Full Service Restaurants

Buen Idea

Buen Idea

Anthony Bourdain on Illegal Immigrant Labor in U.S. Kitchens

Some Value: Texas Roadhouse Will Take Those Benningan’s and Steak and Ale Gift Cards

Dining by Demographic

Fleming's Prime Steakhouse serves up excellent renditions of the nation's most average food and wine preferences

Food Fight

The Landrys came to Houston with good food and good ideas. But a good family squabble let Tilman Fertitta step in and carve himself an empire.

On the Chang Gang

The Landrys came to Houston with good food and good ideas. But a good family squabble let Tilman Fertitta step in and carve himself an empire.

Capital Idea

Is one more palace of red meat one too many? If it's the Capital Grille, the answer is no.

Dish

It's All Academic

Attack of the Killer Developers

Restaurants pop up in Midtown

Best Hunk o' Meat

Capital Grille

Best Chinese Restaurant

Chinese Café

Resolution Relief

California Pizza Kitchen

Illegal Immigrants in the Restaurant Industry

Mexican immigrant Hugo Ortega went from washing dishes to owning Houston's best Mexican restaurant — now he has a few things to say about immigration

Best Overall Restaurant

Da Marco

TRIPLE TREAT TORTILLAS

California Pizza Kitchen

Past Its Prime

Taste of Texas Steakhouse takes you on a nostalgia trip to the salad bar.

Grande Plans

Houston's most famous chef talks about prostate cancer, turning 50 and what's next for Cafe Annie

Cooked Book

The real chefs' surprise is who made it -- or didn't -- into Culinary Capital

Best Seafood Restaurant

The real chefs' surprise is who made it -- or didn't -- into Culinary Capital

Best Steak House

The real chefs' surprise is who made it -- or didn't -- into Culinary Capital

Best Secret

The real chefs' surprise is who made it -- or didn't -- into Culinary Capital

Dry-Aged Discrimination

What grade of beef are the steaks at The Capital Grille?

Best Mall Alternative

Kim Hung Mall

Best Expense-Account Restaurant

Capital Grille

The Downtown Aquarium

Open daily

Steak House Shuffle

Vallone's takes a break just in time to give Fleming's a shot

Fish Fraud

Passing off cheap fish for expensive red snapper is against the law. But no one enforces the regulations. So Texas restaurants are free to rip you off.

Discomfort Food

Robert Del Grande

Chain for Fools

Houston versus Dallas: We're family-run; they're chained up.

Stirred and Shaken

Champps Americana's Manhattan

Stirred and Shaken

P.F. Chang's mai tai

Nothing Small About It

The expansive Maggiano's Little Italy serves portions to match

Pushed Around

For City Hall, one downtown cart vendor may be too many

Health Department Roundup: Single-Service Edition

Usually the Roundup shines its light on the misdeeds of full-service restaurants, but this time out we reconnoiter the single-service foodscape. These are generally not sit-down restaurants but cheaper grab-n-gos where you aren't expected to tip anyone. These establishments cannot get away with spi ... More >>

Eating Out on Christmas Day? What's Open

​There will be plenty of things open on Christmas Day besides just presents. So don't despair if the Bumpus hounds eat your holiday turkey, you don't feel like cooking dinner or you simply don't celebrate a completely arbitrary day chosen as Christ's birthday simply because it fell on a conven ... More >>

A Decade of Landry's

Photo by B. Tse​Whether you love them or hate them, you can't escape them -- not even if you leave Houston. Over the past ten years, Landry's has become a household name. Besides owning such well-known restaurants as Saltgrass Steak House, Aquarium, and Vic and Anthony's, Landry's has dabbled ... More >>

This Year in Deliciousness

Photo by This Is Freaking RidiculousAn AK-47 made entirely out of bacon? Yup, that's pretty much 2009 summed up.​ So this is the time of year when we normally say things like "Wow, another year gone by already!" and "Can ya believe it's almost 2010?" and "Say there, how come you just broke my ... More >>

The Yelp Effect

​Although there was no shortage of food-related panels at the Interactive portion of South by Southwest (SXSWi) this year, none were as insightful or as incendiary as The Yelp Effect, a frank discussion on the effect that online reviews and criticisms have on the restaurant industry. Led by A ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 1: John Ly of Strata Restaurant

​We met with Executive Chef John Ly of the new Strata Restaurant in the Champions area, and he shared some tips for young aspiring chefs. Eating Our Words: So I understand you started off pursuing a computer science degree. Tell me about that. Ly: Yeah, I went pretty far towards getting my c ... More >>

Where Are We Drinking?

Sturdy wooden tables, comfortable banquets, soft lighting and a glass of wine. This could be any upscale restaurant in Houston, right? Not if you look for the hidden clues... Think you know where we're drinking this week? ​Leave your best guess in the comments section below.

Taco Palenque

Sturdy wooden tables, comfortable banquets, soft lighting and a glass of wine. This could be any upscale restaurant in Houston, right? Not if you look for the hidden clues... Think you know where we're drinking this week? ​Leave your best guess in the comments section below.

Top 5: Appetizers

Vietnamese egg rolls from Hollywood.​Which places start your meal off just right? Find out, as we take a look at some of the best appetizers Houston has to offer. 5. Pappasito's Matador Nachos Unless you're a complete fat ass, I'd highly recommend splitting these between at least two, proba ... More >>

Comments of the Day

​Could it be that patronizing The Olive Garden is worse than putting beans in your chili? After Kevin Shalin named the chain's lasagna fritta as his top appetizer in town, there was a bit of a riot in the comments. This one from, er, olive garden!?!?!, is a good example: OLIVE GARDEN?? Who.. ... More >>

Restaurant Lawyer David Jordan on Tip Pools and Illegal Immigration

​David Jordan is a partner in the Houston office of Littler Mendelson, an international law firm specializing in labor and employment law. Before he was a lawyer, Jordan worked in the restaurant industry for several years: flipping burgers at Burger King when he was in high school; working in ... More >>

Comment of the Day

​Joanna O'Leary had a delicious Italian meal at Fratelli's and decided that the restaurant was worth driving outside the loop for. Which gave commenter Laurie pause: Heaven forbid! Outside the Loop! Joanna get over it. It is all of 5 min outside the Loop. A majority of Houston lives outside ... More >>

Off the Wall: Capital Grille Delivers The Big O with Lobster Mac & Cheese

​ ...Outstanding, that is! What were you thinking? I'm pretty sure I'm writing this article from the afterlife because I have died and gone to heaven. Thank you to EOW reader Jeff for chiming in on last week's top five dressed-up macaroni & cheeses and pointing me in the direction of Capital ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 1: Morty Parsa of Kasra Persian Grill

Matthew DresdenMorty Parsa in the kitchen of Kasra Persian Grill ​Since chef/owner Morteza "Morty" Parsa opened Kasra Persian Grill in 1999, the Westchase restaurant has become one of Houston's best-known Persian restaurants, winning numerous accolades in the process (including a 2007 Best of ... More >>

Texas Roadhouse Discriminates Against Old People, Feds Say

No oldies allowed, feds claim​There's not a lot that's authentically Texas about the Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain -- it's based in Massachusetts, after all -- but there are 52 locations here in the state, including a handful in the Houston area. We think we've eaten there once, but have f ... More >>

Tasting Notes: This Week in (Women's) Wine Blogs

Photo by Margaret Shugart, curator of a new blog, The Wine Roads of Texas.​The Wine Roads of Texas: "If you've never seen the communities that run across that vast stretch of road," writes Margaret Shugart, author of a new blog called The Wine Roads of Texas, "you are missing one of the most u ... More >>