Chef Manabu Horiuchi launches Sushi Horiuchi, a six-seat nightly omakase next to Katami in Montrose

A new ultra-limited sushi counter is coming to Houston

Houston’s top-end sushi landscape is set to add a new, reservation-only destination: Sushi Horiuchi, an intimate omakase concept from chef Manabu “Hori” Horiuchi, the chef behind Kata Robata and the more recently opened Katami. The new project is planned next door to Katami at 2701 W. Dallas St. in Montrose, creating a single campus for two distinct expressions of Horiuchi’s cooking.

Sushi Horiuchi is designed around scarcity and structure. The restaurant is planned to offer one seating per night for six guests, with dinner beginning promptly at 7 p.m. Late arrivals will not be accommodated, a policy that underscores the format’s emphasis on pacing and precision. Reservations are required and are being handled through Resy.

What the experience will look like

The restaurant’s core offering is an omakase format built around hand-crafted bites, presented as a chef-led progression rather than a traditional à la carte meal. Guests will be able to add optional sake pairings. With only six diners per night, the concept places the chef’s technique and timing at the center of the evening, reflecting the small sushi-bar model that is common in Japan but comparatively rare in Houston at this scale.

• Capacity: six guests per night
• Service model: one nightly seating
• Start time: 7 p.m., with a strict start-time policy
• Reservations: required

How it fits into Chef Horiuchi’s Houston footprint

Horiuchi has played a major role in shaping contemporary Japanese dining in Houston since the opening of Kata Robata in 2009. That restaurant’s blend of sushi and broader Japanese cooking helped normalize high-quality nigiri and sashimi as mainstream fine dining in the city.

In 2023, Horiuchi and partners expanded with Katami, a Montrose restaurant centered on sushi, wagyu, and sake, with omakase service offered at the sushi bar. Sushi Horiuchi will sit alongside Katami as a separate, more narrowly focused experience—smaller, more controlled, and geared toward diners seeking a highly structured chef’s counter.

Sushi Horiuchi is positioned as a return to the small sushi-bar setting that influenced Horiuchi early in life, translating that model into a limited nightly service in Houston.

What it signals for Houston dining

The opening reflects a broader shift in Houston’s restaurant market toward reservation-driven, high-intensity tasting formats that prioritize craft, sourcing, and a tightly choreographed meal. In practical terms, Sushi Horiuchi’s six-seat limit is likely to make availability a defining feature of the concept, while placing even greater weight on consistency, timing, and repeatable execution.

For diners, the addition of a dedicated, micro-scale omakase counter from one of the city’s most recognized sushi chefs adds a new benchmark for what “exclusive” can mean in Houston: not a private club, but a deliberately small room where every seat is part of the performance.