Restaurants >>

• Best Soul Food Restaurant (1 Comment)
  This Is It! Soul Food and Catering
  You walk through the door, and no one seems particularly glad you came. You stare at all the amazing choices on the menu while they wait and sigh. You ask for pepper steak, and they give you meatballs. You ask for macaroni, and they say, "Yams it is!" But because they're the undisputed champ,... More >>
• Best Restaurant Comeback
  Felix Mexican Restaurant
  More than just a Tex-Mex joint, Felix's is a historic local landmark, serving up enchiladas and margaritas to Houstonians for nearly sixty years. And when Felix Jr. announced that the place would be closing its doors and shutting down for good, there was an overwhelming response from people all... More >>
• Best Salvadoran Restaurant
  El Pupusodromo
  Houston's Spanish-speaking community includes a great many people from El Salvador. If you need verification, just look for a pickup fœtbol game at Hermann Park or hit a pupuseria, the Salvadoran answer to the taqueria. El Pupusódromo is easily the most successful Salvadoran chain in town, and... More >>
• Best Moroccan Restaurant
  Casablanca Couscous & Grill
  In the same strip center as a Conoco gas station, on a block full of car repair shops and import stores, Casablanca hides behind a narrow wall of shiny windows, reflecting southwest Houston's grunge. But step inside, and the bleak atmosphere gives way to cheerful walls of tangerine and lime.... More >>
• Best Middle Eastern Restaurant (3 Comments)
  Dimassi Mediterranean Buffet
  The uninitiated, the experienced, the displaced natives and the seriously hungry alike all find solace in the wide array of offerings of this Middle Eastern/Mediterranean buffet. Diners looking for culinary standards are more than pleased with the falafels and kabobs, and heartier appetites are... More >>
• Best Pre-Theater Restaurant (1 Comment)
  Perbacco
  Frenchy's Chicken
  Open for dinner Thursday through Saturday nights only, this red-checkered-tablecloth Italian restaurant caters to theater and concert hall patrons eating a pre-performance meal. The prices are reasonable, the food can be good, and the atmosphere is friendly and fun. Order fresh-tasting dishes... More >>
• Best Bang for the Buck (1 Comment)
  Shri Balaji Bhavan Pure Vegetarian Restaurant
  Bang doesn't really do it justice. It's more like kaboom! An explosion of sambar masala piquancy attracts crowds to Balaji Bhavan faster than moths to a blaze. Devotees of a good chole (chick peas in tomato sauce), rasam (a thin soup with tamarind) and rava masala dhosa (a crepe stuffed with... More >>
• Best Meat and Three
  Zydeco Louisiana Diner
  Hosting a group of Katrina evacuees last year, Zydeco quickly won them over with its stellar gumbo and red beans and rice. This joint can hang with most any Cajun place on the Gulf Coast. But what really packs in the business crowd every day are the divided plates heaped, cafeteria-style, with... More >>
• Best Mom-and-Pop Restaurant
  Cali Sandwich & Fast Food
  Cali Sandwich, which has won several Best of Houston awards over the years, is the kind of place that makes owning a restaurant look easy. But its path to Midtown fame was riddled with disaster. Nga Chong, who runs the place with her sister, her daughter and her mom, fled political repression as... More >>
• Best Indian Restaurant
  Indika
  Succumbing to the easy pitfalls of "fusion," modern Indian cuisine often sheds thousands of years of culinary tradition simply to appeal to timid Western palates. Indika adroitly avoids these hazards. Since it moved from west Houston to Montrose, it has been turning out some of the most... More >>
• Best Burger Joint
  Prince's
  A pioneer in curb service, the old Prince's Drive-in on Main Street was the place where Houstonians went to hang out in their cars. The new Prince's doesn't have carhops, but the retro burger-joint decor pays homage to the original with displays of historic photos, old menus, vinyl booths and... More >>
• Best Colombian Restaurant (2 Comments)
  Mi Pueblito
  Two TVs constantly tuned to soccer, live music on weekends, arepas (corn patties) served with everything, large portions and great value in a relaxed atmosphere all make Mi Pueblito a favorite of local Colombians. Regulars prize the ajiaco bogotano (chicken soup with three kinds of potatoes),... More >>
• Best Korean Restaurant (1 Comment)
  Arirang Restaurant
  Korean barbecue is an after-hours tradition. You wind up a long night of partying by gathering your gang around a grill set in the center of a large table, and everybody takes turns cooking. Favorite meats are bulgogi and wang galbi -- marinated steak and marinated boneless short-rib meat.... More >>
• Best Cajun Restaurant
  Magnolia Bar & Grill
  Magnolia Bar & Grill opened in 1983 during Houston's Cajun-restaurant frenzy, the same boom that got the Pappas brothers and Tilman Fertitta started. Most of the Cajun restaurants that opened back then compromised on the spicy Cajun flavors to become family-friendly -- but not Magnolia Bar &... More >>
• Best Chinese Restaurant (2 Comments)
  Fung's Kitchen
  The steamed scallops in garlic sauce at Fung's are exquisite -- probably because the scallops are still alive when you order them. The shellfish come to the table barely cooked and attached to the shell and lovingly decorated with chopped garlic. Chef and owner Hoi Fung adheres to the culinary... More >>
• Best Jamaican Restaurant
  Tropical Grill
  Tropical Grill's $10 weekend buffet features stellar curried goat and pickled fish, plus hard-to-find Jamaican classics such as velvety soft stewed tripe, tangy boiled green bananas and chunky homemade dumplings. Though some of this fare might seem a bit arcane, the buffet also includes such... More >>
• Best Restaurant (1 Comment)
  Cafe Annie
  Nobody's opening Southwestern cuisine restaurants anymore, yet Houston's best chef, Robert Del Grande, is still hanging on to the Southwestern label. Sure, he made upscale enchiladas, tortilla soup and black bean terrine famous a decade and a half ago, but those dishes are so dated now they're... More >>
• Best Tex-Mex Restaurant
  Doneraki Restaurant
  The fajitas and the fajitadillas (fajita-meat quesadillas) are made with sizzling, fresh-off-the-grill beef. The enchilada sauces are perfectly seasoned and never too thick or too watery. And giving away free chili con queso along with the chips and salsa at lunch hasn't hurt their popularity,... More >>
• Best Greek Restaurant
  Alexander the Great Greek
  New Greek cuisine entrées such as grilled sea bass or angel-hair pasta with sautéed shrimp, scallops and calamari may be the most interesting things on the menu, but Alexander the Great Greek is doing an admirable job of being all things to all Greek-food lovers. There's Athens-style fast food... More >>
• Best Mexican Restaurant
  Hugo's
  Hugo Ortega's upscale version of Mexican cuisine draws on his family's roots in Puebla, as well as on his training in the Houston restaurant business. The bar is loaded with premium tequilas, the guacamole is outstanding, and they make their own tortillas. Mexican-food enthusiasts will delight... More >>
• Best Bistro
  Bistro Moderne
  There aren't any ceramic roosters, Ricard pitchers or other bistro clichés here; Bistro Moderne's interior is appointed in dark chocolate-brown with cream trim, and the extensive banquettes are accented with brilliant blue cushions. The look is fashion-forward, and the feel is extremely... More >>
• Best Seafood Restaurant
  Gaido's Seafood Restaurant
  Opened in 1911 in Murdoch's bathhouse at the 21st Street pier, Gaido's is a fourth-generation family heirloom. They don't serve crabs in the winter, and they don't serve oysters in the summer -- they buy what's in season. Like Antoine's in New Orleans, Gaido's is as much a museum as it is a... More >>
• Best Barbecue Joint
  Thelma's Bar-B-Que
  You judge a barbecue joint by its smoked meat. And the best comes from a real pit. The old cinder-block pit in Thelma's on Live Oak ought to be declared a historic landmark. The design was brought to Houston by the legendary Joe Burney of Beaumont back in the '20s. Harry Green, and other Houston... More >>
• Best Thai Restaurant
  Vieng Thai 2000
  We always remember to bring our own beer to Vieng Thai, because food this hot doesn't taste right without it. If only we could bring our own air conditioner! The restaurant, a former Asian grocery store with scuffed concrete floors and a malfunctioning a/c, is short on ambience and long on... More >>
• Best Vietnamese Restaurant
  Bodard Bistro
  Bodard Bistro is a 24-hour fast-food joint that serves pho, mi, all kinds of noodles and Vietnamese sandwiches. (The sandwiches are an incredible deal -- buy two and get one free.) The restaurant is usually packed at lunch and dinnertime, and people wait in line for a table here while a... More >>
• Best Steak House (2 Comments)
  Pappas Bros. Steakhouse
  There are only a handful of steak houses in the city that offer dry-aged USDA Prime, and Pappas Bros. Steakhouse has more of them than anybody else. Granted, the dark-paneled men's-club atmosphere is getting a little dated, as is the whole cigar-lounge thing. Newer steak houses such as the Strip... More >>
• Best Late-Night Restaurant (4 Comments)
  Katz's Deli & Bar
  Rude waiters who keep forgetting the pickles, obnoxious drunks at the bar and lousy, overpriced sandwiches -- is this an authentic New York deli, or what? We always order a salad plate with chopped liver or egg salad, a stack of fresh rye bread and some pickles -- and then we make our own... More >>
• Best Breakfast (1 Comment)
  Kelley's Country Cooking
  The Kelley's Grand Slam breakfast is spread out over three plates -- there's a monster chicken-fried steak on the first, three eggs and your choice of grits or hash browns on the second, and an oversize biscuit with a bowl of gravy on the third. Those looking for lighter fare might opt for the... More >>
• Best Restaurant for Divorced Dads
  Hooters
  If you have trouble thinking of Hooters, that steamy hotbed of sexual titillation, as a family restaurant, odds are you aren't a regular. Poke your head inside the front door of a Houston Hooters location, and you're likely to see quite a few kids -- and a lot of hot waitresses doting on them.... More >>
• Best Malaysian Restaurant
  Cafe Malay
  In a sprawling city of international cuisines, Cafe Malay offers the best choice for Malayasian food. The roti canai (nan-like fried dough) with curry chicken dipping sauce is particularly good, as is the Malaysian eggplant. The satay, chicken Hainan and chicken sambal are flavorful, too, but... More >>
• Best Spanish Restaurant
  Rioja Tapas
  Tasty tapas, an award-winning paella, an affordable wine list, the use of many homemade and imported ingredients and unparalleled European hospitality from the Spanish chef and owner make this the best in town. Homemade ingredients include a delicious, soft cow's-milk cheese, sweet quince jelly... More >>
• Best Expense Account Restaurant
  The Capital Grille
  Nothing says "big spender" like a big hunk of meat, a big, expensive wine and a big cigar. There's no place better to blow a couple of Gs on two people than at The Capital Grille, that clubby bastion of the expense account crowd, the ultimate meat market. Start out at the bar by sipping some... More >>
• Best Italian Restaurant
  Da Marco
  A recent expansion means more tables and more room to move at Da Marco -- which is a welcome change, since the dining room was sometimes a little too intimate. But whatever the seating plan, Houston is lucky to have an Italian restaurant this good. Chef Marco Wiles has adapted Mario Batali's... More >>
• Best South American Restaurant
  Churrascos
  The signature dish there is, what else, churrasco, a charcoal-grilled, center-beef tenderloin steak. From a petite six-ounce serving to a platter-sized 16-ounce slab, these are some of the best steaks in town. But there are plenty of other tasty delights to be sampled at Churrascos as well,... More >>
• Best New Restaurant
  Glass Wall, The Restaurant
  Glass Wall is a great new American bistro just where we needed it most: in the restaurant-deprived Heights. Predictably, the eatery has been packed since it opened in early April. Lance Fegen, former co-owner of Zula and chef at Trev’sio, has left behind the overwrought designs and menus of his... More >>
• Best Greasy Spoon
  Himalaya Restaurant & Catering
  Greasy hamburgers, fries and chicken all have their devotees in this town, but if you want to try a place that has really earned its grease, look no further than Himalaya. At this Muslim-Indian joint, a massive dose of oil and meat fat carries off an equally massive dose of piquancy, perfectly... More >>
• Best Chinese
  Fast Food (1 Comment)
  Chinese Cafe
  If the prospect of eating another bland box of Chinese-American takeout gives you a moo goo gai panic attack, then here's a fresh idea: real Chinese fast food in the heart of Chinatown. Near the long, spare counter, back-lit photos depict an assortment of dishes that are often vegetable-centric,... More >>
• Best Prix-Fixe Lunch
  Tony's
  Think you can't afford Tony's? Think again, for there's a bargain for the taking. Considering that the entrées alone range from $12 to $32 for lunch, Tony's prix-fixe lunch (a.k.a. the Crescent Express) is quite the bargain. Just $17 gets you a three-course lunch with soup or salad (which change... More >>
• Best Comfort Food
  Blue Plate Bistro
  Comfort food shouldn't be expensive. It should bring back fond memories of home, of Grandma and Aunt Sue. It should be plain and simple. Blue Plate Bistro fills the bill on all accounts. There you'll get a good meal at a reasonable price in comfortable surroundings. Maybe it's mac 'n' cheese you... More >>
• Best Churrascaria (1 Comment)
  Nelore Churrascaria Brazilian Steakhouse
  No, it isn't the first churrascaria in Houston, or the biggest. In fact, it's a pared-down version of a Brazilian steak house, designed to fit in a Montrose bungalow. But with its wood floors, stone fireplace and cozy porch, the atmosphere of Nelore Churrascaria is more pleasant and personal... More >>
• Best Taqueria
  Taqueria El Charro No. 1
  El Charro's flagship location on Harrisburg is seconds away from the center of downtown, making it a popular destination for those in need of breakfast tacos. But what puts this full-service taqueria head and shoulders above the rest is an extensive menu that also includes barbacoa, lengua,... More >>
• Best Deli
  Kenny & Ziggy's
  At Kenny and Ziggy's, it's not just about the sandwiches -- although a certain sense of accomplishment follows packing away a pound of corned beef. It's really about the comfort food. The chicken soup with kreplach is the best way to make it through flu season, and the chopped liver is classic.... More >>
• Best Place to Skip Dinner and Have Dessert
  Ruggles Cafe Bakery
  The rows of cakes, tarts, pies and puddings displayed at Ruggles might look modest at first, but they're some of the best desserts Houston has to offer. This substance-over-style approach is commendable, especially since not one of their 20 or so offerings has ever been a disappointment. The... More >>
• Best Pizzeria
  Dolce Vita Pizzeria & Enoteca
  The pies at Dolce Vita are a thing of beauty: The toppings are unusual, generous and full of flavor, and the superb quality of the meats, cheeses and produce makes it hard to go wrong. Sauce is used sparingly, and the crust is thin and crispy and a little chewy -- a wood-burning oven makes all... More >>
• Best Cuban Restaurant
  Cafe Piquet
  Legendary salsa star Celia Cruz made her way to Cafe Piquet every time she visited Houston, and it's easy to understand why. Made-from-scratch food, a stylish atmosphere and attentive service -- all staples here -- have made this a haven for Cuban-Americans in search of a taste of home. Don't... More >>
• Best Long Lunch
  Rainbow Lodge
  There's so much to do at the Rainbow Lodge that lunch might be an afterthought. Stroll through the lush grounds overlooking Buffalo Bayou. Visit the pond and gazebo, where many have celebrated their nuptials. Smell the herbs in the garden. Then enter the old lodge, examine the stuffed hunting... More >>
• Best Atmosphere
  Artista
  Few restaurants have a better view of downtown Houston, and none has a more beautifully appointed interior, than Artista, which is located on the second floor of the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Extremely elegant and very quiet, the main dining room is an expansive, high-ceilinged space... More >>
• Best Wine List
  Brennan's of Houston
  The half-bottles are called "Mini Mes," and there's a whole page devoted to wines for "wine geeks" on this, the hippest wine list in the city. Subheads include "All that Shimmers" for champagnes, "Clean Whites" for crisp white varietals, "Dirty Reds" for the big Cabs and Zins and "Rose Water"... More >>
• Best Service
  T'afia
  Spewing happy talk and fawning over socialites has long been mistaken for good service in Houston's top-end restaurants. (It's actually an institutionalized form of panhandling.) T'afia exemplifies a new and more enlightened approach to restaurant service. The waitstaff is unobtrusive,... More >>
• Best Brunch
  Backstreet Cafe
  You can get brunch just about anywhere these days, but at Backstreet Cafe, the meal's staples are redefined. The fluffy gingerbread waffle is served with sautéed cinnamon apples. The French toast is reinvented as brioche generously stuffed with bananas and served with a sticky-sweet caramel... More >>
• Best Delivery
  Spaghetti Western
  Italian Cafe
  It's 8:30p.m., you're starving and sitting in your underwear, and the last thing you want to do is get in the car again. What to do? Savvy diners in the Heights area call on Spaghetti Western, named for the cowboy shoot-'em-up movie staple. The Italian restaurant's delivery menu features... More >>