An all-day breakfast and lunch café is headed to 1660 S. Mason Road in Katy, where franchise partners Mario Harper and Ifeoma Harper have signed a lease for their first Flying Biscuit Café. The couple is targeting a late November 2026 opening inside the Mason Knolls Shopping Center, bringing the Atlanta-born brunch chain to a stretch of Katy that has not had one of its cafés before.
The lease signing was reported by What Now Houston on October 6, followed by Katy Times on October 8. What Now Houston reports that Mario and Ifeoma Harper signed on for their first Flying Biscuit Café at the Mason Road address. The café plans to serve breakfast and lunch daily, and will also offer full-service catering for team breakfasts, school events and family gatherings, according to the same report. On the menu: stuffed French toast, shrimp and grits, omelets, vegan scrambles, burgers and wraps.
Flying Biscuit itself lists a late November 2026 target on its own site, saying of the Katy location, “our will open in late November, 2026!” according to flyingbiscuit.com. The chain traces its roots back to 1993, when its first café opened for breakfast at about 7 a.m. one morning in Atlanta's Candler Park neighborhood, the company notes on its site.
Construction Underway, But No Confirmed Opening Date Yet
The restaurant is planned for the Mason Knolls Shopping Center, according to Covering Katy, which reported the space as a 3,800-square-foot buildout — though MyNeighborhoodNews put the figure at 3,822 square feet, a discrepancy neither outlet resolved. A Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing shows a $450,000 buildout scheduled to begin Oct. 1 and wrap up Dec. 1, per Covering Katy. That outlet is careful to note the December date is a construction estimate, not an announced opening date, leaving the exact day the doors open still unconfirmed.
Mario and Ifeoma Harper will own and operate the Katy café, the same report states. The pair bring distinct backgrounds to the venture: Mario Harper is an attorney and entrepreneur, while Ifeoma Harper brings 25 years of commercial-banking experience, according to FSR Magazine.
A Fast-Growing Brand Filling In the Houston Map
The Katy signing is part of a broader push into Texas. FSR Magazine reports the brand entered the state in 2024, opening five new units in Houston, and has opened six locations nationwide in 2025 alone. The trade publication adds that Flying Biscuit is eyeing Dallas, Austin and San Antonio as key Texas target markets. The Flying Biscuit Café plans to open its Abilene, Texas, location in the first quarter of 2027.
Exactly how big the chain has grown is harder to pin down. Flying Biscuit's listed footprint spans Alabama, South Carolina, Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and Texas, while FSR Magazine reports 41 open locations across seven states with 15 more in development. What Now Houston puts the count at 44 open locations with 12 in development, and Covering Katy reports 43 restaurants with 11 more in development across seven states — figures that vary by source and have not been reconciled.
The Houston-area footprint is similarly described in different ways. FSR Magazine says the brand already operates five cafés in Memorial City, East Downtown, Kingwood, Richmond and Cypress, while What Now Houston states that Katy will become the seventh café in the Houston market once it opens. FSR Magazine separately notes that the Katy location is intended to fill in the map between the brand's Richmond café to the south and its Cypress café to the north.
What Sets Flying Biscuit's Hours Apart
Beyond the biscuits and shrimp and grits, Flying Biscuit's operating model relies on afternoon-closing hours designed to let teams be home by 3 p.m. every day, FSR Magazine reports. Whether the Katy location will follow that same daily schedule once it opens has not yet been detailed publicly.
For now, Katy residents watching the Mason Road storefront will have to wait on a firm date. Between the construction timeline running through early December and the company's own late-November target, the café's actual opening will likely land somewhere in that window — pending confirmation from the Harpers themselves.
