After closing in 2020 due to the pandemic, Little Pappas Seafood House Oyster Bar will reopen at 3001 S. Shepherd in Montrose.
Houston-based Pappas Restaurants Inc. plans to begin hiring for the seafood eatery in January, according to an announcement. An opening timeline is not yet available because it depends on how the hiring process goes.
The restaurant has 118 indoor and outdoor seats. It focuses on fresh fish — rather than fried — and offers catches directly from the Gulf of Mexico when possible. With the reopening, the restaurant will add an oyster bar, offering a selection of both Gulf and East Coast oysters.
Before the pandemic, the 4,595-square-foot restaurant had been renovated with a black and white mosaic tile floor and new bar countertops. Now, the bar will have new light fixtures and bar stools as well. The 24-seat patio will gain new furniture, planters and a railing. The whole building will receive a fresh coat of paint and new awnings.
Pappas Restaurants wine director Robert Smith will revamp the wine list, which will feature about 60 options.
“There are really cool wine regions throughout Europe that make delicious, diverse whites — bright, crisp, mineral-laden wines that pair beautifully with seafood,” Smith said in a press release.
With upgrades made to South Shepherd Drive, the restaurant also will have easier access for curbside pickup.
In June 2020, Pappas Restaurants said the company had 80 locations that either remained open or had reopened from early pandemic-related closures. But Little Pappas Seafood House was one of five locations that — at the time — were expected to remain closed permanently.
In May 2021, CultureMap reported that Yia Yia Mary’s Mediterranean Kitchen will reopen in summer 2022 as Yia Yia Pappas. Although the original was located in the Galleria area, the new Yia Yia will replace the company’s former Pappadeaux restaurant at 2410 Richmond Ave. in Upper Kirby