A host of new restaurants have been opening around Sugar Land and Missouri City in recent months to satisfy the tastes of a diverse and growing population. Restaurants opened in the last three months include Marco's Pizza, Mosset Grille and Wine Bar, Tierra del Fuego and The Egg and I.
"The influx of major restaurant chains and high-end dining options across Fort Bend County is a direct result of the desirable demographics here," said Shanta Kuhl, president of the Central Fort Bend Chamber Alliance. "These companies do their due diligence. They don't open a location without researching the market thoroughly to make sure the demographics match their target."
Sugar Land and Missouri City's growing populations provide restaurants with a steady dinner and weekend customer base, Kuhl said. In addition to providing a healthy night crowd, employees from nearby corporate offices and headquarters occupy the restaurants at lunch as well, restaurant owners and city officials said.
"What we find attractive about Sugar Land in particular is that it has the best of both worlds: lunch crowd and dinner crowd," said Jeff Vickers, spokesman for Which Wich sandwich shops.
Several larger restaurants have also targeted the area for new locations. Rudy's Country Store and Bar-B-Q is expected to open later this year, and Chuy's is slated to open in the Crossing at Telfair strip center at Hwy. 6 and Hwy. 90 this fall.
Hot spots
The city of Sugar Land's dining and retail occupancy rate is at 90 percent, said Stephanie Russell, director of business retention with Sugar Land's office of economic development. Most dining options can be found near planned developments.
"To name just a few examples, Lake Pointe Town Center is now home to Churrascos and Veritas Steak and Seafood, [and] the Crossing at Telfair features Fadi's Grill and Bombay Pizza—and soon, Chuy's," Russell said.
Restaurants are concentrated around master-planned developments in Missouri City as well. Clusters of restaurants have opened along Hwy. 6 between Riverstone and Sienna Plantation, said Keri Schmidt, president of the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce.
Hilary Delling, Chuy's marketing manager, said the strong co-tenants in Telfair, and its accessibility to residents, were major factors in choosing its location.
"Sugar Land in general has so many great corporate offices there," she said. "There's a lot of really strong business partners that we think are going to be great for us."
Delling said work on the new restaurant is progressing ahead of schedule and will likely be completed this summer.
In addition, Rudy's Country Store and Bar-B-Q is planning to open its fifth Houston area store in November at the River Pointe Center, a Transwestern development along Hwy. 59 near the Grand Parkway, company officials said.
Lunchtime dining
Sugar Land and Missouri City's growing daytime population of corporate office workers brings significant lunch traffic to local restaurants, Schmidt said.
Which Wich has been focusing on expanding its lunchtime revenue, Vickers said. The company has restaurants in Sugar Land and Missouri City that have been successful in attracting lunch crowds, and several new Which Wich locations are planned for the area, he said.
Residential growth across all demographics makes Sugar Land and Missouri City attractive to restaurants. According to data from the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce, the median age in 2010 was 41 in Sugar Land and 36 in Missouri City. The median household income is $102,270 in Sugar Land and $88,087 in Missouri City.
Attractions such as the Sugar Land Skeeters, the Houston Museum of Natural Science and in the future, the city's performing arts center, draw people to Sugar Land, while good restaurants enrich their experience, Russell said.
"Such [dining] options complement the many quality-of-life amenities we have in Sugar Land by giving people the opportunity to extend their experiences in Sugar Land," she said.
