Co-owner Scott Simonson describes Chez nous as fine dining without the stuffy experience.

Chez nous, which means “our home” in French, has used this approach to compete with larger upscale restaurants found inside Loop 610, he said.

“We’re trying to keep the tradition going as well as staying relevant in the Houston dining scene,” he said. “We’re obviously outside the loop, so therefore outside of the social dining loop. It makes us try harder because our customers are not just from [the Lake Houston area].”

Chez nous is a traditional French restaurant whose menu includes duck and beef tenderloin, which is used to make roast or steak. The seafood dishes feature shrimp, Atlantic salmon and crab, while the appetizers include escargot, or cooked snails.

For those who have never tasted French cuisine, Simonson recommends guests start with the Fresh Blue Crab, Mango, Avocado and Tomato Tower—one of the restaurant’s signature dishes—or select from the chef’s tasting menu, which includes six-course meals.   

“This is the place to go to feel comfortable,” he said. “I understand, fine dining is not in everyone’s budget. But we always want to emphasize to people they can have a simple dessert out. Instead of going to Baskin-Robbins, come enjoy a slice of flourless chocolate cake and a glass of champagne to treat yourself.”  

Chef Gerard Brach moved to Humble to open Chez nous in 1984. He and his wife Sandra operated and lived in the restaurant with their three daughters for seven years. While the rooms outside of the dining area now serve as an office, storeroom and employee bathroom, they were the rooms where the Brach family slept.

“Chez nous means ‘our home’ and that’s truly what it felt like for people,” Simonson said. “It was their life.”

Simonson and his wife Stacy, who serves as executive chef in addition to co-owner, both worked at Chez nous before traveling to France in the mid-1990s to work with Brach’s father. Scott and Stacy then purchased the French restaurant in 2006.

The Humble eatery became the Greater Houston area’s only restaurant named to OpenTable’s List of the Top 100 Restaurants in 2016. It has been recognized on the list three times in four years, Simonson said. OpenTable is an online restaurant-reservation service that helps diners find eateries in their area.