Kamp Houston, the Westheimer Road bar-and-grill-turned-nightclub that hosted celebrities like Drake and GloRilla, has closed its doors permanently after six years in business. ALife Hospitality Group announced the closure on Sunday, thanking Houston, its team, “Kamp counselors,” team members and guests in a statement marking the end of the run at 6025 Westheimer Road near Fountain View Drive.
ALife Hospitality Group said it was unable to come to terms on a lease extension for the space, and the company also cited ongoing sound and parking challenges with neighbors as reasons for the shutdown, according to Chron. Kamp had operated as a family-friendly bar and grill serving boiled seafood, grilled oysters, catfish and oxtails until 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, before transforming into a club with DJs and cocktails later each of those nights, per the same report.
That dual identity is central to how the venue's relationship with its residential neighbors soured. Nearby residents voiced concerns to KHOU in April about loud music playing into the early morning hours, as well as Kamp's valet service parking cars on residential streets. Houston City Council Member Mary Nan Huffman, who represents District G, reported that a Houston Police Department captain temporarily shut Kamp down that same month for improperly maintained fire and safety systems, and officers were issued sound level meters to monitor complaints along nearby Potomac Drive, according to KHOU.
A Regulatory Squeeze Years in the Making
Houston's city sound ordinance, updated in 2022, requires commercial establishments within 300 feet of residential properties to hold a special permit if they play outdoor amplified sound after 10 p.m., subject to a 58-decibel nighttime residential limit and fines up to $2,000 per violation, per Community Impact. That framework put venues like Kamp squarely in the crosshairs of neighborhood complaints as its late-night crowds grew.
The friction wasn't new. In August 2023, three female patrons exiting Kamp Houston were struck and injured by a vehicle around 2 a.m. while attempting to cross Westheimer Road near Fountain View Drive outside of a crosswalk, according to KPRC Click2Houston. The area around the venue sits along a corridor that handles more than 59,000 vehicles per day and serves a surrounding population of over 500,000 residents within a 5-mile radius, according to a Matthews Real Estate Investment Services listing for the property.
From Pandemic-Era Launch to Peak Crowds
Kamp opened in the former Beaver's West space in Uptown Houston in 2020, created by ALife Hospitality Group co-founders Mojeed Martins and Jonathan Reitzell in partnership with Viet-Cajun chef Tony Nguyen and executive chef Jason Hill, according to CultureMap Houston. The venue launched with a family-oriented concept before evolving into the late-night club that regulars came to know. Shortly after opening during the pandemic, ALife's sister concept Prospect Park was placed on then-Mayor Sylvester Turner's pandemic “Wall of Shame” over crowd size concerns, an accusation ownership publicly disputed, the outlet reported.
At its peak, Kamp hosted up to 2,500 guests on weekend nights, and ALife Hospitality Group employed over 300 hospitality workers across its Houston portfolio as of late 2021, according to Essence. That portfolio also includes Lost & Found, Bungalow, Stick Talk (a Cajun hibachi concept) and Prospect Park, along with a car wash facility ALife operates. The company said it is developing a new restaurant concept going forward.
Commercial real estate listings show the 6025 Westheimer Road property, a 5,920-square-foot building on a 0.95-acre lot with 65 parking spaces, had already been placed on the market for $5,190,000 at a 9.25% cap rate through Matthews Real Estate Investment Services, suggesting the ownership had been positioning for a sale even before the lease dispute became public.
Part of a Wider Shakeup in Houston Nightlife
Kamp's closure is not an isolated event for ALife Hospitality Group. The company quietly shut down FRNDS Restaurant & Lounge in Rice Village earlier in 2026 after three years of operation, according to the Houston Chronicle, pointing to a broader pattern of venue closures across the group's portfolio this year.
The shutdown also lands amid wider turbulence in Houston's Black-owned hospitality and nightlife scene. It follows the Chapter 7 liquidation of Third Ward staple Turkey Leg Hut in late 2024 and the closure of nearby venue The Address Bar and Grill after nine years earlier this month, placing Kamp's exit within a larger pattern of economic and operational pressure facing local Black-owned nightlife venues.
