Spanish Food and Cooking

The Rest of the Best: Houston's Top 10 Tapas Restaurants

Although etymologists agree that the word "tapas" comes from the Spanish word tapar, which means "to cover," that's where agreement on the origin of the Spanish snack-stravaganza ends. Seminal cookbook The Joy of Cooking claims that "tapas" originally referred to slices of bread or meat used to cov ... More >>

Tapas with Substance

1252 Tapas moved into Houston from The Woodlands and just got better and better.

Small Plates the Right Way at 1252 Tapas

This past summer, long before he was raising Guy Fieri's frosted tip hackles, New York Times food critic Pete Wells was lashing out against the continuing "small plate" trend and its tendency -- as Wells put it -- to lend "the sensation of having eaten a delicious meal without feeling truly satisfie ... More >>

Openings & Closings: t'afia Becomes Sparrow Bar & Cookshop and The Broken Spoke Breaks Down

After being closed for only two short weeks, Monica Pope's t'afia has already been transformed and reopened as Sparrow Bar & Cookshop. The new concept opened its doors this past Tuesday, August 14, with what's being described as "a free-flowing and easily sharable menu." That menu is somewhat inter ... More >>

Cinco de Mayo Pregame: Homemade Churros with Mexican Chocolate Dipping Sauce

How do you plan on spending your Cinco de Mayo? I will be celebrating Mexican culture with mucho margaritas by the pool. But first, I'll need something good and greasy to coat my stomach with. I'm thinking churros, the fried street food popular in Latin America and many other parts of the world (eve ... More >>

1252 Tapas Bar in Vintage Park Opens to Bad Weather With Good Food

Chuck Cook Photography1252 Tapas Bar in Vintage Park​I visited the new location of 1252 Tapas Bar in Vintage Park on its first two opening nights. (The original is located in The Woodlands.) Vintage Park is near 249 and Louetta and is structured a great deal like Uptown Park off of Post Oak. ... More >>

Merguez in Midtown

Majorca Bistro & Tapas offers good food, great sangria and plenty of people-watching.

Chef Chat, Part 2: Hicham Nafaa of Majorca Bistro & Tapas

Photo by Mandy OaklanderMajorca Bistro & Tapas​Today, we continue our conversation with owner and executive chef Hicham Nafaa of Majorca Bistro & Tapas (see part one here). The beautiful tapas joint just opened last week. Majorca stays open late -- on the weekends, it'll be serving until 4 a.m ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 1: Hicham Nafaa of Majorca Bistro & Tapas

Photo by Mandy OaklanderHicham Nafaa, owner/chef of Majorca Bistro & Tapas​The walls of Majorca Bistro & Tapas are deep red, accented with hand-painted bullfighting frescoes. Soft flamenco music pulses through the low-lit dining room. Majorca is Midtown's brand-new tapas restaurant, and from t ... More >>

Bartender Chat: Alexis Casanova of Andalucia

​Alexis Casanova of Andalucia Restaurant and Bar definitely has the pedigree to work in a tapas bar. Not only is she half Cuban, but she also knows how to whip up an amazing cocktail. I've followed her from bar to bar for several years and have never been disappointed with her concoctions. ... More >>

First Look at Cafe España

Photos by Katharine ShilcuttCafe España's version of a tortilla española.​The rap music playing on the speakers was not a good first sign, nor was the smell of raw sewage that permeated the dining room at Cafe España last week. My dining partner and I threw each other tentative glances as w ... More >>

A Whataburger Taquito with Chorizo

​As Lennie Ambrose mentioned the other day, we here at Eating Our Words occasionally consume meals of which we are less than proud. We know it's hard to believe, but even we who breathe the rarified air of the food blog occasionally fill our breathing holes with unadulterated crap. In fact, so ... More >>

Dinner and Dancing at Andalucia

​Andalucia Tapas and Taverna is now serving up a side of singing, Spanish guitar, and Flamenco dancing along with its delicious tapas and paella every Friday night. I stopped by last weekend to watch Solero Flamenco put on a passionate performance by singer Irma "La Paloma" and guitarist Jerem ... More >>

Tapas Out in The Woodlands

Sangria: My lone smart choice that evening.​On Friday night, I found myself alone in The Woodlands for dinner. The last few times I'd been up that way, I'd eaten at Jasper's, Cru and The Goose's Acre, and I was in the mood for something different. To hit up Hubbell & Hudson, or one of the plac ... More >>

"Healthy" Chorizo: Thanks, But No

​I'm not one to turn my nose up at "healthy" chorizo purely because it's healthy. After all, I once made the claim -- highly disturbing to some -- that Soyrizo, made entirely from soy, tasted just as good as the real thing. I'm an equal opportunity chorizo lover. So when I saw the Mexican sau ... More >>

Recipe: Queso Fresco Cotija and Chorizo Dip

​Queso should arguably be the official food of Houston. No one makes it better than us, and we cannot ever seem to get enough. Although the creamy-smooth Velveeta variety is always a nostalgic favorite, switching up cheeses and throwing in some meat and vegetables is a great way to turn this a ... More >>

Top 5 Cold Soups in Houston

Ryan Opaz​At first it seems counterintuitive; soup is supposed to warm, comforting, steaming from a mug, a cold-and-flu cure, a liquid manifestation of love from somebody's mom or grandma -- not served in a chilled wide-lipped bowl, cool on the tongue or cold running down the back of your thro ... More >>

Sangria and Serrano

Tintos does some things right, but skip the paella.

Chef Chat, Part 2: Charles Clark of Ibiza

​Today we continue our chat with Charles Clark of Ibiza about his time meandering through the Mediterranean. EOW: You spent some time traveling through Europe learning the Mediterranean cuisine. So help me connect the dots of how you went from riverside fryers and Chinese restaurants in Louis ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 1: Charles Clark of Ibiza

​We visited with Chef Charles Clark of Ibiza to learn about his humble beginnings with food and the path that led to his Midtown Mediterranean menu. EOW: You got started in the culinary field at a very early age. How did you realize that food was the career path for you? Clark: Growing up in ... More >>

Easy Dishes to Serve at a Tapas Gathering

lucylarou​ Tapas were created to accompany cocktails, beer and wine -- pub grub de España, if you will. And anything built solely to meet the snackage needs of drinkers is a mighty fine idea, no matter the origin. If you decide to brave the world of Spanish bar food in your own abode, these i ... More >>

Tapas on the Trails — A Valentine’s Evening at the Arboretum

Take your love outdoors

No Can Do

Sardinas a la brasa en escabeche at Andalucia Tapas and Taverna

Andalucia Tapas & Taverna

​We felt pretty smart nabbing a spot near the kitchen for the standing-room-only grand opening of Andalucia Tapas & Taverna last week. The waiters had to get through us to reach the rest of the crowd (the poor suckers by the door surely went hungry). The cavernous restaurant, in the Downtown ... More >>

Andalucia Tapas and Taverna

Donut Patrol: Churros at Arandas Bakery

​A plate of churros and a mug of hot chocolate is the best dessert on the menu at Hugo's, the upscale Mexican restaurant on Westheimer. A churro is a Mexican donut made by pushing dough through a nozzle into a deep fryer. The nozzle gives the long, stick-shaped donut pronounced ridges, which t ... More >>

Lingering Over Lunch: Rioja's

Photo by Robb Walsh​Fine dining establishments are suffering in these days of the downturn. But as we've mentioned many a time before, the best restaurants in the city have some of the choicest lunch specials. Bistro Don Camillo's business lunch, an appetizer, entrée and dessert for $18.95 is ... More >>

Breakfast bites at Tintos Spanish Restaurant & Wine Bar

Tintos Spanish Restaurant & Wine Bar

Tintos Stakes a Claim to Inner Loop Tapas

Photos by J.C. ReidVieiras al Albariño: Seared sea scallopsThe debate about which Houston restaurant serves the most authentic Spanish tapas rages on. Among Houston food lovers, the general consensus is that Rioja is at the top of the list for authentic tapas and great paella. But to a large popula ... More >>

Rioja's Paella

Photo by Robb WalshThe paella at Rioja restaurant on Kirkwood is one of the best I've ever eaten. You can get it at lunch with two tapas appetizers for $13. Paella is one of those dishes that can leave you completely indifferent or knock your socks off, depending on the skill of the cook and the qua ... More >>

Garnaxa

Tapas: A Sampler of Cinema and Media from the Americas

Eat up the Aurora Picture Show tonight

La Tapa Tapa Restaurant & Lounge

$7 at Mi Luna Tapas Restaurant & Bar in Sugar Land

Now Open: Capriccio Tapas in the ‘Burbs

Fernando's Latin American Cuisine

Lazy Man's Paella

Bacon, Eggs and Barbera

Treat yourself to Mediterranean-inflected breakfast foods and some of the most amazing wine deals in town at Catalan

Paella Paydirt

A Spanish tapas restaurant with nice rice

Prize-Winning Paella

Rioja Spanish Tapas Restaurant

Paella for One

Las Alamedas

No Cash Back

Some Tasca investors are nervous about the money. So was the state of Texas.

Best Neighborhood Spot Outside the Loop

Barcelona

The European Experience, Via Katy

At Barcelona, the mood and the menu say Spain. The parking lot says suburban mall.

Hot Plate

Hot Plate

Dish

The Pain in Spain

At Tio Pepe, dinner nearly atones for all life's disappointments

To the Tapas

At Solero, small things add up to quite a lot

Hot Plate