Restaurants >>

• Best New Restaurant
  Saba Blue Water Cafe
  Late at night, downtown Houston is awash in lights, a nonstop fashion show of men in black and women in too-high heels and drop-dead dresses. For this crowd, only the wildest, most electrifying dining experience will do. And Saba rises to the occasion. The Small Plates menu is a list of... More >>
• Best Service
  Resa's Prime Steakhouse
  Diners know the regrettable cycle all too well. A restaurant invests a fortune in fancy furnishings, fine food and a gourmet chef. Then an unfocused waitstaff spoils it all. The only spoiling to be found at Resa's Prime Steakhouse is the pampering of customers. Crowds regularly fill this... More >>
• Best Comfort Food
  This Is It
  When you're sad and lonely and nothing seems to be going right, you want to eat something that satisfies more than the emptiness inside. Comfort foods have a connection to warmth and safety and days when you had nothing to worry about. Fifth grade, when you came home from school and you could... More >>
• Best Vietnamese Restaurant
  Vietopia
  Tucked out of the way in a shopping center just off the Southwest Freeway, Vietopia is a haven for lovers of upscale Asian food. The elegant two-story dining room recalls Indochina's French colonial era with bamboo mechanical fans, tropical greenery and waiters in long white aprons. The food is... More >>
• Best Indian Restaurant
  Shiva
  Walls of shimmering glass beads separate intimate booths. A chef kneads dough and fires up the traditional tandoori clay oven right before your eyes. The food makes you love vegetables you used to hate. And the chef- recommended combinations serve up just the right variety of tastes for the... More >>
• Best Taco Stand
  Taqueria El Primo
  This fortifying quick stop, hovering just beyond westbound traffic, has nothing on the menu a healthy handful of quarters can't buy. Breakfast is offered, but it's the afternoon tacos we seek. The packaging of our regular pair is impressive, balling up in the palm of our hand as we bite into a... More >>
• Best Retro Mexican Food
  Spanish Village
  These are the restaurants where to a native or longtime Houstonian, everybody knows your face, if not your name. Those willing to stomach greasy cheese enchiladas with a heart-unwise dollop of dubious chili con carne aboard are growing fewer by the day, perhaps owing in no small part to their... More >>
• Best Greek Restaurant
  Bibas Greek Pizza
  What's the best Greek restaurant in Houston? The choice is obvious! Bibas Greek Pizza is one of only a few of Houston's more than 8,000 eateries to have the word "Greek" in its name. You could look it up. The spot, in a converted fast-food emporium next door to President Bush the Elder's... More >>
• Best Family Gathering Restaurant
  Magic Island
  This is not an illusion. That is your teenager being entertained, even enthralled, while dining out with (gasp!) the family. And yes, there are your own parents, chuckling at the comedian's risqué double entendres mingled with their polite dinner conversation. The reason for this harmony... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Spot in Montrose
  Brasil
  Everyone needs a third place to hang out -- after home and work -- and Brasil fulfills that role for lots of Montrose-area residents. If Brasil had a slogan, it would be "Where the artsy-fartsy folks meet." Chances of running into a musician, writer, artist or designer of some sort are quite... More >>
• Best Nigerian Restaurant
  Genesis Restaurant
  "This is an African restaurant," Uzo Ebenebe Ibekwe cautions newcomers to Genesis Restaurant. The native Nigerian relaxes into a broad smile when the visitors tell her they are eager for a culinary adventure. The menu is a tour of her country's favorite dishes, from fufu (pounded yams) to... More >>
• Best Salvadoran Restaurant
  Variedades
  You will not find iced tea at Variedades. Instead, you can slake your thirst with wonderfully refreshing aguas -- tall glasses of melon and other fresh-fruit drinks with bits of pulp. Set in a large room with off-white walls and burgundy tablecloths, Variedades has simple, understated decor. The... More >>
• Best Cajun Restaurant
  Zydeco Louisiana Diner
  'Taint nothing fancy about the cafeteria-style serving line, nothing surprising about the coon-ass doodads hanging on the wall, and nothing progressive about green beans swimming in cream of mushroom soup or fried catfish and stuffed pork chops. But then it's lunchtime, and you're not looking... More >>
• Best Barbecue Restaurant
  Drexler's Bar-B-Que
  The old barbecue pit on Dowling Street that is now called Drexler's has a remarkable pedigree. Part of the current restaurant as well as the original barbecue pit were built by legendary barbecue man Harry Green in 1952. Green sold the place to an old-time pit boss named Tom Prevost. Prevost... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Spot in the Village
  El Meson
  West U soccer teams, Rice students needing a study break, and preparty revelers all converge at El Meson for top-notch Latin American cuisine. And while the Mexican dishes are solid, the Cuban entrées are the real reason to visit this neon-lit spot along University Boulevard in the... More >>
• Best Hole-in-the-Wall Burger Joint
  Champ Burger
  This eastside eatery serves up real-deal burgers for the blue-collar crowd that comes for lunch from the surrounding factories and plants, and they'll do it for you, too. From the basic Champ Burger to the Texas-sized steak sandwich to the double-decker breakfast sandwiches, this Houston... More >>
• Best Disco Restaurant
  Zula
  Even though the quasi-Southern food threatens to steal the show, Zula's decor really dances with over-the-top whimsy. The deco design is a sleek palette of shimmery chartreuse, plum and gold that serves as a modest backdrop to the 20-foot torchère lamps lining the long dining room.... More >>
• Best Socio-Anthropological Study
  The Big Easy Social and Pleasure Club
  A rare but boisterous black-leathered-biker eruption over by the 50-cent pool tables sends the timid scattering toward the bar, but seasoned Big Easy patrons look up to ensure no bottles are flying in their direction and continue their conversations, which are not always easy to hear over the... More >>
• Best Tex-Mex Restaurant
  Felix Mexican Restaurant
  Former waitress Geneva Harper was here when Felix's flagship location at Westheimer and Montrose opened in 1948. "The cheese enchiladas with chili gravy on the Mexican Dinner haven't changed at all since the place opened," she says. "Except that a Mexican Dinner went for 50 cents in 1948." Like... More >>
• Best Old Downtown Restaurant That's Still There
  China Garden
  Around noon on most days, influential veterans of Houston -- judges, top cops, city administrators, elite lawyers and the like -- start a quiet southern migration away from the ever-expanding zone of trendy eateries on the north side of downtown. They ease into the boxy, windowless old shell of... More >>
• Best Vietnamese/ Mexican Restaurant
  Matt's Fast Foods
  New York may have a lock on the Chinese/Cuban restaurant thing, but Houston is leading in the Vietnamese/Mexican category. Well, actually, Matt's Fast Foods on 43rd Street may be the only Vietnamese/ Mexican restaurant, here or anywhere. There's a golden Buddha near the front door and a painting... More >>
• Best Example of Starbucks World Domination
  River Oaks locations
  Exhibit one: The Starbucks on the corner of Shepherd and West Gray. Exhibit two: The Starbucks on the corner of Shepherd and West Gray. When the chain built the drive-thru version on the northeast corner, we were sure the version inhabiting the shopping center across the street to the south... More >>
• Best Deli
  Katz's Deli
  Houston's hankering for international status took a subtle stride when the crazy Katz's crew branched out from Austin. World-class credentials will ever be debated, but one indisputable definition is that a particular urban area must have a full-service, round-the-clock deli to dish up quality... More >>
• Best Italian Restaurant
  Damian's Cucina Italiana
  It is overwhelming to walk in the front door of this dark and clubby old haunt. To your left, there's the reception stand, where you are offered an uncommonly gracious greeting. Right in front of you, a fabulous array of antipasti plates is spread out on a low table. To your right, a dark and... More >>
• Best Middle Eastern Restaurant (1 Comment)
  Fadi's
  The splashes of different colors in the serving line that greet customers when they open the door of Fadi's look like an overworked artist's palette, but it's a Middle Eastern palate that will appreciate the expansive array of foods served there. Moderation is next to impossible. One could... More >>
• Best Cheap Seafood Restaurant
  Barnacle's Seafood
  The exterior of Barnacle's doesn't even scrape the surface of what's in store inside. This deceivingly decrepit place is downright cheery, with high ceilings, loads of plants (okay, so they're fake) and the expected seaside motif of netting and anchors. But the best reason to dive deep into... More >>
• Best Late-Night Restaurant
  Tan Tan Fast Food
  So good, you've got to say it twice, Tan Tan Fast Food is everything a late-night venue should be: big, cheap and fast fast. This Chinatown diner serves mostly Vietnamese dishes with some Cantonese options, but be forewarned: There are over 400 dishes to choose from (87 in the soups category... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Spot in the Galleria Area
  La Vista
  The Friends crowd that inhabits the apartments along Fountainview, as well as their more established neighbors in Tanglewood and Briargrove, pack this tiny sidewalk cafe, which is as casual as a backyard barbecue and about as economical. The gimmick here is BYOB, with a small corking fee, but... More >>
• Best Atmosphere
  Lankford Grocery and Market
  Remember when you used to go home for lunch in the middle of the school day, and Mom would greet you with a hot meal and -- oh, wait a minute. Few of us, if any, lived that 1950s Leave It to Beaver ideal. But with Lankford Grocery and Market, you can get pretty close. The diner, tucked inside an... More >>
• Best Greasy Spoon
  Alice's Diner
  For 25 years Alice Lee and her family members have been running this little diner, which sits across Loop 610 from Meyerland Plaza. It's a little place, a place that's easy to miss in its nondescript strip mall. The booths are old and lumpy, the decorations fittingly cheesy. Numerous photos of... More >>
• Best Burger/Chinese Food Fusion
  Lucky Burger
  It's nothing short of a stroke of luck to be able to satisfy two strong cravings at once. Lucky Burger's name makes it clear that it dishes up burgers, and it's retro root-beer-barrel design offers a hint that these are old-fashioned versions (read: griddle-fried with buttered buns). But who... More >>
• Best Vegetarian Restaurant
  Udupi Cafe
  In Hindi, the word for cow is aghnaya, which means "not to be killed." So vegetarians won't have to worry about cows -- or pigs or chickens or fish or even beef stock -- showing up on their plates at this new South Indian restaurant. In fact, Udupi's menu offers nearly 70 strange and wonderful... More >>
• Best Jamaican Restaurant
  Caribbean Cuisine
  With a loping reggae beat in the background, barely discernable over boisterous Friday-night clusters of customers in the crowded storefront, Caribbean Cuisine is an easy place to be. The smell of curry cuts through the air, and the swinging door that leads into the kitchen flaps open as a cook... More >>
• Best Pizzeria
  Antonio's Flying Pizza
  You don't need to take the title of this restaurant literally to know that the pizza served here is unique. In actuality, there isn't much flying going on at all -- but there is some of the best-tasting Italian pie in the city. For 30 years Antonio's has been offering up thick Sicilian-style or... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Spot in Bellaire
  Bellaire Coffee Shop
  The hiss-sizzle of the grill is always in the background. The grill cook stands over his domain holding a spatula in the air like a Victorian detective with a magnifying glass. He wheels around with a finished order to place it on the counter, barely missing a fast-moving waitress, who whizzes... More >>
• Best Family Restaurant
  Jax Grill
  Families on a budget may have the best of all worlds: a casual counter cafe with gourmet flair. Soccer moms and dads flock to these cheery, Southwestern-adorned restaurants, both of which sport popular deck seating for adults who long to linger and video games for kids who must fidget with their... More >>
• Best Chinese Restaurant
  Chinese Café
  This place is so authentic there's hardly any English on the menu. Plus, it's filled with Chinese people -- always a good sign when selecting an ethnic restaurant. Here we recommend the pork with snow pea leaves and the chicken and asparagus. We always order too much and say we'll never be able... More >>
• Best Breakfast
  Baby Barnaby's
  Breakfast is not our favorite meal, because it happens to fall in the morning, which is our least favorite time of the day. But whenever we order the huevos rancheros at Baby B's, we are overcome with joy. Just thinking about this makes our mouths water. A friend of ours flew in from London... More >>
• Best Authentic Chinese Open Kitchen (2 Comments)
  Chicken n' Egg Roll
  From the outside, this tiny Montrose-area counter cafe still looks like a delicious dive. In the dining room, however, recent renovations include dark wood panels of Chinese philosophical writings, track lighting and faux palm trees. Still, purists -- looking for dinner and a show -- wouldn't... More >>
• Best Thai Restaurant
  Thai Cottage
  In timid Thai fashion, the owners of Thai Cottage tiptoed onto the Houston restaurant scene four years ago, settled into a nondescript storefront between a sprawling H-E-B and a Domino's Pizza and quietly started cooking. They concentrated on the food, spending their money on the freshest... More >>
• Best Restaurant
  Aries
  The menu at Aries changes daily under the direction of chef-owner Scott Tycer, who improvises with the seasons. To call Tycer an artist doesn't do him justice. He is something even better. He is a culinary genius who has grown up and gotten over himself. Originally from Houston, Tycer spent... More >>
• Best Value
  Andy's Home Cafe
  You want a hot meal served to you, and you want it now, and you've only got $5 in your pocket. So get your hungry self over to Andy's. When? It doesn't matter. The Houston institution is open 24 hours a day, and the friendly service is fast, fast, fast. The menu is packed with full meals and... More >>
• Best Fusion of Folk and Food
  La Bella Cucina's Food Filling Station
  Housed in a vintage gas station (hence the name), the Food Filling Station should be included among Houston's funky folk-art environments on the Orange Show's Eye-Openers tour. Surrounded by colorfully painted wrought-iron fencing, interspersed with wine bottles overturned in cement, its... More >>
• Best Place to Skip Dinner and Get to Dessert
  Epicure Café
  The problem with dining at the Epicure Café is that the well-lit case of desserts beckons during your whole meal. Sure, the lemon chicken is in fact quite lemony and generously seasoned, making your taste buds tingle. And the salads are nicely balanced. But these meals are no match for... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Spot in Tanglewood
  Café Toulouse
  Our one reservation about picking this place is that once it's discovered, it might lose some of that tucked-away feel. Its strip center is in the middle of a residential area, anchored by a Hollywood Video. To find it, you have to look for the shaded patio hidden behind a barbecue. At first you... More >>
• Best Taqueria
  Taqueria Tacambaro
  Just as there are food stalls in the mercados in Mexico, there are taco trucks in the parking lot behind the Farmer's Market on Airline Drive. The one in the middle is crowded with well-dressed Mexican-Americans at 1:30 p.m. "Taqueria Tacambaro," it reads in painted letters on the roof. There... More >>