Jazz music is alive and well in Montrose thanks to Doc’s Houston.
The Tower Theatre in Montrose has lived many lives since 1936. It opened as a movie house, switched to a Hollywood Video rental hub, and later became El Real Tex-Mex restaurant. Most recently, Louisiana-born Acme Oyster House slung Gulf oysters to neighborhood regulars. Now, the landmark has a new sound and purpose: live music.
“It’s just been amazing to me that a city the size of Houston, with as much culture and history as [it has], just doesn’t have a club like this,” owner Brent “Doc” Watkins says.
Doc’s Houston aims to expand the city’s live music landscape with an intimate space that blends performance, dining, and design. Watkins says he wants to engage all the senses and invites guests to sit close to the stage, feel the room’s energy, and savor a meal that’s every bit as memorable as the music.
Walking in, diners will hardly recognize the former oyster joint. San Antonio–based Card and Company Architects reimagined the 11,000-square-foot space, adding an upstairs mezzanine and bar to boost capacity from 300 to around 400 guests. Curved walls, tiled surfaces, and details drawn from 1936 photography nod to the building’s cinematic past. A new 18-foot digital wall built for live streaming, celebrations, and personalized entertainment centers the room, and a performance stage anchors the space. Here, Watkins, artistic director Graeme Francis, and entertainment director Felicia Guerra plan to showcase a rotating lineup of musicians—salsa, soul, and R&B—in a setting that feels purely Houston.
The Tower Theatre’s interiors now include a performance stage and a mezzanine level.
By definition, Doc’s is a jazz supper club, but Watkins, who also owns Jazz, TX, in San Antonio, envisions something broader. “A mission for me and for Doc’s is that we want to bring a feeling of joy to our guests, and we want them to leave with huge smiles on their faces,” Watkins says. “I think the way to do that is with art and generosity, and that happens in everything we do, from the food to the service to the music.”
Chef Jose Avila, formerly of San Antonio’s five-star, AAA Five-Diamond Hotel Emma, designed a menu that blends classic supper-club comfort with modern touches reflective of the city’s diverse food scene. Starters include ahi tuna tartare, grilled octopus in a white bean and garlic puree, Peruvian-style red snapper ceviche, and an Iberico ham platter, helping diners kick-start their dinner. Entrées range from clam casino—baked clams topped with breadcrumbs, peppers, and Iberico bacon, all served over angel-hair pasta—to steaks and a catch of the day. Avila’s favorite? A brined-and-baked half chicken finished with an herbaceous “flavor bomb” of green goddess sauce, made with a touch of cream. “That’s my baby right there,” Avila says.
Chef Jose Avila says the baked chicken with the green goddess sauce is a “flavor bomb.”
The bar menu leans toward “elegant simplicity,” says beverage director James Sporer, Watkins’s younger brother. “We’re not the stage. We’re not the spotlight—all we’re trying to do is elevate their experience,” he says.
The Doc’s Symphony, a curated list of house cocktails, features the Savannah Sling (gin, sake, and peach liqueur); the Passion Flower (mezcal, tequila, passionfruit, lime, and rosemary honey syrup); and one of Sporer’s favorites, the Almost Blue—a sweet, boozy nod to the Elvis Costello song, made with Rittenhouse Rye, biscotti liqueur, blueberry-anise syrup, quinaquina, and palo santo bitters. Classics like palomas, old-fashioneds, and espresso martinis round out the menu, along with gin and tonics, mocktails, and wines by the glass. “A little something for everybody, and a little something that can hopefully broaden people’s horizons a bit as well,” Sporer says.
Dessert promises chocolate panna cotta with pomegranate, poached pear infused with pinot grigio, and a pistachio tiramisu layered with coconut milk instead of espresso, date syrup–soaked ladyfingers, blended pistachio butter, and mascarpone, garnished with white chocolate and roasted pistachios.
Brent “Doc” Watkins will also be performing on Doc’s Houston’s stage.
For Watkins, the opening of Doc’s marks the culmination of a dream sparked after launching Jazz, TX, in 2016. While he’s thankful for the venue and all its memories, it can only hold 100 people, and he knew he wanted his reach to go beyond that. In early 2024, he began searching for a larger space in Houston. The Tower Theatre felt like the right choice, especially after he learned Ella Fitzgerald performed there in 1980. “That was one of the big aha moments for me,” Watkins says.
Watkins embraces the building’s past but sees Doc’s forging a new identity that will become an enduring part of Montrose. “It’ll be fun to watch it grow and evolve over time,” Watkins says.
