This past year, 2025, might have been the year of the chef concerning new restaurants, as chefs seemed to play a more publicly prominent role than usual. Several of the city’s top chefs thankfully returned to public kitchens: Bryan Caswell, Maurizio Ferrarese, Terrance Gallivan, and Nick Wong. Another couple, Hugo Ortega and his brother, pastry chef Ruben Ortega, added to their collection of excellent Mexican eateries. And a few new toques emphatically joined the mix, headlining fine-dining restaurants in Houston for the first time: Shawn Gawle, Christian Hernandez, and Luis Robledo Richards. The city also saw its first two properties open from the hip Austin-based Bunkhouse Hotels in the past year-plus, both with restaurants. One is an odd-looking, brown-colored motel, if an expensive motel – no need for air-conditioned hallways in Houston – a structure that stands in an unfavorably stark contrast to Renzo Piano’s landmark Menil Collection building a block away. The other is quainter and a more appropriate structure in the Heights. The kitchen in the latter is also more interesting. See below. The Heights continues to grow as a culinary destination, with three of the city’s best new restaurants opening there. Just 15 years ago, there was absolutely nothing in neighborhood, now it is rivaling Montrose as the area’s top dining destination.
Agnes and Sherman – Contemporary Chinese-American – Entrées: $19 to $49, $29 average – Chef Nick Wong took a step back from the bolder cooking he was turning out at UB Preserv a couple of years earlier for this effort in the brightened, inviting former Shade space. Here he is serving homey Chinese-American cooking with plenty of local flavors for the present-day prosperous Heights; quite a ways from Bellaire boulevard. the dinner menu is meant for sharing. egg foo young makes a return, but with crawfish and a sauce of gumbo, beef fajita chow fun, cheeseburger fried rice, and a very prettily rendered steak frites give an idea of the ethos and attractions here. Not everything works as well as hoped for, but it can be fun, and it’s great that Wong stayed in Houston. 250. W. 19th Street, 77008, Heights.
Barbacana – New American – Entrées: $38 to $68, $48 average; $125 set menu – 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. 907 Franklin, 77002, Downtown.
BeauSoliel – French – Entrées: $28 to $38, $33 average – Charmingly set in a house-like structure, this is a neat neighborhood spot for Garden Oaks and the nearby Heights serving well-executed French fare. Its menu was pared down late in the year to offer easily appreciated dishes like onion soup, escargots in puff pastry, duck breast or duck confit, moules marinières, a version of steak au poivre, and tarte tatin to finish. It is all somewhat bistro-esque in practice. There are white tablecloths and plush chairs inside and no chalkboard menu showing the daily offerings, but with a long bar, expansive patio, and black-and-white videos of Julia Child’s early shows airing playfully behind the bar, the effect is inviting, like a bistro. Wine could be taken more seriously here. Quickly noticeable, the wine glasses are big, clunky, and ornate in a K-Mart-fancy way, something a grandmother in Iowa might dust off and use for the holidays. You can drink decently enough, but the list lags in contrast to most quality restaurants in town. 963 Judiway, 77018, Garden Oaks.
Camaraderie – New American – Entrées: $18 to $42, $27 average; $75 set menu – Dining here is a little different, as is the setting. Quite cool, minimalist with a Scandinavian light-wood décor but comfortable, it has a small lounge area that is open to the dining area which is open to the very open kitchen area where Chef-owner Shawn Gawle and team are composing your meal. The lounge has a short food menu with a la carte items, while the main dining area serves only a $75 set menu. The latter can make for one of the most enjoyable dining experiences in Houston. This changing set menu is not inexpensive, but for the quality is an excellent value. The dishes are compelling, intelligently composed with obviously top-notch ingredients, and very well executed in an attractive fashion. Easily likeable and approachable, too. It is not fussy fare. Gawle’s work at restaurant from the legendry Joël Robuchon and later a couple of three-star Michelin restaurants in San Francisco is very evident. The ravioli, which might be served in various ways, are very well-crafted, almost ethereal, and in the Italian fashion with the soft ‘00’ flour, hence the “doppio” name on the menu. Entrees might feature the classic French maritime protein presentation, skate wing Basquaise, and with shishito and heirloom peppers, and a small veal osso buco, artfully wrapped in bucatini. Desserts are excellent and unique; Gawle was previously the executive pastry chef at March. This summer saw frozen yogurt with stone fruit, granola and extra virgin olive oil, and another featuring bees wax gelato, candied almonds and meringue. The wine list is quite brief, but quite well-chosen. Service is attentive, informed and enthusiastic. Camaraderie is my vote for Houston’s best new restaurant. 608 W 11th Street, 77008, Heights.
Hypsi – Italian – Entrées: $26 to $39, $32 average – Opening late in the year from chef Terrance Gallivan, whose terrific little pizza and crudo specialist Elro shuttered at the end of 2024, is thankfully back heading a kitchen within a year; and again working in Italian translated into the current American idiom. Before a star turn at Pass & Provisions here, Gallivan worked kitchens at acclaimed Italian restaurants in Manhattan, Fiamma and Alto, the last where he was executive chef. There is focaccia to start at Hypsi – and that can be topped with quality white anchovies – along with arancini, lamb meatballs, grilled octopus, then several generously-sized pasta dishes prepared with an American sensibility, and several mains including a pork milanese and roasted half snapper with the Italian salsa verde. A month in, this is still a work in progress though the 40-seat dining room is bustling every night. On a recent visit one pasta was overcooked and accompanying ragù a little watery, but still tasty, and the tortelllone in another was unpleasantly stiff. Some dish combinations also seem to be experimental. But Gallivan’s track record is strong and this is entry fits well among cluster of top spots on 19th and 20th Streets; Squable and Baso are nearby. As at Elro, the wines are nicely chosen, with a preference for Piedmont and northern Italy, and priced to strongly encourage a bottle order. 347 W 20th Street (in the Hotel Daphne), Houston, 77008, Heights.
Latuli – Regional New American – Entrées: $25 to $65, $33 average – A friend, who was a publican and restaurateur for decades here, described a recent visit to Latuli, as “the most professional dining experience I have ever had in Houston.” Bryan Caswell, the hometown kid and Jean-Georges-Vongerichten protégé with a global resume who won local acclaim at his seafood-centric Reef in Midtown, is back in an attractive and spacious, purpose-built setting serving well-crafted and confidently flavored foods reflective of Houston. Dishes from Louisiana and the Texas Gulf are prominent, as would be expected from Caswell, and these share menu space with Mexican and contemporary Italian-influenced preparations, nearly all enticing. The nicely complementary wine list from seasoned sommelier Jeb Stuart is well-edited and presented; mostly French and Italian. There are also a number of other fruit-forward, bolder, much less food-friendly and more expensive options from California in each of the categories for the crowds from the surrounding Memorial villages. This is a great addition in an area without many interesting, fine-dining options – just Bar Bludorn and Credence, both newish – but plenty of disposable dining dollars. And Bryan Caswell is back helming a Houston kitchen, terrific for any neighborhood. 8900 Gaylord at I-10 between Voss and Campbell, 77024, Memorial.
Mayahuel – Mexican – Entrées: $45 to $63, $50 average – Luis Robledo Richards came to town with the short-lived taco joint Comalito with the Underbelly Hospitality group while that was imploding post-Chris Shepherd. This setting at Mayahuel is far cry from any taqueria, along with the menu and ambitions. The list of dishes here is concise but should satiate nearly any diner with even a faint interest in Mexican food. Meats, seafood, and vegetables appear in enticing ways, often bolstered by excellent tortillas that are products of in-house nixtamalization. Meaty maitake mushrooms are given the pastor treatment, if without a trompo, which still works very well, barbacoa from short ribs from regional Wagyu cattle, and grilled cod are a few of the delightfully presented dinner items worth an order. Part of the restaurant group that includes Liberty Kitchen and the lackluster State Fare, a pretty penny was spent on the buildout in an address that includes Annebelle’s and the new Annam. Soothingly but attractively beige and with an open kitchen to lighten the mood, the dining areas are gorgeous. Be sure to save room for dessert or chocolates to go. Richards was formerly the executive pastry chef at New York’s Le Cirque, owned an acclaimed chocolate shop in Mexico City, and, not least of all, was named the best pastry chef in Latin America by the 50 Best Restaurants organization in 2019. 811 Buffalo Park, 77019, River Oaks.
Remi – Italian, American – Entrées: $14 to $74, $35 average – A lower key successor to Alba in the Hotel Granduca, Remi warrants attention because Maurizio Ferrarese still heading the kitchen. Ferrarese is probably the most underappreciated chef in the area and one of the very best Italian chefs in the entire region. Among other skills, he is certainly the local best crafter of risotto dishes, befitting a native of Vercelli, Europe’s capital of rice. The hotel guest-friendly menu here includes house-made ribbons of tagliolini topped with ragù bolognese, a true take, which is brighter and lighter than most versions, and then paired on the plate with some enjoyable fat from a couple dollops of whipped ricotta. Roman style artichokes, Ora King Salmon with charred broccolini in a romesco sauce are a couple other interesting options, all with execution far better than a typical hotel setting. The menu and restaurant space will be expanding in the near future. 1080 Uptown Park Boulevard (in the Hotel Granduca), 77056, Uptown Park.
Silk Road – Dim Sum – Dim Sum Dishes: $8 to $15; Rice and Noodles: $20 to $27; $40 average – This all-day dim sum spot is, quite unusually, set in the dining area of a Courtyard by Marriott on Westpark near West U. It has all the charm and level of service of a restaurant set in the dining area of a Courtyard by Marriott. The food is mostly terrific, though. Chef Thawatchai Insingha, who cooked at a Michelin starred Chinese restaurant in Bangkok, heads the kitchen that specializes in dim sum dishes. There are no carts; everything is cooked to order. The cheung fun with crispy shrimp is a highlight of the short menu. The silky smooth wrappers nicely hold the fried shrimp that provides a textural contrast and, with some of the light-tasting soy sauce, makes for a delicious, savory bite. An even more common dim sum order, the char siu bao, the fluffy, steamed buns filled with stewed pork, are very well done and offer an unusual spice note that works well. There is an uninspiring Cantonese take on hot-and-sour soup that can be missed, and soup dumplings that are better left for the more Shanghai-attuned spots, but you should be here for dim sum, and this is quite likely the best dim sum in Houston. Unfortunately, it is easily the most expensive, too. 2929 Westpark (in the Courtyard by Marriott), 770005, West U.
Zaranda – Mexican – Entrées: $32 to $85, $55 average – 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. 1550 Lamar (on Discovery Green), 77010, Downtown.
You can take a look at my choices for the best new restaurants from last year and 2023. These are reminders that Houston is a competitive market, and the restaurant business is tough.
The Tostada of Bluefine Tuna at Mayahuel.
Agnes and Sherman – Contemporary Chinese-American – Entrées: $19 to $49, $29 average – Chef Nick Wong took a step back from the bolder cooking he was turning out at UB Preserv a couple of years earlier for this effort in the brightened, inviting former Shade space. Here he is serving homey Chinese-American cooking with plenty of local flavors for the present-day prosperous Heights; quite a ways from Bellaire boulevard. the dinner menu is meant for sharing. egg foo young makes a return, but with crawfish and a sauce of gumbo, beef fajita chow fun, cheeseburger fried rice, and a very prettily rendered steak frites give an idea of the ethos and attractions here. Not everything works as well as hoped for, but it can be fun, and it’s great that Wong stayed in Houston. 250. W. 19th Street, 77008, Heights.
Barbacana – New American – Entrées: $38 to $68, $48 average; $125 set menu – 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. 907 Franklin, 77002, Downtown.
BeauSoliel – French – Entrées: $28 to $38, $33 average – Charmingly set in a house-like structure, this is a neat neighborhood spot for Garden Oaks and the nearby Heights serving well-executed French fare. Its menu was pared down late in the year to offer easily appreciated dishes like onion soup, escargots in puff pastry, duck breast or duck confit, moules marinières, a version of steak au poivre, and tarte tatin to finish. It is all somewhat bistro-esque in practice. There are white tablecloths and plush chairs inside and no chalkboard menu showing the daily offerings, but with a long bar, expansive patio, and black-and-white videos of Julia Child’s early shows airing playfully behind the bar, the effect is inviting, like a bistro. Wine could be taken more seriously here. Quickly noticeable, the wine glasses are big, clunky, and ornate in a K-Mart-fancy way, something a grandmother in Iowa might dust off and use for the holidays. You can drink decently enough, but the list lags in contrast to most quality restaurants in town. 963 Judiway, 77018, Garden Oaks.
Camaraderie – New American – Entrées: $18 to $42, $27 average; $75 set menu – Dining here is a little different, as is the setting. Quite cool, minimalist with a Scandinavian light-wood décor but comfortable, it has a small lounge area that is open to the dining area which is open to the very open kitchen area where Chef-owner Shawn Gawle and team are composing your meal. The lounge has a short food menu with a la carte items, while the main dining area serves only a $75 set menu. The latter can make for one of the most enjoyable dining experiences in Houston. This changing set menu is not inexpensive, but for the quality is an excellent value. The dishes are compelling, intelligently composed with obviously top-notch ingredients, and very well executed in an attractive fashion. Easily likeable and approachable, too. It is not fussy fare. Gawle’s work at restaurant from the legendry Joël Robuchon and later a couple of three-star Michelin restaurants in San Francisco is very evident. The ravioli, which might be served in various ways, are very well-crafted, almost ethereal, and in the Italian fashion with the soft ‘00’ flour, hence the “doppio” name on the menu. Entrees might feature the classic French maritime protein presentation, skate wing Basquaise, and with shishito and heirloom peppers, and a small veal osso buco, artfully wrapped in bucatini. Desserts are excellent and unique; Gawle was previously the executive pastry chef at March. This summer saw frozen yogurt with stone fruit, granola and extra virgin olive oil, and another featuring bees wax gelato, candied almonds and meringue. The wine list is quite brief, but quite well-chosen. Service is attentive, informed and enthusiastic. Camaraderie is my vote for Houston’s best new restaurant. 608 W 11th Street, 77008, Heights.
Hypsi – Italian – Entrées: $26 to $39, $32 average – Opening late in the year from chef Terrance Gallivan, whose terrific little pizza and crudo specialist Elro shuttered at the end of 2024, is thankfully back heading a kitchen within a year; and again working in Italian translated into the current American idiom. Before a star turn at Pass & Provisions here, Gallivan worked kitchens at acclaimed Italian restaurants in Manhattan, Fiamma and Alto, the last where he was executive chef. There is focaccia to start at Hypsi – and that can be topped with quality white anchovies – along with arancini, lamb meatballs, grilled octopus, then several generously-sized pasta dishes prepared with an American sensibility, and several mains including a pork milanese and roasted half snapper with the Italian salsa verde. A month in, this is still a work in progress though the 40-seat dining room is bustling every night. On a recent visit one pasta was overcooked and accompanying ragù a little watery, but still tasty, and the tortelllone in another was unpleasantly stiff. Some dish combinations also seem to be experimental. But Gallivan’s track record is strong and this is entry fits well among cluster of top spots on 19th and 20th Streets; Squable and Baso are nearby. As at Elro, the wines are nicely chosen, with a preference for Piedmont and northern Italy, and priced to strongly encourage a bottle order. 347 W 20th Street (in the Hotel Daphne), Houston, 77008, Heights.
Latuli – Regional New American – Entrées: $25 to $65, $33 average – A friend, who was a publican and restaurateur for decades here, described a recent visit to Latuli, as “the most professional dining experience I have ever had in Houston.” Bryan Caswell, the hometown kid and Jean-Georges-Vongerichten protégé with a global resume who won local acclaim at his seafood-centric Reef in Midtown, is back in an attractive and spacious, purpose-built setting serving well-crafted and confidently flavored foods reflective of Houston. Dishes from Louisiana and the Texas Gulf are prominent, as would be expected from Caswell, and these share menu space with Mexican and contemporary Italian-influenced preparations, nearly all enticing. The nicely complementary wine list from seasoned sommelier Jeb Stuart is well-edited and presented; mostly French and Italian. There are also a number of other fruit-forward, bolder, much less food-friendly and more expensive options from California in each of the categories for the crowds from the surrounding Memorial villages. This is a great addition in an area without many interesting, fine-dining options – just Bar Bludorn and Credence, both newish – but plenty of disposable dining dollars. And Bryan Caswell is back helming a Houston kitchen, terrific for any neighborhood. 8900 Gaylord at I-10 between Voss and Campbell, 77024, Memorial.
Mayahuel – Mexican – Entrées: $45 to $63, $50 average – Luis Robledo Richards came to town with the short-lived taco joint Comalito with the Underbelly Hospitality group while that was imploding post-Chris Shepherd. This setting at Mayahuel is far cry from any taqueria, along with the menu and ambitions. The list of dishes here is concise but should satiate nearly any diner with even a faint interest in Mexican food. Meats, seafood, and vegetables appear in enticing ways, often bolstered by excellent tortillas that are products of in-house nixtamalization. Meaty maitake mushrooms are given the pastor treatment, if without a trompo, which still works very well, barbacoa from short ribs from regional Wagyu cattle, and grilled cod are a few of the delightfully presented dinner items worth an order. Part of the restaurant group that includes Liberty Kitchen and the lackluster State Fare, a pretty penny was spent on the buildout in an address that includes Annebelle’s and the new Annam. Soothingly but attractively beige and with an open kitchen to lighten the mood, the dining areas are gorgeous. Be sure to save room for dessert or chocolates to go. Richards was formerly the executive pastry chef at New York’s Le Cirque, owned an acclaimed chocolate shop in Mexico City, and, not least of all, was named the best pastry chef in Latin America by the 50 Best Restaurants organization in 2019. 811 Buffalo Park, 77019, River Oaks.
Remi – Italian, American – Entrées: $14 to $74, $35 average – A lower key successor to Alba in the Hotel Granduca, Remi warrants attention because Maurizio Ferrarese still heading the kitchen. Ferrarese is probably the most underappreciated chef in the area and one of the very best Italian chefs in the entire region. Among other skills, he is certainly the local best crafter of risotto dishes, befitting a native of Vercelli, Europe’s capital of rice. The hotel guest-friendly menu here includes house-made ribbons of tagliolini topped with ragù bolognese, a true take, which is brighter and lighter than most versions, and then paired on the plate with some enjoyable fat from a couple dollops of whipped ricotta. Roman style artichokes, Ora King Salmon with charred broccolini in a romesco sauce are a couple other interesting options, all with execution far better than a typical hotel setting. The menu and restaurant space will be expanding in the near future. 1080 Uptown Park Boulevard (in the Hotel Granduca), 77056, Uptown Park.
Silk Road – Dim Sum – Dim Sum Dishes: $8 to $15; Rice and Noodles: $20 to $27; $40 average – This all-day dim sum spot is, quite unusually, set in the dining area of a Courtyard by Marriott on Westpark near West U. It has all the charm and level of service of a restaurant set in the dining area of a Courtyard by Marriott. The food is mostly terrific, though. Chef Thawatchai Insingha, who cooked at a Michelin starred Chinese restaurant in Bangkok, heads the kitchen that specializes in dim sum dishes. There are no carts; everything is cooked to order. The cheung fun with crispy shrimp is a highlight of the short menu. The silky smooth wrappers nicely hold the fried shrimp that provides a textural contrast and, with some of the light-tasting soy sauce, makes for a delicious, savory bite. An even more common dim sum order, the char siu bao, the fluffy, steamed buns filled with stewed pork, are very well done and offer an unusual spice note that works well. There is an uninspiring Cantonese take on hot-and-sour soup that can be missed, and soup dumplings that are better left for the more Shanghai-attuned spots, but you should be here for dim sum, and this is quite likely the best dim sum in Houston. Unfortunately, it is easily the most expensive, too. 2929 Westpark (in the Courtyard by Marriott), 770005, West U.
Zaranda – Mexican – Entrées: $32 to $85, $55 average – 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. 1550 Lamar (on Discovery Green), 77010, Downtown.
You can take a look at my choices for the best new restaurants from last year and 2023. These are reminders that Houston is a competitive market, and the restaurant business is tough.
The Tostada of Bluefine Tuna at Mayahuel.
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