Hugo Ortega

Max's Wine Dive Moving in to Montrose; What Does That Mean for Houston?

Fried eggs and truffle oil as toppings may be old hat to foodies these days. We're easily distracted creatures who paw like needle-clawed kittens at every new bauble that comes along. But back in the rollicking days of the mid-2000s, the novelty had not yet worn thin and restaurants like Max's Wine ... More >>

The Eating...Our Words 100: Tracy Vaught, Owner of Backstreet Cafe and Hugo's

What she does: Tracy Vaught is the owner of Hugo's and Backstreet Cafe and a partner at Prego and Trevisio. ""I do all the planning, train managers, set all the standards for the restaurants, design menus," says Vaught. "Investments and charitable giving. I am the one who has political involvement ... More >>

Go West, Young Man

The top 10 restaurants in Westchase.

Top 10 Wine Lists in Houston

It's exciting to run across a well-priced favorite on a restaurant's wine list, or to discover something new as you dig through its pages. But there's more to making a world-class wine list than just stocking a cellar with Cakebreads and Chardonnays. To spotlight the best wine lists in Houston, we ... More >>

The Dan Marino Restaurants

The 13 restaurants that nearly made our 30 essential Texas restaurants list.

Keep Those Resolutions

20 terrific restaurants for eating healthy while staying social.

Top 10 Restaurants in River Oaks

The last time we tackled the Top 10 restaurants in River Oaks, Tony Mandola's was still open in what is now Brasserie 19's spot in the River Oaks Shopping Center. Needless to say, things have changed a bit in three years. And in spite of its ritzy exterior, River Oaks still has plenty of inexpensive ... More >>

20 Terrific Houston Restaurants for Eating Healthy While Staying Social

For me -- and, I imagine, for a lot of people -- the toughest part about dieting is when you're confronted with eating out. Unless you're dining in a chain restaurant, it's tough to count calories or know what the sodium or fat content of any given dish is. And I can pretty much guarantee you that n ... More >>

Paula or Pepin? Separate Savannah from Southern France, and Win Tickets to the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show

The Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show is coming to Houston this weekend, and Eating...Our Words has three pairs of tickets to see two of this year's celebrity speakers, Paula Deen and Jacques Pépin (two for Dean and one for Pépin). We would like nothing more than to give them away to you ... More >>

This Week In Food Blogs: Churro Porn and Houston as Mutt City

Robb Walsh: In his continuing series on where Texas cuisine is headed, Robb Walsh talks to Underbelly chef Chris Shepherd about Houston's role as a "new Creole city," citing a recent article by Southern food writer John T. Edge called "Savoring Mutt City." (Mutt City is us, by the way -- and it's a ... More >>

The Texas Chefs Hall of Fame: 1981 and Now

Assistant music editor Craig Hlavaty recently purchased a 1981 edition of The Genuine Texas Handbook, a guide to all things Texan. It's an often-tongue-in-cheek look at the people, places, outfits, songs, foods and more that made someone Texan 31 years ago. Incidentally, the book and I are the same ... More >>

Carls' Jr. Testing New Ice Cream Burger

5 More Frosty Food Fakers

La Fisheria Opens Tomorrow as Houston Welcomes a Mexican Celebrity Chef to the City

Most Americans wouldn't know chef Aquiles Chávez if they saw him on the street, even with his trademark handlebar mustache and Jack Sparrow-style dreadlocks tucked under a straw hat. But ask anyone in Latin America about Chávez and they'll immediately grin and say, "El hombre con el bigote!" as t ... More >>

Return to Backstreet Café

A few years ago, I tried being vegan. Then, I swapped to a vegetarian diet, and finally, pescetarian. I found it extremely educational. (For example, I learned that I don't want to live the rest of my life without cheeseburgers.) It also sent me on a quest to find restaurants that could accommodate ... More >>

Upcoming Events: Foraging and Fires

Photo by GroovehouseYes, you can eat those beautyberries you've seen at the Arboretum. Merriwether will show you how.​If Nicholas Hall's post on foraging, "Indigenous Bounties," piqued your interest about scouring your own back yard (or front yard) for tasty treats, pay attention. Meriwether's ... More >>

Upcoming Events

RA Sushi is about to get even clubbier than usual...​Houston Restaurant Week is in full swing right now. With so many restaurants to choose from, people have been overwhelmed with choices -- not a bad position to be in, really. I love CultureMap's efficient little "cheat sheet" for trying to f ... More >>

Top 10 Restaurants in River Oaks

It's not surprising that one of the most exclusive zip codes in the country has some pretty fantastic food -- but rest assured that the 'hood isn't all iced tea and crumpets. So excited were we about the ten below that we didn't find room for neighborhood icons like Avalon Diner, Andre's, and the Fr ... More >>

Foul Ball and Quick Fix

Food of the God

Robert Del Grande continues to perform miracles at Cafe Annie

August Meals

Siestas fit in perfectly with Houston's climate