The biggest soul food restaurant to open in Houston on 6356 Richmond Ave

A popular soul food restaurant with its own TV show is coming to Houston.

St. Louis-based Sweetie Pie's, which has a show on the Oprah Winfrey Network, is opening up an eatery west of the Loop in 2017, two sources close to the deal told the Houston Business Journal.

Sweetie Pie's could not be reached for comment.

The 9,000-square-foot restaurant will open at 6356 Richmond Ave., the sources said. The lease was signed in September 2016 at the former Beaucoup Bar & Grill, a New Orleans-style eatery. Beaucoup closed in spring 2016.

The property's landlord is Kensinger Properties Ltd.

Robbie Montgomery, reality TV star and founder of Sweetie Pie’s, opened the first restaurant with her son, James "Tim" Norman, in 1996. The restaurant operates two eateries in St. Louis, according to its website.

Montgomery started her career as a backup singer to Ike and Tina Turner in the 1960s. Her popular TV show on the Oprah Winfrey Network, "Welcome to Sweetie Pie's," started in 2011. The show started its seventh season in November.

The restaurant alluded to a Houston location in March 2014, according to a company Facebook post.