8. Red Lion Pub
Don't let the red pleather-upholstered booths and faux Tudor timbers fool you. This isn't just another fake British pub. This is an authentically fake British pub, right down to the iconic red telephone box inside. Founder and owner Craig Mallinson is the son of British folk singer Sarah Mallinson, and he bakes the Cornish pasties himself. He even has the "Fruity" variety of HP sauce to slather on your sausage rolls. But it's not all Sunday roasts here; true to England's food culture (which incorporates Indian food much in the same way we do Tex-Mex), you'll find excellent curries on the menu, too. In cold months, enjoy the warmth of the cozy interior fireplace. But in warmer months, the tree-shaded patio is the place to be.
7. Ouisie's Table
Leave it to Elouise Adams Jones to bring out the trendy and elegant best in old, homey favorites. Ouisie's Table's cream of mushroom soup, for example, in its thin, milky broth, is loaded with tons of mushrooms that fairly pop with freshness; fried oysters, for another, are so tender and juicy that they seem lighter than air. The chicken-fried steak — once deemed the best in the state, and the winner of multiple Best of Houston® awards across many years — used to be available only on Tuesdays, but proved so popular that Ouisie's was fairly forced to put it on the regular menu, complete with all the fixings: mashed potatoes with black pepper milk gravy, black-eyed peas, mustard greens and Lucy's corn pudding.
6. Relish Fine Foods
If you like Central Market but hate the parking, you'll love Relish Fine Foods — especially since it's located right down the street from the grocery giant. The vibe at Relish is very similar: part grocery store with high-end goods and local products such as Slow Dough bread and Way Back When milk, part ready-made foods you can eat at Relish or on the go. An assortment of gourmet soups, salads and sandwiches are all made with local ingredients and change with the seasons, but not all is light here: Check out the Rice Krispies treats made with brown butter or the salted caramel brownies from Relish's in-house pastry chef.
5. Américas
Américas is the restaurant responsible — along with its owners, the Cordúa family — for first introducing Houston to South American cuisine. As with its sister restaurant, Churrascos, the menu has barely changed since Américas' inception on Post Oak Boulevard (which is now closed). The only real difference at the River Oaks buildout is the rather insane interior: a mishmash of Aeon Flux and The Lion King staged on Broadway, as envisioned by Tim Burton's Beetlejuice. (Compare this with the old Post Oak location's aesthetic of "Dr. Seuss on acid," however, and the dining room seems right on track.) Stick with classics like the churrasco steak or the smoky crab claws, and try not to stare — at the enormous booths or the socialites packed into them.
4. Giacomo's Cibo e Vino
We gave Giacomo's a Best of Houston® award for Best Date Night in 2011, and that sentiment still stands. You get a lot of bang for your buck at Lynette Hawkins's cozy, romantic bistro on a quiet stretch of Westheimer thanks to a clever menu that encourages sharing of small, smartly priced plates of Italian classics: eggplant involtini, spaghetti carbonara, swiss chard crepes and more. The wine list is just as affordable as the menu, and there's even a cute wine bar in which to enjoy it.
3. Mockingbird Bistro
Mockingbird Bistro is so sequestered in a little neighborhood south of West Gray, finding your way back can sometimes feel like searching out Brigadoon in the mists. But this is just part of the charm at John Sheely's funky neighborhood cafe, which has been serving what seems like the same rotation of patrons for the last 11 years. Sheely, along with talented sous chef Jose Luis Vela, packs them in at lunch and dinner every day with a solid and well-executed menu of bistro classics: foie gras, onion soup, roasted chicken, steak frites and and an Old World-heavy wine list. While over-the-top burgers like the $32 foie-topped Wagyu burger hold court at night, happy hour is a less expensive time to visit and indulge in $5 bar bites, cocktails, wines and beer.
