TV Restaurants

What Happened to Reef After Best Thing I Ever Ate? (Houston, TX)

Best Thing I Ever Ate, Season 5 Houston, Texas

Current status

Closed

As of October 2026, Reef has closed — confirmed via click2houston.com, November 26, 2019.

What the source shows: Yelp's listing for Reef still shows CLOSED (updated June 2026) with no indication of reopening; the original 2019 closure by chef Bryan Caswell remains the operative status. How we decide a status →

What happened after Best Thing I Ever Ate?

The 'Smoky' episode (S5E3) featured Reef, a Gulf Coast seafood restaurant from chef Bryan Caswell in Houston's Midtown neighborhood. The restaurant, paired with Caswell's 3rd Bar, built its menu around wood-grilled and smoked seafood preparations served at 2600 Travis Street. According to Click2Houston, published 2019-11-26, Caswell closed Reef & 3rd Bar permanently that week, citing a recent health matter alongside 'other economic factors.' The Houston Chronicle also reported that the closure followed an earlier 2017 shutdown after Hurricane Harvey flood damage, after which the restaurant had taken nearly two years to reopen before closing permanently in 2019.

Click2Houston reported that all employees were paid through November 18, 2019, and that a fellow restaurateur, Charles Clark of Clark-Cooper Concepts, offered job placements to displaced staff and covered existing holiday reservations. No successor restaurant at the Travis Street address was identified in these sources.

The episode Best Thing I Ever Ate, Season 5

Episode 3
Air date not confirmed
Title: Smoky · What was featured: Gulf Coast seafood restaurant from chef Bryan Caswell, 'Smoky' episode

Also in Season 5 Best Thing I Ever Ate

Season 5: 61 of 104 still open · 7 renamed, moved or under new owners

All 13 Season 5 episodes →

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All 304 TV restaurants in Texas →

Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources we checked 3 references

  1. click2houston.com https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2019/11/26/popular-houston-seafood-spot-suddenly-closes/
  2. houstonchronicle.com https://www.houstonchronicle.com/entertainment/restaurants-bars/article/Bryan-Caswell-closed-Midtown-restaurant-Reef-2019-14864061.php
  3. houstonpress.com https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/reef-closes-its-doors-11389765/
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Record btiea-0417 · checked by Cal Marchetti.