Chef Aaron Bludorn and his business partners Cherif Mbodji and Victoria Bludorn have built a well-established restaurant group in Houston that includes Bludorn, Navy Blue, and Bar Bludorn, as well as Perseid, which recently opened inside Hotel Saint Augustine. The unifying theme is expert hospitality and top-notch execution in the kitchen. All three partners worked within the dining group of legendary and exacting chef Daniel Boulud in New York and you can feel the pedigree at every establishment they open. The arrival of Bar Bludorn in early 2024 invited an elevated tavern experience into the fold.
Set in the Memorial Villages neighborhood of Houston, Bar Bludorn is warm and inviting, with a spacious bar and both lounge and dining room seating, as well as an open kitchen at one end of the dining room. There, executive chef Alexandra Peña, who worked her way up the ranks at both Bludorn and Navy Blue, executes the partners’ vision of providing a neighborhood tavern menu with a fine-dining sensibility.
Familiar favorites get an upgrade here, so fried chicken is served with a peanut gravy and the reuben is stuffed with shortrib and served on marbled rye as a rich and melty starter. The country ham beignets are a no-brainer, filled with ricotta and mustard and served with thinly shaved slivers of Benton’s ham on top. Mains include an Ora King salmon dish served over lentils, porchetta served over polenta, and to-die-for pastas like agnolotti with a mushroom duxelle, and a masa gnocchi with shrimp and butternut squash. Classics like steak frites and a comforting bowl of gumbo are also on hand. For dessert, the group is now well-known for the foie gras candy bar, built with marshmallows and candied peanuts, but there’s also a decadent ice cream sandwich and a Basque cheesecake that are hard to resist.
As the menu notes, regulars are welcome here. They’ll be there for the martini happy hour (daily from 4 to 6 p.m.) and on a Sunday night, when select wine bottles are half off—empty nesters, families with small children, and everyone in between. They’re here for the food, of course, as well as that signature mark of great hospitality: A service team that anticipates your needs before you do.
