Hobbit Café: Houston’s Most Legendary Restaurant

Even in a city as famous for food as Houston is, the Hobbit Café is legendary. Tucked away in the Upper Kirby area in an old house that has steadily grown like a tree over the last 27 years, it has managed to stay relevant despite the city’s booms and busts as well as the rise and fall of J.R.R. Tolkien in mainstream culture.

Visiting the Hobbit Café on a hot Friday was like stepping back in time for me. As a Tolkien-obsessed Xennial, I made it to the restaurant as soon as I had a car when I was a teenager. Before Peter Jackson turned The Lord of the Rings into a Hollywood juggernaut, you had to be fairly nerdy to catch the references on the art on the walls and in the menu. I still have strong opinions whether veggies over black beans and brown rice is what they eat in the paradise of Valinor even if that is what the dish is named.

Even after the franchise exploded in popular culture, the restaurant never lost the feel of a homey, hidden gem that rewarded a sense of whimsy and a love for good food and drink. With LOTR now definitely on the decline in Hollywood, Hobbit Café is somewhat reverting back to the early 2000s, with less movie memorabilia and more Hobbity vibes.

Co-owner John Edmonds was about 15 minutes late for our interview at Hobbit Café, but I never expected him to be on time. Hobbit Café isn’t the type of place where you snap your fingers and waiters jump to serve you out of fear. Meals take long, and the staff treat the Hobbit Café like a home. The hostess told me the back area of the restaurant was closed because servers would lounge and chat there too much sometimes. The staff is the same mixture of alternative and pseudo-goths it’s always been, including one woman with startlingly realistic elf ears. You come there to be part of something, not to hurry. 

When Edmonds arrives, he’s younger than I expected. His father, Raymond Edmonds, started the restaurant as Hobbit Hole on Shepherd and Welch in 1972 (it moved in 1998 to its current location). In those days, Tolkien’s work was mostly something hippies and counter culture warriors read, and the Hobbit Hole reflected that. It was one of Houston’s first vegetarian restaurants and also sold health food. John Edmonds has been working in the restaurant since he was 13, and he still loves it.

“It’s fun to come to work every day, meet new people, and have a great staff,” he said.

Hobbit Café continues to exist thanks to special permission from the Tolkien estate. The adaptive rights to Middle Earth were purchased by the Saul Zaentz Company in the 1970s ahead of the Rankin-Bass animated Hobbit film. When Hollywood started ceasing and desisting everyone from using Tolkien imagery during the 2000s, Hobbit Café was one of the few places grandfathered in.

That said, time and the world do not stand still even for Hobbits. Being a strictly vegetarian restaurant didn’t last.

“The 1980s were tough in Houston, and so was making that transformation to beef,” said Edmonds. “We became vegetarian friendly. You never want to stop growing, changing to be what people want. We’ve been around so long now that we have a very diverse group. Vegetarians, burger folks, Hobbit fans, all kinds.”

I went looking around Houston for stories, and Edmonds is right about the diversity.

“We like to go after Ren Fest, since high school, now most of us with spouses along. If you go to Hobbit Cafe, no need to take your costumes and elf ear off. Instead of stares, people enjoy some extra ambiance from the outfits. It's also nice that when you're done, you don't have to find another parking spot, just walk across to Dino's. Favorite thing there is Boromir's Boudin Burger, where else can I get a little Cajun culture with my Tolkien nerdiness?” – Diana

“My late husband and I had our first kiss at the original Hobbit Hole location, more than 30 years ago. Years before that, the Hobbit Hole, which was still basically just a vegetarian restaurant in those days, was the place where I first had gazpacho — and it’s been one of my Hobbit Hole/Hobbit Cafe favorites ever since then.” – Connie

“I love Hobbit Cafe - I've been several times over the years and have brought many friends there, including screenwriters. I've been a Tolkien fan for a long time, so this place is special to me. I love that it's a Houston institution and that the fandom grew with the restaurant. And the food's delicious. I love to bring out-of-towners whenever possible, and they're just overjoyed with the place. As things change over the years, and Houston does too, it's nice that this little geeky restaurant has stood the test of time.” – Alan

Hobbit Café has always been a very unique place to eat. On top of being a vegetarian place where you can get the best burgers in the city (now in beef, bison, black bean, turkey, impossible, and elk), it’s long had a Caribbean and Tex-Mex aspect. Their enchiladas are some of the best west of US-59, and their honey-infused lemonade is unbeatable.

While eating after the interview, I got to see a couple order the Morgoth Burger. Named for the original Dark Lord, it’s a four-patty burger topped with boudin, avocado, bacon, several types of cheese, and an entire salad. The thing is taller than a fairly expensive lawn gnome, costs $40, and you get a free t-shirt if you finish it. The people at the next table could not, but told me they were glad they at least tried it before they left the city for Chicago.

Lately, Edmonds has been expanding what Hobbit does. They now have a line of honey mead, which meshes in perfectly with the restaurant’s aesthetic.

“With Ren Fest being in north Houston, it seemed fitting,” he said.  It’s always nice to find your nice niche.”

He’s also branched out into other fan spaces. Edmonds plans to start selling Hobbit Café merchandise at Comicpalooza, the city’s largest fan convention, and has also teamed up with a local death metal festival at White Oak Music Hall. Plenty of death metal bands are named after Tolkien places and characters (shout out to Cirith Ungol!) According to Edmonds, bands often come to the café straight from the airport.

Occasionally, Edmonds is approached about chances to expand Hobbit Café in franchises. These, he declines. In this, Edmonds keeps alive the principles of Tolkien himself. As Samwise realized when tempted by the Ring: The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command.

“It’s an old house, there’s a nice live oak outside,” said Edmonds. “The way Houston’s designed, there’s so many strip centers. It would be a challenge to make another place like this. People ask us if we want to expand, and you want to say yes, but I’m happy where we are.”