Four Years is Just the Beginning as The Ranch Saloon + Steakhouse Celebrates its Grand Opening at RODEOHOUSTON Opening Night
During its more than three-week residence in our city each year, RODEOHOUSTON has some spectacular things to see, other than the twenty days of the contestants and performances. They include Fat Stock Show Parade, Rodeo Uncorked & Best Bites Competition, three-day BBQ Cookoff, the auctions, and one of my favorites—the Opening Night Launch of The Ranch Saloon + Steakhouse. This season marks the fourth consecutive year that Berg Hospitality Group has constructed its massive, yet exquisite tent, eclectically decorated on the rodeo fairgrounds in imagery and style reflective of cowboy culture and ranch life.
Over 300 Houston A-listers were on hand to help Ben Berg, Founder and CEO of the group mentioned above, celebrate Rodeo Opening Day! His team served some of its most-loved dishes, including Mini Crab Cakes, Truffle Chicken Salad, Crab Tostaditas, Mini Carpet Baggers, Mini Beef Wellington, and Pigs in a Blanket.
Texas-based artist Laura Goodson supplied more than ninety pieces (all available for purchase) of her iconic western art to be displayed at The Ranch. She was proud to meet with guests and walk them through her artistic process.
Marla Hurley, a vintage consignment connoisseur with her store Modern Marla in Round Top, Texas, crafted an Instagram-worthy corner featuring many of her latest finds as the backdrop for a one-of-a-kind photo booth.
Along with the new “duded-up décor,” another fresh feature at this rodeo hot spot is the addition of Buttermilk Baby at the Ranch. The flagship location of this casual treasure launched in late summer 2024 at M-K-T Heights. This “satellite sister” and slice of Berg Hospitality’s varied and diverse restaurant pie is adjacent to The Ranch at the Rodeo and brings with it quite a bit of whimsy. It becomes as much fun for adults as it is for the youngsters! Mirrored disco balls, lively pastel hues and picnic tables, complete this carnival-style eatery. Its take-and-go, walk-up window serves a signature menu of 100% Texas Wagyu Corn Dogs and Hot Dogs, Southern Chicken Sandwiches, Chicken Tender Baskets, French Fries, and Carvel™ Ice Cream Flying Saucer® ice cream sandwiches. Strike an Instagram pose in front of the “shimmer walls!”
Champagne Madame Zero and its incredibly popular Rosé Champagne partnered with The Ranch Saloon + Steakhouse. This delightful bubbly has won two Rodeo Uncorked! Silver Medals (5 overall for this one and only Texan-owned champagne house). Aged for forty-two months in the iconic Premier Cru village of Vertus, France, this vintage is being poured by the glass and flowing for the duration of the rodeo.
Berg expects to serve more than 45,000 during the rodeo’s twenty days. On opening day, more than 1,100 reservations were requested. I had the pleasure of judging the Best Bites Food & Wine Competition with Ben, and we were placed at the same table. He let me know that the Saloon and Café still have over 200 seats, and the Bar has 80 seats. Both areas are first-come, first-served, and neither requires reservations. The private room can be reserved for up to forty people. Berg said, “To have The Ranch returning to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo for the fourth year in a row is a dream come true. The Houston community has given me so much; serving them at the city’s biggest event of the year is a way for me to give back to them.”
The Ranch Saloon + Steakhouse is conveniently located at NRG Park on the southwest corner of the NRG Astrodome and will be open throughout Rodeo season from March 4-23. Reservations are available now via OpenTable. The Ranch’s operating hours are Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. to midnight, Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. DJs will be featured nightly from 9 p.m. to midnight (Sunday from 8 to 11 p.m.). To visit them online, go to www.TheRanchatRodeo.com or on Instagram @theranchatrodeo.
In the Social Scene (not previously mentioned): Houston Life’s Derrick Shore, Tessa Barrera, Debbie Festari, Melissa Mithoff, Courtney Hopson, Champagne Madame Zero’s Matthew Massey, Gina and Peter Faucetta, Brandon Duliakas, Armie Sadeghr, Roz Pactor, Ellie and Michael Francisco, Ernie Manouse, Cade Killingsworth, Courtney Zavala, Alley Leto, Susan and Mike Plank, Jan Carson and Tim Connolly, Arthur Mooradian, Miya Shay, Tiana Lee and James Lancaster, Azameeh Zageer
