Chef David Cordúa will open The Lymbar, a neighborhood craft cocktail bar and restaurant with Latin and Mediterranean flavors, this fall at The Ion (4201 Main St.) – the technology and community hub that will anchor a 16-acre innovation district in Houston’s Midtown. The restaurant will be housed in the building’s street level “jewel-box” corner suite and will contain approximately 120 seats in over 4,000 SF of indoor and outdoor dining space, with an emphasis on barrel-aged spirits, small plates and a vertical rotisserie in a theater-style open kitchen.

Gin Braverman of Houston-based Gin Design Group, a longtime Cordúa family friend, is designing the space. The concept is named after Lymbar Drive, the tight knit, ethnically diverse community where Cordúa grew up in Southwest Houston.

The Lymbar joins three other recently announced innovation district restaurants: Late August – a new concept by chef partners Chris Williams of Lucille’s and Dawn Burrell, the James Beard Award-winning semifinalist and current Top Chef contestant; STUFF’d Wings – the first brick-and-mortar version of the acclaimed Third Ward-area food truck; and Common Bond Café – a new on-the-go iteration of the perennially popular bistro and bakery. Collectively, the hyperlocal concepts will establish a culinary nucleus that will help pave the way for a vibrant and bustling district when they begin opening this summer in the epicenter of Houston’s innovation ecosystem.

Cordúa, the former executive chef/owner at Américas and Churrascos, is partnering with his father, Michael Cordúa, on the project. The Lymbar is the first concept from the beloved father-son duo since their departure from Cordúa Restaurants. Michael Cordúa – a native of Nicaragua — founded Churrascos in 1988, introducing a new wave of Latin cuisine to Houston and earning rave reviews from Food & Wine, Esquire and more.

David Cordúa – who was born in Houston and graduated from Strake Jesuit College Preparatory — earned his culinary diploma from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. He spent more than a decade with his family’s restaurant group from 2007-18, helping to oversee award-winning concepts Américas, Churrascos, Artista and Amazón Grill.

The Lymbar will continue that storied culinary tradition, but with the inclusion of global influences from afar, presented in a manner that showcases David Cordúa’s roots in French cooking. With a menu that represents an evolution of the father-son duo’s renowned culinary creativity, the concept is “a lifetime in the making,” says David.

“If Churrascos and Américas were our family story in Central America, The Lymbar is our first opportunity to tell our family story in Houston,” David Cordúa said. “We’re really excited to be a place where people meet, think, eat and drink in The Ion, and we look forward to being a part of the heartbeat of Houston’s new innovation district.”

Among the Cordúas’ neighbors on Lymbar Drive were Braverman; the Droubi family, owners of Droubi’s Bakery & Delicatessen; and the Garcia-Prat family, owners of Finca Tres Robles Farm. Each of their influences will be reflected at The Lymbar: Braverman through her design, the Droubi family through Lebanese and Mediterranean menu items, and the Garcia-Prats through local produce sourced from their farm.

The Lymbar will be the first bar-forward concept from the Cordúas, centered around a craft cocktail program with an emphasis on barrel-aged spirits. The bar’s core identity will feel classic and vintage, mirroring the food menu with cocktails that pay homage to Latin, South American and Mediterranean influences. The bar itself will be a glowing presence, located in front of the stunning floor-to-ceiling bay windows of the space.

Burdette Huffman with Blue Ox represented the Rice Management Company, and Emily Durham with Waterman Steele represented Cordúa. The Lymbar will serve lunch, dinner, and drinks seven days a week. Brunch and happy hour will be added in the future.

About The Lymbar The Lymbar is a bar-forward concept with Latin and Mediterranean flavors from chef David Cordúa, located at 4201 Main St. at The Ion in Midtown Houston. It is slated to open in Fall 2021. Stay tuned for more information on The Lymbar’s opening date.

About the Ion

Ion: Where ideas go to grow. Located in Ion District, the namesake building is the transformative centerpiece of Houston’s innovation corridor. Designed to bring our city’s entrepreneurial, corporate, and academic communities into collaborative spaces and programs, the sunlit structure of steel and glass is a home for advancing diverse knowledge, teams, technologies, and products that propel our world forward. From Fortune 500s seeking flexible office space to first-time startups looking for the funding to design a prototype, the Ion provides wide-reaching space and support to connect every What if with What now?—welcoming individuals and teams of all kinds to a place to build a better way.