Insalata caprese, sporting the red, white and green of the Italian flag, is a light dish made in purest form just with slices of hopefully at least decent quality mozzarella and ripe tomatoes, leaves of fresh basil, and olive oil. It was created at a hotel on the island of Capri near Naples, hence the name, maybe in the 1930s. Insalata caprese began to appear in the 1960s in America and became popular as a starter at many Italian restaurants in the 1980s, then a necessity at most affordable Italian-American restaurants after the turn of the millennium. It is now found at about 40 percent of Italian restaurants around the country. And it is popular in Italy well beyond its origins. I just had a terrific version in a town on Mount Etna in Sicily made with perfectly ripe small locally sourced tomatoes and dotted with bits of fresh oregano.
 
The dish was initially made with cow’s milk mozzarella, fior di latte, which translates to "flower of milk." It has a lighter and more subtle taste than mozzarella di bufala, mozzarella made with buffalo milk that is more highly regarded, and more expensive. And there were cows just across the Sorrento Peninsula from Capri. Cow’s milk mozzarella is typical at American restaurants – if rarely the quality of that served in Italy. Sometimes bits of dried oregano and balsamic vinegar sometimes join the original quartet of ingredients. This is especially so when the mozzarella and tomatoes are of less than ideal stature.
 
Insalata caprese is one of the large number of dishes on Italian restaurants in America that have roots in the Naples area. These include ricotta-filled and tomato-sauce-topped ravioli, much of the antipasti spread, the hefty red-sauced lasagna, linguine in a white clam sauce, veal parmesan, fried calamari, spaghetti and meatballs, spumoni, eggplant parmesan, pizza, pasta with marinara sauce, veal piccata, and chicken parmesan, to name the most familiar.

The terrific insalata caprese a San Giorgio e il Drago in Randazzo on the north side of Mount Etna last month.

Salmon does not seem Italian. The fish is certainly not Italian. It is not native to the Italian coasts and rivers. But salmon is one of the most common sights on Italian restaurant menus in America, found on well over a third of them.
 
At Bari in Houston, chef Renato Di Pirro offers contemporary Italian sensibility with his attractive Faroe Salmon with a beet and blood orange marinade, on top of noodles aglio e olio, with spirulina beurre blanc. The grand Italian-American in several locations, Carbone, has Salmon Oreganata, giving salmon the old school clams oreganata treatment. The Chicago Italian-American-rooted Harry Caray’s moves well beyond the Windy City with Grilled Salmon with Coconut Rice, Mango and Red Pepper Relish. And if you can somehow overlook one of its “Amazing Alfredos,” Olive Garden has “Herb-Grilled Salmon: Filet grilled to perfection and topped with garlic herb butter. Served with parmesan garlic broccoli.”
 
Nearly every Italian restaurant here always had at a distinct American component. Restaurants source from America and serve American customers, after all. As about the most easily sourced fish with broad appeal, salmon has found a home at Italian restaurants in America for several decades. It first gained significant traction in the 1990s. Even in Italy, in fairness, salmon is actually found, at least in stores. Italy imports over 130,000 tons of salmon annually from Norway, nearly all of it seemingly destined for home kitchens. Though for the first time, during a trip to Sicily last month, I actually noticed salmon filets on a menu in Italy. It doesn’t seem en route to take holds on menus there as here. But as the world changes, who knows.

Pan Grilled Salmon Limone at Palazzo's in Houston

Meatballs have become a very popular order to start a meal for many. Meatballs in the antipasti or appetizer section are now number fourteen among the most frequently seen items at Italian restaurants. These are often feature a combination of meats involving ground beef with pork and veal and are served with a tomato sauce. All-veal meatballs are also seen.
 
Meatballs were part of the southern Italian tradition of the immigrants; it was a way to make poor quality meat much more palatable. Usually stretched with bread or bread crumbs, it was always served as a main course, after the pasta or soup. In America, since beef, and pork and veal, were all plentiful and easily affordable, those meatballs eventually became quite larger and beefier than their Old World precursors, and served much more frequently. The additional calories and protein were certainly welcome by those doing heavy labor, a majority of the male immigrants. Here, with a much quicker lifestyle and limited time for meals, plump meatballs and pasta were eventually served together. This dish, a certifiably American creation and possibly even a restaurant one, was to become one of the most popular throughout the country. In 1924, Cane’s Spaghetti Station No. 1 in Glendale, just north of Los Angeles, was offering “Spaghetti or Ravioli with Polpette” – meatballs in Italian – as a part of a three-course 60-cent lunch. If not especially cheap at the time, it was likely a good deal. The word polpette, pohl-PEH-teh, is used at times by restaurants today in an effort to claim some level of authenticity. And polpette sounds fancier than meatballs.
 
Though long paired with spaghetti at restaurants, meatballs as a starter is something fairly new, just becoming common in the past decade or so. It was actually a rare sight before then. But people today really like meatballs. And more than just American diners. Along a side street in the Sicilian coastal city of Catania last month, I saw a restaurant with the name Polpetteria, a restaurant that specializes in meatballs. Though beef-heavy meatballs reign in America, this spot offers a very wide range of polpette: beef, horse, chicken, donkey, eggplant, zucchini and ricotta, potato, swordfish, tuna, and more. These are for the main course, though.

A stalwart in the Italian-American kitchen, lasagna, with its layers of boiled flat noodles usually encasing ricotta, mozzarella, and tomato sauce along with beef or sausage baked to a cheesy goodness, is the fifteenth most commonly seen items today at Italian restaurants in America. Lasagna as most restaurants serve it here is inspired from the pre-Lenten Carnival version from the Naples area from the past century. Here, it grew taller, meaty, much heartier, and more American. It became more firmly planted on menus over the years. Today, some restaurants proudly proclaim the number of layers of pasta in its versions. Chef Mark Ladner at the acclaimed Del Posto in New York even introduced an impossibly baroque 100-layer lasagne in 2009.
 
Lasagna only became widely found at restaurants in the 1950s, along with other baked pastas like cannelloni and manicotti. For years, it was spelled in the original Italian fashion as “lasagne.” Some restaurants have reverted to that name, offering what these calls Lasagne alla Bolognese. In its true form, this consists of wide strips of egg-rich freshly made pasta, often colored with spinach, layered in a pan with the long-cooked ragù alla Bolognese and judicious dollops of béchamel and then baked. Hearty but not enormous. This is one of the glories of the cooking of Bologna and the region of Emilia. It is distinct from the Neapolitan-originated lasagna, which is much more common in America. But on menus here, though it does appear in some restaurants, the name lasagne alla bolognese is often used rather fancifully.

The sixteenth most commonly seen items today at Italian restaurants in America is prosciutto as a starter. This is prosciutto crudo, thinly sliced ham cured in the Italian tradition. This is commonly served as part of a mix of cured meats increasingly called affettati or tagliere on menus now. Or it might appear in older school rendition, paired with melon when in season. In the New York area, prosciutto often loses a syllable and goes by “proshoot.”
 
Prosciutto is salumi, the broad term for cured meats that are ready to eat, usually pork, but also beef, wild boar, deer, and more. Prosciutto, salami, mortadella, coppa, pancetta, speck, and bresaola are some of the commonly found salumi in America. The name prosciutto refers to either cured or cooked ham. Prosciutto crudo is the good stuff. This is the more familiar cured version. Made from high-quality pork legs, which are covered in salt and left to rest, during which the salt draws out the blood and other moisture that makes it safe to eat raw. After this salting, the legs are washed, seasoned, and left to age at a controlled temperature from 14 months to three years. Prosciutto cotto is the cooked that resembles and tastes much like a familiar domestic boiled ham. Unless “prosciutto crudo” is specified on the menu, like in a sandwich, it is often this cheaper version that will be used. Both are served in slices. Made in much of northern Italy, the most well-known is Prosciutto di Parma and the slightly sweeter Prosciutto di San Daniele. Other top versions available to lesser degree in America are Prosciutto di Carpegna and Prosciutto di Modena. Though versions made domestically have improved in the last couple of decades, the Italian products are still clearly superior. For a great many years, Italian prosciutto was illegal in America. Only inferior, mostly domestic, cured ham under the name was available. In 1989, the ban on of imports of Prosciutto di Parma and Prosciutto di San Daniele was lifted. Just part of the reason why Italian dining has improved since then.
 
The long-popular prosciutto with melon and also prosciutto with figs are other items that are part of the influential Neapolitan dining tradition. The saltiness of the thin slices of ham pairs very well with the sweetness of the fruit.
 
Prosciutto, as delicious as it is, also works beyond the antipasti section. It is found in sandwiches and sometimes in pastas. Maybe most famously at the full-service restaurants, it is part of saltimbocca. After Parmesan, Marsala and piccata, this has been the most widely seen veal preparation over the years. Veal scallops are cooked in butter with white wine then topped with thin slices of prosciutto, hopefully large sage leaves and usually served flat but can be found rolled, affixed with toothpicks, or even stuffed. Dating from the 19th century in Rome, and at least the 1930s in America, this mix of tender meal, a hint of richness and acidity and then herbal piquancy is wonderful when done well and can work in the trattoria and ristorante there as well as Italian-American and Italian renditions here.

A visit to the only commercial prosciutto di Carpegna factory some years ago.

Linguine with clams in a white sauce is number seventeen among the most frequently seen items today at Italian restaurants in America. Made with white wine and lemon juice, garlic in abundance, and usually red pepper flakes to accompany small- or medium-sized clams in the shell and not all tossed over long strands of commercially made dried pasta then dotted with bits of fresh parsley, this is a bright, fresh-tasting and fairly light meal that is a favorite Italian food for many. It was the dish that my brother requested for his birthday every year when growing up, for example.
 
Found across the country, linguine and clams is a staple in New Jersey, the state where we lived when we were young. With one of the highest percentage of Italian-Americans per capita, the Garden State has long had numerous well-executed southern Italian-American dining options. This dish showcasing the bounty pulled from its long coastline is a natural there. And it was in the northeast where long strands of pasta an clams first arrived in this county.
 
The dish originated in the Naples area as spaghetti alle vongole, spaghetti and clams in translation. Quickly cooked, with a noticeable air of freshness and spontaneity, the preparation is part of the broad Neapolitan cucina povera tradition that immigrated in large numbers to America in the last century. The Philadelphia area, with the strong Neapolitan heritage of its restaurateurs might have been its initial American toehold by the 1930s. Baltimore, New York, Boston and other places near the water, and clams, were also serving the dish around mid-century. It started to become popular in the 1950s as restaurateurs influenced by the Neapolitan tradition became more widespread. And by the 1970s, pasta with clams in a white sauce was the most commonly found item in Italian restaurants across America. It was then on almost seven of ten Italian menus.
 
The clams. In the northeast, the clams are quahogs, hardshell clams. Littlenecks are the smallest, typically one to two inches, the most prized, and most likely to be seen at restaurants for the dish. Manila clams come from the Pacific and are found on the west coast. Both east and west coast clams are delicate, sweet-tasting, and meaty without being tough – if not overcooked. Canned clams has done duty at restaurants far from the eastern and western coasts, and in most homes, for years, too.
 
It is interesting to note that the dish is made with spaghetti in Italy. Spaghetti and clams is served today at restaurants along the coasts in Italy, far from its Naples area roots. In America, it is always made with linguine. It was spaghetti once here, too, but in the 1970s linguine replaced spaghetti when served with clams in America for some reason. Spaghetti is long, thin, and round. Linguine is also long, but a little thicker, mostly flat with an almost elliptical cross-section. The two dried pastas are similar, so there was not a substantive change to the dish. Both work well for it. Spaghetti comes from Naples. Linguine originates in Genoa, but is found throughout Italy. Spaghetti dominated Italian restaurant menus until the 1970s. For most inexpensive Italian restaurants until nearly then, the pasta dishes were ones made with spaghetti, one with ravioli, and maybe also manicotti and lasagna. Linguine was something a little different. Maybe it made a preparation with clams seem a little more special. That’s just speculation, though.
 
And there is also red sauce with clams, featuring tomatoes or a tomato sauce. It is often available as an another choice on the menu. It is not nearly as common, though, but can be very enjoyable when made with fresh tomatoes.

Linguine and clams at The Daily Catch in Boston's North End last summer.

Among the most frequently seen items on Italian restaurants in America, number eighteen is burrata. This is a cheese originally from the region of Puglia in southeastern Italy with a soft texture consisting of a thin outer shell of mozzarella with an inside of additional fresh cheese and cream. The elaborate process to make it begins with cream being pasteurized and cooled. Mozzarella is made coagulating milk and stretching the curds. Then that mozzarella is wrapped and molded around the cream, which has also formed curds. Usually served in the ball-like form in which it is made, this mild-tasting, moist cheese is best when very fresh and eaten with just-cracked black pepper and a drizzle of high-quality olive oil.
 
Unknown outside of its home area near the town of Adria north of Bari until the 1980s or so, it began to gain some traction in southern California with the opening of a cheese factory in the Los Angeles area in the early 1990s by native of Puglia. Most Italian restaurants then did not know what to do with it, as it was such a hyper-regional product. Chef Gino Angelini at Rex in Los Angeles, one of the country’s very best Italian restaurants at the time, refused to put it an the menu as he was unfamiliar with it. But burrata would catch on. It has became extremely popular in America in the past decade, used as a fancy mozzarella. Often as an antipasto with toasted bread, it also makes it into salads, substituting for the similar mozzarella in a Caprese, or with greens, on pizzas and into pastas. It has become common throughout Italy, too, far from its origin. I saw it almost every menu on a recent trip to eastern Sicily and had it on pizza, in a salad, and in pastas. Fresh and light and versatile, it has became another Italian restaurant fixture.

Pizza with burrata at At Canonet in Coregliano a few summers ago. It worked very well on it.

Looking at Italian restaurant menus across America today, the dish at number nineteen among the most popular is a raw one, beef carpaccio. After some renewed popularity, it is found in as many as a third of Italian restaurants, beef carpaccio features very thin slices of chilled raw meat of high quality – and free of unattractive connective tissue – that is lightly dressed in a mayonnaise-based sauce. Famously created at the famous Harry’s Bar in Venice by its owner Arrigo Cipriani in 1950 for a finicky regular aristocratic patron, the dish is named after the Venetian Renaissance painter Vittore Carpaccio whose work was being exhibited in the city at the time. The assertive color of the dish reminded Cipriani of the reds in Carpaccio’s canvases. Almost always served as an antipasto, a version of the original beef carpaccio is the one usually found at restaurants. But other meats, fish and shellfish, and even fruits and vegetables have also garnered the name.
 
Though beef carpaccio is just raw meat accompanied with a simple dressing that includes bottled Worcestershire sauce, it is regarded a chic dish. The thinness of it certainly helps. And greatly aiding its stylish, fashionable image was the opening in late 1985 in the Sherry-Netherland Hotel off Central Park of the Harry Cipriani restaurant. This was somewhat of a replica, menu included, of the legendary Harry’s Bar in Venice. Encouraged and then staked by wealthy Lord Charles Forte – originally a poor boy from a small town southeast of Rome – Harry Cipriani in New York quickly became a trendy celebrity hangout. Splashy guests, big checks, struggles with co-owners, openings and closings, and indifferent reviews, ensued in the next twenty-plus years of the Cipriani clan operating in Manhattan, but the restaurant was another example that an upscale Italian can be as trendy, extravagant – not to mention snooty – as any French place.
 
Carpaccio in its original beef form began to appear on menus elsewhere in America in earnest in the 1980s following the publicity of the restaurant and its signature dish transplanted to the media capital of New York. Its continued popularity is also due to its lightness and relatively mild flavor. It works well to start a meal for most, satisfying without being filling. Plus, beef carpaccio is not very difficult at all to assemble and serve.

Beef carpaccio at one of the Cipriani restaurants

Just about everyone loves Italian food, in at least one of the many guises that it’s found throughout America. It might be spaghetti and meatballs, a fresh-tasting Caprese salad or something thickly covered in Alfredo sauce, a more currently fashionable Roman pasta preparation like cacio e pepe, pizzas, or creations expressing contemporary Italy as artful or innovative as any from a French kitchen. I’ve long been curious about what the dishes are that help to define Italian dining here. So, I recently went through the menus of what I hoped was a representative sample of Italian restaurants throughout the country to understand the most commonly found foods. These are the dishes that help draw customers out to an Italian restaurant. I cataloged items from over 50 current menus, which followed on nearly 200 from the previous few years.
 
Number twenty among the most popular items on Italian menus today is one that has been seen at restaurants for many decades, Eggplant Parmesan. This is fried slices of eggplant combined with a tomato sauce, mozzarella, grated Parmigiano – or more cheaply with Parmesan – and then baked. Still often made in many Italian-American households, this is a dish found throughout much of southern Italy, melanzane alla Parmigiana. The only connection to Parma is the Parmigiano grated on top. Referred to simply as parmigiana in Sicily where it is a much-loved staple – and where I just spent nearly two weeks – the preparation found on most Italian restaurants in America is much more often from the Neapolitan tradition, which has long influenced Italian restaurants here.
 
Eggplant Parmesan would have offspring in America. Meat was more easily available for the immigrants in the last century, and desired by customers at Italian restaurants in America. So the eggplant Parmesan treatment was naturally extended to slices of veal and then pieces of chicken. Veal Parmesan was seen on menus by the 1930s. The chicken version in the 1950s. Each of these three Parmesans would become longtime Italian-American restaurant favorites.
 
Eggplant Parmesan remains popular. It is lighter and seems to many, seems, healthier than those meat-laden dishes while still offering the classic flavors from the pairing of tomato sauce and melted mozzarella. And, not incidentally, its vegetable-heavy ingredients provide some heftier margins for restaurants.

An eggplant Parmesan - St. Pete's Foodies

The World Cup started here on Sunday, June 14. This post is a little tardy. Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Saudia Arabia are among the countries scheduled to play in Houston during the first round, and Brazil is likely for one of the knockout matches later. Though it was recently reported that bookings at hotels are down from what was expected and a million tickets remained unsold across all venues as of last week – because of FIFA’s attempt to gouge fans as much as possible – there should still be plenty of visitors to Houston from overseas. With steep ticket prices and the considerable cost and hassle of the travel, most of those who will make it can be expected to want to spend money on food and a surfeit of beer and other alcohol.
 
The country’s fourth-largest and most diverse city has large immigrant populations from across the world and many restaurants representing them. The city’s restaurants do a lot well, across a wide array of cuisines. You can get excellent steaks and hamburgers in Houston – and in every big city in America – but many visitors might want to try foods and cuisines that are most representative of the city. The ten most distinctive and emblematic foods found at Houston eateries are, alphabetically: banh mi – Vietnamese sandwiches; barbecue; breakfast tacos; campechana – a refreshing Mexican-style seafood cocktail; fajitas – grilled skirt steak and its near-brethren; Gulf Coast seafood; kolaches; Mexican food, regional and upscale; pho – the Vietnamese beef noodle soup; and Viet-Cajun crawfish.
 
Below is where to find those ten foods and more, if far from all to be recommended. The places suggested are generally closer to the cluster of hotels downtown and in the Galleria area. Chinatown in southwest Houston is tough to completely ignore for food lovers, though. The list below is also geared toward nicer spots, for the most part. The barbecue, banh mi, beer, breakfast taco, and crawfish spots, necessarily less so.


Banh Mi – The Vietnamese-originated sandwich on crusty French bread with a slather of house-made mayonnaise has been a Houston staple for many for well over three decades now. The signature Houston version of banh mi, at least for many non-Vietnamese locals, has been the one featuring slices of char-grilled pork, the banh mi thit noung. Some spots to sample this inexpensive treat are: Roostar (East End, Galleria Area, Spring Branch), Thien An (Midtown), Cali (Midtown), Les Ba’Get (Garden Oaks), Don Café (Chinatown), Nguyen Ngo (Chinatown), Khang (Chinatown), Parisian Bakery (Chinatown), Lee’s Sandwiches (Chinatown), and Baguettea (North Houston).

Barbecue – Texas barbecue is highlighted by slowly smoked beef brisket primarily, along with pork ribs and plump links of mostly pork sausage, also smoked. Expect at line at many of these: Truth (Washington Corridor), The Pit Room (Montrose, Spring Branch), Pinkerton’s (Heights, Upper Kirby District), Blood Bros. (Bellaire), J-Bar-M (EaDo), and Killen’s (Cypress, Pearland), which kicked off the local resurgence in barbecue here over a decade ago.
 
Beer – Excessive beer consumption and soccer go hand-in-hand. The two best local breweries have beer gardens. The setting at Saint Arnold (Near North Side) is attractive and comfortable, featuring a nice view of the downtown skyline, if appropriately marred with one of our elevated freeways. There is also one at Karbach (Spring Branch) further out and less sightly. Hopefully, the excellent, properly German-tasting Summer Pils from Saint Arnold will still be around come tourney time. And Karbach boasts a Wiehenstephan-trained brewer as a founder.

Breakfast – For the caloric American and Tex-Mex breakfast, there are some excellent, casual and fun choices that sport local flavor. The Breakfast Klub (Midtown), Goode Co. Taqueria (West University), Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina (Heights, Memorial, River Oaks) and Cucharita (Montrose) are the most interesting. There is also Black Walnut Café (Rice Village, Memorial Park, etc.), The Buffalo Grille (West U, Briargrove) and Dandelion Café (Heights, Bellaire) for traditional American breakfasts and more done tastefully.

Breakfast Tacos – For a quick and even more casual breakfast that can be picked up, breakfast tacos can be a piquant and tasty morning start when time is a consideration. Breakfast tacos work very well both before beer and after a long night of beer. Tacos A Go Go (multiple), Tio Trompo (Washington Corridor), Urbe (Uptown Park), Laredo Taqueria (Washington Corridor, Near North Side), The Pit Room (Montrose, Spring Branch), and The Taco Stand (Montrose, Heights, Spring Branch), which has drive-thrus.

Brunch – If visitors desire a brunch day – plenty of alcohol before noon – the Hugo Ortega-Tracy Vaught restaurants do a great job with brunch and in different ways: Hugo’s (Montrose), Xochi (Downtown), Zaranda’s (Downtown), and Caracol (Galleria Area). On Sundays, the brunches at Hugo’s, Xochi, and Caracol are all-you-can-eat buffets. There is also the grand Creole brunch at Brennan’s (Midtown), a high-calorie and necessarily alcohol-laden morning feast  

Cocktails – For folks into cocktails or maybe at least before dinner, several of Bobby Heugel’s and alums’ spots can do the trick terrifically well, led by the trend-setting Anvil that is still going strong well into its second decade. Anvil (Montrose), Refuge (Montrose), Julep (Washington Corridor), Better Luck Tomorrow (Heights), Under the Volcano (Rice Village) for a cheaper option. Then for the Spanish gin and tonics, there is BCN (Montrose) and MAD (River Oaks District), and late afternoons at Squable (Heights) and The Marigold Club (Montrose).

Creole / Cajun – Creole as practiced in New Orleans hasn’t really found roots beyond Louisiana other than here, if with some local concessions that work well. Eunice (Greenway Plaza), Brennan’s (Midtown), Josephine's (Midtown), and also Ragin’ Cajun (Greenway Plaza, Spring Branch).
 
Fajitas – Grilled skirt steak stuffed into large flour tortillas, as fajitas are in its original form, might not be as popular as they once were, but these are a delicious, if now fairly pricey part, of Houston’s culinary history. El Tiempo (East End, Montrose, Upper Kirby District, etc.), Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina (Memorial, River Oaks, Heights), Candente (Montrose), and Lupe Tortilla (multiple) are the best bets. For nostalgia sake, as it popularized fajitas nationally, you might also want to visit Ninfa’s (East End), though it is not what it once was.

Gulf Seafood – Seafood from the Gulf of Mexico can be something a little unique for visitors, with dishes like seafood gumbo, Gulf oysters, redfish on the half shell, grilled red snapper, stuffed flounder, and shrimp en brochette. A few spots are excellent with it. Goode Co. Seafood (West University, Memorial), Little's Oyster Bar (Montrose), Latuli (Memorial), Credence (Memorial), Eugene’s (Montrose), Segari’s (Washington Corridor) and Brennan’s (Midtown) for a taste of New Orleans tempered with some local flavors.
 
Indian – With a nod to visitors from Portugal that is playing two games here, the comely and cool Da Gama (Heights) features Indian food with an emphasis on dishes from the former Portuguese outposts in India. Musafeer (Galleria) is gorgeously decorated and boasts a Michelin star, while the very comfortable Pondicheri (Upper Kirby District) is a Houston favorite.

Italian – Italian doesn’t quickly come to mind with Houston, but there are a few places offering well-made truly Italian fare. Giancarlo Ferrara from Salerno has been doing it for over a decade at Amalfi (Briargrove) and Bari (River Oaks District), with Tuscan Renato Di Pirro heading the kitchen, serves food that more than matches the lively atmosphere. Da Marco (Montrose) and Poscol (Montrose), both from chef Marco Wiles, the former a formal white tablecloth venture, the latter offering small plates and more of a taste of northern Italy. Davanti (Greenway Plaza) offers a casual counter-service stop for authentic Italy cooking both from Rome and elsewhere. Maurizio Ferrarese continues to do great work at what is now Remi (Uptown Park) in the Hotel Granduca. Lynette Hawkins’s Giacomo’s (Upper Kirby District) is a local favorite and sports one of the most enticing and nicely-priced wine lists in the city.

Italian-American – Not the food of Italy, for the most part. The always bustling, fun original Carrabba’s (Upper Kirby, Briargrove) on Kirby and the one the family still owns on Woodway are well-run crowd-pleasers featuring robust flavors that have been popular for four decades.

Kolaches – This Czech breakfast pastry featuring a sweet yeast dough has been a Texas staple for well over a century, though most versions are rather lacking, to be honest. But Houston is home to the very best purveyor in the entire state, Kolache Shoppe (Greenway Plaza, Heights, Spring Branch), which even has a drive-thru at its Heights location.

Mexican, upscale and regional – Hugo Ortega is our answer to Chicago’s star Rick Bayless, except Ortega is from Mexico. He and Tracy Vaught’s now quartet of upscale Mexican restaurants are among the very best Mexican restaurants in the region. Hugo’s (Montrose), Xochi (Downtown) and Zaranda (Downtown) are across Discovery Green from each other, while Caracol (Galleria Area), Urbe (Uptown Park) are near another cluster of hotels near the Galleria. The tasting menu at Tatemó (Spring Branch) deservedly garnered it a Michelin star, while Maximo (West University), the beautiful Mayahuel (River Oaks) and Cuchara (Montrose) are also worth a trip. More humble and more regionally focused, among the scores, include: Tio Trompo (Washington Corridor), Polanquito (Washington Corridor), El Hidalguence (Spring Branch), and The Little Taco Shop (Upper Kirby District).
 
Pho – Steaming, long-cooked beef broth flavored with an array of aromatics and spices the stocked with rice noodles and served with an array of fresh herbs, this is a part of the city’s dining almost as much as Tex-Mex and barbecue. Almost. Thein An (Midtown) is the closest to downtown, and then there is Moon Rabbit (Heights) not far away. But most of the best located in Chinatown along Bellaire Boulevard in the city’s southwest. These include Hương Sen (Chinatown), Phở Sapa (Chinatown), Ði Ӑn Phơ (Chinatown), and a chicken soup specialist, Cơm Gà Thượng Hải (Chinatown).

Steak – The Great American Steakhouse template still holds across the country though it has evolved over the years, with the expensive Japanese cuts gaining menu space. A few to mention are: Pappas Bros. Steakhouse (Galleria Area, Downtown), which offers two of the top wine lists in the country, Georgia James (River Oaks), and for a more affordable, excellent steak, in the tradition of the pampas, is the family-run Uruguayan Saldivia’s (Westchase). It is the best value for steak in Houston.

Sushi – Manabu Horiuchi at Kata Robata and Katami is not only a terrific sushi chef and for Japanese cuisine in general, but he is one of the very best chefs in Houston regardless of cuisine. The folks from Austin with Uchi and Uchiko do a terrific job with a slightly Americanized interpretation. Katami (Montrose), Kata Robata (Upper Kirby), Uchi (Montrose), Uchiko (Galleria Area), Soto (Montrose), MF Sushi (Museum District), Hidden Omakase (Galleria Area) and Kira (Upper Kirby District) are some of the best in town.

Tex-Mex – The lines between Tex-Mex and Mexican continue to get blurrier, a distinction that will certainly be lost on most visitors from overseas, in any case. Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina (Memorial, River Oaks, Heights) is the best around, but several others including the pricey and attractively set Flora (River Oaks) offers excellent dishes beyond Tex-Mex, Candente (Montrose), the comfortable Sylvia's Enchilada House (Briargrove, Energy Corridor), or one of the locations of El Tiempo (multiple) especially for fajitas.

Viet-Cajun (during crawfish season that will be certain to run through the World Cup matches) – A recently developed cuisine that has drawn considerable attention with its leading light an especially fun dining experience, and one that’s quite regional. This is the boiled crawfish tradition from neighboring Louisiana combined with garlicky butter sauces and Vietnamese spices and flavors. Crawfish & Noodles (Chinatown) is the progenitor and a very fun visit, and get the crabs, too, if still available. Other restaurants are: 88 Boiling Crawfish & Seafood (Chinatown), Crawfish & Beignets (Chinatown), South x Saigon (Chinatown), and LA Crawfish (multiple).

Wine – Houston has some nice wine bars, both in terms of selection and comfort, the best with a heavy Old World bent among the offerings, especially France and Italy, of course. One can be a fine way to began an evening or be the evening. 13 Celsius (Midtown), which is the best of breed, The Library (Spring Branch), Montrose Cheese & Wine (Montrose), VinSanto (West Houston), The Montrose Grocery (Montrose), Padre’s (Heights), Paul’s Wine Pix (Bellaire), and Roots (East End).

Other – A few other places to note mostly for their quality. These include the Spanish duo of BCN and MAD, the bistro-like Squable and Nancy’s Hustle, the comfortably ambitious and affordable Camaraderie, the upscale seafooder Navy Blue, and the family friendly Tiny Champions that also pours excellent cocktails. BCN (Montrose), MAD (River Oaks District), Nancy's Hustle (EaDo), Squable (Heights), Camaraderie (Heights), Navy Blue (Rice Village), and Tiny Champions (EaDo).

The mixed grilled featuring beef and chicken fajitas, jalapeño cheese smoked sausage, quail, jumbo Gulf shrimp, and pork carnitas at Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina

Houston, the fourth-largest city in the country, has over 10,000 hotel rooms just in its downtown. These will hopefully be filled, or nearly so, around the seven matches of the World Cup that will be played in Houston in mid-June through early July. With the understanding that those traveling here will be interested in dining well – they could afford FIFA’s very steep ticket prices for the matches, after all – below are the ten best restaurants located in downtown Houston, listed alphabetically. Downtown might not be the dining nexus for the city, but there are more than a few spots worth touting.
 
Barbacana – New American – Fully opened in January of 2025 and catercorner from where the late, lamented Public Services once stood, this is an insertion of ambitious dining in an underserved part of downtown. Chef Christian Hernandez, who cooked at top spots locally, in Mexico City, and New York, with Michelin-starred experiences along the way, was chef de cuisine at March before starting Barbacana. In an attractive, industrial-esque space, he serves both a la carte and tasting menus with influences from around much of the globe, currently, France, Mexico, Middle East, New Orleans, India, Vietnam, Japan and Korea. Dry-aged duck breast, with pistachio dukka and a date demi-glace, and braised pork collar with nước chấm are just a couple of the wide-ranging preparations that manage to come together well on the plate and on the menu. Dishes are grouped among small, tartine, medium, large, and sides to mix and match, and share. There is even dessert tasting menu who want to swap protein for sugar, maybe after a nearby show.
 
Brasserie du Parc – French – Started by Philippe Verpiand, a Master Chef of France, this is a lower-key, but still white tablecloth spot that offers an enticing range of largely well-known French dishes both day and night. There might be more of an emphasis on seafood, but there are several steaks; it’s Texas, after all, plus it needs to satisfy those (mostly male) business travelers that might be congregating at the George R. Brown just a short walk away. It’s an airy and approachable place, that sense might be enhanced by the charmingly cheap-looking reproductions of French poster artwork on the walls.

Pappas Bros. Steakhouse – Steak – Boisterous, always loud, approachable, and often delightfully indulgent and even excessive, this, along with its sibling in the Galleria area, is the best local example of the traditional American steakhouse. Not only is the food excellent, especially the nearly unparalleled wet- or dry-aged steaks, most importantly, but the compendious wine list is the most impressive in the city. The Westheimer original has around 5,000 labels and 28,000 bottles, and the downtown branch slightly less, so there is seemingly everything you might want at a fine dining restaurant with depth in Champagne, Burgundy – both colors, with pages of Grand Cru and Premier Cru – Bordeaux, Napa, Super Tuscans, Barolo, Rhone, and much, much more. You can spend a small fortune on just drink here. Along with the kitchen and cellar, the wait staff here, is also a cut above among the local steakhouses. The attentive, friendly and proficient service stands in stark contrast to the casual, not-so-professional or informed service you might find at Mastro’s, another expense account steakhouse, for example.

Perbacco – Italian – Featuring approachable Southern Italian cooking geared toward local sensibilities from a longtime restaurateur from Capri, off the coast of Naples, the fare is generally lighter and better prepared than similar dishes elsewhere. Set in pleasantly utilitarian fashion in the ground floor of an office building, albeit Philip Johnson and team’s landmark Pennzoil Plaza, the emphasis is on enjoyable eating rather than fine dining. There are several, somewhat hearty, baked pasta dishes such as lasagna and cannelloni, a dozen other pasta and sautéed items such as penne with Gulf shrimp, veal Marsala, and gnocchi with eggplant in a tomato sauce, and several straightforward grilled proteins. Their version of the traditional, simple linguine and clams is one of the best around. Entrées are served with a small salad, helping to make this an especially nice value for lunch. Open for dinner on Friday and Saturday, too.

Potente – American Italian – The preparations here are Americanized Italian with a luxurious bent, as the caviars topping the menu might indicate, it has a top chef at the helm, Danny Trace formerly of Brennan's here and Commander's Palace in New Orleans, and uses approachable preparations inspired from Italy with excellent ingredients to a welcome, if quite expensive result. Trace’s kitchen is very adept with seafood and those preparations occupy much of the menu, but it is tough to go wrong here; decadent pastas, a few steaks and dried porcini-braised veal cheeks are some other options. Directly across from the ballpark, this is owned by Jim Crane who also owns the Houston Astros.

Rosalie’s – Italian-American – Houston has historically been tough on out-of-town restaurateurs and hotel dining, but things might have changed, as West Coast-based television chef Chris Cosentino has channeled his Italian-American roots into what has been a popular and adept smallish spot in a refurbished and now surprisingly hip hotel – the C. Baldwin was a setting for The Bachelor airing in early 2022 – at the southwestern edge of downtown. Chef-created Italian-American might be the best description of the offerings here. The crab cannelloni features Sauce Americane, a French concoction featuring cream and lobster shells. Fairly rich and redolent of the sea, it’s quite tasty if not what any Italian-American family (or restaurant) makes. The menu is enticing with other pastas, spot-on sides such as roasted cherry tomatoes with garlic and breadcrumbs, and protein-centered preparations like a spicy Shrimp Fra Diavolo, a hanger steak Pizzaiolo also with peppers and capers, and a milanese with chicken – there’s no veal on the menu. There are pizzas, too. Though the crusts are not nearly flavorful nor soft enough to pull off a successful margherita, but the other toppings might work well. This cab be a fun stop, and it’s in a hotel!

Theodore Rex – New American – In an out-of-the-way part of downtown, the Warehouse District – it might be a bit far, and too interesting, to walk from any of the hotels – Justin Yu has drawn (mostly) raves in a couple of versions with a technically impressive personal cuisine that draws on a variety of influences, often French, and that gives plants some prominence. A few pastas are usually on the menu like thin strands of freshly made noodles warmed in cultured butter, seasoned with oyster liquor and mignonette, and another not-at-all-Italian creation with fermented radish crisp, mushroom and dill. Larger plates might include a Gulf snapper with soupe au pistou. The restaurant is not for everyone but it’s a destination for those interested in meticulous and informed preparations done with “a little sense of humor,” attentive service and an excellent wine list largely of low-intervention labels.  

Vic & Anthony’s – Steakhouse – Catercorner from the ballpark and set in a hefty, bunker-like building, this is actually one restaurant from the sprawling Landry's group of chain concepts that you can visit without having to apologize for yourself, and it’s one of the best steakhouses in the city that checks all the proper boxes, and with an Italian-American accent.

Xochi – Mexican – This opened eight years ago with an array of enticing Oaxacan-themed offerings, most well-suited for sharing that was something a both little different and also quickly familiar. There are crudos, roasted oysters, an array of moles, as Oaxaca is the land of seven moles, after all, and other preparations, all bolstered by excellent sourcing. There are even a few insects on the menu, for the adventurous, even if these tastes might not be too far out. As at their other restaurants, Sean Beck puts together compelling wines and cocktails that makes this a clear winner both dining and imbibing. Located in the Marriott Marquis across from Discovery Green downtown, the interior is quite attractive, more so the further you are from the lobby, though the patio seating can be an invitation to be pan-handled. The cooking is as good as its sibling Hugo’s – and maybe more consistently so – though it is less of a value. 
 
Zaranda – Mexican – Opened in 2025, the fifth Mexican concept from star chefs Hugo and Ruben Ortega and the H-Town Restaurant Group is an upscale, contemporary one featuring soaring ceilings directly across Discovery Green from its last one, the Oaxacan-themed Xochi. The cooking at Zaranda is stated to be inspired by “the historic region spanning from Northern California to Cabo San Lucas….shaped by coastal seafood, ranching traditions, Spanish influences, and Asian immigration… [that] blends wood-fired cooking, pristine seafood, arroces, premium meats, and vibrant Baja street foods…” So, this is Mexican fare that is something new for the group and for the city. It is also something very well-done as might be expected from them. The mix-and-match-suited menu is divided among starters, shellfish, tacos, tostadas, the paella-like arroces, vegetables zarandeado dishes, which are several seafood choices that are grilled in a wire basket overall coals and accompanied with a trio of salsas and a cooling cucumber salad. Plus, the range of offerings includes several enticing steaks, necessary for the visiting conventioneers staying a block or two away.

“You know that we are a Jewish deli, don’t you?” That was the initial response my sister-in-law, Cara, heard from Kenny & Ziggy’s when inquiring about its catering options for the reception following my father’s funeral mass at a Roman Catholic church almost exactly three years ago.
 
We thought that deli fare might be appropriate since my father was a lifelong fan of it. He really enjoyed the delis where he grew up on the near west side of Chicago, and then later, ones in New York and Philadelphia where he worked as an adult. And for years in Houston, he would trek to a Three Brothers Bakery for a loaf of its rye bread. I believe that he probably would have enjoyed the thought of deli food at a significant reception in his honor. He certainly would have chuckled at the thought of any incongruity of serving classic Jewish-American items in the parish hall of the church where he was a member for decades.
 
Kenny & Ziggy’s turned out to be the best option among the restaurants my sister-in-law called. And it did a terrific job at the event. The food, small sandwiches and other finger foods, from what I remember in the haze after delivering the eulogy, was terrific and perfect for the mostly somber setting. Its small staff on site was professional, properly very respectful, and the service it provided, overall, was incredibly efficient. My other sister-in-law, Chandra, who does catering herself in Fort Worth, was notably impressed. For a while, Kenny & Ziggy’s has been easily the best there is for deli food in Houston; a gargantuan menu of tempting, caloric treats including gargantuan sandwiches, impeccably crafted, favorites of mine. Its exemplary work for this occasion for my father was yet another reason to tout Kenny & Ziggy’s.
 
As the reception was finishing, the food nearly all consumed, I mentioned to the celebrant, Father Niall, an immigrant from Ireland, that we were departing for a drink to ease the nerves and sorrow and that he should join the mass of us. He was Irish, after all, I said, trying to add some levity into a tough day. He replied smilingly: “contrary to the centuries-long propaganda of our English oppressors, not all of us Irish are beholden to drink.”
 
Some gentle fun with stereotypes, helpful on a difficult day.
 
Kenny & Ziggy’s
1743 Post Oak Boulevard (at San Felipe), 77056, (713) 871-8883
kennyandziggys.com     

The World Cup starts here on Sunday, June 14. Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Saudia Arabia are among the countries scheduled to play in Houston during the first round, and Brazil is likely for one of the knockout matches later. Though it was recently reported that bookings at hotels are down from what was expected and a million tickets remained unsold across all venues as of last week – because of FIFA’s attempt to gouge fans as much as possible – there should still be plenty of visitors to Houston from overseas. With steep ticket prices and the considerable cost and hassle of the travel, most of those who will make it can be expected to want to spend money on food and a surfeit of beer and other alcohol.
 
The country’s fourth-largest and most diverse city has large immigrant populations from across the world and many restaurants representing them. The city’s restaurants do a lot well, across a wide array of cuisines. You can get excellent steaks and hamburgers in Houston – and in every big city in America – but many visitors might want to try foods and cuisines that are most representative of the city. The ten most distinctive and emblematic foods found at Houston eateries are, alphabetically: banh mi – Vietnamese sandwiches; barbecue; breakfast tacos; campechana – a refreshing Mexican-style seafood cocktail; fajitas – grilled skirt steak and its near-brethren; Gulf Coast seafood; kolaches; Mexican food, regional and upscale; pho – the Vietnamese beef noodle soup; and Viet-Cajun crawfish.
 
Below is where to find those ten foods and more, if far from all to be recommended. The places suggested are generally closer to the cluster of hotels downtown and in the Galleria area. Chinatown in southwest Houston is tough to completely ignore for food lovers, though. The list below is also geared toward nicer spots, for the most part. The barbecue, banh mi, beer, breakfast taco, and crawfish spots, necessarily less so.


Banh Mi – The Vietnamese-originated sandwich on crusty French bread with a slather of house-made mayonnaise has been a Houston staple for many for well over three decades now. The signature Houston version of banh mi, at least for many non-Vietnamese locals, has been the one featuring slices of char-grilled pork, the banh mi thit noung. Some spots to sample this inexpensive treat are: Roostar (East End, Galleria Area, Spring Branch), Thien An (Midtown), Cali (Midtown), Les Ba’Get (Garden Oaks), Don Café (Chinatown), Nguyen Ngo (Chinatown), Khang (Chinatown), Parisian Bakery (Chinatown), Lee’s Sandwiches (Chinatown), and Baguettea (North Houston).

Barbecue – Texas barbecue is highlighted by slowly smoked beef brisket primarily, along with pork ribs and plump links of mostly pork sausage, also smoked. Expect at line at many of these: Truth (Washington Corridor), The Pit Room (Montrose, Spring Branch), Pinkerton’s (Heights, Upper Kirby District), Blood Bros. (Bellaire), J-Bar-M (EaDo), and Killen’s (Cypress, Pearland), which kicked off the local resurgence in barbecue here over a decade ago.
 
Beer – Excessive beer consumption and soccer go hand-in-hand. The two best local breweries have beer gardens. The setting at Saint Arnold (Near North Side) is attractive and comfortable, featuring a nice view of the downtown skyline, if appropriately marred with one of our elevated freeways. There is also one at Karbach (Spring Branch) further out and less sightly. Hopefully, the excellent, properly German-tasting Summer Pils from Saint Arnold will still be around come tourney time. And Karbach boasts a Wiehenstephan-trained brewer as a founder.

Breakfast – For the caloric American and Tex-Mex breakfast, there are some excellent, casual and fun choices that sport local flavor. The Breakfast Klub (Midtown), Goode Co. Taqueria (West University), Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina (Heights, Memorial, River Oaks) and Cucharita (Montrose) are the most interesting. There is also Black Walnut Café (Rice Village, Memorial Park, etc.), The Buffalo Grille (West U, Briargrove) and Dandelion Café (Heights, Bellaire) for traditional American breakfasts and more done tastefully.

Breakfast Tacos – For a quick and even more casual breakfast that can be picked up, breakfast tacos can be a piquant and tasty morning start when time is a consideration. Breakfast tacos work very well both before beer and after a long night of beer. Tacos A Go Go (multiple), Tio Trompo (Washington Corridor), Urbe (Uptown Park), Laredo Taqueria (Washington Corridor, Near North Side), The Pit Room (Montrose, Spring Branch), and The Taco Stand (Montrose, Heights, Spring Branch), which has drive-thrus.

Brunch – If visitors desire a brunch day – plenty of alcohol before noon – the Hugo Ortega-Tracy Vaught restaurants do a great job with brunch and in different ways: Hugo’s (Montrose), Xochi (Downtown), Zaranda’s (Downtown), and Caracol (Galleria Area). On Sundays, the brunches at Hugo’s, Xochi, and Caracol are all-you-can-eat buffets. There is also the grand Creole brunch at Brennan’s (Midtown), a high-calorie and necessarily alcohol-laden morning feast  

Cocktails – For folks into cocktails or maybe at least before dinner, several of Bobby Heugel’s and alums’ spots can do the trick terrifically well, led by the trend-setting Anvil that is still going strong well into its second decade. Anvil (Montrose), Refuge (Montrose), Julep (Washington Corridor), Better Luck Tomorrow (Heights), Under the Volcano (Rice Village) for a cheaper option. Then for the Spanish gin and tonics, there is BCN (Montrose) and MAD (River Oaks District), and late afternoons at Squable (Heights) and The Marigold Club (Montrose).

Creole / Cajun – Creole as practiced in New Orleans hasn’t really found roots beyond Louisiana other than here, if with some local concessions that work well. Eunice (Greenway Plaza), Brennan’s (Midtown), Josephine's (Midtown), and also Ragin’ Cajun (Greenway Plaza, Spring Branch).
 
Fajitas – Grilled skirt steak stuffed into large flour tortillas, as fajitas are in its original form, might not be as popular as they once were, but these are a delicious, if now fairly pricey part, of Houston’s culinary history. El Tiempo (East End, Montrose, Upper Kirby District, etc.), Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina (Memorial, River Oaks, Heights), Candente (Montrose), and Lupe Tortilla (multiple) are the best bets. For nostalgia sake, as it popularized fajitas nationally, you might also want to visit Ninfa’s (East End), though it is not what it once was.

Gulf Seafood – Seafood from the Gulf of Mexico can be something a little unique for visitors, with dishes like seafood gumbo, Gulf oysters, redfish on the half shell, grilled red snapper, stuffed flounder, and shrimp en brochette. A few spots are excellent with it. Goode Co. Seafood (West University, Memorial), Little's Oyster Bar (Montrose), Latuli (Memorial), Credence (Memorial), Eugene’s (Montrose), Segari’s (Washington Corridor) and Brennan’s (Midtown) for a taste of New Orleans tempered with some local flavors.
 
Indian – With a nod to visitors from Portugal that is playing two games here, the comely and cool Da Gama (Heights) features Indian food with an emphasis on dishes from the former Portuguese outposts in India. Musafeer (Galleria) is gorgeously decorated and boasts a Michelin star, while the very comfortable Pondicheri (Upper Kirby District) is a Houston favorite.

Italian – Italian doesn’t quickly come to mind with Houston, but there are a few places offering well-made truly Italian fare. Giancarlo Ferrara from Salerno has been doing it for over a decade at Amalfi (Briargrove) and Bari (River Oaks District), with Tuscan Renato Di Pirro heading the kitchen, serves food that more than matches the lively atmosphere. Da Marco (Montrose) and Poscol (Montrose), both from chef Marco Wiles, the former a formal white tablecloth venture, the latter offering small plates and more of a taste of northern Italy. Davanti (Greenway Plaza) offers a casual counter-service stop for authentic Italy cooking both from Rome and elsewhere. Maurizio Ferrarese continues to do great work at what is now Remi (Uptown Park) in the Hotel Granduca. Lynette Hawkins’s Giacomo’s (Upper Kirby District) is a local favorite and sports one of the most enticing and nicely-priced wine lists in the city.

Italian-American – Not the food of Italy, for the most part. The always bustling, fun original Carrabba’s (Upper Kirby, Briargrove) on Kirby and the one the family still owns on Woodway are well-run crowd-pleasers featuring robust flavors that have been popular for four decades.

Kolaches – This Czech breakfast pastry featuring a sweet yeast dough has been a Texas staple for well over a century, though most versions are rather lacking, to be honest. But Houston is home to the very best purveyor in the entire state, Kolache Shoppe (Greenway Plaza, Heights, Spring Branch), which even has a drive-thru at its Heights location.

Mexican, upscale and regional – Hugo Ortega is our answer to Chicago’s star Rick Bayless, except Ortega is from Mexico. He and Tracy Vaught’s now quartet of upscale Mexican restaurants are among the very best Mexican restaurants in the region. Hugo’s (Montrose), Xochi (Downtown) and Zaranda (Downtown) are across Discovery Green from each other, while Caracol (Galleria Area), Urbe (Uptown Park) are near another cluster of hotels near the Galleria. The tasting menu at Tatemó (Spring Branch) deservedly garnered it a Michelin star, while Maximo (West University), the beautiful Mayahuel (River Oaks) and Cuchara (Montrose) are also worth a trip. More humble and more regionally focused, among the scores, include: Tio Trompo (Washington Corridor), Polanquito (Washington Corridor), El Hidalguence (Spring Branch), and The Little Taco Shop (Upper Kirby District).
 
Pho – Steaming, long-cooked beef broth flavored with an array of aromatics and spices the stocked with rice noodles and served with an array of fresh herbs, this is a part of the city’s dining almost as much as Tex-Mex and barbecue. Almost. Thein An (Midtown) is the closest to downtown, and then there is Moon Rabbit (Heights) not far away. But most of the best located in Chinatown along Bellaire Boulevard in the city’s southwest. These include Hương Sen (Chinatown), Phở Sapa (Chinatown), Ði Ӑn Phơ (Chinatown), and a chicken soup specialist, Cơm Gà Thượng Hải (Chinatown).

Steak – The Great American Steakhouse template still holds across the country though it has evolved over the years, with the expensive Japanese cuts gaining menu space. A few to mention are: Pappas Bros. Steakhouse (Galleria Area, Downtown), which offers two of the top wine lists in the country, Georgia James (River Oaks), and for a more affordable, excellent steak, in the tradition of the pampas, is the family-run Uruguayan Saldivia’s (Westchase). It is the best value for steak in Houston.

Sushi – Manabu Horiuchi at Kata Robata and Katami is not only a terrific sushi chef and for Japanese cuisine in general, but he is one of the very best chefs in Houston regardless of cuisine. The folks from Austin with Uchi and Uchiko do a terrific job with a slightly Americanized interpretation. Katami (Montrose), Kata Robata (Upper Kirby), Uchi (Montrose), Uchiko (Galleria Area), Soto (Montrose), MF Sushi (Museum District), Hidden Omakase (Galleria Area) and Kira (Upper Kirby District) are some of the best in town.

Tex-Mex – The lines between Tex-Mex and Mexican continue to get blurrier, a distinction that will certainly be lost on most visitors from overseas, in any case. Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina (Memorial, River Oaks, Heights) is the best around, but several others including the pricey and attractively set Flora (River Oaks) offers excellent dishes beyond Tex-Mex, Candente (Montrose), the comfortable Sylvia's Enchilada House (Briargrove, Energy Corridor), or one of the locations of El Tiempo (multiple) especially for fajitas.

Viet-Cajun (during crawfish season that will be certain to run through the World Cup matches) – A recently developed cuisine that has drawn considerable attention with its leading light an especially fun dining experience, and one that’s quite regional. This is the boiled crawfish tradition from neighboring Louisiana combined with garlicky butter sauces and Vietnamese spices and flavors. Crawfish & Noodles (Chinatown) is the progenitor and a very fun visit, and get the crabs, too, if still available. Other restaurants are: 88 Boiling Crawfish & Seafood (Chinatown), Crawfish & Beignets (Chinatown), South x Saigon (Chinatown), and LA Crawfish (multiple).

Wine – Houston has some nice wine bars, both in terms of selection and comfort, the best with a heavy Old World bent among the offerings, especially France and Italy, of course. One can be a fine way to began an evening or be the evening. 13 Celsius (Midtown), which is the best of breed, The Library (Spring Branch), Montrose Cheese & Wine (Montrose), VinSanto (West Houston), The Montrose Grocery (Montrose), Padre’s (Heights), Paul’s Wine Pix (Bellaire), and Roots (East End).

Other – A few other places to note mostly for their quality. These include the Spanish duo of BCN and MAD, the bistro-like Squable and Nancy’s Hustle, the comfortably ambitious and affordable Camaraderie, the upscale seafooder Navy Blue, and the family friendly Tiny Champions that also pours excellent cocktails. BCN (Montrose), MAD (River Oaks District), Nancy's Hustle (EaDo), Squable (Heights), Camaraderie (Heights), Navy Blue (Rice Village), and Tiny Champions (EaDo).

The mixed grilled featuring beef and chicken fajitas, jalapeño cheese smoked sausage, quail, jumbo Gulf shrimp, and pork carnitas at Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina

Following up my article about the best restaurants and bars from the start of Westheimer then a mile or so west – the area’s best restaurant row – a number of notable chefs have led kitchens along this stretch in the last few decades. Here they are, chronologically:
 
Bruce Molzan – Ruggles – 1986 to 2012 – Ruggles was a pioneer in modern, high-quality dining in this part of town when it opened in the mid-1980s on Westheimer a block east of Montrose by Manfred Jachmich and chef Bruce Molzan. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Molzan came to Houston to work at the Hyatt-Regency downtown earlier in the decade. He gained inspiration during the 1980s with stints at Wolfgang Puck’s groundbreaking Spago in Los Angeles, with Jeremiah Tower at Stars in San Francisco, and in Paris, at the Michelin two-star from Michel Rostang and at Joël Robuchon’s. He would be known for his creative New Southwestern cooking here, as the Houston Chronicle would dub the style of its cooking along with that from other restaurants like Café Annie. That paper would rate it well over the years, with a star or two, denoting a level of exemplariness. It had some of the city’s most popular dishes among avid diners in its smoked duck ravioli, and risotto with stuffed quail. Almost everything came in “huge” portions. By the end of the century, it would also be known for “erratic service and relentless overbooking” where “reservations are almost meaningless unless you’re a regular or a celebrity.” There was also much more litigation and controversy than is typical at a restaurant during Molzan’s tenure at Ruggles, but the Chronicle would write in the mid-2000s that “his casual, lively spot has been a staple of the local scene for two decades now.” Molzan was a trendsetter in what would be the best restaurant row in the city and well beyond.
 
Lynette Hawkins – La Mora – 1991 to 2007 – On Lovett, just a block south of Westheimer at nearly Montrose, Hawkins opened La Mora. She had lived in Florence and this is the first of the area’s Tuscan-themed restaurants that really struck a chord among Houston diners. Esquire named it among the top new restaurants in country, and it continued to be regarded among the city’s top Italians during its tenure. She now has Giacomo’s further down Westheimer.
 
Aldo El Sharif – Aldo’s – 1996 to 2004 – Born in Cairo to a Sicilian mother and then raised in Milan, the restaurant earned critical praise locally for Sharif's rich, personal cooking that drew inspirations beyond the borders of Italy. The acclaim included the highest rating, three stars, from the Houston Chronicle a few years after opening. The restaurant garnered attention for its romantic setting, extensive menu and wine lists, plus prices that invariably run high.
 
Mark Cox – Mark’s – 1997 to 2016 – Soon after departing Tony’s as executive chef, Cox caused a sensation among the city’s most well-heeled diners when he opened Mark’s in what had once been a church in a somewhat derelict strip of Westheimer just east of Dunlavy. A glowing profile of the restaurant in Wine Spectator in its first year praised his New American cooking, which “serves big Texas flavor without overwhelming the seasonal ingredients.” It would also earn among the very top food scores from Zagat voters for most its two-decade tenure. Its building would house Chris Shepherd’s One Fifth restaurants in subsequent years.
 
Marco Wiles – Da Marco, Dolce Vita, Poscol – 2000 to present – Chef Marco Wiles had worked locally for Tony Vallone, Antonio Mingalone and Aldo El Sharif before opening his own place, the white tablecloth Da Marco that served truly Italian cuisine from much of its peninsula. It sported an unusual at the time, all-Italian wine list, and became one of the most lauded Italian restaurants in Houston’s dining history. That included food top scores from local Zagat voters, and a nod from Gourmet in 2006 as number 29 among the best restaurants in the country. Dolce Vita and Poscol were two other excellent Italian options from him along this stretch of Westhimer, both geared toward small plates, with the former serving as the city’s best pizzeria for years.
 
Hugo Ortega – Hugo’s – 2002 to present – The eponymous Hugo’s introduced Houston to an authentic fine dining Mexican restaurant in 2002. It is still going strong and a fixture in the heart of Montrose that works well as a stop for dinner, lunch, and brunch. Ortega and company have since opened four other excellent Mexican concepts downtown and in the Galleria area that explore other the cooking of other areas of Mexico.
 
Georges Guy – Chez Georges, Georges Bistro – 2005 to 2012, 2014 to 2016 – Operating at nearly the 12000 block of Westheimer – where it earned the top rating from the Chronicle for several years –  Chez Georges reopened in 2005 almost 13 miles east at its 200 block. Georges Guy, who “trained at some of France’s better kitchen,” continued to charm with his Provencal-accented French cooking, if “comfortably old-fashioned” and dished with “extravagant richness,” according to that paper in its first Montrose area stint.
 
Anita Jaisinghani – Indika – 2006 to 2017 – Jaisinghani started Indika a few years earlier on the western stretches of Memorial Drive before moving to the heart of Montrose in 2006. It was the city’s first modern Indian restaurant. During its heyday, Alison Cook in the Chronicle would name it among the top ten restaurants in Houston and proclaim that “Indika perches gracefully at the summit of Houston's mighty range of Subcontinental restaurants.” Jaisinghani would sell the restaurant in 2017 to concentrate on her Pondicheri on Kirby.
 
Richard Knight – Feast – 2008 to 2013 – Opened in the spring of 2008, Knight headed the kitchen at this contemporary British restaurant known for its superb snout-to-tail cooking. Frank Bruni, the former restaurant critic of The New York Times, wrote that Feast had “no real peer in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and other major cities.” Even with a surfeit of critical attention, this superlative spot shuttered in 2012. Knight would move on to more acclaim at Hunky Dory in the Heights, but its restaurant group suffered from funding problems, and its tenure was too short. Atlas Diner downtown followed that, but also had an abbreviated run.
 
Bryan Caswell – Little Bigs, El Real – 2009 to 2019 – Caswell is best known for his informed and skillful Gulf seafood creations at Reef and now at Latuli. In Montrose, his restaurants were much more casual and inexpensive. First was the tiny Little Bigs, a half-block north of Westheimer, serving tiny burgers and sandwiches, with Bill Floyd. Then the duo teamed with cookbook author and Houston Press restaurant critic Robb Walsh to open El Real in the spacious Tower Theater offering a menu of “vintage” Tex-Mex dishes. That had its ups and some downs, but was mostly a very welcome stop for a familiar food.
 
Chris Shepherd – Underbelly, The Hay Merchant, One Fifth, Georgia James, UB Preserv – 2012 to 2022 – Juxtaposing many of the city’s ethnic cooking traditions onto a menu and often on a single plate and usually succeeding in dramatic fashion brought Shepherd deserved national acclaim. Underbelly, his first restaurant, was boisterous and confident, interesting, and extremely competent. It also helped show that a meal built around small plates can work well. Underbelly led to other successful and laudable concepts from him, and to chefs working under him to succeed elsewhere.
 
Olivier Ciesielski – L’Olivier, Avondale – 2012 to 2021 – Ciesielski’s first gig after arriving from France in his twenties in the early 1990s was also in Montrose, at La Colombe d’Or. He eventually landed with Tony Vallone, and was “the best chef Tony’s ever had” according to John Mariani in Esquire. In 2012, with a goal to offer “an affordable fine-dining experience in the space that was a former adult DVD store,” on lowest Westheimer, he opened L’Olivier serving classic French bistro fare. Drawing good press, it ran for a half dozen years before becoming Avondale, a unique wine shop-cum-restaurant, with dishes still expertly crafted but from a menu a little less French.
 
Roy Shvartzapel – Common Bond – 2014 to 2015 – Working with Ferran Adria, Thomas Keller, and Pierre Hermé, once named the best pastry chef in the world, and as the pastry chef at the two-Michelin-star Cyrus in Napa Valley before starting Common Bond, Shvartzapel’s background was very evident in its breads, croissants, and all its baked goods. Leaving after just a year, he has since built a following for his panettone, the Italian dessert bread that is “the Mount Everest of baking.”
 
Alberto Baffoni – Bistecca – 2015 to 2020 – A native of the Marche in central Italy, Baffoni earned some national praise at Simposio in the late 1990s. John Mariani wrote in Esquire: “Before you judge Italian cuisine in America against its Old World counterpart, let Baffoni serve you his grilled calamari with tomato fillet dressed simply with lemon; his hand-rolled strozzapreti (“priest strangler”) noodles with sausage, spinach, and roast peppers; glorious trout cooked gently in white wine; breaded lamb chops with sweet-and-sour shallots.” The turn at Bistecca was not as consistently praiseworthy, unfortunately, but his food there was still good.
 
Paul Qui – Aqui – 2017 to 2018 – Qui won a James Beard Award for his work in Austin and received some regional notoriety, and had some baggage, in the years before opening his purpose-built spot on lower Westheimer that now houses Travelers Table. Aqui struggled to gain traction with its pan-Asian cooking, but the quality was there after a slow start, even though the restaurant did not last. Qui would go on to open several restaurants in the Post downtown, including as a partner with the excellent Golfstrømmen Seafood Market.
 
Nick Wong – UB Preserv – 2018 to 2022 – An alumnus of David Chang’s kitchens and Grammercy Tavern in Manhattan, Wong was the chef de cuisine at this successor to Underbelly. Inviting and comfortable, this was culinarily serious restaurant that turned out a wide range excellent dishes, and a worthy second act for the groundbreaking Underbelly. After Shepherd sold the restaurant group, Wong would go on to have his own restaurant, Agnes & Sherman. In 2025, Texas Monthly named as the best new restaurant in the state.
 
Felipe Riccio – March, Rosie Cannonball – 2019 to present – Riccio, the culinary director for Goodnight Hospitality and its several worthy restaurants clustered on Westheimer, including the Michelin-starred March, had an impressive resume in fine-dining before any of its doors opened. Locally, he worked with Frederic Perrier, Bryan Caswell, and at Pass & Provisions. In New York, at the acclaimed Dan Barber’s Blue Hill at Stone Barns and then time in Italy and Spain, including stages at Azurmendi and Osteria Francescana, both with three Michelin stars. This experience shows on the plates and in the restaurants.

Mark Cox during the heyday of Mark's

The opening and quick success of Underbelly in 2012 made me realize that there was now a critical mass of excellent and interesting restaurants and bars along a short stretch of a single road here. The length of Westheimer from Bagby, where it happens to start, west to Dunlavy is barely over a mile, which is an inconsiderable distance in car-happy Houston. This was a restaurant row, certainly in car terms.
 
So, I compiled a list of the best spots. I’ve updated it a few times, first for the Deep South publication two years later in 2014, and then a couple more times, as the establishments have changed. Here are my lists, snapshots in time, including one in an article I just posted. The number of recommendable places has grown in the past nearly fifteen years.
 
2012
 
Jeannine’s Bistro – 106 Westheimer – Belgian
Feast – 219 Westheimer – Modern British
L’Olivier – 240 Westheimer – French
Melange Creperie – 403 Westheimer – Crepes
Dolce Vita – 500 Westheimer – Pizza / Italian
Roots Bistro – 507 Westheimer – American
Osaka – 515 Westheimer – Sushi
Indika – 516 Westheimer – Modern Indian
Uchi – 904 Westheimer – Japanese
Aladdin – 912 Westheimer – Middle Eastern
Little Bigs – 2703 Montrose– Hamburgers
BB’s Café – 2710 Montrose– Cajun
The Hay Merchant – 1100 Westheimer – Beer Bar / American
Underbelly – 1100 Westheimer – New American
El Real – 1201 Westheimer – Tex-Mex
Anvil – 1424 Westheimer – Cocktail Bar
Da Marco – 1520 Westheimer – Italian
Hugo's – 1602 Westheimer – Mexican
Poscol – 1609 Westheimer – Italian
Mark’s –1658 Westheimer – New American
 
2014
 
Georges Bistro – 219 Westheimer – French
L’Olivier – 240 Westheimer – French
La Casa del Caballo – 333 Westheimer – Mexican Steakhouse
Melange Creperie – 403 Westheimer – Crepes
Dolce Vita – 500 Westheimer – Pizza / Italian
Indika – 516 Westheimer – Modern Indian
Katz’s – 615 Westheimer – Deli
Uchi – 904 Westheimer – Sushi
Aladdin – 912 Westheimer – Middle Eastern
Little Bigs – 2703 Montrose– Hamburgers
Blacksmith – 1018 Westheimer – Coffee Shop
The Hay Merchant – 1100 Westheimer – Beer Bar / American
Underbelly – 1100 Westheimer – New American
Anvil – 1424 Westheimer – Cocktail Bar
Da Marco – 1520 Westheimer – Italian
Poscol – 1609 Westheimer – Italian
Hugo's – 1602 Westheimer – Mexican
Mark’s –1658 Westheimer – New American
Common Bond – 1706 Westheimer – Bakery
 
2018
 
Bistecca – 224 Westheimer – Steak
Avondale – 240 Westheimer – New American / French
El Tiempo – 333 Westheimer – Tex-Mex
Dolce Vita – 500 Westheimer – Pizza / Italian
Pappa Geno’s – 515 Westheimer – Sandwiches
Indika – 516 Westheimer – Indian
Aqui – 520 Westheimer – Pan-Asian
Poscol – 608 Westheimer – Italian
Katz’s – 615 Westheimer – Deli
Uchi – 904 Westheimer – Sushi
Aladdin – 912 Westheimer – Middle Eastern
Blacksmith – 1018 Westheimer – Coffee Shop
The Hay Merchant – 1100 Westheimer – Beer Bar / American
Georgia James – 1100 Westheimer – Steak
El Real – 1201 Westheimer – Tex-Mex
Mala Sichuan – 1201 Westheimer – Sichuan
Anvil – 1424 Westheimer – Cocktail Bar
Da Marco – 1520 Westheimer – Italian
Ramen Tatsu-Ya – 1722 California (twenty yards north of Westheimer) – Ramen
Hugo’s – 1600 Westheimer – Mexican
UB Preserv – 1609 Westheimer – New American
Goodnight Charlie’s – 2511 Kuester (a half-block north of Westheimer) – New American
One Fifth Romance Languages – 1658 Westheimer – Spanish / French / Italian
Common Bond – 1706 Westheimer – Bakery
 
2026
 
Maderas – 120 Westheimer – Mexican
Xolo – 223 Westheimer – Mexican
Soto – 224 Westheimer – Sushi
El Tiempo – 333 Westheimer – Tex-Mex
Osaka – 500 Westheimer – Sushi
ChòpnBlọk – 507 Westheimer – West African
La Sicilia – 515 Westheimer – Bakery
Traveler’s Table – 520 Westheimer – Eclectic
Poscol – 608 Westheimer – Italian
Katz’s – 615 Westheimer – Deli
Fiora’s Bottle Shop – 888 Westheimer – Wine Bar / Wine Shop
Okto – 888 Westheimer – Middle Eastern
Uchi – 904 Westheimer – Sushi
Aladdin – 912 Westheimer – Middle Eastern
Blacksmith – 1018 Westheimer – Coffee Shop
Doc’s – 1201 Westheimer – Jazz Club
Mala Sichuan – 1201 Westheimer – Sichuan
The Montrose Grocer – 1340 Westheimer – Wine Bar / Wine Shop
Anvil – 1424 Westheimer – Cocktail Bar
Da Marco – 1520 Westheimer – Italian
Ramen Tatsu-Ya – 1722 California (twenty yards north of Westheimer) – Ramen
Hugo’s – 1600 Westheimer – Mexican
Montrose Cheese & Wine – 1618 Westheimer – Wine Bar / Wine Shop
Rose Cannonball – 1620 Westheimer – Italian / Spanish
March – 1624 Westheimer – European
The Marigold Club – 2531 Kuster (steps from Westheimer) – American
Common Bond – 1706 Westheimer – Bakery

The very fun wallpaper at The Marigold Club