Press

April 2023

"I was definitely a restaurant brat," said David Cordúa. The Houston chef laughed at the memory of his long-ago childhood routine. "After school every day, my two sisters and I would go to my father's restaurant," he said, "and the cooks would make us something to eat. We loved the grilled chicken with sherry cream sauce. After that we'd sit at the bar and do our homework." 

The time was the late nineties, and the place was the tremendously popular Churrascos, which had been opened by his dad, Nicaraguan-born chef Michael Cordúa, in 1988. It was a classy early example of the Nuevo Latino concept that took hold in the U.S. in the mid-nineties, and Michael would go on to add two more restaurants to his burgeoning empire, Américas and Artista, both of which would have enormous followings in Houston for more than a decade. By his late teens, David was helping in the kitchen of Américas, and after earning a degree from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, he became executive chef of the family's restaurant group. 

Now, at forty years old, he has opened his own restaurant, the Lymbar. 

January 2023

The new era of Houston has ushered in a hotbed of repurposed historic buildings like The Post and The Ion, which are helping add a refreshed feel to some of Houston's oldest landmarks. The latter, located in the heart of Midtown, was formerly home to the Sears showroom. Now, the newly remodeled interior has been transformed into a multipurpose space, home to Houston's leading innovation hub and multiple best-in-class restaurants, one of which is The Lymbar. We previously shared that the restaurant opened back in December, and now, we're finally getting around to giving it a taste.  

Chef David Cordúa helms this culinary tribute to his Nicaraguan family. The Lymbar is named after the street in Meyerland, where his grandparents settled in Houston. Nestled inside the first floor of The Ion, the restaurant is utterly nostalgic, an ode to his grandmother's home, where the Cordúa family practiced their unique approach to hospitality.

April 2023

A menu bristling with such clever snacks and cocktails seems bound to make the Lymbar into the Ion's go-to lounge and hangout Cordua intends it to be. The big, quirky room occupies a ground-floor corner of the radically reimagined 1939 Sears store that houses the tech incubator. There's a sly mid-century charm to the Gin Braverman design, and range of seating options beckons tenants and passersby to come in. 

If the Lymbar looks like a living room on steroids — complete with claret-hued sofas and a tchotke-lined bookshelf wall — it's no accident. The restaurant is named for the Meyerland street on which David Cordua grew up, and where his grandparents landed when they first arrived in Houston from Nicaragua. Family photos and even a vintage Silvertone radio (the Sears brand), make the knick-knacks vastly more personal than the corporate curios decorating the C. Baldwin Hotel downtown. 

October 2022

A veteran Houston chef's new Midtown bar and restaurant is taking shape. When it opens later this fall, The Lymbar will mark chef David Cordúa's return to Houston's dining scene.

Cordúa's name is well known to Houston diners. The chef worked with his father, legendary Houston restaurateur Michael Cordúa, at Cordúa Restaurants — the hospitality group behind Churrascos, Americas, and Amazon Grill — before the duo parted ways with the company in 2018. They're teaming up again on this new project.

Located inside The Ion, Rice University's innovation district in the former Sears in Midtown, The Lymbar describes itself as an all-day neighborhood craft cocktail bar and restaurant. Named for the street in Meyerland where Cordúa grew up, the restaurant will serve an eclectic menu of Latin and Mediterranean-inspired dishes in a space designed by local firm Gin Design Group (Eunice, Daily Gather).