Named for his parents, Agnes and Sherman, chef Nick Wong brings diner-style modern Asian American fare to this buzzy new spot on 19th. Here,the Momofuku and UBPreserv alum turns nostalgia into playful, bold dishes that are better than any diner food you’ve ever had – think savory scallion waffles with sambal honey butter, Taiwanese disco fries with pork gravy and pickled mustard greens, crab randoon dip with crispy wonton chips, and crawfish gumbo smothered egg foo young. Tack on a newly launched brunch and lunch service and the Heights has its new favorite spot.
Brooke Viggiano is a contributing writer who is always looking to share Houston’s coolest and tastiest happenings with the Houston Press readers.
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Raquel Quadreny says her restaurant, Bayan Ko — the Cuban and Filipino hybrid in Ravenswood— has always offered “diner hospitality,” despite not being a diner and serving only dinner.
“We’re just a very wholesome place, welcoming and very focused on being a neighborhood spot,” Quadreny says.
That’s one of the reasons that Quadreny and her husband, chef Lawrence Letrero, naturally gravitated toward opening a diner a few doors down from their original restaurant. Bayan Ko Diner debuted in early May, bringing the all-day crowd back inside the former Glenn’s Diner. They’re open only for breakfast and lunch. They’ll eventually expand to dinner.
“It’s just as much about enjoying yourselves while eating your food,” Quadreny says. “And you have to be the being taken care of by someone who’s being nice and kind to you so that you can feel comfortable.”
The Filipino silog will probably draw some comparison with Chicago’s legendary Uncle Mike’s Place. There are pancakes, breakfast burritos, and even a cake of the day baked by Letrero’s sister, Tricia, a dentist who is a self-taught baker. Letrero gushes about her carrot cake: “I don’t even mess with carrots,” he says.
The original Bayan Ko opened in 2018 and has recently shifted to a prix fixe format, allowing Letrero to use fancier ingredients, but retaining the laid-back vibe that drew a diverse group of customers. Some of the the original menu has moved to the diner. Quadreny grew up in Miami. The menu sees Cuban influences with tropical milkshakes, Cubano sliders, and a burrito stuffed with ropa vieja.
Glenn’s Diner served daily and weekly specials, and Letrero continues that tradition. Bayan Ko’s popular chicken wings will be a diner special and so will oxtail soup.
Regular menu items include a brick chicken inasal marinated with lemongrass with runny juices that saturate a diner’s choice of fries or garlic rice. There are also Cubano sliders. Letrero, a Filipino Canadian, also hinted at items like Filipino spaghetti, using hot dogs and that familiar sweet tomato sauce that many Americans know from Jollibee: “We’re just having fun with the menu,” Letrero says.
The family-owned diner is special for Letrero and Quadreny. They say their unique bond has connected them with other Filipino-Cuban families in Chicago who have dined at their restaurant. Tour the space and check out some of the dishes below.
Bayan Ko Diner, 1820 W. Montrose Avenue, open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, closed Tuesdays; dinner coming soon.
He is the ideal rebel for a generation – but does Kevin Bacon use weed?
He is a symbol of rebel – his defining roll in the movie Footloose set a music and rebel tone for a generation. The classic movie is about one teen’s desire to dance changed the mindset of a small town. When it premiered, marijuana was not legal anywhere in North America. The movie was filmed at Payson High School in Utah, and now Bacon is returning for the school’s prom on the 40th anniversary of the premier. And boy, have things changed. In 2018, Utah approved and started legal medical marijuana, a first step toward recreational. So now patients in Payson can dance and consume.
Bacon’s career continued in such diverse vehicles as Frost/Nixon, X-Men: First Class, Crazy Stupid, Love, and I Love Dick Six Degrees. There is even a fun game/meme of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon where players try to connect actors or people to others within 6 connections – and the less connections the better. After all this, does Kevin Bacon use weed and chill?
Well, the answer is Bacon cuts loose and enjoys the plant. He is very open about it and in fact shared. “Different people react differently to it,” Bacon said. “I’m okay as long as I’m in a super, super safe kind of situation … I need to be like in bed, or something’s on. Like work, never, never, never … otherwise I can get a little paranoid.”
But sometimes, things happen. Kevin Bacon revealed to Seth Meyers he got high on marijuana with co-star Daniel Stern before filming a scene for the 80’s hit Diner. Thinking they had the day off, he and Stern head to a movie theatre to chill and watch a film. Partially through the movie, he got called to return to the set. Stern was not need and laughing is head off.
“I was fine. It turned out that the scene was just me walking in the background or something like that. Plus the adrenaline just straightened me right up,” Bacon said.
Krya Sedgwick, Bacon’s wife, shared to prep for a role, she got stoned with him. Marijuana is a great material aid, maybe it is one of the reasons the Hollywood couple has been together for 35 years. They starred in numerous movies together including Space Oddity which Sedgwick and Bacon starred.
It is great Bacon has kept up the fight to open people’s minds about new things.
CINCINNATI—Admitting that he had an avoidant personality that often left him closed off to new possibilities, local man Stanley Fox reportedly stepped out of his comfort zone Friday by flashing his penis to diners at popular restaurant Harmon’s Dinette. “Certainly, I’m not the kind of guy who’d usually feel comfortable unzipping his pants and unveiling his penis in front of strangers, but sometimes it’s important to push yourself into something new,” said Fox, who noted that speaking with a therapist had helped him understand the way social anxiety could prevent him from experiencing the satisfaction and growth that could be derived from pointing to one’s partially erect member and then asking disgusted nearby patrons, “You like what you see?” “This is like when I tried sushi for the first time. I kept telling myself I’d never eat raw fish, but now that I have, I actually eat it all the time. Now, I’ll admit this is scarier than staying under my safety blanket of pants and underwear, but it’s also more exciting.” At press time, Fox confirmed that his worst fears had gone unrealized after the customers who had not fled or called the police went on to applaud his bravery for showing off his genitals.
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