Turtle soup, champagne and gospel music; it's a heady combination on an early Sunday afternoon. You can't help feeling like you're in New Orleans when you walk in the front door, and Brennan's plays the Crescent City card for all it's worth. The Houston outpost of that legendary New Orleans restaurant-family empire is housed in an old brick mansion that would be right at home in the Garden District. If you're a fan of all-you-can-eat buffets, cross this place off your list. Except for the addition of some egg dishes, the Texas Creole menu Brennan's offers at brunch is just as serious as the dinner menu. But many regulars like the brunch here even better, especially when it's a beautiful day out and there's a table available on one of the most handsome patios in the city.

Express Grocery and Deli Don't look for red-checkered tablecloths or "Mom's Home Cooking" signs at the Express Grocery and Deli -- the family feeling runs far deeper than that at this delightful quick-order grill and convenience store in a corner of the Houston House apartments. Mike Baba set up shop here nearly two decades ago, weathering the then-desolate downtown area with the same genuine good cheer he dispenses to the expanding base of eclectic and ever-loyal customers. His longtime cook Margaret -- as well as his cousins, son and daughter, who work there too -- serve up respectable meals with good vibes and home-style charm.

You expect fiery curries and hot masalas in the Little Karachi neighborhood around Bissonnet and U.S. 59, but La Sani is something special. The food here is spicy in every sense of the word. Whole ginger, fenugreek seeds, chiles, garlic, cumin seeds and coriander come blaring at you in concentrations so intense that you can barely tell what you're eating. Few restaurants cook with whole cardamom pods and whole pieces of cinnamon bark, because average restaurant customers freak out when they find such objects in their mouth. La Sani, a halal restaurant whose patrons are mostly Pakistanis and Muslim Indians, pays little attention to such mainstream inhibitions. Imagine producer Phil Spector's "wall of sound" recording technique transmuted into a cooking style, and you have some idea what to expect from La Sani's wall of flavor.

The junk-store decor of this waterside burger bar draws an odd mix of bikers and moms with toddlers. Seabrook is a scenic drive down Highway 146, past the majestic bayside refineries whose smokestacks stand as straight and tall as palm trees. You forget all about alfalfa sprouts and textured tofu here in the greasy heart of the petroleum industry. Tookie's best burger is called the Squealer. It's sort of like a bacon cheeseburger, but instead of frying the bacon separately so the grease can be drained off, they grind it up with the beef. The genius of this concept is that the bacon fat bastes the patty while it cooks. The result is a salty, greasy burger that stays juicy even when well done. When good cooking revolves around a soluble-grease diffusion problem, it's no surprise when Texas oil field ingenuity comes shining through.

Fung's Kitchen Canton Seafood on Richmond, Ocean Palace in the Hong Kong City Mall and Peking Cuisine just down the Southwest Freeway from Fung's Kitchen are all rapidly gaining on the grandfather of Houston Cantonese restaurants. But Fung's remains at the top of the heap, primarily for its 400-item menu and because it's still the best place for exotic dishes such as whole ling cod and fresh scallops and oysters. They don't shuck the shellfish or kill the fish until you order them here -- and it doesn't get any fresher than that. The seaweed salad, crispy eggplant, stuffed tofu, Peking pork and snow pea shoots with tofu are all brilliantly executed. Although the service isn't what it used to be and the prices are considerably higher than at the dozens of Chinese restaurants, noodle shops and dumpling houses a few miles down Bellaire Boulevard, the palatial red-and-gold dining room and elegant ambience still make Fung's Kitchen a special treat.

When you sit outside at El Pueblito Place, you'll start believing you're on vacation in a foreign land -- especially after a couple of margaritas. Palm trees with Christmas lights, tiki torches and candles give the expansive patio a romantic feel, and there's always live music, usually Latin. If you're with your harem, you can sit in one of the raised platforms draped with white cloth and made cozy with couches and pillows. It's a nice respite when it seems that the whole world is flocking to El Pueblito's patio. Even on stiflingly hot nights, the place is packed.

A vertical arrangement of tropical fruit in a basket on the gleaming white bar looks like Carmen Miranda's hat. The bartender borrows from the overflow of pineapples, bananas and assorted tropical fruits to make smoothies. Meanwhile, the barista cranks out tiny cups of Cuban coffee. Cuban food lovers from all over town are showing up at The Little Havana to welcome back former Cafe Miami owner Gladys Abelenda. The popular new Cuban hangout is simultaneously a boisterous family restaurant and a rendezvous for well-dressed adults. Many in the predominantly Latin American crowd know each other, and there's a lot of table-hopping and cheek-kissing going on. Smoothies, fried plantains and ropa vieja, a long-stewed beef dish served with rice and black beans, are all recommended. So are the Cuban coffee and luscious desserts, including a definitive version of tres leches cake.

Frozen dough, machine sheeters and conveyor belt ovens long ago took over the pizza business. Thanks to the miracle of technology, Houston pizzerias can now turn out crappy pizzas in under five minutes! But compared to most pizzerias in Houston, Pizza Bella is making perfect pies. They use a stainless-steel Blodget brand pizza oven with a brick floor -- one of the best of its class. They hand-throw their own homemade dough and they don't dock it, or run it through a sheeter. But you still have to avoid the overloaded pizzas on the menu if you want to get a crispy crust. Try the margherita; it's nothing but Roma tomatoes sliced thin lengthwise, a smattering of fresh basil leaves and a little garlic over olive oil. A simple fresh-out-of-the-oven flatbread with just enough garlic-infused olive oil and a few scant but aromatic toppings -- this is what pizza is all about.

Laredo Taqueria The interior of this popular taco joint at the corner of Fulton and Patton is cheerfully decorated with ceramic roosters and Mexican crockery, and it's always spotlessly clean. Sit down for table service, or stand in line for tacos to go. While you go down the cafeteria line, you can watch two women roll out and toast the fresh flour tortillas you're about to eat. The steam table is small, but everything on it is wonderfully fresh. In the morning, there are no fewer than six varieties of scrambled eggs ready to be put on a breakfast taco. There are eggs with chorizo, potatoes, ham, nopalitos, onions and chiles, plus sausage, refried beans and chicharrones. Barbacoa is always available. Lunch and dinner specials change daily and include fajitas, country chicken and caldo de res. There's also a choice of incredibly inexpensive enchilada plates, and every taco is 99 cents, all day long.

Real Cajun cooking comes from Cajun country. The southern populace of Louisiana refers to the north, including New Orleans, as Yankees. Don't call this food Creole. Cajun and Creole are two different enigmas, sir, and we're willing to come to blows over it. Creole has a tomato base. Cajun has a roux base. A roux is made from cooking oil or butter and flour together until the liquid mixture turns a beautiful chicory color. And talk about good! Willie G's uses recipes from the beautiful bayous of south Louisiana. That's the real deal, captain. The food is phenomenal. And the service, ça c'est bon. Sit at the bar and, if you're lucky, bartender Marvin will look after you. The crawfish platter is a miracle in your mouth when mudbugs are in season. The avocado and super lump crab cocktail makes a mother of a first course; filled with tender avocado and juicy she-crab (female crabs yield tastier, more plentiful meat), it's almost a meal on its own. Then the main course: Crab au gratin, steamed Alaskan crab legs, fried soft-shell…When it finally ended, we wanted to waltz into the kitchen and hug everyone in sight.