The restaurant address at 2424 Dunstan has moved from Benjy’s to a market and, in spring 2027, is scheduled to become Benjamin’s, a modern steakhouse from Local Foods Group. Local Foods Market currently occupies the space and is expected to move into the group’s Rice Village restaurant space. The Houston Chronicle reported the opening plan and that the restaurant is named for co-owner Benjy Levit.
A Rice Village address with a restaurant past
The change would bring the site back to restaurant use after several years as a market. Benjy’s opened there in 1995, the Houston Chronicle reported. Levit said at the time that Benjy’s, which closed in March 2020, would not reopen; Chron.com reported that decision. By early 2021, the former restaurant had been converted into Local Foods Market, according to the Chronicle’s coverage of the market’s opening.
The planned steakhouse is part of a changing commercial setting, though nearby development plans do not establish anything about Benjamin’s construction or business prospects. Houston First says the Village Corner redevelopment is expected to add retail and restaurant space, expanded patios and walkability improvements. Separately, Rice University has announced plans for a pedestrian-oriented street extending Amherst Avenue toward Rice Village.
What is planned for Benjamin’s
The Chronicle reports that Ryan LaChaine is set to lead the kitchen as executive chef, with Andy Thompson, whose previous posts include Truth Barbeque and Underbelly, as sous chef. A Mill Scale Metalworks grill is planned for the live-fire kitchen. Among the dishes reported as planned are a Denver steak milanese with uni and a dry-aged ribeye rubbed with huitlacoche; the menu and opening date remain plans for spring 2027, not a current offering.
Levit will lead the project with Local Foods Group partner Dylan Murray. Seth Siegel-Gardner, the group’s culinary and creative director, will help guide the restaurant; CultureMap’s profile of Siegel-Gardner notes his earlier work with Levit’s restaurants, including the original Benjy’s. The Chronicle also reports that Gillian Malone will oversee Benjamin’s and that Chad Matson will manage the bar across the steakhouse, Milton’s and Lee’s.
Other Houston restaurant outcomes offer only limited comparisons. CultureMap reported that downtown’s bar-forward GJ Tavern closed in 2023, citing its small footprint as a financial difficulty. That is a different concept and location, and one closure cannot predict the prospects of a Rice Village steakhouse. Benjamin’s performance, as well as the final details of its opening, remains unknown.
