For the next 20 weeks, we'll be rounding up the runners-up to our 2011 Best of Houston® winners. In many categories, picking each year's winner is no easy task. We'll be spotlighting 20 of those categories, in which the winner had hefty competition from other Houston bars and restaurants.
5. Luby's
Don't look at me like that. I have a soft spot in my heart for Luby's the size of Texas. After any major trauma in my life, a dish of macaroni and cheese from Luby's (along with its liver and onions and fried okra) has bolstered me and given me a full belly and clear mind with which to plow ahead. That mac and cheese is what I want when I'm sick, when I'm sad, when I'm happy, even when I'm not particularly hungry. It's obscenely velvety, with a cheese sauce that clings to every square millimeter of its elbow macaroni and forms a protective layer of love around your heart. (To be fair, that could also be arteriosclerosis. But it's too good for me to care.)
This is the most expensive macaroni and cheese on the list at $8 (which is why it didn't place higher up), but at least it's worth it. BRC has one of the few baked mac and cheese dishes that's not overcooked, nor does it reveal a layer of grease and unemulsified cheese at the bottom (as so many baked mac and cheese dishes do). Instead, the cast iron skillet of mac and cheese is thick and creamy all the way through except for a crunchy layer of bread crumbs and slightly crisped pasta at the very top. Be careful, though: It takes a good five minutes to cool off enough to eat; I like to spend that time enjoying a pint from BRC's thoughtful selection of local brews.
