According to the Press's own clubs guide, "Chances are if you can clearly remember leaving Big Star at the end of the night, you didn't actually have a good time at Big Star." And chances are if you can't clearly remember leaving Big Star — or remember leaving at all — you may have been indulging in one of the Heights hot spot's custom shots. UK visitors are welcome to throw back all the Billy Idols or Rebel Yells they (or their friends) can stand, but we'll take the Houston Oiler, because after a few of these Columbia blue kamikazes, we start dancing like Billy "White Shoes" Johnson. Careful with the similarly colored Marvin Zindlers, though — one too many and you will be feeling like slime in the ice machine the next day.

It's difficult to pick a favorite from the small menu at Beaver's ever since Jonathan Jones took over as head chef, which is truly a sign of an extraordinary kitchen. But it's the unassuming macaroni and cheese which shines, and which makes every other macaroni and cheese dish in Houston tremble in its ramekins. A generous serving is enough for two people, but you won't want to share. The corkscrew pasta isn't your typical elbow macaroni style, all the better to hold the thick, creamy parmesan and cheddar sauce in its nooks and crannies. The icing on the cake, so to speak, is the crunchy sprinkling of toasted bread crumbs on top, giving a subtle bite to the mac 'n' cheese and giving you something extra to savor along the way.

An unlikely location on the ground floor of a medical building in the Museum District hasn't stopped the young Bodega's Taco Shop from making a splash in the already crowded Tex-Mex market. The food itself (think upscale Chipotle) is good, but people flock here for the dazzling array of delicious fresh-fruit margaritas. All the margaritas (the ones on the rocks, that is) are made to order with only three ingredients: a freshly squeezed orange, two freshly squeezed limes and your choice of more than 80 different tequilas. And while the margaritas are amazing on their own, adding one of a dozen other available fruit juices for only 20 cents more pushes Bodega's to the top of the list. Although the mango and guava margaritas are easy choices, the surprisingly good tamarind flavor is not to be missed.

There are a lot of Mexican restaurants in Texas, but there aren't a lot of ostionerías, or Mexican oyster bars, outside of Houston. And since seafood is what makes the food in Houston great, we figured it was about time to recognize our favorite ostionería, Tampico on Airline. Named after the seaside city on the Gulf Coast, this oyster bar and grill has brought the best of Mexico's seafood traditions to the North side. You never have to wonder what kind of fish you are eating here — you buy a whole fish from the bed of ice and pay for it by the pound. The cocteles are schooners full of shrimp, octopus and raw oysters mixed up with lime juice, onions, tomatoes, avocado pieces and cilantro in a ketchup-based cocktail sauce. To eat them Mexican style, add hot pepper sauce, then scoop some seafood onto a saltine cracker. Great with a michelada.

The food here may be served cafeteria-style, but it tastes gourmet. Diners line up along a sea of troughs stretching along two walls of the restaurant, each brimming with Middle Eastern delights. Pile your plate high with dolmas (grape leaves stuffed with rice, onions and tomatoes), tabouli and baba ghanoush, the dip made of roasted eggplant, tahini, lemon juice and olive oil. Then head to the meat counter and grab a kebab — beef, lamb or chicken — and a broiled lamb shank that's fall-off-the-bone tender and served in a gravy of carrots, red peppers and mushrooms. Top it all off with a piece of baklava, and you'll see why Fadi's is a local favorite.

Cheeburger, Cheeburger makes a big production out of its milk shakes. There are something like 75 flavors of ice cream, and every milk shake comes with two straws and a spoon. Get the large size and ask for the double chocolate flavor — malted. Then be prepared to have your milk shake stolen by the rest of your dining companions. If you remember chocolate malts, this one will make tears of nostalgia well up in your eyes. If you have never tried one, you are in for a treat. Cheeburger, Cheeburger takes its name from the Saturday Night Live routine. "They said 'No Coke, Pepsi' all the time, and that's why we have no Coke, only Pepsi products," the teen-age waiters chirp with big phony smiles. Located in the Vintage Park Shopping Center at the Louetta exit off Highway 249, this outpost of a Florida-based gourmet hamburger franchise is decorated in pink neon and stainless steel to mimic a vintage neighborhood joint of the 1950s. John Belushi would have hated the place.

The spicy Middle Eastern food at Cafe Rita is spectacular — eating here is like going over to your Armenian grandparents' house for lunch. George Sarikhanian, the gregarious cashier/owner, is a friendly bear with a bald head and spectacles. His wife, Rita, is a smiling matron in an apron who never comes out of the kitchen. There are pictures of grandkids stuck all over the sides of the deli case, which is stuffed to overflowing with goodies. Rita prepares traditional breakfast foul — the ancient fava bean soup with lots of lemon and garlic. The foul is replaced in the afternoon by a peppery bean soup. George and Rita always have something cooking that's not on the menu. "Taste this, we don't make it all the time, you better get some while you can," George will say, stuffing your mouth with something wonderful as you stand in line. How can you say no?

Marco Wiles, the owner of Da Marco and Dolce Vita, extends his Westheimer winning streak with his new wine-and-tapas joint. The menu at Poscol might remind you of Mario Batali's Casa Mono tapas bar in New York, only without the Spanish taverna touches. The interior, which occupies the former location of Cafe Montrose, seems to be modeled after those fashionable Batali restaurants where everybody is jammed together in too little space. But the menu of intriguing small plates and the stellar Italian wine list make the cramped quarters worthwhile. How about a creamy zucchini risotto with piles of fried chicken livers and a spectacular crisp Friuli white made with grapes found only in that Northern Italian region? Or how about beet squares roasted with hazelnuts and goat cheese with a smooth and fruity Tuscan red wine? There are dozens of inspired combinations waiting to be discovered here. And so we keep coming back.

When it was announced that wunderkind chef Randy Rucker — known for his daring molecular gastronomy and cutting-edge cuisine at the now-closed Laidback Manor — would be taking over the executive chef position at the supremely old-school Rainbow Lodge, the collective heads of Houston's food community cocked in bewilderment. But it's turned out to be the most successful marriage — however unlikely — that the dining scene has seen in recent years. Rucker's inventive and capricious techniques somehow pair wonderfully with the wild game and lodge-like setting of the stately restaurant. His best work is on display in dishes like chicken from Bryan Farms wrapped in housemade pancetta and served alongside housemade chicken sausage, or Texas redfish on the half shell with preserved Meyer lemon and baby arugula.

This is one of the few restaurants in town with a real dedicated oyster bar, as opposed to a bar that serves oysters. Check out the extensive collection of old-fashioned oyster plates hanging on the walls. Magnolia used to be owned by Jim Gossen of Louisiana Foods, the company that wholesales oysters to most of the other oyster bars in town. Gossen still takes care of his friends at Magnolia — the restaurant boasts the freshest Gulf oysters in the city. The fresh red snapper, peewee soft-shell crabs and shrimp étouffée aren't bad either, while the crab Maison salad, made with a rémoulade recipe stolen from Galatoire's, may be the best crab salad in Houston. The oysters on the half shell are usually a bargain, and the cooked oyster dishes are awesome. Don't miss the oyster poor boys, oyster gumbo, fried oysters or any of the other oyster dishes either.