Dinner Downstairs: A Resident's Guide to Dining in River Oaks

The original vision for NOVEL River Oaks included something few Houston apartment communities can offer: "a restaurant that's just an elevator ride away." Today there are two. Fielding's Steak and Anthony's New York Italian share the building's ground floor on Westheimer, and Highland Village, Central Market and River Oaks District are all within walking distance. Here is how residents eat, from a weekday lunch to a dinner party at home.

Fielding's Steak

Fielding's Steak opened at 3750 Westheimer Road in December 2024, the first Houston-area restaurant from Fielding's Culinary Group, which also runs Fielding's Local Kitchen & Bar in The Woodlands and Fielding's Wood Grill in Shenandoah. The menu centers on live-fire steaks from Texas's 44 Farms, along with seafood, fresh pastas and craft pizzas. The room includes a large bar, a lounge with live music, two outdoor patios, a private dining room and a wine collection of about 1,400 bottles.

Residents tend to use Fielding's three ways: lunch on a workday, the afternoon social hour at the bar, and weekend brunch. Lunch runs Tuesday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Social Hour Tuesday through Sunday from 3 to 7 p.m., and brunch Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fielding's is closed Mondays. It is also the natural choice for a celebration that doesn't require leaving the building.

Anthony's New York Italian

Anthony's opened in spring 2026 at 3748 Westheimer, next door to Fielding's. It comes from Anthony Russo, founder of Russo's New York Pizzeria, and draws on his family's Italian heritage and the restaurant his parents ran in Galveston. Pastas, doughs, sauces and sausage are made in house, and pizzas bake in imported Italian ovens with imported mozzarella and burrata.

What to order: the lobster fra diavolo, the frutti di mare over pappardelle, the bone-in veal parmesan, or the 24-ounce prime porterhouse for the table. Anthony's is open daily for lunch and dinner, from 11 a.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. on weekends, with a $29 prix fixe lunch on weekdays and happy hour from 2 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Reservations are on OpenTable.

A Short Walk Away

West along Westheimer, River Oaks District is about a 15-minute walk (4 minutes by car) and holds several of the area's most popular tables:

Steak 48, a polished steakhouse for business dinners and special occasions
Loch Bar, a seafood and whisky bar with weekend brunch
Little Hen, a café for breakfast, brunch and afternoon tea
Toulouse, a French café and bar with a patio made for long lunches

River Oaks District also has Bari Ristorante for Italian, Le Colonial for French-Vietnamese and Azumi for modern Japanese. Closer to home, Highland Village is a 5-minute walk, with RA Sushi, Escalante's Tex-Mex and Numero28 Neapolitan pizza. About a mile east, State of Grace (3258 Westheimer), chef Ford Fry's Gulf Coast restaurant, is a short drive.

Coffee and Quick Bites

The resident coffee bar in the NOVEL lobby is the first stop most mornings, and it hosts wine tastings in the evening. For a change of scene, Highland Village has coffee and casual lunch options within a 5-minute walk. In River Oaks District, Ojo de Agua's Mexico City–style café and Little Hen serve coffee and all-day menus, and Amorino scoops gelato.

Groceries: Central Market

Central Market, the specialty grocer on Westheimer, is a 5-minute walk from NOVEL River Oaks. Beyond everyday groceries, it is known for its produce, chef-prepared meals, cheese counter and wine selection, which makes it as useful for a weeknight dinner as for stocking a party.

Hosting at Home

Some evenings are better at home. Every residence at NOVEL River Oaks has a gourmet kitchen with a gas range, wine refrigerator and prep island. For larger gatherings, residents can reserve the private dining and executive conference room, which has a catering pantry for a chef or a delivery from downstairs. The rooftop sunset terrace has grilling stations for a more casual night.