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Katfish Katy's To Open Under New Ownership

After closing its doors in November, The Station House at Katfish Katy's will soon be back in business under new ownership.

Former owners Zac and Laura Cutler decided to take a step back from business right after its 2020 season. They said in a Facebook post at the time that they hoped someone else would take over.

That someone became mother-and-son duo Vanessa and Jake Leitza, who became the new contracted operators March 3, according to a Wednesday night Facebook post.

"This has been kind of a dream of my mom and I for a long time," Jake Leitza said. "We never had the resources or the opportunity to make it a reality."

The Leitzas went to a business open house for Katfish Katy's "on a limb," Jake Leitza said. After some phone calls and meetings, the change was official.

"(I feel) like a million bucks," Jake Leitza said. "I have a lot of emotions running through me right now. Honestly, I'm still in a little disbelief that this is actually really happening. So, we're just over the moon about it."

The Leitzas come from a long background in food service, including years at Cooper's Landing. However, they wanted the freedom owning their own business would allow.

"We always had these ideas and plans, and since we weren't owners, we couldn't make decisions to expand the business and the possibilities," Jake Leitza said. "So we'd spend hours and days talking about all these things, and then, just out of sheer luck, this happened, and now we can actually follow through with that."

The restaurant has "great roots already," Jake Leitza said. He and Vanessa Leitza hope to expand the menu, making it more appealing to a wider variety of people. Being situated near the Katy Trail, he said they also hope to tailor the menu to the bikers on it by including lots of light, healthy options.

"We're going to throw a little bit of fancy in there, a little bit of quick and easy," Jake Leitza said.

There are more plans in the works, but Jake Leitza said he'd rather let the rest of their plans remain a surprise for now. That includes the date of the grand opening. According to the Facebook post, it "will be here sooner than you can believe."

For now, Jake Leitza said he's excited to continue working to make this dream a reality.

"We look forward to being able to serve our community the way that they've helped us in the past, and we look forward to just giving them a great experience and becoming friends with a lot more people," he said.