Mac Haik unveils plans for Kirkwood restaurant coming to Energy Corridor tower (RENDERINGS)
- Mac Haik Enterprises
- May 6
- 3 min read
By Florian Martin – Growth editor, Houston Business Journal
May 6, 2025
Houston-based Mac Haik Enterprises has announced details about a new restaurant slated to open this fall in one of its Energy Corridor office buildings as part of an extensive renovation.
Kirkwood, developed by Mac Haik Restaurant Group, will be on the first floor of Energy Tower II, at 11720 Katy Freeway. The tower is part of Mac Haik’s Energy Plaza, a four-building office campus at Interstate 10 and Kirkwood Drive, which also includes the Embassy Suites Houston Energy Corridor.
Led by Executive Chef and Director of Culinary Stephen Chiang, previously the executive chef for the Petroleum Club of Houston, the kitchen will serve “elevated American classics seen through a Houston lens,” the company said in a press release. The menu includes steak frites, seafood platters, crisp salads and desserts. In addition, Kirkwood will offer signature cocktails, focusing on handcrafted old-fashioneds, as well as a curated selection of wine and beer.
Director of Operations Haleigh Frey, formerly general manager of Berg Hospitality Group, will oversee daily operations.
The 5,500-square-foot restaurant was designed by Gin Braverman of Houston-based Gin Design Group. It will seat 154 guests and include a 16-seat private room and a 1,900-square-foot, 72-seat sunroom with a curved, double-sided fireplace.
Kirkwood will feature rich leathers, dark woods and layered textures throughout as well as an open kitchen clad in copper, Mac Haik said.
The design also pays homage to the passions of the company’s owner and namesake, including sports, classic cars, family and community — from a wraparound bar with automotive accent to an Astrodome art installation and rooms named after Haik's wife and his mother.
“This project is incredibly special to us because it captures so much of what makes Houston — and Mac — unique: grit, hospitality and pride in doing things well,” Mac Haik Enterprises COO Joseph Kubicki said in the release. “But the beauty of Kirkwood is that you don’t need to know the backstory to feel it. You walk in and immediately feel at home.”
While Haik, a former Houston Oilers player, now is widely recognized for his car dealerships, including Mac Haik Chevrolet just across I-10 from Energy Plaza, nearly 80% of his business is in real estate, the company said.
Mac Haik Enterprises started an amenity-focused renovation of the 428,831-square-foot, 17-story Energy Tower II last December and expects to complete it in September, the building's CBRE leasing agent previously told the Houston Business Journal.
Besides the restaurant, the project includes an expanded lobby, a tenant lounge with a coffee bar, a renovated fitness center with an outdoor exercise area, updated outdoor greenspace with covered seating areas connected to the building lounge, and new conference rooms on the first and second floors. The second-floor conference rooms will be connected to the tenant lounge with a new stairway.
Mac Haik originally envisioned the restaurant as an amenity for tenants and guests of Energy Plaza, but it evolved into a place targeting the entire community, the company said.
Meanwhile, this is far from the company's first restaurant venture.
For instance, Haik invested in the Original ChopShop, a salads and protein bowl restaurant, which opened its first Houston-area locations in 2021. In 2019, Mac Haik Enterprises inked a deal to help expand Huntington Beach, California-based fast-casual seafood chain Slapfish. The company also signed an exclusive franchise deal with First Watch in February 2016 and opened its initial Houston-area location in December of that year.
