The sports-themed restaurant and entertainment venue is opening at the Flyway development in Webster.

 

Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are making their presence known in Houston, just not physically. Chicken N Pickle, a pickleball-restaurant hybrid, is opening at Webster’s Flyway development Feb. 20.

The Kansas City-based chain of entertainment restaurants is making a big expansion push around the U.S., fueled by a recent round of investor funding that included Mahomes and Kelce, the famous quarterback and tight end (and Taylor Swift’s boyfriend), respectively, of the recent Super Bowl LVIII champion Kansas City Chiefs. The Webster location was announced back in October 2022, among other future sites.

As for what it is, it’s in the name. Chicken N Pickle is an outdoor/indoor space that features a restaurant, a sports bar and, of course, pickleball. For the unaware, the tennis-like sport was invented in the 1960s and eventually became one of the more popular pastimes in the northwestern U.S. It then exploded in the 2020s and has since become one of the fastest-growing sports in the country.

Like a lot of these kinds of restaurants, it’s all American casual with regional specialties added in. Customers can expect quesadillas, nachos, tater tots, chicken sandwiches and other bar bites. There’s also a cocktail menu and a beer menu, specifically tailored to each city.

As for pickleball, there are six indoor and two covered outdoor courts. Rates run between $30 to $45 an hour depending on the day and time.

“This incredible venue perfectly embodies Flyway’s mission to fuse the indoors with the outdoors, offering an exceptional setting to celebrate America’s fastest-growing sport,” Webster Mayor Pro Tem Beverly Gaines said in a press statement. “Chicken N Pickle isn’t just a venue; it’s a pickleball paradise where good friends, delicious food and drinks, and friendly competition create unforgettable memories.”

Chicken N Pickle follows a rash of similar entertainment restaurants opening lately around Houston. Most of these places are miniature golf courses, like Tiger Woods’ Popstroke in Katy and The Puttery near the Washington corridor. The Bumpy Pickle opened in the Second Ward just this past year, though that one one features a sand volleyball pit.