The Brixton

"The Brixton, an English-inspired gastropub in Cow Hollow, opened in 2011, closed in 2019, and then went through a seven-month remodel in 2024. Still with us? Good. The most exciting thing about the second iteration of The Brixton is the new dining room. It’s steeped in natural light with high ceilings, beautiful chandeliers, long leather banquettes, and a sidewalk patio where you can see that same bright red “Brixton” neon sign from before. Sadly, the updated menu is a lot less memorable. Entrees like pan-roasted chicken breast and herb-crusted halibut are either too heavy on the salt or missing it entirely. The quadrilateral Osaka-style sushi “stacks,” while fun to look at, are difficult to eat and piled with so many ingredients that you can't taste the individual components. And what is described as a soft serve sundae is actually just a scoop of icy vanilla ice cream with triple the amount of whipped cream. Take a cue from the other Cow Hollow-ites stopping by for Happy Hour and skip dinner. That's when we'd suggst beelining to a barstool and ordering from an extensive list of cocktails, mocktails, and wines, as well as the deviled eggs topped with bourbon bacon and mozzarella sticks with house ranch that survived the renovation. Once Happy Hour is over at 6pm, head elsewhere to pad out your stomach. Food Rundown photo credit: Patrick Wong Deviled Eggs With Bourbon Bacon Just as good as they were before The Brixton 2.0. Yolks are creamy and the salty-sweet bacon bits on top have so much audible crunch you’ll need to warn your neighbors before you take a bite. photo credit: Patrick Wong Mozzarella Sticks A solid choice. Ask to keep the ramekin of house ranch for dipping and drizzling emergencies. photo credit: Patrick Wong Osaka-Style Sushi “Stacks” We appreciate these rectangular pieces of rice and fish for the novelty—it’s tough to find this kind of sushi in the city. But trying to get everything into one bite is a test of persistence, as at least one ingredient will tumble down to your plate before it reaches your mouth. And when you do successfully complete a bite, the flavors and textures are muddled. photo credit: Patrick Wong Pan-Roasted Chicken Breast We expect a lemon and caper sauce to be salty, but this one is overwhelming. It distracts from an otherwise well-cooked juicy chicken breast. photo credit: Patrick Wong Herb-Crusted Halibut Just like the chicken breast, the halibut is cooked well—it’s moist and flaky—but tastes like it wasn’t seasoned at all, despite the visible specks of herbs and spices in the crust. It’s served atop a layer of corn risotto with cherry tomatoes, which is tasty, though too cold. photo credit: Patrick Wong Soft Serve Sundae The ratios—and the name—are off. There’s no soft serve, rather a small solitary scoop of ice cream. The sundae itself is 80% whipped cream with the remaining 20% wobbling between ice cream and hardened fudge." - Patrick Wong

"After a brief closure, The Brixton has returned to the Marina with a new menu. This time around, they’re serving a mix of dishes, like a pan-roasted chicken breast and deviled eggs with bourbon bacon, Osaka-style sushi, and pastas. There’s also a big bar great for after-work and late-night drinks with cocktails served until 1:45am on Friday and Saturday nights (food stops at 10pm)." - ricky rodriguez, julia chen 1

"After a brief closure, the Brixton returns to the Marina with a new food and drink menu and a new look to boot, starting Thursday, August 29. It’s been a long time coming for the refresh, says owner Hugo Gamboa, and the idea behind the change was to recenter the business as a restaurant. At the onset of the pandemic, Gamboa says the team shifted the Brixton to become more bar-focused to survive. Now, they’ve pivoted back to focusing on food, with a “fun bar atmosphere on the weekend,” especially as new businesses open in the neighborhood. Chef Joey Altman consulted on the new food menu, which is designed to have something for everyone. Expect modern gastropub dishes such as a pan-roasted chicken in a lemon butter-caper sauce or a grilled, bone-in pork chop; a Mediterranean take on the Cobb salad and a kale Caesar salad; plus shareables like a spinach and artichoke dip or the Brixton’s queso and guacamole. The menu also veers into what Gamboa calls their “Osaka-style sushi snacks.” Beverage director Victor Pichardo gave the bar menu a refresh with a focus on gin drinks. For instance, the Oh She Sour, uses Roku gin that the team infused with honeydew and cucumber for a sour cocktail. While a bit of the rock and roll vibe from the previous iteration remains, the Brixton team worked with Parissa O’Connell Studio to give the space a brighter and lighter look. The designers added chandeliers into the space, inspired by London pubs, while incorporating elements that give the restaurant an “English countryside look to it that’s rustic, yet refined,” Gamboa says. Black tufted banquettes were installed, as well as mirrors and black and white rock band photography that line the walls. As an incentive to invite the neighborhood back in, Gamboa says the Brixton will offer a membership card at the reopening that’ll give access to tasting experiences, mixology classes, private events, a complimentary dessert on every reservation, and more. The idea is to create a community of regulars in the neighborhood, he says, who can create connections and network. “I just wanted to go back to where we started, back to our roots when we first opened up to Brixton,” Gamboa says. “In 2010 we wanted to be your neighborhood go-to restaurant, the place where you would have a full dinner with friends from out of town or you swing by to have a cocktail with one of your other friends. COVID changed that, and so I want to go back to being the go-to spot for the neighborhood again.”" - Dianne de Guzman

"The Brixton is the answer for when you want to dance a bit in the Marina but don’t want to go all out (like at Westwood). This place is technically a gastropub, but we’ve never seen anyone eat anything after 9pm on Friday. The whole place becomes a dance floor on weekends, and the vibe is rockier and grimier (well, as “rocky” as the Marina can get) thanks to Top 40 hits and beer spilled over the dark wooden floor. " - ricky rodriguez

"The Brixton's deviled eggs are topped with a sweet scoop of crab, plus a filling that's got celery, shallots, Dijon mustard and cayenne." - Rose Garrett, Caleb Pershan