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By the 2010s, Sterling Lewis was shaping Houston nightlife.

The early aughts of Houston nightlife could be described as mythical, because quite frankly, you just had to be there. Lewis, in large part, played a role in that. He’s responsible for popular parties such as Belvedere Sundays and the That’s My Jam R&B series, which brought to Houston major A-list stars, including the likes of Drake and Usher. His ethos? Creating moments to bring people together to have a good time.

Lewis first got his start passing out promotional flyers for parties around the city as a student at Texas Southern University, and that’s where he recognized he had a knack for curating events. While he did attend the Houston HBCU to pursue a degree in Communications, he says he often felt like he was enrolling semester after semester to make connections. 

“I literally used to go on campus just to invite people to my parties,” Lewis recalls. “I’ll go to class, but I really wasn’t going to class to get a degree. I really was going to class to just gain a bigger network.”

Using college as a launchpad, Lewis built Houston’s nightlife reputation. Now 30, he’s taking a break from parties to open Confessions, his own restaurant. The Houston restaurant is touted as a hybrid Southern-inspired restaurant that also blends elements of nightlife.  

“I think nightlife is what made me who I am. It’s something that I’ve always known,” Lewis tells ESSENCE. “Me pivoting into restaurants is just a different segue of my journey. I think creating Confessions is a testament to everything that I have done and everything I’m still continuing to do. Because the good thing about Confessions is it’s a hybrid concept.”

Lewis describes the Southern eatery as vibe dining—a little bit of nightlife, a little bit of casual dining, and a little bit of a lounge, which is accompanied by hookah. In today’s cultural climate, there are many detractors to this sort of novelty restaurant. There’s ongoing conversation about the convergence of brunch and day parties, where many say there should be separation of church and state—removing the nightlife trimmings from dining spots. However, Lewis is the antithesis to the idea, merging them in a way that feels refined. 

With that in mind, Lewis has a vision for something new, aimed at giving the city an inventive dining experience that’s never short on flavor—or attuned service.“I’ve seen it done in other countries, I’ve just never seen it done right in Houston,” Lewis recounted of ambiance-focused dining. “As far as curating the right vibe dining, having the right DJs in the room, having the right music being played, having the right food, and also keeping the integrity of still being a restaurant. I’m really big on, ‘hey, we’re still a restaurant.’ We still cater to food, plating, and presentation.”

The premise of atmosphere-focused dining is largely informed by Lewis’ travels, and taking bits of experiences he’s had across the world, and wanting to expose his hometown to some of those same practices. “I feel like Houston right now is one of the hottest cities. We’re becoming the go-to city, the vacation spot, the tourist-y spot,” he noted of his hometown. 

He’s not wrong either—Metro Houston is booming. Greater Houston Partnership reported that in 2024 alone, the region welcomed nearly 200,000 new residents, pushing its population to 7.8 million—the largest single-year increase in city history. That’s a new Houstonian roughly every 2.7 minutes. This rapid growth is part of a longer trend: over the past decade, the area added more than one million people. 

With Houston booming, Lewis aims to give every visitor—whether for a good time or a long time—an unforgettable experience.

It is also a nod to the name on the moniker. When you enter Confessions, Lewis intentionally curates the environment to feel like you can confess anything: your love, your highs, your lows, and everything in between. He says, “as long as you are creating a moment with your friends, your loved ones or whatever it may be.” In fact, once you’re seated, the waitstaff and management will encourage you to ‘spend at least two minutes confessing something that happened this week.’ And if you need any liquid courage, there’s no need to fret, because the hostess will offer complimentary champagne once you step off the elevator. 

Confessions brings a new kind of Southern-inspired hospitality to Houston’s dining scene. Courtesy Eric Taylor

He attributes it to that nightlife background, and caring deeply about hospitality and customer service, making the distinction that the two are not the same. “At Confessions, we pride ourselves on moments, experiences and hospitality. I think we fall under that luxury hospitality umbrella because we focus solely on going above and beyond the standard level of hospitality, Lewis explains. “Customer service is more A to B. Transactional hospitality is how you make a person feel, how they feel in the moment. Kind of like if I come to your house and you host me and you give me a great experience, that’s hospitality.”

Still, Lewis admits that you have to be at least a little crazy to go into the restaurant business, especially considering that in a city like Houston, it’s one thing that it doesn’t have a shortage of. The city always seems to be rolling out new cuisines and dining options consistently. Already this year, 13 new restaurants have been slated to open in Houston. He says discipline and faith are core tenets to working in such a volatile industry. 

“I thank God every day that we have a packed restaurant. I know it’s a lot of restaurants in Houston that are struggling or are not as packed, and restaurants close every day. It’s very scary,” Lewis reflects.”I know people put in a lot of money and put in a lot of time, and it’s a lot of work-life balance for running a restaurant. Sometimes it seems like you don’t have a life. So it’s a lot of sacrifices restaurant owners make to ensure that it’s successful. So like I said, for me, jumping into the space is scary.”

It’s perhaps why the vibe diner—which only opened in April of 2025—has already seen so much success. The restaurant has maintained a 4.9 rating with 4,000 plus reviews in less than a year on Google. In addition to the few months that Confessions has been open, the restaurant has already seen so many star-studded guests, including Summer Walker, Shaquille O’Neal, 50 Cent, and Roland Martin. And to be clear, most of them are recurring visitors. “These celebrities come back multiple times because not only do they like the space, but they enjoy the hospitality, they enjoy the food,” Lewis says. “These are genuine, organic relationships that we’ve created.”

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Customer service and guest experience are the pillars of his brand, and he’s instilled them in his staff—a team nearly 100 strong—so every guest experiences the same level of care. And that’s what has kept folks coming back for more. As much as he appreciates those high-profile moments that bring the restaurant more virality and visibility, it’s the every day customer that is keeping the lights on. And that’s what he cares about most. 

“The people that come in there on a date night, girls night out, people coming there to celebrate their birthdays. That just means everything to me because at the end of the day, people got dressed and they spent money to come here,” Sterling added. 

It’s an amalgam of things that makes Confessions the cultural hotspot that it is, but what’s potentially the most unforgettable about the Southern eatery is its food offerings. The menu, which was recently revamped, is considered to be Southern but elevated. It boasts dishes such as Lamb Chops Rockefeller, Spicy Peach Wings (yes, you read that right), and Strawberry Cornbread. When asked what was the inspiration behind such fusion creations, it’s reminiscent of his travels around the world. Witnessing other cultures and their approaches to food played a major role in shaping how the culinary program came to life. 

“These are things that I ate growing up as well as me traveling, seeing different dishes. And I thought to myself, ‘how can I curate this and make this different?’ The strawberry wings is one of our most controversial appetizers. We have so many people who come in and see it on social media, and they are like,’ what’s strawberry wings? I don’t know if I want to try that.’ And then when the strawberry wings hit the table, they try it. And nine times out of 10 people end up loving it.”

He continued, sharing that he wanted things unique and out of the box that would really catch people’s attention on the menu. “We all can do regular wing flavors, the barbecue, lemon and pepper and buffalo. But I wanted to take it above the notch and just do something different. We did a lot of trial and error in the kitchen. This stuff didn’t happen overnight. It’s a lot of experimental mad scientist type of things going on in the kitchen,” Lewis said with a laugh. 

In a roundabout way, Lewis is living out the aspirations of the 17-year old college student who dared to dream. An early career in promo and marketing would lead him to opening his own restaurant, and he credits his faith in bringing this dream into fruition. “I’m still that kid at heart still passing out flyers, still trying to get to the next level. I’m a firm believer of having faith and trusting God. I think being an entrepreneur, when I do things, I kind of jump off a cliff with no parachute, no plan B. It’s just plan A has to happen,”he reflects.”

With the meteoric success of the restaurant, Sterling has already been asked about building additional franchises in other cities. However, right now, he’s just enjoying building on the winning formula he’s mastered with Confessions. However, a rep has confirmed that Lewis has plans for another Houston concept coming soon to the buzzy Washington Avenue area in the near future. 

The post Inside Sterling Lewis’ Hybrid Restaurant, Confessions appeared first on Essence.

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