Chef Graham Laborde is opening a new Gulf Coast-inspired restaurant called Little Bird in the Heights this fall, bringing a 149-seat dining room, full-service bar, two courtyards and a hand-carved wooden oyster bar to a stretch of Durham Drive that has churned through tenants for years. The restaurant will occupy 1815 N. Durham Dr., a site with a winding history that includes stints as a gas station and, more recently, two very different restaurant concepts.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Little Bird will lean heavily on seafood and include multiple private dining spaces alongside its main dining room. Laborde, who runs the New Orleans-influenced neighborhood restaurant and bar Winnie's with partner Benjy Mason, has revealed few menu details so far, but the Chronicle reports the space itself is shaping up to be a statement, with one courtyard featuring an antique cast-iron fountain and a 60-foot pergola. The restaurant will also include a commissioned mural from Houston artists Whitney Garrett-Yarbrough and Dayle Booth.
A Gulf Coast Chef Shaped by Louisiana Kitchens
Laborde was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana, and has cited his mother's and grandmother's Gulf Coast cooking as a formative influence, per the same Chronicle report. Before landing in Houston, he worked in New Orleans kitchens including Commander's Palace, Stella! and Boucherie, restaurants known for the kind of refined Southern cooking that will likely inform Little Bird's menu. He relocated to Houston in 2010, according to Keeper Collection, where he later served as operations manager for Black Hill Meats and the Texas Ranchers Network alongside butcher Felix Florez, gaining hands-on experience in local livestock sourcing and butcher shop operations.
Little Bird is not Laborde's first ambitious Heights concept. He opened Bernadine's, a Gulf Coast restaurant that earned strong reviews during its run, but the restaurant closed in 2017 when parent company Mothership Ventures shuttered both Bernadine's and sibling concept Hunky Dory following Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings, according to Houstonia Magazine. The collapse stemmed from the parent company's financial strain rather than any issue with the kitchen itself, as Houston Food Finder reported at the time.
Building a Track Record Before Going Independent Again
After Bernadine's closed, Laborde joined Ronnie Killen's restaurant group as operations chef, managing kitchen operations across the brand's expanding Texas footprint, Houston Food Finder noted. He and Chris Roy both worked within Killen's orbit during that stretch, before Laborde and Benjy Mason opened Winnie's in Midtown Houston in September 2021, taking over the former Natachee's Supper 'n' Punch space to serve New Orleans-inspired patio food and craft drinks, according to Houston Food Finder's coverage at the time. Winnie's has since landed on the Houston Chronicle's Top 100 list and was among the storefronts featured in Hoodline's recent Midtown block party coverage.
Mason's footprint extends well beyond Winnie's. He also owns Johnny's Gold Brick, a Heights cocktail bar on Yale Street that opened in 2015 and was named a regional finalist for Best U.S. Bar Team in the 2026 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards, per Houston Food Finder. In February 2025, Mason and Little Bird drink collaborator Justin Ware launched Starduster Lounge, a Cosmic Cowboy-themed bar at 3921 N. Main St. occupying a restored 1940s building that formerly housed Spanish Flowers restaurant, with Ware serving as beverage consultant on that project. Ware now holds the title of operations director for Johnny's Gold Brick, Winnie's and Starduster Lounge, and Laborde has tapped him to handle drinks at Little Bird as well. Mason also branched into pizza delivery in January 2026, partnering with chef Jason Kerr to launch Shredders Pizza, a chef-driven New York-style operation, according to Houstonia Magazine.
A Restaurant Site With a Long, Rotating History
For Little Bird's menu, Laborde has brought on Julian Doran, chef of Tiny Champions, as a pastry consultant, the Chronicle reports. The property Little Bird will inhabit tells its own story of Heights redevelopment. Before it became a restaurant, 1815 N. Durham Dr. operated as a local tire repair shop and later a gas station, according to CultureMap Houston. It then spent roughly seven years as Flying Fish, a fast-casual East Texas seafood restaurant, before that concept closed in late 2024.
The space was reborn again in April 2025 as The Kid, a burger bar and cocktail lounge operated by the group behind Flying Saucer and Rodeo Goat, according to Community Impact. Little Bird's arrival marks yet another turn for the address, this time as a 149-seat Gulf Coast destination built around an oyster bar and courtyard gardens rather than a quick burger stop.
