Woodson’s Local Tap+Kitchen opened March 11 and is offering a variety of twists on classic American pub cuisine.
Owners Todd Weaver and Adam Lee, who have been in the restaurant business for 20 years and also own Exit 73 Bar and Grill in Spring and Calhoun’s Rooftop in Houston, opened up the new eatery on FM 1488 with a goal of using local products and purveyors.
“Woodson’s is basically all-local American pub fare,” Weaver said. “We do some really cool twist[s] on egg rolls, like brisket egg rolls and Philly cheesesteak egg rolls. We basically use all-local purveyors, so our brisket comes from The Feedlot BBQ, a food truck in Magnolia, and our bread is from Slow Dough [Bread Co.] in Houston. We try our best to stay as local as possible.”
Weaver said all craft beers at the eatery are from local breweries in the Magnolia and Conroe area and have been flying off the shelves since opening day. Popular food items so far have been the giant pretzel, Magnolia fries, and shrimp and grits.
“The one that catches everyone’s eye is the giant pretzel; it goes crazy and people want to order it,” Weaver said. “The Magnolia fries is also a big seller with the feedlot brisket we put in it.”
Although a full menu was displayed during Woodson’s soft opening days on March 9 and 10, it has been scaled down to accommodate the kitchen staff. However, more items will continue to be added back on the menu in the coming weeks.
“When we did our soft opening, we realized it was too much for the kitchen to handle, so we scaled back some stuff,” Weaver said. “In the next few weeks, we’re going to introduce some items we had on the regular menu.”
Aside from offering unique menu items, such as giant pretzels and artisan fries, Weaver said the main thing that makes Woodson’s different from other bars is its caring attitude toward customers.
“We’re training our staff to actually care about the guests; I think that’s left out a lot,” he said. “We can serve food and drinks all day but if you’re not actually caring about people walking through the door and making a difference, then you’re just a regular place; so, that’s what we’re focusing on right now.”
Although Woodson’s is a new restaurant, its owners are already planning more locations of the restaurant in the future.
“We basically want to turn this into five to 10 locations,” Weaver said. “This is the concept we’ve been trying to build for 10 years, and we couldn’t put it together. And then we finally found a location we all like. This place is growing, and we saw a demand out here that needed to be filled. This is the restaurant we want to duplicate. I know we’re excited to be here.”
