Some of the very best pizzas to be found in Houston are at restaurants where pizzas are just one small part of the menu. These are almost all Italian-focused, or Italian-leaning, and mostly fine dining. Pizzas have not typically found at nice restaurants in Italy outside of the Naples area, but American restaurants are not bound by those conventions, or most others, for that matter. And that’s usually a good thing.  More pizza is usually a good thing, too. Quality pizza, always so.
 
The best of these pizzas are inspired by those found in Naples: individually sized, a thin, soft crust with raised edges, and a minimal amount of high-quality toppings that’s been cooked in a very hot, often wood-burning oven that’s been built for the purpose. It is a testament to the skill of a kitchen to be able to make tasty pizza dough and then adorn and cook a pizza properly, consistently. It is not easy. I know, having countless mediocre and worse renditions in recent years sampling margherita pizzas in restaurants throughout the city. Below are restaurants where you can order a pizza with confidence. Those at the top of the list, you might even go just for the pizza. Listed in order of preference.
 
The Best
 
Da Marco – Marco Wiles introduced Neapolitan-inspired pizzas to Houston here, which begat the stellar pizza-centric Dolce Vita for many years down the street. Only offering its excellent take on the margherita and only at lunch, but it’s still one of the best pizzas in the city. Montrose
Amalfi – Chef-proprietor Giancarlo Ferrara hails from Salerno down the coast from Naples and his pizza oven helps showcase the pride he takes in his region’s beloved creation. The skillfully rendered Neapolitan-inspired pizzas come in ten different versions ranging from a margherita with Buffalo mozzarella and grape tomatoes to one featuring marinated salmon, a cacio e pepe and another with roasted pork, spicy salami and jalapeños. Briargrove
 
Very Good
 
Ostia – Just a red and white – no tomato sauce – and just at lunch. The red might involve a margherita with a protein the white cheese and maybe an egg. Both feature a properly enjoyable, fairly flavorful soft crust with ingredients that are noticeably higher quality and so tastier than usual. You might want a little more integration between the toppings and crust, but these are still pizzas were returning for.  Montrose
Amore – This replication of sorts of Da Marco from a former chef also does a very creditable job of Neapolitan-themed pizzas featuring a well-made thin crust and pleasing, appropriate toppings, much more than just the margherita. Cooked in a prominently displayed golden tile-covered pizza oven at this simply set 86-seater somewhat hidden away on Shepherd near W. Alabama sharing a pizza can be a fine way to start a meal or as a lunch.  Montrose
Rosie Cannonball – The upscale, pricy, mostly Italian, often Emilian cuisine-inspired eatery takes a detour to Naples for its commendable, thin individual pizzas available with a half-dozen including a couple vegetarian ones that almost hit the $25 mark, but you’ll willing pay that. Top-notch ingredients are used properly with a fine crust anchoring the pizzas that are Italian in style if not necessarily Neapolitan.  Montrose
Trattoria Sofia – The pizzas might be the only reason to visit this Italian-American spot on 11th Street that is part of the Berg collection of restaurants. Small in size, even for an individually sized pizza, the crust is light and flavorful. Thin crust, the pizzas are not Neapolitan, more like an American restaurant imitation of it, but quite enjoyable. Available in several appealing versions. These are even better than the ones at its sibling B+B Butchers, which are also fairly well done.  Heights
 
Good
 
Weights + Measures – This very versatile spot also does a commendable job with pizzas cooked in a wood-burning oven including a unique version topped with roasted carrots, the cooked onion and cream soubise sauce, Fresno chiles, cilantro, dukka and gruyere that has earned plenty of fans. There are several other options including the necessary margherita if you don’t want to stray too far from tradition. For all of them, you can expect that the dough will be of high quality from a restaurant sharing space with Slough Dough bake shop. Midtown
Tiny Boxwoods / Tiny’s No. 5 – These precious spots perfect for moms dining with daughters returning home from the sorority don’t skimp on the quality of its fare, which includes some tasty, nicely light pizzas made with quality ingredients in a handful of enticing options including a margherita-like with pesto substituting for basil solo.  River Oaks, West U
Carrabba’s (Kirby and Voss) – Houston’s favorite Italian-American restaurants, the two original Carrabba’s still run by Johnny and mother, serve creditable individually sized but hearty pizzas from pizza ovens set near the seemingly always bustling bar area. There is a margherita and pepperoni, of course but another with sausage, eggplant, and sweet peppers and another with fig, arugula, and prosciutto along with lemon preserves, goat cheese, and pine nuts with a balsamic glaze. Plus, different than the others on the list, you can create your list of toppings. Upper Kirby, Briargrove

The tasty Pesto & Mozzarella Pizza at Tiny's No. 5 in West U.

You really shouldn’t eat chicken fried steak: it’s about as unhealthy an item on the menu, battered and deep-fried beef with a thick black pepper-spiked gravy that’s usually heavily caloric; plus, it features as poor a cut and quality of beefsteak that you will find served at any restaurant. And I certainly shouldn’t eat chicken fried steak – and I always neglect to mention these occasional orders to my cardiologist – but it’s a guilty pleasure and something I’ve enjoyed since childhood. It was long a Texas staple, once found almost everywhere, after all. Maybe enjoyed is too strong of a word; many of my early experiences with it were the tough and gristly versions from the school cafeteria, even tougher and more gristle-laden ones weekly during a college meal plan and the too often dull and far-from-tender preparations where the dish is still cooked. Enjoyed at times is more correct. There are very good preparations every now and then, though restaurants serving the dish in any level of adeptness are found diminishingly so on the more competitive local restaurant landscape. Pappas Burgers, where I had one of the best chicken fried steaks in recent years, no longer offers it, to give one example.   
 
Through four years, off and on, I’ve eaten chicken fried steaks at three dozen places in town in an effort to find the best and recommendable versions in general. There are numerous bad preparations and I ended my research on this with an attractive, if appropriately lousy one at Ouisie’s Table; tough and bland beef, cheap-tasting, with the breading falling too easily away from it, a place once known for the dish and where it was once done fairly well. The dining scene in Houston has largely moved far beyond chicken fried steaks and places like that, thankfully, but a savory chicken fried steak is still welcome every now and then for some of us. Here are the restaurants where you can find at least a decent one.
 
The Best
 
Wild Oats – $18 / $32 – Designated on the menu as “Wagyu Chicken Fried Steak / Fancy meat…” this upscale version from the Texas-themed outpost of Underbelly Hospitality is the top take on the statewide “classic” now found in our fair city. Featuring excellent meat, the regionally raised Wagyu beef, for a chicken fried steak, it is quite tender with a welcome hint of beef flavor, something that is lacking in most renditions. The breading will fall off somewhat, but no matter, it is delicious, aided by not-so-piquant jalapeño and bacon gravy. Very whipped mashed potatoes and crip green beans served with a little crumbled bacon and micro chives on top provide nice complements for the steak. For $32 for a large order, which is not terribly large at all, this might not be much of a value, but it sure is tasty.  Heights
 
Best of the Rest
 
Frank’s Americana – $28 – On a section of Westheimer that borders River Oaks, this nice, clubby restaurant serves a slightly upscale, well-crafted and flavorful take on the Texas staple that will please any income class. Served under cream gravy with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables cooked al dente for a satisfying full meal. Greenway Plaza
Killen’s – $20 / $26 – Fittingly, in the building on Waugh that housed Hickory Hollow for many years, a destination for many for its chicken fried steak, Ronnie Killen’s Inner Loop location does a more-than-creditable job with the dish. The well-seasoned steak here is noticeable, welcome and somewhat unusual, and needs no help from any bottled hot sauce, though the cream gravy is reflexive must. Served with mashed potatoes.  Washington Corridor
Killen’s STQ – $34 – It’s chicken fried ribeye at this expensive, mostly steakhouse that’s pricier and of a higher quality than most versions of the dish. It comes in a manageable size with the necessary white gravy, its frequent partner mashed potatoes that are conspicuously well-done here, and also collard greens for more of a Southern bent to the dish and restaurant.  Briargrove
Barbecue Inn – $17.50 – You don’t travel to this charmingly old school and friendly Houston relic on the north side, now near north side, for the barbecue but what comes out of the deep fryer: the fried chicken, fried shrimp and chicken fried steak. Comforting, satisfying, if nothing spectacular, but value-oriented. It’s a meal coming with cream gravy and a choice of two sides among a iceberg lettuce salad, French fries, mashed potatoes and green beans.  Near North Side
Mia’s Table – $19.99 – Johnny Carrabba’s casual, counter-service concept for hearty family friendly, locally inclined fare is justifiably popular as it does fine versions of almost everything including the tender-enough and tasty chicken fried steak; with jalapeño cream gravy for just a little bite even before the splashes of hot sauce.  Upper Kirby District, Spring Branch, Katy, Cypress, Clear Lake, The Woodlands
 
Worth a Visit For It
 
Mucky Duck – $16.95 – Just on Wednesdays, this British-themed showcase club and pub with a kitchen much better than it needs to be, offers a tender take on the battered, deep-fried steak, which is served with creamy mashed potatoes, a lot of gravy, Mexican-style street corn, and a piece of moist cornbread.  Upper Kirby District
State Fare – $24 lunch / $28 dinner – The stylish Texas-centric spots have, maybe, too many pitfalls on the menu, but its offering of the chicken fried steak is not one of them. Here, it’s a half-pound of sturdy ribeye steak that has more flavor than most versions and a crust that nicely adheres to the meat and which comes under a lot of welcome salty, cream gravy, mashed potatoes, bacon-and-onion aided green beans.  Memorial City, Sugar Land, The Woodlands
Laurenzo’s Grill – $25.99 – It’s called Vitello Fritto here, chicken fried veal, a fancier Italian-American take on it, well on the name, at least. More tender than usually found as its veal, the sausage gravy provides some additional gustatory oomph that might be necessary. The dish nicely comes with bread and a choice of side from a list of nearly twenty choices.  Washington Corridor
Hughie’s – $15 – This family run Vietnamese duo catering to a non-Vietnamese clientele also serves hamburgers and Country Fried Steak. Featuring higher quality filet mignon that is smothered in sausage and bacon gravy, it’s an appetizing interpretation. It comes with sides of just decent garlic-spiked mashed potatoes and a kale salad for just $15.  Heights (2)
Jax Grill – $15.99 – These longtime, lower key counter service places provide one of the best values for chicken fried steak. If not quite fork-tender, the beef is soft and tasty enough under a crispy crust served with a flour-y white cream gravy that all calls for some more black pepper and cayenne-based hot sauce that is now served with French fries.  Washington Corridor, Bellaire, Katy
Hickory Hollow – $12.60 / $15 / $18 – Once the local favorite for it, a stop for one can still satisfy, and even be a belt-busting diversion. Coming in small, large, and ridiculously large sizes, the last of which will engender stares from fellow diners. This familiar and crusty preparation is on the mild side and calls for hot sauce. Served with a couple sides, it’s a wallet-friendly order, especially for the considerable amount of calories.  Cypress
 
Chicken fried steak comes in more disappointing versions than just about any type of dish so it will be helpful to mention some of the restaurants where you should definitely not order it, in addition to the aforementioned Ouisie’s Table: Federal Grill, House of Pies, Luby’s, of course, and Union Kitchen.

The value-laden version at Jax Grill of a dish that is never pretty.

You might have heard commercials on sport talk radio this summer during the recent glorious baseball season touting this quaint restaurant as an easy, if usually warm and humid, stroll east to MinuteMaid Park.  It’s true, having strolled many a times from a few blocks further to the game, but there are reasons to visit Solecita last well into the off-season.
 
This slick, bright and friendly counter-service spot opened in April and provides the heart of downtown with well-made versions of tortas and tacos filled with a small number of more traditionally Mexican items: the recently popular birria, carnitas, chicken tinga, Campechanos (fajita beef, chorizo, topped with dried chicharron), poblanos and potatoes, and barbacoa de borrego.  It's odd to find stewed goat in the heart of the office towers and expensive high-rise apartments a block from Market Square, but it is very welcome and tender and delicious.  The large tortas are served on the softer telera bread of good quality.  The tacos come first with corn tortillas but flour can also be had.  Cool and breezy open-air seating is upstairs and there is a patio out front that shares space with the churro cart, a welcome addition to the nighttime street scene.  Those are also worth an order.  This is a fun and very useful place.
 
Solecita
413 Travis (between Prairie and Preston) 77002, (713) 225-1115
solecitahouston.com

The e-mail awaiting me this morning from The Mucky Duck was touting The Mark Portugal sandwich, it's best-selling sandwich.  As most diners know, what is primarily a live music venue has  a very adept kitchen makes the Mucky Duck a worthy stop even when there are no performers.  The food is far better than it has to be.  One of its best sandwiches - and sandwiches are certainly one reason to visit for lunch - is The Mark Portugal, which is sliced turkey with avocado slices and topped with melted Muenster cheese and large strips of bacon on a crusty, quality French roll that is served warm and with properly crispy fries and a pickle wedge.

Who is or was Mark Portugal?  Mark Portugal was plump-when-he-was-playing starting pitcher for the Astros who was a regular at the Mucky Duck while he pitched here in the 1990s. The Astrodome, where the team played until 2000, was just a few miles straight down Kirby from The Mucky Duck and Portugal along with several players for the team including Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell frequented the bar for beer and food.  Portugal might have enjoyed those more than his teammates spending a lot of time at the place and even helping to devise the sandwich that bears his name.  Turkey, yes and expected for a professional athlete, but buttressed with fatty melted Muenster cheese and avocado and thick slices of bacon, befitting someone who looked like Portugal in a uniform.

Portugal became good friends with Chris Black who devised the beer program at bar and who later moved to Denver opening along with his brothers The Falling Rock Tap House, the best beer bar in the Mountain Time Zone for about a quarter century.  Longtime friends with Chris's brother, Steve, and knowing Chris, too, I happened to be the recipient of Portugal's players' tickets in the field box for a game at Coors Field when I was visiting Denver some years ago and The Rockies were at home against the Phillies, Portugal's team at the time.  So, I have special regard for The Mark Portugal Sandwich beyond its evident qualities as a sandwich.

The Mark Portugal Sandwich from The Mucky Duck

Though it is on a Bagby and Gray Streets on a much-traveled section of Midtown blocks from the edge of downtown, I sense that Izakaya is one of the more underappreciated restaurants in Houston.  That is good for me, as it is always easy to get a table during lunch and enjoy one of its midday dining specials, which are terrific values.  I’ve drifted to the attractively presented bento boxes in recent months that are especially wallet-friendly for the quality.
 
For between $11 and $13, you’ve got a choice among four proteins to anchor the order: sliced beef steak, chicken teriyaki, miso-glazed salmon and curry tofu.  And another choice of two sides to go along with the steamed rice sprinkled with black sesame seeds, a green salad with the recognizable creamy dressing, and pickled vegetables that come with each.  Six preparations in all, all done quite well in my several recent trips to the restaurant.
 
The flavors are expected for each item, highlighting informed technique and good quality ingredients.  The miso-glazed salmon has been my favorite thus far with the chicken teriyaki a close second.  The salmon initially seemed a little dry and overcooked at first but was still moist throughout and with a very pleasant taste helped by a marinade that did not overwhelm the fish.  The chicken is made with thigh meat, nicely.  The steak was pretty good, I thought, with a nice reddish center evident in the thin pieces, but certainly not a prime cut of Prime with beef prices as they are.
 
For the sides – which have been the highlights for me – there are chicken karaage, edamame, agedashi tofu, tykoyaki (octopus), chicken wings, roasted vegetables, and cucumber salad.  Chicken karage that comes with an interesting lemon-tinged dipping sauce, agedashi tofu and the cooling cucumber salad have been items I’ve enjoyed the most along with the side salad, as much I as enjoy the dressing.
 
A sibling of Kata Robata, one of the best restaurants in Houston, Izakaya also produces excellent fare that is largely also Japanese but with some thoughtfully tuned influences from elsewhere in the world.  Though usually slow during lunch, it can be lively in the evening but still seemingly flying under the radar, which is somewhat odd as it is serving easily the best food in that part of Midtown.  The lunch menu is an affordable way to experience some of it.
 
Izakaya
318 Gray (at Bagby), 77002, (713) 527-8988
izakayamidtown.com

The line between Mexican and Tex-Mex (and Texas Mexican, too) can be blurry at times and getting blurrier as restaurants continue to evolve.  For this, Mexican restaurants serve preparations that are more truly representative of the cooking of Mexico, with few concessions to American tastes.  The exception is that Texas creation, breakfast tacos, at the more casual stops; local customers of all stripes demand them on the weekends.
 
The king of Mexican restaurateurs is Hugo Ortega, our version of Chicago’s terrific Rick Bayless, except he was born and raised in Mexico.  Along with his wife, Tracy Vaught, Ortega has created a small restaurant empire that include four of the very best Mexican restaurants in the area that highlights the cooking in many areas south of the border with a welcome refinement.  The settings in each are attractive and comfortable, beverages are well beyond excellent margaritas, and service is always nicely professional, something that stands out in Houston.  Enticing Mexican fare can be found is much more humble settings and lower price points.  There are several counter-service stops that work very well for tacos, tortas and more.
 
The restaurants are listed below in order of preference.
 
The Best
 
Hugo’s – Montrose – The restaurant that introduced the authentic fine dining Mexican restaurant to Houston in 2002 is still going strong and a fixture in the heart of Montrose that works well as a stop for dinner, lunch and brunch.  Approachable, lively and easily appealing and most everything works well from a menu that takes inspiration from much of Mexico across meats, seafood, vegetables and even chapulines.  Crispy duck in mole Poblano, grilled octopus, delectable carnitas, lamb barbacoa and the decadent churros stuffed with dulce de leche served with thick Mexican hot chocolate are just a few of the enticements.
Xochi – Downtown – Xochi opened in 2018 in time for the Houston-hosted Super Bowl – there has never been a Houston team in the Super Bowl, of course – 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 Hugo’s – and maybe more consistently so – though it is less of a value.
 Caracol – Galleria – More lively, attractive and atmospheric than Hugo Ortega’s other local Mexican spots, this specializes in seafood preparations inspired from the cooking along much of Mexico’s long coastlines.  Crispy calamari with serrano peppers, mussels with distinctly Mexican flavors, wood-fire-grilled butterflied fish, wonderful oysters roasted in a wood-burning oven, and any one of several creatively turned ceviches are a few of the highlights from an expectedly enticing menu.

Very Good
 
Maize – West Houston – On the western stretch of Memorial, the kitchen here is headed by Fabian Saldana, a native of Mexico and former executive chef at Xochi, and this serves a well-executed “blend of homage, authenticity, and innovation.”  The offerings are familiar and less so.  There is a seafood tower done Mexican style, enchiladas with duck confit, vegan items and a section on insect preparations.  But there will be plenty to entice even the most casual fans of Mexican cooking on its good-sized menu, and everything is prepared with a greater refinement and complexity than is typical.  The setting is comfortable, bright, a few rooms in what was the longtime home of Carmelo’s.
Cuchara – Montrose – Self-described as a Mexico City-style bistro, the preparations here are vibrant, often surprisingly light, and always enjoyable from a menu that highlights dishes not often found in Houston.  Portions are sensibly sized, maybe more so than large appetites might appreciate.  The setting is comfortable with an industrial and minimalist, urban feeling highlighted with whimsical cartoons that dot the wall from the chef’s sister that is well-suited to its address on Taft and Fairview near the heart of Montrose. 
Urbe – Uptown Park – Though this does not have the culinary fireworks you may encounter at one of Hugo Ortega’s other three local Mexican restaurants, Urbe is easily the most accessible and maybe the most useful for many diners that is counter-service morning and midday and full service in the evening with pandemic-friendly take-away items easily feeding two. You can your quality Mexican fix here for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week all for a very fair tariff at an enticing, welcoming place that seats almost 300 people plus a patio. Attractively plated dishes inspired by the street foods of a lot of Mexico with maybe an emphasis on its sprawling capital include highlights like the Torta Ahoga, shredded inside a terrific birote bread with a side of chile de arbol-centric salsa, the large fried pork rind with sides of guacamole and salsas, an entire roasted cauliflower with aioli and cojita cheese, and the Arrachera, a tender and flavorful wood-grilled skirt steak complemented by roasted pineapple and mushroom relish.  In a testament to Ortega and team, even the roasted cauliflower head here is delicious.
Saltillo – Bellaire – Unfortunately hampered by staffing issues more so than just about any other quality restaurant – there might not be anyone at the hostess stand, tables are not bussed, it can take a long while even in a nearly deserted dining room – but the food is so tasty, interesting and often refined, it is worth the inconvenience (and mess).  Cubed chicken breasts in the enchiladas are another demerit.  This specializes in very large cuts of steak meant to be shared by several diners.  Namesake Saltillo in northern Mexico is cattle country.  The setting is quiet, not really charming, and tucked away in a sliver of a nicer strip center in Bellaire, it is visiting for the cooking alone.
Polanquito – Washington Corridor –  This full-service spot occupies a bright café-like space in an old house on Shepherd.  Taking its name from the upscale neighborhood of Polanco in Mexico City – Polanquito is "little Polanco" – this is a nice, if casual, spot serving up well-made, usually enticing and nicely presented versions of unpretentious dishes from several areas of Mexico, and found in the Distrito Federal.  Not ambitious, but it provides a very welcome, often lighter taste of Mexico, with a nice array of choices with preparations that do look and taste like that do in the home country.
Picos – Upper Kirby – This has been favorite of Mexican food fans and discerning margarita drinkers for decades beginning with its more humble location on Bellaire Boulevard and can make for a very enjoyable visit with its well-executed Mexican staples from across its seven culinary regions that the restaurant touts like conchinita pibil, chile en nogada or mole coloradito with a leg of lamb and terrific margaritas bolstered by an impressive array of tequilas.  Don’t expect to do much afterwards, as the food can be on the heavy side and portions are usually substantial; the margaritas, too.  Amazingly loud with anything approaching a full house.
 
Counter Service / Very Casual Stalwarts
 
Tio Trompo – Washington Corridor – A fairly bare-bones counter service taqueria with a limited menu that specializes in cuts of pork from the spinner, the trompo, the vertical spit used to cook pork al pastor, is a key attraction.  That slowly roasted pork, which retains its moistness unlike at far too many taquerias in Houston, makes its way into traditional tacos, excellent tortas and the Torta Arabe, a type of gyro or doner kabob from the Puebla area.  The Taco Oriental is another oddity from there that is also worth ordering.  This is nicely across the small street from Polanquito on Shepherd just north of Memorial Drive. 
La Chingada – Heights – The humorous, or crude, name – the successor to its previous cheeky one –  obscures that this fairly humble spot serves some seriously good cooking that often references Mexico City and Oaxaca and is a terrific value on Cavalcade just north of the Heights proper. Made to order breakfast tacos provide a draw in the mornings, then there is an array of chilaquiles dishes, excellent enchiladas verdes, milanesas, tacos in a variety of ways, tortas and much more, with nothing topping $20 except for the fajitas and mixed grill.  Margaritas, micheladas and other libations, too.   
Mexico’s Deli – West Houston – Excellent, hot Mexican-style sandwiches, which are not only delicious, but a tremendous value is the simple reason to visit here.  There are roughly two dozen tortas, plus soups, tacos, burritos, grilled items (alambres), pambazos (tasty, but very messy guajillo chile-dipped stuffed sandwiches), and breakfast, all prepared to order on the flat grills and a meat-laden spinner in the open kitchen.  This comfortable, low-key and informal small eatery with muted brass and copper hues has a proper modern Mexican feel for its torta-centric menu.  These large sandwiches are served on airy telera bread, which is light, relatively thin and quite flavorful, if barely containing the bounteous filling.  It might take a while to properly digest the very wide array of tempting sandwiches on this small menu.  Don’t worry, it is tough to make a mistake. 
100% Taquito – Upper Kirby – The fare here is the street food of Mexico City: tacos, quesadillas, tortas, sopes, molletes, banderillas, etc., though done in a slightly more upscale and air-conditioned fashion. The tacos here are taquitos, small tacos in Spanish, and n order consists of three small tacos filled with a choice of usually excellent ingredients: chicken, regular brisket (barbacoa de brisket), spicy brisket cooked with chipotle peppers (tinga), and pork al pastor.  You can get these with either small fresh corn or flour tortillas, which seem to taste a tad better with the more traditionally Mexican corn tortillas.  All taquitos are garnished with just cilantro and onions, and he complimentary salsas, red and green, of course, are excellent and helpful, as is the suitably vibrant and zesty pico del gallo.  With these atop, you will likely have an excellent dish.
La Guadalupana – Montrose – Though not much to look at, and really not much at all in terms of size, this is nonetheless an excellent neighborhood place for a pleasing Mexican meal in the morning or afternoon, or to grab some attractive and scrumptious pastries, Mexican and otherwise, and coffee. The dumpy little dining room has become increasingly more crowded, and less dumpy, in recent years as more have discovered the considerable charms of the inexpensive breakfast and lunch spot. For around ten bucks or so, you can get lighter-than-typical enchiladas verdes or poblano enchiladas – with a proprietor from Puebla, the mole poblano are worth ordering – or, for about the same price, the terrific stewed pork slathered in a verdant spicy salsa, asado de puerco. The breakfast tacos are not what they once were, but the other, dine-in-type morning preparations are worth a stop.
Solecita – Downtown – This slick and friendly counter-service spot opened just in April 2022 and provides the heart of downtown with well-made versions of tortas and tacos filled with a small number of more traditionally Mexican items: the recently popular birria, carnitas, chicken tinga, Campechanos (fajita beef, chorizo, topped with dried chicharron), poblanos and potatoes, and barbacoa de borrego.  It's odd to see stewed goat in the heart of the office towers and expensive high-rise apartments a block from Market Square, but it is very welcome and delicious.  The large tortas are served on the softer telera bread and the tacos come first with corn tortillas but flour can also be had.  Cool and breezy open-air seating is upstairs and there is a patio out front that shares space with the churro cart, a welcome addition to the nighttime street scene.  Those are also worth an order.  
La Vibra – Heights – A unique taco specialist offering something a little different, this mostly serves three different styles of tacos from Mexico City: costra, volcan and classico.  The unusual costra, which here means Gouda cheese cooked on the flattop grill to create a shell, traces its origin directly from a taco spot just outside of a club in Mexico City in the early part of the century.  These can be fun.  The volcan is a lot like a tostada and the classico is the familiar type.  The tacos are on the small side but fillings – beef steak, shrimp, fish, pastor with pineapple are tasty – and the complementary salsas like mole poblano, tamarind, roasted tomato and tomatillo are generally mild but particularly flavorful.  In a strip center not far north of I-10, this is in a fairly slick counter-service space well-suited to a prosperous more youthful Heights.
Master Taco – Montrose – This food truck that’s been park on Richmond and Woodhead since March of 2020 is run by a friendly family originally from the state of Guerrero, home of Acapulco.  “Taco” is in the name for a reason.  With both the flour and corn tortillas made in-house and well-done, and with a well-prepared, interesting array of fillings, tasty salsas and the necessary lime quarters and chopped cilantro and onions to complement, the small tacos, taquitos, actually, are why you should stop here.  An order of five or six will be necessary for most.  Tasty but tiny.  The non-taco items are not as reliable.

The Green Pipian Mole with Pork Ribs at Polanquito

The posterboard affixed to the exterior of the empty half of a tiny strip center on Shepherd just north of Memorial Drive warns that the parking spaces are only for Tio Trompo.  Just across the two-lane Feagan, Polanquito, which sits in an older one-story house, has seen about half of its parking spots taken away by the interminable construction on Shepherd.  It’s been tough to park for Polanquito for months now.  I’ve given up at least once recently and when I did dine there recently, it was only after I returned a few minutes after my initial try.
 
It is a shame.  Polanquito has a liquor license as of the past several weeks and along with Tio Trompo, it offers high quality Mexican cuisine that is somewhat unique for Houston in an approachable and friendly space.
 
Tio Trompo and Polanquito offer two different aspects of Mexican food.  Tio Trompo, which opened at the end of last year, is a fairly bare-bones counter service taqueria with a limited menu that specializes in cuts of pork from the spinner, the trompo, the vertical spit used to cook pork al pastor, is a key attraction.  That slowly roasted pork, which retains its moistness unlike at far too many taquerias in Houston, makes its way into traditional tacos, excellent tortas and the Torta Arabe.  Though I was not exactly familiar with this large taco-style item, served on a type of pita bread, its name was not surprising as I was familiar with the story of Lebanese immigrants bringing the trompo to Mexico a century or so ago.  The taco arabe, I have come to learn, is a specialty of the city of Puebla near where the proprietor is from.  Tio Trompo also does a really nice job with breakfast tacos and tacos with barbacoa de res.  It is one of the best dining values to be found inside the Loop.
 
The full-service Polanquito occupies a bright café-like space.  Taking its name from the upscale neighborhood of Polanco in Mexico City – Polanquito is "little Polanco" – this is a nice, if casual, spot serving up well-made, usually enticing and nicely presented versions of unpretentious dishes from several areas of Mexico, and found in Mexico’s largest city.  It is broadly similar to Cuchara in Montrose in style and substance.  Polanquito provides a welcome, often lighter taste of Mexico, with a nice array of choices.  Its chef was quoted around its opening in 2019 in the Houston Chronicle as saying that: “We make authentic, elaborate Mexican dishes that will make you feel like you're dining in Mexico.  Our food represents many Mexican provinces such as Sinaloa, Veracruz, Puebla, and Yucatán.”  The dishes do look and taste as in Mexico, or at least the nicer places where I’ve had similar preparations in years past.  The flavors are usually vibrant and distinct, and properly complex in the case of the mole poblano that is served atop the traditional chicken and with the Green Shrimp Aguachile.  And, also, to a lesser extent with the green mole with the pork ribs, Pipian.  I’ve had good luck with a number of dishes here. 
 
Polanquito is currently open for lunch Wednesday through Friday, dinner on Friday and Saturday with a more ambitious menu, and brunch and lunch on the weekends.  Tio Trompo is open from breakfast beginning at 8 AM through dinner Tuesday through Saturday and for breakfast and lunch on Sunday.  Try to ignore the current construction, which is easier to do for Tio Trompo, and visit these restaurants if you enjoy Mexican food like in Mexico.
 
Polanquito
404 Shepherd (at Feagan), 77007, (713) 485-4047
polanquitohtx.com
 
Tio Trompo
316 Shepherd (at Feagan), Houston, 77007, (832) 804-6364
tiotrompo.com

I dine out frequently; it’s been even more so this August with Houston Restaurant Weeks that benefits the Houston Food Bank – doing charity work while at the table – and also some renewed desire to try and re-try places on my lengthy list of eateries.  And I’ve eaten at a number of well-regarded restaurants very recently including Izakaya, The Grove, Brasserie du Parc, Kiran's, Coppa Osteria, Weights & Measures, Bludorn, Riel, Toro Toro, and The Annie.  A few a visits were for lunch or happy hour and a few were quite good, but clearly the best meal I’ve had in the last three restaurant-packed weeks was at Saldivia’s, the Uruguayan steakhouse in west Houston.
 
Long a favorite of the family, we ate there in early August for the first time since the advent of the pandemic.  It had been too long.  My meal was terrific, no surprise.  The star, as almost always, was the entraña, a dark-brown cut of skirt steak crisscrossed with darker grill marks and topped with a nearly addictive chimicurri sauce and in a small pool by some bloody juice from being perfectly cooked to medium-rare.
 
The entraña is the signature cut at Saldivia’s.  It is the rather humble outside skirt steak – which is from the plate section, below the rib and between the brisket and flank and whose fat has been trimmed off by the restaurant.  Proprietor Gus Saldivia told us that he purchases halal steaks for its more natural and better flavor.  The entraña remained juicy and remarkably tender for the cut, while being nicely beefy and extremely flavorful.  Though no assist was necessary, the oily, tart and garlicky house-made chimichurri sauce is an excellent accompaniment.  Made in the traditional Uruguayan, Argentine way, it is much more savory and complementary to food than the versions of chimichurri served at Churrascos and the newish Toro Toro in the Four Seasons.
 
The twelve-ounce steak came with a half-dozen slices of grilled carrot, squash and zucchini displayed in an alternating orange, yellow and green-tinged array, a thick column of yellow rice and some plump, roasted potatoes with a few small pieces of parsley, all provided welcome partners to the meaty centerpiece.  It was an impressive plate for now just $35 or so.  Excellent empanadas in several varieties, blood sausage, sauteed sweetbreads and crusty, fresh bread provided the delicious opening rounds.  And there was plenty Tannant, the star varietal of Uruguay, to wash down the meats and everything.  It was a fun, caloric and noticeably very tasty visit once again, notable even among meals at top local restaurants.
 
Saldivia’s
10850 Westheimer (between Walnut Bend and Westheimer), Houston, 77042, (713) 782-9494
saldivias.com

An order of the entraña at Saldivia's earlier this month

You hear Frank Sinatra.  If Sinatra or any of the other notable Italian-American crooners are on the restaurant’s soundtrack, the restaurant is certainly not Italian; it is most likely Italian-American.  Sinatra was not from Italy, but from the New York area and his music was American and something that those seeking to create a genuine Italian atmosphere, usually primarily with its menu and food, will not play.  You don’t really hear Sinatra in the trattorie or ristoranti in Italy, after all.
 
His music is still great, and I am a huge fan.  It and that of fellow mid-century Italian-Americans, Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, Louis Prima, Bobby Darin, and even sometimes Vic Damone and the overly smooth Perry Como, have helped to provide a very enjoyable and complementary musical background to restaurants here – mostly Italian-American and steakhouses – for decades, long after they’ve stopped recording.  I’ve made note of that before.
 
I have enjoyed myself countless times when dining out with Sinatra and friends playing around.  It just wasn’t with Italian food.

Tajarin with shaved white truffles a few years ago at Ristorante San Marco in Canelli near Asti.  It wasn't bad.

Something I did a dozen years ago and thought to revisit after reading a New York Times piece earlier in the month highlighting Ken Auletta’s new biography of the horrific Harvey Weinstein (one of whose lawyers I oddly happen to know).  It seems that the longtime New Yorker writer has had an obsession in finding excellent Chicken Parmesan preparations, and part of a group of guys who have been foraging the Italian-American eateries of the New York area for it.  For him, a “test of a good Southern Italian restaurant is whether their chicken or veal parmigiana had a good sauce, the breading is crisp and has not been drowned in sauce, and the chicken or veal is not so thin it tastes like cardboard.”
 
Chicken Parmesan is an American creation that grew from the eggplant parmigiana preparation from southern Italy and Sicily, with the meatier chicken substituting for the less caloric eggplant at its core.  Veal Parmesan came first, at least by the 1930s while Chicken Parmesan debuted on restaurant menus at least a couple of decades later.  Veal Parmesan is certainly a much better dish, and my favorite dish as a kid, but Chicken Parmesan is ubiquitous throughout the country, the veal version much less so.  Industrially produced, widely distributed and easily affordable, gigantic, if typically tasteless, chicken breasts are the key reason for the popularity of Chicken Parmesan along with the ease of preparation.  But, even practiced Italian-Americans like Ken Auletta might like it if done well.
 
There are at least a dozen Italian-American restaurant chains ranging from the retrenching Zio’s with a just a handful of spots to Olive Garden with 887 (!), with most have at least forty outlets.  People like Italian-American food, in even the most minor key.  Chicken Parm at these restaurants is a slice or more of chicken breast, breaded and pan-fried – if rarely pounded thin – and topped with melted mozzarella and maybe some other white-colored, Italian-inspired cheeses and served in a lot of tomato sauce with a side of pasta, usually spaghetti, also in that tomato sauce.  You know what it is.  The portion sizes for an order can range widely, though, from just 750 calories to over 1600.
 
Given the highest rate of inflation in forty years, I thought I would reprise a survey of chain Italian-American restaurants that I did some years ago, the Chicken Parm Index.  Here are the current prices at dinner: 

• Bertucci’s – $21.99, 1330 calories
  
• Biaggi’s – $18.99, 1500 calories
• Bravo! Italian Kitchen – $21.99, 1450 calories
• Bucca di Beppo – $30.00 for a portion that feeds three, 870 calories for an individual serving
• Johnny Carino’s – $19.99, 1010 calories
• Carrabba’s – $20.49, 760 calories
• Fazoli’s – $10.29, 840 calories
• Maggiano’s Little Italy – $20.50, 1290 calories
• Romano’s Macaroni Grill – $20.00, 1610 calories
• Old Spaghetti Factory – $17.75, 750 calories
• Olive Garden – $17.79, 1020 calories
• Spaghetti Warehouse – $16, 750 calories
• Zio’s – Chicken Parmigiana – $14.99, 1370 calories

 
In 2010, the Chicken Parm preparations at the chain Italian-American restaurants for dinner ranged from $12.99 to $18.95 and averaged $15.  Now these go from $10.29 to $21.99, averaging $18.10.  The cost for a Chicken Parm dinner has risen just a shade over 20% in the intervening dozen years. 
 
Chicken Parm remains a price performer at these chain Italian-American restaurants.  I don’t recommend ordering it at one of these places nor even visiting any of these, though.

The Chicken Parmesan at Maggiano's.

I am a big homer for the Houston, but I have to admit that, unfortunately, as good of a restaurant city that it is, Houston is a fairly poor place for pizzerias.  There are a lot of middling, mediocre and lousy pies being dished in pizza joints throughout the area.  And I have eaten a lot of pizzas here over the years, probably too many including for my forlorn Margherita Pizza Project where I tried almost every local version of that famous concoction, nearly one hundred in all.  Not too many here were worth ordering. 
 
In addition to scarfing too many pizzas, for the some of the writing I had done on the subject, I was tapped for an episode on The Food That Built America on The History Channel entitled “Pizza Wars” that initially aired early in 2021.  (I was followed by Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi on one the snippets; she was very polished and gorgeous, and I was somewhat the opposite.) 
 
It hasn’t helped that he pizza game here has taken some hits in recent years.  What was the easily the best pizzeria for quite a while, Dolce Vita, shuttered.  Though its sister restaurant alludes to Dolce Vita pizzas on its menu, these are really flatbreads, not made with pizza dough as is familiar nor cooked in a pizza oven.  Go to Poscol, but don’t order the pizzas.  Other closures helped to lighten an already weak field.  That includes Fresco on the Southwest Freeway had very enjoyable take on the Roman pizza al taglio, and those were just a secondary effort.  Then there is Kenneally’s, which actually used to have excellent pizzas.  These were the original pizzas in Chicago when my father was growing up in Chicago, thin-crust and cut in squares that were devised by immigrants from the Naples area or their offspring.  Those pizzas in recent years have been pretty much terrible, even quite burnt a few weeks ago.  The recipes appear to be the same, but no one there has known how to make or bake a pizza for quite a while.  A few other pizza stars of years past also don’t seem nearly as proficient as they once did.
 
But there is plenty of which to choose here, at least stylistically.  In Houston you can find interpretations of New York-style, hearty Chicago deep-dish, Detroit-style, its cugino Sicilian-style – I think these are still to be found – Neapolitan-style, more broadly Italian-style masquerading under the moniker “Neapolitan,” Roman al taglio style (thick and soft sold in squares), Roman tonda (cracker-thin crust), etc.  I like them all, when made fairly well, at least.  Most evident with the barely topped margheritas, the crust is a noticeable problem at a great many pizzerias here.  Maybe it’s the humidity.
 
This list of pizzerias is much shorter than it should be for the fourth-largest city in the country.  But, to note, when looking for top-notch pizza in the Italian vein, some of the very best are actually at restaurants that serve these most as a shareable starter: Amalfi, Da Marco, and Rosie Cannonball head the list.  Each serves a rendition of the Neapolitan-style.  The small pizzas at the newish Trattoria Sofia are well-done, too.
 
Listed in order of preference.
 
The Best
 
Tiny Champions – Something more than just a pizzeria – with fresh pastas, nicely crafted cocktails, and house-made ice cream from the highly regarded folks at Nancy’s Hustle – it’s also clearly the best pizzeria in Houston.  The pizzas look a lot like those in Italy, but with a flavor that has a touch of a New York accent, buoyed by a delicious bready-tasting crust for a uniquely Houston style, possibly.  That crust is the difference-maker here.  A smattering of excellent ingredient on top and skill with the oven ensures that these pizzas taste amazing even when picked up and eaten at home and through all the slices, as these were during the depths of the pandemic.  High praise, indeed.  EaDo
 
Second Tier
 
Roberta’s – The original in Brooklyn gain considerable fame for more than just the pizzas, but those were deemed “marvelous things” in an early New York Times review.  The topping combinations are unusual, but very nicely chosen, with meat none of which is pepperoni only showing up in two of the creations.  The dough is the key, though.  Made, it seems, with equal parts the finely milled 00 flour used for pizzas in Naples and the all-purpose flour helping to provide a flavorful and fairly light but sturdy enough foundation.  Though the new Post Market is wonderfully diverse in dining options and patrons, the small, simple operation has none of the funkiness or charm of the original.  No matter, get down there to pick up an excellent pie.  Downtown
BOH Pasta and Pizza – Hearty rectangles of Roman-style pizza al taglio are done quite well here, with airy, clean-tasting crusts and an appealing combinations.  Sold by the slice when sitting at one of the seats just inside the entrance at Bravery Chef Hall, these hold up quite nicely to the necessary re-heating.  Downtown
Vinny’s – This fairly small antiseptic storefront on evening-bustling St. Emanuel Street in EaDo from the folks at Agricole Hospitality (Coltivare, Eight Row Flint) that have two other concepts adjacent, Indianola and Miss Carousel, dishes up some really nice pies in very broadly New York vein, available with some fun combinations atop a lighter, tastier crust than most. Served in 16” sizes and by the slice.  EaDo
Grimaldi’s – This nationwide chain that began life in Brooklyn won acclaim there – it was named one of the two best restaurants in that borough some twenty years ago in Zagat – and in locations here does a very commendable job with New York City-style pies featuring dough made daily in-house and pies baked in prominently displayed blistering hot coal-fired brick ovens.  Their pizzas are among the best in the area.  Even the tough-to-do-even-decently margherita is worth ordering here.  CityCentre, Sugar Land, Katy, Friendswood, The Woodlands
Buffalo Bayou Brewery – The pizzas at this attractive brewery are worth a visit here alone.  A lot of attention is paid to the crust here – “ we cold ferment our pizza dough for 72 hours” – and it shows, with a lighter, more flavorful base than the vast of majority of places around.  Fun and quality ingredients cooked properly complete the attractive picture here.  Also, uniquely, you can dust your crust with Cheetos, dried ranch dressing or garlic-Parmesan.  You likely don’t want to do that.  First Ward
Rudyard’s – With pizzaiolo Anthony Calleo formerly of the popular Pi Pizza heading the kitchen in recent years, the pies at this long-standing Montrose neighborhood bar and showcase club can be quite tasty, both in the “Houston” style – that might be somewhere between New York and Naples with a sturdy, tasty crust with an appropriate number of toppings – and the necessarily very hearty and greasy rectangular Detroit style.  Worth a pick up to eat at home, too.  Montrose
 
Usually Enjoyable Enough
 
Pizzeraia Solario – Neapolitan-inspired pizzas are done fairly well here, individually sized and with usually clean flavors from decent ingredients.  This small, cheekily-designed place, where it can be is easy to order wine, has been fine choice for nearly a decade now, just around the corner from Costco.  Greenway Plaza
Luna Pizzeria – Inconsistent, these places are sometimes very good, sometimes middling, at best, but always a very good deal for a weekday lunch, and with an unfailingly friendly staff, indicative of the restaurant group, that helps make for an enjoyable visit.  The pies coming out of the gas ovens are little different with a thicker, soft crust that is usually enjoyably savory and quite supportive of the noticeably fine quality toppings.  Upper Kirby, Heights, Briargrove
Pizaro’s – Generally fairly good, if nothing special.  It rose to attention about fifteen years ago with its traditional Neapolitan pizzas, but the offerings have expanded and the near polar opposite Detroit-style pies are the tastiest here these days.  Montrose, West Houston
Piola – Italians seem to like the pizzas here, at least Italians not from the Naples area and maybe Rome, too. This is a smart-looking chain that began in Treviso just outside of Venice, quite far from the pizza heartland (but where there are now really good pizzerias I just found out).  This has franchised locations in south Florida and a couple here.  Thin and appropriately dressed in Italian style, there are numerous individually sized pizzas from which to choose plus even cauliflower and chia flour crusts to accommodate the traditionally pizza-adverse.  A lengthy menu beyond pizzas, too.  Midtown, Briargrove
The Gypsy Poet – In a lightly trafficked section of Midtown, individual thin-crust Italianate pies dished in a sociable DIY-esque setting featuring a prominent open kitchen with a staff chattering in Spanish have won fans since opening a few years ago.  The pizzas are alright and can make for an enjoyable visit – I’ve been several times – but are generally more attractive than flavorful, judiciously topped on a fairly bland crust.  There are more than a few beers and wines to help with a meal, though not a lot of interest for the latter beyond a few selections sourced from the local French Country Wines.  Midtown

The Margherita Pizza from Roberta's

I do enjoy them, but to be honest, breakfast tacos are almost never great.  At best, these are good but very welcome on a slower, foggier weekend morning.  Though a guilty, easily greatly caloric morning pleasure, these really aren’t the breakfast of champions, unless you’re aiming for champion-size sumo proportions.  And breakfast tacos don’t get the recognition that the more familiar ones – pastor, carne asada, etc. – receive, nor do these deserve it.  These are generally not as interesting nor tasty.  More care is usually put into the daytime tacos by the taqueros.  But, sometimes nothing is better on a lazy weekend morning, or very early in the morning as the night has wound done.  For this kind of weekend food, often for those with a mild hangover or worse, a drive-thru is a big benefit for which a couple recommendable spots can oblige so that Taco Cabana and Chacho’s can be avoided.
 
Breakfast tacos, for me: moist scrambled eggs and most often a protein or potatoes wrapped in a study-enough flour tortilla – recently made in house by experienced hands, ideally – and aided by a flavorful salsa that complements and ties together the components.  Flour tortillas are the standard, as the staffer at Hugo Ortega’s latest venture Urbe confirmed assertively when I asked which type of tortilla works best for the tacos I was ordering.  But corn tortillas are becoming a more familiar as an option at more than a few places now.  The universe of breakfast tacos is expanding.  Tortillas made in house might be ideal if there is a skilled tortilla-maker on site, but there are high quality tortillerias in town, and with it, and the volume most places do, tortillas are always fresh-tasting.
 
Breakfast tacos are an American thing, as far as I can tell and originally a Texas thing, though the breakfast burrito and similar items are probably from points further west.  These seemingly don’t exist in Mexico other than for barbacoa – that eggless, heart-endangering, usually weekend pleasure – for which I received some more recent confirmation from current and former residents.  Scrambled eggs stuck into a tortilla with salsa seems like such a natural thing, but this combination hasn’t been around forever.  Breakfast tacos might have had their start in San Antonio, and Texas Monthly claimed to have found an ad from a paper there in the 1950s mentioning those.  I began to notice them in Houston in the 1990s, though maybe these existed before then.  I don’t remember them in my earlier time in Austin, though.
 
To note, I’ve mostly included places where it’s easy to get them, not the places serving breakfast as part of a large morning ensemble meant most for dining in.  Some of these can be good, but not terribly convenient nor quick, and that’s usually part of the attraction of breakfast tacos.

The restaurants are listed in order of preference.

Updated on May 8, 2022.

The Best

Tacos A Go Go – You’ll have to wait at least a short while for these cooked-to-order morning sensations that are necessarily customized, two items from a choice of a dozen quality options – bacon, sausage, refried beans, etc. – to complement the scrambled eggs, which means shredded cheese can be added for no additional cost, usually a significant benefit.  The number of possible creations are generally welcome, but can require some additional thinking during those much slower weekend mornings.  Along with tacos with the expected fillings, for a little more there are eggs with lamb barbacoa, a really tasty pork guisada, carne guisada, and smoked brisket.  A variety of delicious, mostly piquant salsas can complement any creation, which are available on either flour or corn tortillas, and also whole wheat, for some reason.  Wrapped just in aluminum foil, these tacos travel well, too.  Midtown, Heights, Garden Oaks, Downtown

The Second Best

Tio Trompo – A tiny, newish counter-service spot on Shepherd just past St. Thomas High School, this specializes in pastor-filled tacos cooked on the trompo, but does an excellent job with made-to-order, two-item breakfast tacos and the messier, more authentically Mexican barbacoa, which is served daily in case your cholesterol is too low. Well-wrapped in paper and aluminum foil, the former travel quite well.  The latter are still quite tasty, if always a bit fatty and invariably sloppy.  Washington Corridor
La Carreta – This low-volume spot set unassumingly on 20th Street in the Heights for nearly fifty years serves up some terrific straightforward breakfast tacos that are more than the sum of its parts led by tasty house-made flour tortillas and a different, watery salsa with a subtle spicy flavor that seems to improve everything.  Made to order and travels well.  Heights
El Charro – The fairly spiffy location on Harrisburg is quite cheap and convenient – if you live in or not too far from the East End – and with a drive-thru.  It does a more than commendable job with these basic renditions, as with it does with most its offerings, and for a terrific value.  Excellent salsas and machacado and eggs, too.  East End, Alief
Urbe – Opened in the summer of 2021, this attractive and inviting outpost featuring street food from top toque Hugo Ortega and team (Hugo’s, Caracol, Xochi) in Uptown Park is necessarily more ambitious, wide-ranging and accomplished than just about any taco purveyor around.  Tacos here include more items, and likely of higher quality, than elsewhere and are available with either flour or corn tortillas; the former should be the choice, of course.  Uptown Park
Taco 7 – Available in the biggest array of breakfast combinations around - including a choice among four different types of cheese - it can be a little confusing for a first-timer to order, but the staff is helpful, and tacos are hefty and very enjoyable.  And, convenience of conveniences especially on those slower weekend mornings, it has a drive-thru.  Spring Branch
The Taco Stand – Far from a taco stand, this slick operations on Shepherd in the Heights – a sibling of The Burger Joint next door – offers plump and usually delectable breakfast tacos that can be had in fresh flour tortillas, or corn for about thirty cents less.  Tortillas are made in house, though the flour ones are vegan; no tasty manteca de cerdo in the mix.  These tacos aren’t the cheapest around, but worth it, and these are nicely available until 11 each morning, and with a drive-thru, which is at least as nice.  It’s better to arrive before then because the breakfast versions are much tastier than the later-day ones.  Also, the viscous Taqueria Arandas-style green salsa significantly aids any of the morning offerings.  Heights
La Chingada – Assembled to order with a fair number of fillings stuffed inside house-made flour tortillas for a plump, satisfying result that’s wrapped in aluminum foil to go and served with a trio of commendable salsas: a fiery orange, a piquant serrano-based whipped green, and a fairly mild tomatillo one.  A fine value at around $3 each, the breakfast tacos are served daily, and that includes the barbacoa at this friendly, slightly funky spot not far west of I-45 and close to the Heights.  Near Northside
Laredo Taqueria – Four locations, including the seemingly-always-line-out-the-door original on Washington.  Available with either flour or corn tortillas, and $3 each for the standard two-item versions – mostly egg and something else, of course, but barbacoa daily – that are straightforward and satisfying, especially with aid from the spicy viscous green salsa or the piquant, thin red one.  From a steam table that is replenished more often than most anywhere else, a smear of refried beans provides a base on the tortilla of choice, with the flour tortillas noticeably fresh and flavorful and the fluffy scrambled eggs plentiful; the proteins are used much more judiciously than elsewhere, but you will get pleasantly stuffed for less than $10 here. Washington Corridor and Near Northside (3)
Revival Market – Only one option, as a plate with a side, featuring supermarket aisle-quality flour tortillas and without any additional salsa that is kind of pricey for what it is, but very tasty and definitely worth an order.  Other than the tortillas, the ingredients are as good or better than anywhere else, which is what you would expect from this restaurant cum artisanal butcher and food shop. Heights
Cantina Barba – Cooked to order, and solid and sensibly-sized, these are served all day and with the option for corn tortillas. And, it is open until 2 AM, in case taste matters that late.  Near Northside

Bueno Enough

El Rey – Wrapped in paper then aluminum foil, these plump tacos are available in enough varieties to satisfy most including a Cuban version with black beans providing the protein. The drive-thrus are an important consider. Like The Taco Stand, just go for breakfast not for the afternoon tacos.  Washington Corridor, Garden Oaks, Spring Branch, Katy
La Mexicana – A solid choice featuring items dished from steam trays piled into large flour tortillas toasted on the plancha; not helped by two of the lamest salsas to be found, especially a slightly sweet green one, but these are served all day. Montrose
Henderson and Kane – Low-volume with service that’s always slow, but the breakfast tacos are well-done, made to order featuring pretty tasty flour tortillas made in house and thick slices of bacon that is much higher quality than you’ll find in most other versions around, and the it offers the chance to enjoy beef brisket in the AM.  For this, and all the morning tacos, skip the forgettable green salsa and pour on the piquant and flavorful reddish one.  Sixth Ward
La Vibra – This modern taco stop serves some different types of notably artisanal tacos rooted in Mexico City. The morning versions are more local and less interesting, but are cooked to order and can be satisfying.  Heights
La Guadalupana – The breakfast tacos at this quaint and popular café aren’t as good as they once were, and one of the other breakfast choices is a better option these days. Smaller-sized and utilizing commercial tortillas, the salsas are tasty and an order of the morning tacos can still usually satiate.  Montrose
Brothers Taco House – A value provider as generous portions are scooped from the trays in the steam table beginning with a smear of refried beans into pretty good flour tortillas in an efficient fashion as the every-present line moves quickly.  Its versions are solid if the salsas don’t add too much, with the barbacoa being one of the better choices here. EaDo
El Sol Mejicano – Across from the police headquarters, these very no-frills versions – well-cooked scrambled eggs and another thing – are hefty and generally satisfying, cooked to order and with quality salsas for some necessary extra flavor.  Downtown
El Topo – The near-polar opposite of El Sol Mejicano and Brothers Taco, this offers a chef-y, pricey version of the breakfast taco set in the heart of an upscale, largely white neighborhood.  There are only a couple of breakfast taco options – a solid, not-so-value-oriented rendition of beef barbacoa and a loaded bacon, potato, egg and cheese one – and only open at 9:00; a big breakfast is not needed is these parts.  The loaded option is the largest breakfast taco to be found in town, a true one’s-a-meal for most, which can be complemented with easily the least spicy salsas around.  West U
Papalo Taqueria – This artisanal taqueria in Finn Hall in the heart of the office towers, with a weekend gig at the large farmers market, seemingly has to serve breakfast tacos during the week to help pay for the certainly considerable rent.  Their heart doesn't seem to be in it, as these pre-made tacos aren't nearly as enjoyable nor interesting as their lunchtime and more truly Mexican preparations.  Downtown
The Pit Room – Only recommendable for dine-in, as these travel poorly.  House-made flour tortillas anchors these very big and bold versions with eggs that are cooked upon order and slathered with a very healthy amount of well creamed refried beans.  The brisket tacos are a wonder, but are not enjoyable too many minutes past ordering even though well-wrapped in paper and aluminum foil; but maybe that’s part of the problem, as there’s just too much moisture in the meat and the eggs that are cooked to a wet consistency.  Actually, nothing travels well at all, with or without the refried beans on the bottom.  Montrose
Chilosos –  Though not nearly in the same league as the tacos from nearby La Carreta or La Chingada, this spot has been popular for years with Heights residents. The breakfast tacos are huge, and so a fine value.  Otherwise, the straightforward tacos feature house-made flour tortillas that are little thicker and gummier and less tasty than typical – corn is an option, too – and salsas that are also less flavorful, even as the green one packs some heat.  Made to order, the orders can be quite slow to fulfill on weekends and the setting is rather cramped and charmless as you wait.  Heights

I don’t believe that it is fair to review, or judge too much, a restaurant after a single visit, but the outlines for the new Wild Oats in the commercial farmers market on Airline seem clear and probably won’t deviate much in the near future.  Most importantly for me, the food and drink are excellent – from a menu laden with mostly very hearty options – as top-notch cooking and accompanying beverages to be expected from a restaurant from Chris Shepherd and team these days.  The setting, in the nicely casual side vein, befitting its spot in a pleasant industrial structure adjacent to the farmers market, is heavy on the Texas theme, cringingly so at times and the noise level because of some design mistakes is excruciatingly high.
 
The best first, what comes from the kitchen, bar, and from the wine list.  We began with cocktails, Paloma for me, and a Chilton for my charming and also witty, I suppose, dining companion.  Both were delicious, and better than usual; the Paloma drink dangerously quickly on a warm evening, and in a warm restaurant.  She drank the Chilton in a surprisingly more measured pace.  For food, it started with chili, that Texas favorite, which is actually not found that often on local menus, comes in three sizes, a cup and a bowl, of course, and a shot.  Also planning on an appetizer, it was a shot for each of us, an engaging and fun way to start a meal here.  It was terrific, meaty and properly bean-free, much more complex and flavorful than the version of Lady Bird Johnson’s chili I make somewhat regularly (and which is actually usually quite tasty).  That appetizer, thankfully just one given its size, was the queso.  It is a production that includes a dramatic, large fried potato that looked like a sheet of chicharron, beef fat-laden flour tortillas, a jar of nopalitos; sturdy house-made chips, and a slightly sweet green salsa.  The preternaturally melted processed orange cheese-food that was the queso was fine, very thin and straightforward, if far from fine dining.  Enjoyable, this is not a must-order, though, and it’s somewhat of a lower-key outlier with the rest of the well-crafted items on the menu.
 
For the main, though hardly a Texas staple, but a favorite of my childhood, I opted for that evening’s special, pierogies, as our server said that these were lighter than my other choice, the pork shank.  These were filled primarily with nicely moist and flavorful braised rabbit topped with some more chopped rabbit.  Very tasty and nicely put together, if not light at all, probably the heartiest pierogies I’ve ever had, which is something.  The other order, a quail preparation, two of the small birds that were bacon-wrapped and filled with corn bread stuffing and served with cream cheese and jalapeño slices, was eaten ravenously.  The small piece I had was a little overcooked and dry, but maybe that was the only part of it that was.  No desserts; we were stuffed.  We ordered heavily but the menu is heavy-dish-laden, too much so for my tastes. 
 
For the necessary wine, we enjoyed a really nice, ready-to-drink 2019 Barbaresco from Luigi Giordano, a producer that has found a home on many Houston area lists, for $78 the complemented both of the entrées quite well.  The wine list from Matthew Pridgen is predictably engaging, nicely-edited and affordable for a restaurant of this quality.  It is easy to choose well and without too much stress on the pocketbook here. 
 
Service was a little slow at times, including receiving menus as we were told they restaurant did not have many of them, but friendly.
 
Now the bad and I guess ugly: décor was homey in a Texas-through-a-Disney-esque-lens and did not work well at all to our eyes: an amazing number of quilted throw pillows on the benches lining one wall; cloth half curtains on the windows looking like cheap gunny sacks; and the bill delivered in an old steel Gilley’s beer can.  Even worse was the noise level.  It was very, very loud even being only two-thirds filled.  We had a tough time carrying on a conversation even with an empty table next to us.  Ridiculous.  The dining area consists of three rooms plus a bar area and a patio.  We sat in one with a fairly low ceiling, which certainly made it worse, but there are just too many hard surfaces throughout.  We thought that it was a poorly designed restaurant, and one of us believed it was very unattractive, somewhat insultingly so, also.  As much as we enjoyed the food and drink, we won’t be rushing back.
 
Wild Oats
2520 Airline (south of I-610), 77009, (713) 393-7205
wildoatshouston.com

I really never watch those cooking competition shows – I like to see food that’s cooked at restaurants, where people can actually experience it – but I have been tuning into the current season of Top Chef airing now on Bravo that is set in Houston, enjoyably catching some of the featured local sites and restaurateurs.  The other night, a good portion of the show was filmed at the attractive, small Bethel Park that is mostly the structure of the former Bethel Missionary Baptist Church at 801 Andrews Street, which was one of the oldest churches in the Fourth Ward, in Freedmen’s Town.  The name of the theme for that setting was soul food in its various, very personal interpretations.
 
In the day-before the competition tour of the park, the contestants feasted on food brought in by This is It, the longtime soul food favorite that is now in the Third Ward.  Many Houstonians will remember its nearly four-decade tenure on Gray Street just west of Bagby, at the juncture of Midtown and the Fourth Ward.  Having This is It was an especially good choice.  Not only a long-popular place broadly fitting the show’s theme, it began life in the late 1950s a scant two blocks west at 1003 Andrews Street.  That fact wasn’t mentioned in the show.
 
I actually saw the filming of the episode, or rather the outside of the filming on a Chamber of Commerce day last fall.  I live even closer to the site than the original location of This is It and that morning noticed one of the adjacent streets blocked off with police officers in front and much of the exterior of the park covered in tarp.  That was odd.  The public park is essentially only open for private events, but having the its entire half-block obscured from view was quite unusual.  But, the filming did turn out well.
 
Though I don’t get invited to too many things anymore, as there are no longer local Zagat editors and the my food writing output is rather scant these days, I was somewhat miffed I didn’t get one for that.  It was just a very short stroll down the street after all and Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi actually appeared in back-to-back snippets in The Food That Built America on The History Channel.  It was an episode entitled “Pizza Wars” that initially aired earlier this year.  She was very polished and gorgeous, and I was rather the opposite; it had been a while since I had been in front of the cameras.  And it might be a while until the next time.  A cameo in something filmed in my neighborhood would have been quite cool, even with no speaking lines.

Tio Trompo on Shepherd just past Saint Thomas High School is a quaint, fairly new taqueria set in a derelict little retail center – the other business there is shuttered – with a limited menu, but what it offers, and its value, is well worth a trip for anyone who enjoys casual Mexican food.  As the name suggests, the trompo, the vertical spit used to cook pork al pastor, is a key attraction.  That slowly roasted pork, which retains its moistness unlike at far too many taquerias in Houston, makes its way into traditional tacos, tortas and something called the Torta Arabe.  That was a new one for me.
 
Described on the menu as white pork "Trompo" meat on a pita bread, it was larger than a taco and quite like a gyro or shawarma but with Mexican flavors.  Featuring tender, flavorful pork that I slathered with the fiery reddish salsa stuffed into a large pita- and tortilla-like bread, it was delicious.  And just $6, too.
 
Though I was not exactly familiar with this large taco-style item, its name was not surprising as I was familiar with the story of Lebanese immigrants bringing the trompo to Mexico a century or so ago.  The taco arabe, I have come to learn, is a specialty of the city of Puebla that is southeast of Mexico City and the birthplace of mole poblano and chiles en nogada, not bad company. 
 
Tio Trompo
316 Shepherd (at Feagan), 77007, (832) 804-6364  
tiotrompo.com