodies has traded its longtime Cy-Fair storefront for a bigger home in Missouri City, opening a soft-launch location on Highway 6 that adds something the original spot never had: a full bar. The Latin-Caribbean and Southern soul food concept, known for oxtails served with rice, beans and yams, is now welcoming guests at 8731 Highway 6 in the Sienna area, Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The move closes the book on the restaurant's first brick-and-mortar chapter. According to Houston Press, Comfort Foodies operated out of 8128 North Sam Houston Parkway West in Cy-Fair from June 2022 until closing that location in April to consolidate operations into the new Missouri City site. That makes the roughly 3,000-square-foot Highway 6 restaurant a relocation and expansion rather than a second branch, according to WhatNow, which reports the new space seats 50 to 60 guests and supports dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering.
A Full Bar Joins the Menu for the First Time
The Missouri City location includes a full bar with specialty cocktails and dedicated bar seating, per WhatNow's reporting on the soft opening. That's a notable upgrade: according to real estate coverage from Janssen Realty Group, the bar amenity wasn't available at the brand's original Sam Houston Parkway storefront. Comfort Foodies also plans to eventually roll out happy hour programming, and Houston Press has reported the Missouri City location offers value-driven lunch specials priced under $12, alongside plans for Thursday and Friday happy hours.
Co-owner Elsa Matthews said the Missouri City location represents significant growth while the business remains focused on food, family, culture and community, according to WhatNow. Matthews, who has Dominican and New York roots, developed the menu by pairing Dominican recipes with the Southern soul food traditions of her husband and co-founder, Jeff Matthews, who has a Houston upbringing and Southern soul food culinary influences, per Houston Press's earlier profile of the couple.
From Food Truck to Sit-Down Restaurant
Elsa and Jeff Matthews have served the Houston community since 2020, when they launched Comfort Foodies as a mobile food truck just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, according to Houston Press's account of the company's history. The pair sustained early growth through corporate soul food catering before eventually transitioning into a physical restaurant. Oxtails with rice, beans and yams remain the restaurant's most popular dish, per WhatNow, and the fuller dinner menu also includes Dominican-style brown chicken stew, smothered pork chops, blackened catfish with Cajun coconut sauce, tostones, collard greens with smoked turkey, and Caribbean rice with pigeon peas, according to Houston Press.
The brand's reach now extends well beyond its dining room. Comfort Foodies ships its signature empanadas nationwide through Goldbelly, offering varieties like slow-braised oxtail, beef and cheese, chicken and cheese, and spinach and cheese built on house-made sofrito. That expanding frozen empanada line, as WhatNow notes, gives the Matthewses a dual local-and-e-commerce business built out of their food truck origins.
Why Missouri City, Why Now
The relocation lands the restaurant in one of Fort Bend County's fastest-growing corridors. Demographic data published by Point2Homes shows the Sienna master-planned community, where the restaurant now sits, topped 30,000 residents with a median household income of $129,151 in late 2025 — a suburban customer base with real spending power for evening dine-in and bar service.
The concept has already earned recognition beyond Missouri City. Houston Press named Comfort Foodies “Best Comfort Food” in its annual Best Of Houston 2025 awards for its fusion of Dominican and Southern soul food cuisines, and the restaurant has also been featured as a participating spot in Houston's Black Restaurant Week, spotlighting its Black-owned Dominican and soul food fusion concept to regional food audiences. For now, the Highway 6 location remains in its soft-opening period, which WhatNow reports is meant to let the Comfort Foodies team finish dialing in operations ahead of an official grand opening celebration.
