Simone Biles, America’s most gold medal-decorated gymnast, has already professed her appreciation for Houston’s dining scene — with special recognition given to the city’s Tex-Mex scene and restaurants like the Breakfast Klub, Perry’s Steakhouse, Tewbeleaux’s, and Whataburger. More recently, following her return to Houston, the hometown hero, who grew up in Spring, Texas, highlighted another city gem.
Following a successful run in the Paris Olympics, where Biles received three gold medals and one silver, she made the Midtown location Stick Talk Cajun-Hibachi one of her first pitstops. In a statement to the Houston Chronicle, Stick Talk’s restaurant owner said that Biles’s husband Jonathan Owens, an NFL football safety for the Chicago Bears, picked up to-go orders that included two portions of chicken fried rice with vegetables and spicy garlic butter, and an extra side of noodles. Biles gave it her stamp of approval on the Threads app on Monday, August 12, writing her own review: “Never misses.”
Jonathan Reitzell, a co-owner of Alife Hospitality Group, the restaurant group that operates Stick Talk, told the Houston Chronicle that the team was excited that Biles chose their restaurant for her first meal, especially “after making history at the Olympics.” (“Maybe we’ll have to name a dish after her,” he told the Chronicle.)
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Known for hibachi-style dishes fused with Cajun flavors, Stick Talk also received significant praise from Keith Lee, a viral social media food critic who visited the Houston restaurant in 2023.
Though the Olympics is mostly about the highest levels of athleticism, food had been a consistent theme and competitor throughline during the Paris games. Houston chef and 2000 Olympian Dawn Burrell attended the Paris Olympics, where she cooked for the Team USA House and discussed her transition from a competitive long jumper to a culinary force. Some Olympians even became food critics of their own, with competing athletes lambasting the food in the Olympic dining hall. Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen made the Olympic Village’s chocolate muffins go viral, and Biles teammate Suni Lee, who won a bronze medal in the all-around event this year, caught people’s attention after she said in an interview that she was craving pho after her Olympic win.
