That might seem to be an odd question, especially so if you are not as into that kind of food as am I.  If you ask an American what is Italian food, there is a good chance that you’ll get an answer that names dishes featuring a long-simmered tomato sauce like spaghetti and meatballs and chicken Parmesan along with garlic bread.  If you ask an Italian, someone from Italy, the response won’t include any preparations remotely like those, which they certainly don’t regard as being Italian.  They consider those American creations, rightly so.  Their answer might include some of the dishes from their town or region, and those items will likely depend on where the person comes from in Italy.  But, food served under the banner of Italian food here, at restaurants on supermarket shelves, will be seen as Italian food no matter the veracity.
 
I believe that Italian-themed restaurants in this country can be placed as under one of broadly three banners: Italian-American, Americanized Italian, and Italian.
 
Italian-American easily claims the largest number of restaurants and also dishes in the popular mind.  These restaurants serves items that come largely from the Italian-American tradition like those spaghetti and meatballs.  The preparations in the Italian-American tradition are rooted in the big wave of Italian immigration from the 1880s until 1924.  The vast majority of these people came from the Italian south where the tomato has a prominent place, and about half the dishes in the Italian-American canon originate in the Naples area like long-simmered tomato sauce, pasta and clams, and lasagna made with tomato-sauce and ricotta.  These dishes might have had roots in Italy, but were adapted and grew with American tastes, abundance, industrialization and pace of life.  The people who were eating these dishes were Americans, as the immigrants’ offspring and descendants were plus the generations of restaurant patrons.  The preparations at these restaurants, regardless of the provenance of the recipes, are generally much heartier, and meatier and cheesier than in Italy and frequently sporting some red color.  And, if a restaurant's menu touts its sauce, it's Italian-American.
 
But restaurants need to serve what people want, and the menus are not static.  These might often have pasta carbonara, fettuccine Alfredo and penne alla vodka, dishes born in Italy after the big emigration to America, but have become very American in interpretation here.  Steaks, too.  Americans love steak.
 
Similar to the Italian-American restaurant is the newest type, the Americanized Italian.  These do not hew to the Italian-American traditions for the most part, and use more contemporary ideas and products from Italy, but the food is generally different than it is in Italy.  These are often from a skilled chef who puts their spin on Italian dishes, or their notion of Italian dishes, and might use the Italian cooking philosophy as an inspiration.  The quality of ingredients is usually high, and sometimes expensive.  Italian descriptions are often used to portray a greater sense of authenticity or understanding, at least, even if the Italian is often mangled.
 
Restaurants that might be called Italian try to mimic how food is prepared in Italy, or in very capable and knowing hands, express the ethos of Italy and with Italian products when necessary.  The chef is almost always from Italy or has cooked there.  They know Italy.  Italian can be in one its regional or local variations, and from rustic to high cuisine to creative.  In the U.S., traditional and mostly authentic Italian usually features several dishes that are popular outside of Italy or popular in across a lot of Italy, especially the touristed cities and towns (e.g. cacio e pepe).  Truly Italian food can be tough to do, and actually somewhat recent.  Tony May of the landmark San Domenico in New York was quoted in 2008 saying that "twenty years ago it was very difficult to reproduce regional Italian cuisine…..A chef couldn't get imported Parmigiano-Reggiano or buffalo milk mozzarella, virgin olive oil, prosciutto di Parma, or balsamic vinegar. Now, everybody can buy the finest of such ingredients, and it's made a tremendous difference in the taste of the food."  But, even so, the way we eat in this country is different than in Italy, what customers want is not the same, and restaurants need to make money.  "There's no point in being strictly authentic with an empty dining room," as Lidia Bastianich was quipped a few decades ago.  That’s why authentic Italian restaurants can be hard to find.
 
In Italy, Italian food means all of different things.  In this country, it can mean even more, and often items that are really more American than Italian.

The meat ravioli at the original Carrabba's in Houston

The Post Market has been opened for a scant few months now.  It’s actually still opening as many of the announced businesses have yet to start operations, including several of the restaurants, but what’s already there is worthy of a trip to the northwest corner of downtown for those in search of interesting and fun food offered in a dizzyingly diverse array, with a few places serving extremely high quality food.
 
The Post Market is the transformation of the former central post office, certainly looking a far cry from what it did when I had a postal box there.  A 5,000-seat music venue is at its eastern edge, with the food hall to the north of that and not-ready retail and work spaces to be located somewhere not so apparent, plus the Skylawn atop the building.  A dramatic staircase extends from the food hall up to that, the landscaped roof, which I haven’t yet traversed, being just focused on the food during my dozen or so visits thus far.
 
Just that has been fun.  Both the Post Market and the other food hall to open in 2021, Railway Heights, have been very pleasantly surprising in terms of the array of what is offered and the quality of the food.  The Post Market is the larger and more ambitious of the two.  When all are opened, there will be two dozen food and drink options in the Post Market with cuisines extending from Middle Eastern, Thai, Filipino, Japanese street food, pizza, Nigerian, hamburgers, seafood, contemporary Tex-Mex, hot chicken, pho, crepes, Pakistani, and Indian plus ice cream and gelato options – for partisans of each frozen treat – along with beer, wine and cocktails.  
 
All of the food is dispensed via counter service with fairly limited menus, and those menus often might only be viewed via a Q code, dishing preparations that are generally on the small side.  There are some hiccups in these early days: the steamed rice might often be overcooked; the usually young staff at these new places isn’t always well-served with the food they are pushing across the counter; and the dishes are not necessarily that value-laden.  No matter.  My food has mostly been good, sometimes excellent, in a dozen trips, and it has been enjoyable to explore a range of cuisines all in one setting.
 
Paul Qui, the acclaimed Austin-based chef, who had the excellent Qui on lower Westheimer in 2018 and has a James Beard Award and some baggage, is part of four operations, which shows in the cooking at these.  His three solo efforts are Soy Pinoy, highlighting his Filipino heritage, Thai Kun, and East Side King, Japanese-influenced that has been maddeningly out of what I’ve wanted in a couple of trips.  At
Golfstrømmen Seafood Market he partners with Norwegian chef, Christopher Haatuft, for an enticing seafood outpost that highlights the high quality of their sourcing with mostly straightforward creations in ways usually familiar to locals that can be absolutely delicious.  It’s the best restaurant at Post Market and, I thought, one of the best to open in Houston in 2021.  Two other stars are across the aisle, The Butcher’s Burger and its sibling Salt & Time Butcher Shop, Austin imports like Qui.  The messy hamburgers at The Butcher’s Burger are terrific, employing meat from the butcher shop that are directly from ranchers in central Texas.  It is one of the top burger joints in town.  The attractive case filled mostly with cuts of beef at Salt & Time has already tempted me.
 
Among the other top spots so far is Hawker Street Food from Spain-based, chef Laila Bazahm, who had a well-regarded restaurant in Barcelona and currently operates one in Ibiza. She has been on site at her place that serves a really eclectic set of influences often in a single preparation: Korean, Indian, Peruvian, Balinese, Malaysian, Italian, and more on a short menu.  It has worked out quite well for me in a couple of visits.  I was told by her staff that she is looking for another restaurant in Houston.
 
Though still a work in progress, with construction still underway, the dining area of the Post Market gives the impression of mall food court, if a cool, kind of funky food court.  It has a high ceiling, bustling crowds and a breezeway in back, the former loading dock, set with plenty of tables for safer open-air dining.  It is now open daily for lunch and dinner.  At the Post Market, you’ll visit for the food not the atmosphere, and you likely should visit.

An open-faced crab sandwich with house-made potato chips during a recent visit to Golfstrømmen Seafood Market.

It’s been an interesting year for Houston restaurant openings, a very pleasantly interesting year given the ongoing pandemic. I’ve had few thoughts and insights about it in a recent post. This one is just for the best newcomers in a crowded year for very worthwhile new eateries. My criteria is firstly and primarily the quality of the food with setting, service, beverage programs, value following. It thought that a sense of utility, usefulness is also important; a high quality restaurant that can be visited for different meals and maybe even on the spur of the moment will be a more integral, and more often enjoyable, part of my dining future and for most. Below are the top ten new restaurants to open in Houston in 2021, listed alphabetically, and described in a mostly concise if occasionally blowsy fashion.
 
To note, the approximate average prices for each reflect a typical dinner, which might be an appetizer, side or dessert in addition to the entrée – or a suitable number of small plates – a couple of drinks, tax and a 20% tip.
 
Alba – $150 – The new concept at the Hotel Granduca replacing Ristorante Cavour features an updated rich, plush, green-hued setting, but thankfully has the old chef, Maurizio Ferrarese, who might be the top Italian toque in Texas and some ways beyond. At the new Alba, the “dishes are a balance between innovation and Italian traditions,” and with a very experienced hand and a big fan of the famed Michelin three-starred Piazza Duomo in Alba in Ferrarese, it offers a very enjoyable insight into the contemporary, refined and often indulgent cuisine of the region of the Langhe that surrounds Alba, which is highlighted by Barolo, Barbaresco, and white truffles. Even the region’s signature pasta dish, on Alba’s menu, ravioli del plin, is sometimes advertised in that area with being made with forty yolks of egg, for example. Terrific with fresh pasta like this and gnocchi, there is certainly no chef that does a better job with risotto that’s on the menu a couple of times, befitting one from Vercelli not terribly far from Alba, the European capital of rice production. You are in excellent hands here. Not unexpectedly, Alba is not cheap; the four mains featuring proteins average nearly $60. Uptown Park
 
Concura – $110 – Another Italian, and somewhat of a regional one with an emphasis on the cooking of the Marche, from where the owners and chefs hail. This is a region in central Italy north of Rome between the Adriatic and the Apennines that is rarely visited by American tourists, but which has some of the best scenery in that beautiful country and exemplary food, both from its coast and the interior. Some of that is replicated here with versions of Coniglio in Porchetta, aggressively herbed, stuffed and roasted rabbit, and the pasta-like passatelli served with stewed mushrooms and truffles along with the region’s most famous appetizer and a great party dish, olive all‘ascolana, stuffed and deep-fried large olives. Fittingly with chefs from the seaside town of Fano, there are several compelling seafood dishes, raw, fried, in a ragù over pasta and even a cod liver foie gras appetizer plus some Tuscan preparations and a couple found over much of Italy. The wine is rather tiny if studded with stars, but oddly no Verdicchios, the region’s premier varietal. Concura is small inside with a décor that blends contemporary and rustic notes in plenty of black and dark gray with an open kitchen that feels like a newer restaurant in Italy, as does its outdoor seating along a sidewalk. Highland Village
 
Da Gama Canteen – $60 – “Drawing inspiration from the former Portuguese-Indian territory of Goa, Gujarat and Portugal all through our Houston lens” is how the experienced local restaurateurs (Oporto and The Queen Vic) describe the fare here, which will be mostly recognizably Indian to local diners but something a little different, and readily appealing. Appealing also applies to the quite comfortable, contemporary space scattered with tables, banquettes that feels roomy along with an attractive long bar punctuating one end and pleasant patio seating off the side. Set in the somewhat sprawling M-K-T complex at the edge of the Heights, the restaurant resides alongside a breezeway and a park that adds to the charm. Also do the presentations of dishes, belying its reasonable prices, including water served in fetching metal cups that are very appropriate for our heat- and humidity-racked climate. Well-crafted mains run from $14 to $24, meat, seafood and vegetarian. And there plenty of tempting appetizers like East Coast oysters, plus house-made breads, curries, salads, and desserts, too. Cocktails in line with the cuisine, several fun wines on tap, and an intriguing, natural-heavy wine list. It all can encourage many returns. Heights
 
Golfstrømmen Seafood Market – $80 – The name is quite appropriate, meaning Gulf Stream in Norwegian, as this seafood spot from a duo of acclaimed chefs, one from Norway and the other in Texas, employs products, inspirations and preparations from there and here. It begins with excellent fish and shellfish sourced nearby and the north Atlantic, the bounty of the Gulf Stream and the Gulf. In the new Post Market development in the northwestern edge of downtown, the food hall setting isn’t much, but there is usually a tempting display of seafood set on ice that can be gastronomic eye-candy that might include fish commonly seen and not like langoustines, scallops, and oysters like the delicious and different Belon (though from Maine rather than Brittany). Christopher Haatuft, from coastal Bergen who has been on site in the early days, and Paul Qui, who had the excellent Aqui on lower Westheimer, have a kitchen that highlights the high quality of their sourcing with mostly straightforward creations in ways usually familiar to locals that can be absolutely delicious. A recent open-faced sandwich featuring plenty of the slightly sweet lump Jonah crab meat with melted lightly herbed butter, a bit of mayonnaise and some welcome strands of raw onion atop a toasted, tasty sourdough loaf with a side of crisp, freshly made potato chips was one of the best things I had eaten in a while. A nice array of wines, too, to complement, that have a welcome strong French accent. Downtown (Post Market)
 
Ixim – $50 – The A small counter-service place with a somewhat limited menu in Bravery Chef Hall, this effort from Tim Reading, a former executive chef at Caracol, dishes excellent, vibrant, attractive preparations from the broad culinary landscape of Mexico that are among the best in the city. The dishes might be on the small side among local interpretations of the cuisine, but pack a lot of flavor. Even the taqueria morning staple, chilaquiles was rendered artfully and deliciously with some carne asada that was aided by guajillo salsa and grilled red onions. Plancha-grilled Crispy Pork Tacos drenched in a mild salsa were nearly knife-and-fork-necessary and quite an enjoyable, messy lunch. The menu changes often the Vuelve a la Vida and Aguachile de Cameron that were popular early on might no longer be available but there still is the cumin-scented fried lamb and pork meatballs with chipotle sauce that is nicely out of the ordinary and a fun, if less healthy, way to start. Downtown (Bravery Chef Hall)
 
J-Bar-M Barbecue – $50 – The grandest setting for barbecue in the city has the smoked meats that at least match the clean-lined, extremely handsome build-out led by its moist and deeply flavorful brisket, as it needs to be. And that is USDA Prime. It goes into what is the best chopped beef sandwich in the city. That’s largely because it is not really chopped, rather mostly sliced, but, no matter, it’s delicious, helped by an excellent soft fresh bun. Pork ribs, pulled pork and turkey are the other meats, and the kitchen puts out a greater array of sides than any other barbecue joint around, including hand-cut fries and some fun desserts not seen at similar spots. The brisket alone warrants a visit, but the big well-stocked bars inside and out and the great picnic area with views to the downtown skyline a few blocks to the east might entice when you might not need to eat. EaDo
 
Le Jardinier – $135 – The new fine-dining star of the new, grand addition to the Museum of Fine Arts complex, the Kinder Building, this also succeeds grandly serving fairly ambitious modern French restaurant fare that largely substitutes many non-Gallic influences for the tradition extending from Escoffier through Bocuse. The results are interesting, intelligently composed and artfully constructed while being delectable, most importantly, from the amuse-bouche through dessert. Maybe not cutting-edge – foams are frequent, not entirely au courant while working very well at a meal this summer, for example – but this is still something new for Houston. The wine list is expansive, heavily French-laden and very food-friendly. A branch of a restaurant group with places in Miami and New York, which carries a Michelin star, along with La Table in the Galleria area, this place exudes professional competence and in an inviting way that makes a visit a real joy. The comfortably modern dining room looks out to the Isamu Noguchi-designed Cullen Sculpture Garden – always way too much concrete for my tastes – that does allow a gaze at a dramatic Rodin while dining, an additional pleasure not found elsewhere in town. Museum District (MFAH, Kinder Building)
 
March – $285 / $560 – Though it had a brief initial run in 2020, it truly opened this year, this is the best of breed of the quartet of pricey set-menu-only restaurants that came on the scene in 2021. The most ambitious offering in the Goodnight Hospitality Group (Rosie Cannonball, Montrose Cheese & Wine), and one of the most ambitious around, March is staffed by a very capable and broadly experienced team led by executive chef Felipe Riccio that can pull off Michelin-starred-quality creations inspired by top restaurants around the Mediterranean. It’s only dinner here in six- and nine-course meals that begins with snacks of the fanciest kinds and drinks in the lounge area. A seafood escabeche cooked in piquant harissa sofrito and aided with Jamón Ibérico, and blood sausage paté with black currants are a couple of the current items from menus inspired by the southern Spanish regions of Andalusia and Murcia. The food is exquisitely rendered and served in a nicely understated setting along with informed and attentive service to make this one of the premier dining experiences in the city. One of the two wine pairings might be the easiest way to proceed but if you want to use the wine list you will be rewarded: eighty pages put together by Master Sommelier June Rodil has plenty of Burgundy or Bordeaux, but also lot from the finest cellars in Piedmont and a number of wines from top Italian and Spanish producers like Quintarelli, Fontodi and López de Heredia, and some nice choices in the two-digit range. Montrose
 
Soto – $125 – A transplant from Austin sporting a gorgeous dark interior, unrecognizable from that of the previous tenant Bistecca on the lowest of Westheimer, this offers an approachable, well-executed, well-sourced take on the popular Tokyo-style sushi occasionally spiked with some regional favorites like jalapeño, avocado and even tacos of a sort. Truffles and foie gras make appearances, too. Some items arrive from Tokyo’s Toyosu seafood market; the uni here is from Hokkaido rather than Santa Barbara. Japan Express menu changes daily and with often about ten seasonal available as nigiri or sashimi. The daily hour happy from 5:00 to 6:30 each day can be an enjoyable and generally affordable way to end the work day or begin an evening especially if it includes the Chef’s Choice of five pieces nigiri. One of the omakase menus, at $150 and $250 a head, offers an indulgence. In that vein is the A5 Wagyu beef that’s one of the fairly numerous hot dishes on the menu that might be worth visiting even if sushi is not part of the meal. Montrose
 
Urbe – $55 – Though this does not have the culinary fireworks you may encounter at one of Hugo Ortega’s other three local Mexican restaurants – Hugo’s, Caracol and Xochi – 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. Uptown Park

One of the artfully plated dishes at Alba

The pandemic continues but the restaurant openings, which slowed considerably in 2020, made up for that lost time.  Briefly, there have been a number of very welcome new dining spots in an delectable array of cuisines this year.  The city’s restaurant landscape has gotten even better and broader.  Here is an overview of what’s happened in this busy year for Houston restaurants.
 
The new restaurants

• The most attention-grabbing development might have been the emergence of a quartet of set-course-only menu restaurants with very high prices for the area, $115 to $225 before drinks: March, Hidden Omakase, ReNeiki, and Degust.  March, from the folks at Goodnight Hospitality (Rosie Cannonball, Montrose Cheese & Wine) and Degust in Spring Branch, both with a recent influences on the plate from Spain, were each named among the top twenty new restaurants by Esquire last month.
• A couple better Italians: Alba, Concura. OK, maybe one, as Alba is the revision at the Hotel Granduca from the excellent Ristorante Cavour with the estimable Chef Maurizio Ferrarese still at the helm.  Inspired by the rich cuisine of the Langhe – the home of the most-prized white truffles, Barolo and Barberesco, etc. – it might have claims to being the best Italian restaurant in the state.  Concura serves mostly the food of the Italian region of the Marche, something new for Houston, and most diners.
• New places from top local restaurateurs: Urbe from Hugo Ortega and Tracy Vaught, Georgia James Tavern and Red Sauce Italian from Chris Shepherd – that will become Pastore when in moves in the spring of 2022 – along with couple more on the way from and team in 2022; Mark Cox and Carmelo Mauro, formerly of the long-lived Mark’s and Carmelo’s, respectively, are involved in an upscale Mexican place, Maize, in the latter’s former space; and the Berg group opened another place with Trattoria Sofia.
• One of the big changes from Chris Shepherd is the shuttering of the excellent and widely interesting UB Preserv, the successor to the ground-breaking Underbelly, at the end of this year.  Its chef, Nick Wong, will move to Georgia James Tavern making that much more worth a visit.
• Big new food halls offering a wide range of cuisines and gustatory fun: Railway Heights and The Post Market, both are worth visiting and can be a lot of fun.  It’s not going to be the best food, except for maybe Golfstrømmen and The Butcher’s Burger both in the Post Market, nor it is necessarily a great value – relatively small portions are typical – and presentation is secondary in counter-service spots without much emphasis on the service, but all caveats asides, these two offer an enjoyably diverse array of cuisines and dishes done well or well-enough for repeated trips.
• The East End including EaDo offers more dining and imbibing options, with J-Bar-M Barbecue, now the city’s grandest spot for smoked meats, the cocktail bar Nightshift, and Roostar adding a location on Navigation.
• Downtown has even places to spend that expense account on Prime steaks with the addition of the Latin American-inspired Toro Toro in the Four Seasons that replaced the long-running Italian concept there, Quattro, and the relocation from Westheimer of The Palm, which is under the Landry’s corporate umbrella.  Now the city center boasts seven high-end steakhouses: Pappas Bros., Vic & Anthony, Guard and Grace, Morton’s, Shula’s, Toro Toro and The Palm, which might be dumbed down somewhat as Landry’s positions each of its broad array of upscale steakhouses.
• The restaurant scene in the greater Heights continues to grow, including a few spots where you can be parted a fair amount for an evening meal.  Led by the terrific Squable, the neighborhood’s dining landscape has returned to pre-pandemic levels prior to the pandemic’s demise.  Piper’s Barbecue, presciently named by J.C. Reid in the Chronicle as one of the city’s best ‘cue joint, and Ume that opened in late 2020, Da Gama, Fegen’s, Chivos, Studewood Grille, Studewood Cantina, the Italian-themed Trattoria Sofia from the Berg group, and a location of the fun, counter-service TJ Birria’s y Mas, with successful and acclaimed Austin-bred Loro en route.  And, the nearly revitalized commercial farmers market on Airline is just beyond the Heights borders.  Assertive foreign flavors might be muted and some of the concepts needed some fine-tuning out of the gate, but the Heights has certainly gotten better for dining and imbibing.  There is certainly a well-heeled appetite for it there.
• The MFAH got a couple of worthwhile new spots, the modern French Le Jardinier and the cafeteria-like casual Italian Cafe Leonelli from acclaimed New York chef Jonathan Benno.  Both are location in the new Kinder building, and both can be worth a destination by themselves, especially Le Jardinier, one of the best restaurants in the city.
  
• Though it has been turning into a haven for out-of-town restaurant chains in recent years, unfortunately, the Rice Village welcomed a terrific new retail bakery, Bādolina Bakery & Cafe, from the folks from the Doris Metropolitan steakhouse. Led by its executive pastry chef Michal Micheali, it turns out something a little different, done very well: "modern Middle Eastern and Israeli baked goods, sweet and savory pastries, along with specialty sourdoughs, croissants, babkas and more."
  
• The demise of the beer bar with The Ginger Man – America’s first contemporary beer bar – and The Hay Merchant, the city’s most serious spot for hops shuttering along with the famed Falling Rock Tap House in Denver.  The last was the best beer bar in the entire Mountain Region and a requisite stop for beer tourists during the GABF, run by a trio of brothers from Houston and alums of The Ginger Man, The Red Lion on Main Street, and The Mucky Duck.  Sad but true.

 
At the restaurants

• Straightforward preparations, high prices.  Gratify, Tonight & Tomorrow, The Nash, Georgia James Tavern, Studewood Grille and the steakhouse Gatsby’s were examples of this.  Many folks here have a lot of money; the markets have soared during the pandemic and seemingly a lot of Houstonians will pay a pretty penny for a version of comfort food, sometimes middling, if nicely presented in a pleasant setting. In fairness, a couple of these have to appeal to a wide array of hotel guests, and many business travelers look for the familiar when on the road, from the likes of Dubuque and usually elsewhere, too.  The Four Seasons, as always with this hotel chain, took a different and better tack with its very appealing Latin American-influenced steak-centric Toro Toro.
• Service has gotten even worse.  Houston has always been behind the other top handful of restaurant cities in terms of the level of service.  It has gotten worse, understandably so, during the pandemic.
• Q codes for menus.  It saves the restaurants with time and expense to update menus.  It’s mostly a hassle for customers, especially with some gaps in cell phone service, as sometimes happens at The Post Market, home to vendors mostly utilizing Q codes, and when those online menus are not updated.

 
On the menus   

• Wine become more so pink and orange.  Somewhat more natural, too. 
• Caviar is found much more often. There is plenty of money in Houston, even more so these days.
• The spicy chicken sandwich craze continues, with new restaurants arriving here specializing in these, a popularity due to the recent-years press for Nashville’s hot chicken and subsequent craze for Popeye’s chicken sandwich that was introduced a couple of years ago (which the newcomers actually rarely equal).  It’s been a boon for those who like the common, unnaturally hefty Chernobyl Farms-style chicken breasts battered with plenty of a cayenne pepper-heavy rub, enough to induce a runny nose if not completely obscure the invariable dullness of the plentiful white meat.

 
It’s been an interesting year.

One of the attractively presented dishes at Le Jardinier.

A lunchtime staple for its convenience and easy affordability, basically fillings enclosed by bread that are eaten out of hand, sandwiches come in many forms, hot and cold – well, room temperature – from simple to elaborate, and boring or worse to delicious.  It all starts with the bread.  It’s tough to have a good sandwich without good quality fresh bread, and that is found much more readily here these days.
 
The most distinctively Houston sandwich, once ubiquitous, is a cold po boy with a unique airy roll devised several decades ago from a family originally from the Levant that lives on in recommendable form at a couple humble sandwich shops.  Concerning popular local sandwiches, there are the Vietnamese banh mi and ones with barbecued beef brisket, both of which are done at least as well here as anywhere.  Those brisket sandwiches – though often delicious – are excepted from this list.  Every one of the many really good barbecue joints serve a really good beef brisket sandwich, with sliced or chopped brisket, and usually just those two sandwiches.  See the best of barbecue section.  And banh mi are distinctive and popular enough to warrant a separate section.
 
There are also excellent versions New Orleans-originated po boys with fried shrimp and the like and muffalettas to be found here.  The Mexican tortas, too, though too many versions suffer from inexpensive, preservative-laden bread, but there is at least one place in Houston worth a drive for them.  And there are many other types of tasty sandwiches here.
 
Below are the best places for sandwiches in Houston, listed in order of preference.
 
The Best
 
Kraftsmen Bakery & Café (Hot and Cold) – As the retail outlet for a commercial bakery that supplies many of the city’s top restaurants, and operated by a chef who was once named as one of the country’s top ten young chefs by Food & Wine magazine, you can expect that the sandwiches here to be worth the trek to this largely residential section of the Heights in Houston.  There’s only about a half-dozen sandwiches here, but all are quite tasty, even a turkey one, The Jive Turkey, which has received some national attention.  Heights
 
Very Good
 
Roostar (Hot and Cold) – Now with a trio of locations in various parts of town, this Banh Mi 2.0 operation is both slicker and better, overall, than its predecessors.  What began as Vietnam Poblano in Spring Branch, an area with a far higher Hispanic and Korean populations than Vietnamese, this has adapted to a growing clientele with a menu and preparations that are broadly popular.  Jalapeños, shredded pickled carrots, cucumbers, cilantro with stems, soy sauce and garlic aioli help provide the sandwich platform along with rolls from excellent Slow Dough Bakery that are maybe more traditionally French than is found at other banh mi spots.  Not just the bread, but the proteins are also generally better quality than other banh mi purveyors.  These are certainly worth a trip, which is now a little easier for many.  Spring Branch, Galleria area, East End
Winnie’s (Hot) – Contemporary takes on New Orleans-bred po boys from experienced, skilled chef with Louisiana roots, these slightly upscale and whimsical renditions will likely please any hearty or discriminating appetite.  A fun, friendly spot that belies any thought this is a sandwich shop – as tasty as the sandwiches are – there is are also oysters on the half shell, from the East Coast, too, and the capable bar mixes and shakes excellent cocktails, many of which are just $5 before 5:00 every day but Monday when it’s closed.  Midtown
Pappa Geno’s (Hot) – Philly cheesesteaks with a Houston accent – thankfully, as the Philly one is quite awful, having lived across the river as a kid – these are the best cheesesteaks in town.  Always moist flavorful beef stars in these oft-messy concoctions, with fresh rolls, and in local fashion can be nicely complemented with the Valentina hot sauce in plastic bottles on the table.   Montrose, Spring Branch, Timbergrove, Katy (2), Deer Park
Kenny & Ziggy’s (Hot and Cold) – A spiffy, large new spot near the Galleria serving slick renditions of Jewish-American deli food and a sporting a multi-generational deli legacy, this is easily the best place in Houston to enjoy the deli classics, which are all here, including those gut-busting sandwiches.  Obscenely large, typically as unhealthy as a sandwich can get by any measure, and often unable to be eaten with your hands, some of these are ridiculously tasty, including the pastrami sandwiches, featuring meat smoked in house.   Galleria area.
Mexico’s Deli (Hot) – Excellent, hot Mexican-style sandwiches, which are not only delicious, but a tremendous value is the simple reason to visit here.  There are now about forty different tortas here, plus soups, tacos, burritos, alambres, and breakfast, all prepared to order on the flat grills and a meat-laden spinner in the open kitchen found in a humble strip center on Dairy Ashford.  Possibly the best tortas in town, it is certainly the most attractive tortaria, and it’s also among the city’s best food values, period.  West Houston
Angelo’z Po Boys (Cold and Hot) – Serving the once-ubiquitous Houston-style cold po boy better than anywhere else, these feature an airy, crusty roll filled with a just-enough amount of lunch meats or other fillings, usually a thinly sliced cheese, and complemented with its distinctive piquant chow chow that just works really well when done well.  They also assemble a top-notch warm muffaletta, with bread from Royal Bakery, which also supplies the rolls for its po boys. NRG area
Ragin’ Cajun (Hot) – The shrimp po boys – deep-fried, of course – and muffalettas are both the best renditions in the city and each worth a trip here.  The other dozen-plus po boys can be very tasty, too.   Greenway Plaza
Baguette and Tea (Hot and Cold) – A tiny place in a small strip center with wretched parking on West Alabama across the street from the Ice House, it can also be quite slow to get an order fulfilled here. But the sandwiches, which all come with a light smear of chicken pâté, are so good and such a fine value that it is worth any possible hassle.  Reflective of a large part of its clientele, who might have never ventured to Bellaire Boulevard, you might even be asked if you want jalapeño on your sandwich.  Montrose
Thien An (Hot and Cold) – A Midtown stalwart, this casual unassuming place opened from mid-morning to early evening is seemingly always bustling during the weekday lunch hours with downtown office workers and a heavy Vietnamese contingent, more so after Sunday Mass.  Closed on Saturdays.  Its banh mi thit nuong is one of the very best around, as the restaurant is more generous than most with the pork, which is nicely cooked, tender and richly flavorful.  Midtown
The Cuban Station (Hot) – The best Cuban sandwich in the area is found here. Made with Cuban-style roasted pork, slices of ham, a judicious amount of thinly sliced of Swiss cheese that’s melted, a bit of similarly thin pickle here and there, mayonnaise and evident yellow mustard on a sturdy, somewhat crusty, admirable fresh bread that’s served warm after a turn in a sandwich press.  It is delicious, with the tasty – fairly mild but flavorful – roast pork, which is used the most, setting the tone for the rest of the quality ingredients that work together for an excellent sandwich that might be in a lower-key, but very easy to want the next bite and the next until the substantial construction is no more.  There is also a similar Pan de Lechon, a roast pork sandwich, that’s worth ordering plus a dozen other options.  East End
Don Café (Hot and Cold) – This modest stand-alone structure along Bellaire Boulevard has served up some of the very best banh mi in Houston for about a couple of decades now, and it remains one of the top values with the sandwiches; still costing just $3.50 or so. Don Café serves all of the requisite Vietnamese sandwiches plus the somewhat unique versions with char-grilled beef (banh mi thit bo nuong). In addition to the sandwiches, there are about two dozen items on the menu and a few brightly colored packaged items near the counter. Though take-away is very popular, you can actually linger here – not that it is that comfortable nor charming – as many of the polyglot patrons do.  Chinatown
Revival Market (Hot) – Well-situated in the prosperous Heights, this eatery from the folks at Coltivare, Indianola and others, does additional duty as an artisanal butcher shop, quite helpful for the five sandwiches on the menu that includes a fun, fancy fried baloney one.  Not so cheap for what these are, but certainly enjoyable.  Heights
Yelo (Hot) – It’s modern Houston banh mi here. Anchored by excellent, fresh and crusty loafs, the smaller-than-usual sandwiches step a little beyond the locally typical banh mi creations.  Assembled to order, slowly, and a bit more expensively, this friendly, attractive contemporary little spot in a Katy Chinatown strip center offers easily enjoyable flavors and still-welcome values from a focused menu that still has a number of enticing options.  Jalapeños, shredded pickled carrots, cucumbers, cilantro, papaya slaw, garlic aioli along with a smidgen of pâté provide a solid and expected-tasting base for the sandwiches.  Katy
Brown Bag Deli (Cold) – This small local chain of small bare-bones sandwich shops, siblings to the Barnaby’s, has been more-than-aptly serving up often delightful built-it-yourself cold sandwiches in a low-key fashion since 2003.  Montrose, Heights, Downtown (2), Rice Village, Spring Branch
Paulie’s (Hot) – Featuring hot Italian-inspired sandwiches, both panini-pressed and otherwise, the Italian accents are clear here. These are artfully assembled with obviously quality ingredients such as ripe roma tomatoes, nicely fresh spinach, roasted red peppers and tasty, fresh bread.  Montrose
Maine-ly Sandwiches (Hot and Cold) – Maine-style lobster rolls are the main attraction here, but there is also a really tasty chicken salad sandwich, done differently.  Served on a buttered and toasted split-top roll, a soft, industrially produced hot dog roll, with everything, it’s the chicken salad, slivers of apples, bits of walnuts, chopped onions, iceberg lettuce, slices of tomato, pieces of bell pepper, pickles, black olives, pickled and jalapeños along with salt and pepper.  It is a rather odd and unsightly concoction, but it was quite tasty, mayonnaise-heavy, with a lot more going on than the typical chicken salad sandwich.   Spring Branch.
Nickel Sandwich Grill (Hot) – There is barbecue, plenty of deep-fried dishes, seafood, a juicy grilled hamburger, and Cajun items, some of this is served in sandwich form, at two decade-old neighborhood standby on Lyons just north of I-10 in the Fifth Ward.  It’s almost all very tasty, and a terrific value.  Portions are large and prices are low, and the kitchen here is much better than most similar type of neighborhood places.  The sandwiches are served on thick slices of buttered toast that works quite well, and the po boys on a small, crusty baguette-like roll.  The Smoked Cajun Turkey and Chopped Beef are a couple of the sandwich stars here.  Fifth Ward
 
To Keep in Mind
 
The Boot (Hot) – Using the New Orleans favorite Leidenheimer French bread for the po boys makes a
difference, even from par-baked form.  Po boys with fried shrimp, catfish, oysters, and crawfish tails might be the most tempting, but you can also get the first two in healthier if still tasty form, grilled or blackened.  All these and the others properly fully dressed with mayonnaise, iceberg lettuce, tomato and pickle slices.   Heights
Nielsen’s Delicatessen (Cold) – Old school and eschewing those spices and peppers that are popular in much of the world, and here, it’s just bread and sliced meat or another protein, and their tasty house-made mayonnaise.  It still works.  You can add cheese, lettuce and tomatoes though for a charge for each.  Afton Oaks
Ploughman’s Deli & Café (Hot and Cold) – Very friendly little place set in a quiet decades-old strip center with a half-dozen hearty specialty sandwiches on the menu including quite respectable takes on the reuben and meatball sandwiches. You can also create your own in a couple of different sizes from a half-dozen types of bread, nearly as many proteins plus more than enough cheeses – grilled cheese is an option, too – spreads, dressings and vegetables to satisfy nearly any taste.  A handful of sides or chips complement, as can the soup of the day, and the sandwich’s great partner, beer on tap in four flavors.  Garden Oaks
Common Bond (Cold) – With bread making for much of the quality of the sandwich, it’s not surprising that Houston’s best retail bakery also offers some credible sandwiches.  Chicken salad and the Texas Club with turkey, thick bacon, and a bit of avocado and piquant aioli, both served on the ethereal croissants, are two worth a visit to one of its locations.  Montrose, Heights (2), Garden Oaks, Medical Center, Downtown, Spring Branch, Spring
Paulie’s Po Boys (Cold and Hot) – Not to be confused with Paulie’s on Westheimer, this one is still owned and operated by descendants of Antone’s and does a great job with that sandwich legacy in similar fashion to Angelo’z.  Serving the once-widespread Houston-style cold po boy featuring those airy, crusty rolls filled with lunch meats or other fillings and a smear of the distinctive piquant chow chow and wrapped white paper, these are often sitting ready to grabbed with the low, open refrigerator.  West U
Local Foods (Hot and Cold) – Nearly ten sandwiches each day among the garden-fresh and health-oriented (or -signaling) options.  These come with the choice of a couple sides or the soup of the day, all higher quality than at most other inexpensive spots, even the chips are house-made.  Some of the items, including the sandwiches, are more attractive than they are delicious, though.  Rice Village, Upper Kirby District, Heights, Tanglewood
BB’s Café (Hot) – A big attraction here are the New Orleans-style po boys, several deep-fried seafood plus a roast beef one, with a Texas twist – chipotle-infused mayonnaise – done well, and heartily so.  Montrose, Upper Kirby District, Heights, Briargrove, Oak Forest, West Houston, Katy, Cypress, Pearland, Webster

Most of a whole muffaletta at Angelo'z

Grabbing lunch last week at the slick new J-Bar-M barbecue joint – well, “joint” isn’t nearly the right descriptor, as grand, attractive and comfortable it is – I noticed its cool map showing locations of some popular Houston barbecue joints from the past, most of which I was quite familiar with.  Though the barbecue game is far better today than it’s ever been, including the excellent fare at J-Bar-M, it was enjoyable for me to look back at that artwork and some part, a fun part as an adventurous diner, of Houston’s history.
 
One of the places in it is Kozy Kitchen which was at 1202 Lockwood, about a quarter mile south of I-10.  It had one especially distinctive feature.  Here is what I wrote about it in the second edition of Houston Dining on the Cheap that was published in 2004:
 

Since Lockwood Barbecue that was located directly across the street burned down a while ago, Kozy Kitchen is the only old-line barbecue restaurant left in the Fifth Ward.  The Kozy Kitchen has been serving the neighborhood and visitors since 1946.   This place is much more than a slice of history, as it could not continue to survive if it didn’t serve some very good food.
 
The Kozy Kitchen serves the basic African-American East Texas barbecue with at least one twist.  In addition to the beef brisket, beef links (sausage), ribs and sides of potato salad and baked beans, there is barbecued veal.  The Kozy Kitchen is certainly the only place in Houston that you will find this.  The veal is veal brisket.  It’s served tender and moist, with some of it blackened if you are lucky.  It is good, but it is not nearly as flavorful as the beef brisket, which is probably why you never see it at barbecue joints.  And,  maybe the cost, too.  The tastier and more traditional beef brisket is what Kozy Kitchen has gained its reputation and continued patronage.  It’s moist and very tasty.  Even better is when you ask for the “in and out” pieces or an ”in and out” sandwich.  This means both inside and outside cuts of the brisket and you will be rewarded with several bits of excellent charred brisket that provides an enjoyable textural contrast with the tender inner meat, and even more flavor.  The beef links, done in the distinctive East Texas-style, are good.  The moist meats are even better with a few squirts of the hot sauce made on-site that sits on the counter and tables.  Sandwiches are available with all of the meats for under five bucks.  Sides are cheap, too.  With the exception of Goode Co. Barbecue, Kozy Kitchen serves the best sides at a local barbecue place in town.  There are only two, though, potato salad, which is heavy on the mayonnaise, and the slightly sweet baked beans.   Both are uncomplicated, but both provide excellent accompaniments to any of the tasty, slow-cooked meats.  Plates are hearty and offer a choice of one or two meats plus both the sides for $8.00.  For the very large appetites, the three meat plate is $10.00.  There is also a large baked potato stuffed with either chopped beef or chopped pork for $5.00.
 
The Kozy Kitchen is a bare-bones operation.  The fairly good-sized dining room appears to be a bit empty much of the time.  Part of this has to do with the fact that the dining area could accommodate several more tables and chairs.  It is scruffy, but that is part of the attraction, especially since this place has been around since the start of the Cold War.  Takeout is popular at the Kozy Kitchen.  For sharing with the family at home, the meats and sides are available by the pound and quart, respectively.  Only about six blocks south of I-10 on Lockwood, the Kozy Kitchen is quickly accessible from downtown during lunchtime.

The Vietnamese-originated banh mi sandwich has been a Houston staple for many of us for over three decades now.  Awareness of its charms, and an amazing value, have grown well beyond the Vietnamese community, and in recent years top-notch banh mi purveyors have been found in more than just the Vietnamese and once-Vietnamese areas of Chinatown, Midtown and old Chinatown.
 
The signature Houston version of banh mi, at least for non-Vietnamese locals, has been the one featuring char-grilled pork, the banh mi thit noung.  A nominal but sufficient amount of tender, somewhat thin slices of hopefully crispy, warm pork are nestled in an airy, short Vietnamese-style baguette that should be properly crusty and fresh. The pork is joined by a light smear of rich-tasting house-made mayonnaise, shredded pickled carrots and daikon radish, slices of horizontally cut crisp cucumber, cilantro leaves with its stems, and fresh jalapeño usually cut into prominent wedges with seeds and membrane.  The result is an enticing contrast of textures and very enjoyable flavors – predominantly the moist and savory pork and the fiery jalapeño – that is satiating while remaining vibrant, and not at all heavy, somewhat unique among sandwiches. Usually even better with a few dashes of vinegar from the shop and plentiful squirts of the estimable and thankfully ubiquitous Huy Fong brand Sriracha, it can be tough to eat just one of these if you are very hungry. 
 
Using the same sandwich base, other commonly found fillings include the same char-grilled pork along with pâté, char-grilled chicken, shredded pork, steamed pork, pork meatballs (xiu mai), pâté solo, tofu, a fried egg, and the strangely brightly colored Vietnamese-style ham.
 
The Best
 
Roostar – Now with a trio of locations in various parts of town, this Banh Mi 2.0 operation is both slicker and better, overall, than its predecessors.  What began as Vietnam Poblano in Spring Branch, an area with much higher Hispanic and Korean populations than Vietnamese, this has adapted to a growing clientele with a menu and preparations that are broadly popular.  Jalapeños, shredded pickled carrots, cucumbers, cilantro with stems, soy sauce and garlic aioli help provide the sandwich platform along with rolls from excellent Slow Dough Bakery that are maybe more traditionally French than is found at other banh mi spots.  Not just the bread, but the proteins are generally better quality than elsewhere, too.  These are certainly worth a trip, which is now a little easier.  Spring Branch, Galleria area, East End
 
Some of the Best
 
Baguette and Tea – A tiny place in a small strip center with wretched parking on West Alabama across the street from the Ice House, it can also be quite slow to get an order fulfilled here, but the sandwiches, which all come with a light smear of chicken pâté, are so good and such a fine value that it is worth any possible hassle.  Reflective of a large part of its clientele, who might have never ventured to Bellaire Boulevard, you might even be asked if you want jalapeño on your sandwich.  Montrose
Don Café – This modest stand-alone structure along Bellaire Boulevard has served up some of the very best banh mi in Houston for about a couple of decades now, and it remains one of the top values with the sandwiches; still costing just $3.50 or so. Don Café serves all of the requisite Vietnamese sandwiches plus the somewhat unique versions with char-grilled beef (banh mi thit bo nuong). In addition to the sandwiches, there are about two dozen items on the menu and a few brightly colored packaged items near the counter. Though take-away is very popular, you can actually linger here – not that it is that comfortable nor charming – as many of the polyglot patrons do.  Chinatown
Thien An – A Midtown stalwart, this casual unassuming place opened from mid-morning to early evening is seemingly always bustling during the weekday lunch hours with downtown office workers and a heavy Vietnamese contingent, more so after Sunday Mass.  Closed on Saturdays.  Its banh mi thit nuong is one of the very best around, as the restaurant is more generous than most with the pork, which is nicely cooked, tender and richly flavorful.  Midtown
Yelo – It’s Banh Mi 2.0 here.  Anchored by excellent, fresh and crusty loafs, the smaller-than-usual sandwiches step a little beyond the locally typical banh mi creations.  Assembled to order, slowly, and a bit more expensively, this friendly, attractive contemporary little spot in a Katy Chinatown strip center offers easily enjoyable flavors and still-welcome values from a focused menu that still has a number of enticing options.  Jalapeños, shredded pickled carrots, cucumbers, cilantro, papaya slaw, garlic aioli along with a smidgen of pâté provide a solid and expected-tasting base for the sandwiches.  Katy
Nguyen Ngo – Along with Khang, possibly the least atmospheric of any sandwich shop, banh mi or otherwise, in all of Houston, nonetheless, this humble spot in a humble shopping center serves up tasty and terrific-value banh mi inside of crusty, noticeably high quality rolls.  This might be the only local banh mi place that has one with saucisson, a French-style salami, or Vietnamese-style French salami, it is justifiably well-regarded for its chicken and xiu mai versions.  They also sell large jars of its tasty house-made mayonnaise to go.  Cash only.  Chinatown
Khang – Also set in a trash-strewn strip shopping center on Bellaire Boulevard, this tiny place has a tiny menu, just banh mi and drinks, but the made-to-order banh mi are worth a stop – for take-away –featuring properly crusty bread, a light touch with the mayo and quality meats like the char-grilled pork and beef.  Chinatown
 
Worth an Visit
 
Les Ba’Get – Called baguettes here, that fanciness extends to the prices, a staggering, for banh mi, $10 and up.  It just seems very expensive when banh mi elsewhere that are tastier are half or a third of the price.  With a name that’s different, the banh mi are also just a little different, with scallions and red jalapeño, too, and presented differently, cut in half, a more contemporary take on the banh mi that with a taste still resonating with its predecessors, and being suitably appealing sandwiches, regardless.  Garden Oaks
Cali – A dumpy little place with tables often not bussed and trash on the floor, this has nevertheless long been a popular table-service stop for well-done, inexpensive Vietnamese fare, rice plates, pho, vermicelli dishes, smoothies in addition to its long-creditable and wallet-friendly banh mi.  Midtown
Lee’s Sandwiches – Serving a northern Californian version of the banh mi, this 10,000-square-foot outpost of an out-of-state chain has been a fixture on Bellaire Boulevard near the heart of Chinatown for well over fifteen years now.  Mouth-watering aroma of freshly baked bread that fills the interior, and Lee’s northern Californian-Vietnamese sandwiches are quite tasty and certainly recognizable, but slightly different than what is common here.  It starts with the longer 10-inch French-style baguette that is a little unlike what the local Vietnamese bakeries produce.  That is filled with a broadly similar choice of fillings – albeit from a much longer list from which to choose – all with a house-made mayonnaise, pickled daikon, pickled julienned carrot that is more thickly cut, jalapeños, cilantro, salt, pepper, and somewhat uncommonly for here, soy sauce and sliced onions.  Chinatown
Parisian Bakery – Though the banh mi are bit more crudely put together here than at other places, the Parisian Bakery has long produced the bread for other sandwich shops, which is why it merits inclusion.  That, and it might be the only banh mi place that still offers the once-common buy-five-get-one-free sandwiches.  Chinatown

A banh mi sandwich from Roostar

Playwright Neil Simon once quipped that, “there are two laws in the universe: the law of gravity and everyone likes Italian food.”  But, Simon’s Italian food is not the food of Italy, it is Italian-American food.
 
These are the familiar and long-popular dishes that came from the immigrants, along with their descendants, who arrived from Italy in the big wave of immigration from there that began in the late 19th century and ended with the restrictive immigration laws passed on them in the early 1920s; the dishes often feature long-cooked tomato sauce and melted mozzarella or provolone cheese, preparations that are mostly rooted in the area around Naples.  Beginning with preparations and ideas from Italy, these dishes grew in this country adapting to what was available – more accessible and better meat, most notably – and the tastes of the Americans, whom they eventually became. 
 
Below are the twelve greatest dishes, listed alphabetically, for what still might be America’s favorite cuisine.  The criteria is deliciousness and popularity, even if that popularity is mostly local or regional.  The first eliminates any dish featuring amazingly dull-tasting chicken breasts.
 
Caesar Salad – A fixture also on steakhouse menus across the country, and found on most restaurant menus regardless of cuisine, it seems, the ubiquitous Caesar Salad is certainly the best Italian-American preparation from Mexico.  Created by an Italian immigrant – or his brother – to this country who had opened a restaurant in Tijuana just across the border to be able to serve alcohol to diners during Prohibition, this mix of romaine lettuce, egg, garlic, Parmigiano, olive oil, lemon, and anchovies was a created out of necessity on a busy night in 1924. It become a smash hit with the Hollywood set and other well-to-do folks who traveled south from Los Angeles.  Interestingly, the original version of the Caesar Salad did not contain olive oil, anchovies or lemon juice, and used whole romaine leaves, rather messily.  Olive oil was unobtainable in Tijuana in the 1920s, at least when the salad was first made, so a fairly neutral oil like corn oil was used instead.  The slight taste of anchovies was found in the on-hand Worcestershire sauce that was used in their place.  Lemons are not terribly common in Mexico; limes are.  It was lime juice that was used in the first Caesar Salads.  In Mexico, the word for lime is limon.  When the recipe was transcribed for Americans, they thought limon was lemon, and so the substitution was made, all for the better.
 
Chicken Vesuvio – This classic Italian-American dish from Chicago that hasn’t trekked far from its birthplace, is big, robust baked dish featuring a whole chicken and potatoes that might have originated at the Vesuvio restaurant in Chicago in the 1920s.  Named after the volcano near Naples, the restaurant was owned by a native of far-away Turin, though there were many Neapolitans in Chicago that might have been drawn to the name. The best version of it that I have had was at the tourist-laden Harry Caray’s restaurants – namesake Harry Caray was an Italian-American – both downtown and in the suburbs.
 
Cioppino – The famed fishermen’s stew necessitating a bib from San Francisco featuring Dungeness crab along with whatever else is readily available like clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops, squid and a white fish in a tomato-y broth, is mostly an area favorite; a coastal location is very helpful for serving this.  The name is clearly an adaptation of a Genoese word for a seafood stew, ciuppin, which makes sense as fisherman from around Genoa were the first Italians to ply the waters for seafood around the City by the Bay.  Cioppino is cooked with tomato sauce – the Genoese use tomatoes, and somewhat sparingly – and this is a staple of Sicilian cooking, the homeland of the fishermen who largely succeeded the Genoese in San Francisco and whose offspring opened restaurants on Fisherman’s Wharf.  So, it might be actually be a combination of the regional heritages from both areas in Italy and the bounty of the Bay and beyond.  No matter the provenance, it’s a terrific dish when made with fresh catch, usually not far from the water in San Francisco.
 
Eggplant Parmesan – A dish found throughout much of Italy now, the version popular here comes from the Italian south with its marinara or longer-cooked tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil.  It is heavier here, as with all dishes translated from the Italian, with the eggplant slices breaded and more cheese used, used as a main dish rather than a side.  The name can be puzzling, as Parmesan is not from the south, and the name in Italian is melanzane alla parmigiana means eggplant in the style of Parma.  One Italian food historian credits the Calabrians for the dish, with the Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top, resulting in the name, not brought from the north, but a similar cheese obtained from Cistercian dairies in Calabria.
 
Fried Calamari – This dish is a hit even if the frying is overdone and the squid has spent a lot of time in the freezer and absolutely delicious with high quality seafood and expert frying.  The side of marinara sauce might not be found in Italy with this preparation but it seems to make a lot of sense here.  Deep-fried goodness is certainly some part, most part, of its appeal.
 
Italian Beef – Thinly sliced roasted beef swimming in plenty of its cooking juice that’s usually served as sandwich with a Italian-style roll and topped with the piquant pickled vegetable mix, giardiniera, this particularly Chicago creation is a wonderfully messy treat that deserves to be more easily found elsewhere.  The product of the plentiful beef from the stockyards in Chicago and Italian-Americans who needed to stretch the less savory cuts, this has been around since at least the late 1930s.  These days Italian beef is often sirloin or top or bottom round cooked for a while in broth with garlic and oregano and other spices creating plenty of the signature jus. The roast is cooled, sliced thinly with a deli slicer and then put back into the cooking broth, the jus, that’s been reheated, usually for a few hours.  Italian beef is always the main protein at the Riccetti family reunion in the Chicago area.
 
Lobster Fra Diavolo – Taking the southern Italian preparation of shellfish with factory-made pasta to include instead the large and sumptuous lobsters found readily near the coastal big cities in the northeast where Italians settled, this had been on Italian-themed restaurant menus since the 1930s, at least in New York where it is most popular.  Featuring tomato sauce seasoned with plenty of chopped garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes, it’s another exuberant of Italian-American cooking.  The seemingly frightful name “fra diavolo” means “brother devil” in Italian and refers to the heat of the red pepper flakes, which rarely used with reckless abandon in this, and also the red of the tomato sauce and cooked lobster. 
 
Meatball Sandwich – Beefy meatballs in tomato sauce that are topped with mozzarella melted in a restaurant’s salamander broiler all in a fresh crusty roll to absorb the sauce is one of the best-loved Italian-American sandwiches, maybe any type of hot sandwich.  It can be absolutely delicious in spite of its seeming simplicity with quality components, as the combination can seem perfect at times. 
 
Pizza – Pizza is amazingly popular; it’s an easy canvas on which to embrace a wide variety of ingredients and flavors, and can be done so affordably.  I enjoy pizza in most of its forms – there are more than a few – as seemingly most people do.  The vast majority of the pizza eaten in this country is much more American than Italian or Neapolitan evolving from the style that developed in New York City beginning in the early 20th century that grew distinct from its Neapolitan antecedent.  Pizza originated in Naples, the big, chaotic and historic port city in southern Italy, but pizza actually spread more quickly throughout the U.S. than it did elsewhere in Italy, as odd as that may seem.  Maybe not, as we still eat a lot of pizza here. 
 
Shrimp Scampi – A dish of sauteed shrimp cooked in olive oil with plenty of garlic, some white wine and finished with lemon juice and chopped parsley, this has long been a staple of Italian-American restaurants.  You know what you are going to get reading “shrimp scampi,” which has been on menus for decades, though the dish’s name is a misnomer.  Scampi, which is plural, is the Venetian dialect for langoustines, small lobsters that are a different family from shrimp, and there is nothing like this dish in Venice.  No matter, it is delectable when made well with high quality, fresh shrimp from the Gulf.
 
Spaghetti and Meatballs – An decidedly American creation, maybe starting by the 1920s, the combination of meatballs from the traditional Italian protein-based second course and the pasta from the first to meet the demands of the much faster-paced American lifestyle, it probably still is the most commonly served pasta dish at Italian-themed restaurants here.  Though it might be scoffed at Italian food traditionalists – and pretty much every Italian – it remains a staple on American tables and it can be delicious with top-notch meatballs, whether the usual predominantly ground beef ones or softened with pork or veal, tasty tomato sauce and quality pasta that is not too overcooked.  Kids love it, regardless.
 
Veal Parmesan – My favorite dish growing up is derived from Eggplant Parmesan using the much tastier veal, an item that the Italians seemingly adapted from their immigrant brethren from central and eastern Europe.  Tender, mild but still flavorful veal cutlets that have been battered and pan-fried pair beautifully with the tomato sauce and melted provolone or mozzarella.  Once a star attraction at most Italian-themed restaurants, the now-pricier veal long lost out on many menus to the comparatively much more boring and texturally less pleasant Chicken Parmesan.  Understandable, but unfortunate.

As the retail outlet for a commercial bakery that supplies many of the city’s top restaurants, and operated by a chef who was once named as one of the country’s top ten young chefs by Food & Wine magazine, you can expect that the sandwiches at Kraftsmen Baking & Café to be worth the trek to this largely residential section of the Heights in Houston. The Jive Turkey ($11) certainly is. It’s terrific, in fact. And it’s turkey, too.
 
Arriving in the center of a stark white plate, the sandwich halves reveal a somewhat odd assortment of colors: pink, orange, bright green, cream, deep brown, and white and light beige. These are from the slices of mesquite-smoked turkey – smoked in-house, too – chipotle-infused mayo, wedges of avocado, melted Provolone, thoroughly caramelized onions, and the interior and crust of a sturdy, tasty and toasted ciabatta roll, respectively. The first-rate, multi-hued assemblage tastes slightly sweet with the plentiful onions, often rich, and thoroughly enjoyable throughout.
 
Kraftsmen serves for breakfast and lunch from 8:00 to 3:00 on the weekends and a half-hour earlier during the work. Though a bit off the beaten path, but not far from N. Shepherd, this very casual café is certainly worth seeking out if you live or work near the Heights or nearby Garden Oaks.  The Jive Turkey is one of a half-dozen sandwiches offered during the lunch hours. There are also several choices among the entrée-sized salads, a handful of quiches, a burger with fries – a double bacon cheeseburger, at that – and a soup of the day.
 
Just be aware that the weekend mornings and early afternoons can be very crowded and service slow as the charms of Kraftsmen’s casual fare is well known to residents in the surrounding Heights.
 
Kraftsmen Café
611 W. 22nd Street, Houston, Texas 77008, (713) 426-1300
kraftsmenbaking.com

“Being American is to eat a lot of beef steak, and boy, we've got a lot more beef steak than any other country….” - Kurt Vonnegut, 1983
 
The most indulgent and representative – and also enjoyable and expensive – reflection of that truism from one of best novelists to ever come out of Cornell is at the upscale steakhouse, the Great American Steakhouse, as I’ve come to refer to these.  Places like The Palm, Del Frisco’s, Ruth’s Chris, and Pappas Bros. Steakhouse in Texas, these have pricey menus centered around high-quality, aged steaks, comforting, and usually expected starters, sides and beverages all dished in typically plush, never hushed settings often with a masculine edge.
 
For many, the upscale steakhouse is the epitome of fine dining, the place for celebration when a dinner is in order.  It’s never been for me, but I have certainly enjoyed these over the years.  When I was traveling often for work years ago, the upscale steakhouse was an infrequent but cherished evening.  Morton’s, Harris’s, and Elway’s were a few that I recall in various cities across the country.  My order was nearly always the same: a dry gin martini to start, Caesar salad, a New York Strip or Ribeye cooked medium-rare, a Napa Cabernet for the steak, and a couple of sides to share, spinach, typically sauteed, and another of potatoes, usually au gratin.  My steakhouse tastes are similar today, though my choice of wines with the beef is now Old World and often Grenache- or Sangiovese-heavy.
 
With things finally, finally, looking up including the strong job numbers the other day, I thought it was time to take a survey this concept. I haven’t dined at one of these since before things got odd for everyone over a year-and-a-half ago, but it might time for me to do so again soon.  Also, these are restaurants that were well-suited to survive the pandemic in fine form, with the deep American love for steak being a big part of that.
 
What is the Great American Steakhouse today?  To get a proper insight, I surveyed the menus of fifty different steakhouse concepts from coast to coast representing over 460 restaurants.  It seemed to me beforehand, and maybe many, that the offerings at the Great American Steakhouse were as inviolate as the canon of the Great American Songbook.  What I found, however, is that the concept is much more dynamic, evolving along with the desires of the American diner.  The long-popular preparations are still there, but these have been joined by a wide array of newer starters, steaks and sides.  Bone-in versions of the popular cuts are frequently found, as are dry-aged options, steaks from acclaimed smaller purveyors like 44 Farms and Snake River Farms, along with the sumptuous, wallet-busting wagyu beef from Japan.
 
The Great American Steakhouse is still centered around corn-fed beef from the Midwest graded USDA Prime that is usually wet-aged for three to four weeks, cut into boneless filets, strips and ribeye steaks that are seasoned with salt and pepper, broiled at a very high temperature, from 1,200 to 1,800 degrees, then finished with butter.  The a la carte menu continues to temp with starters including shrimp cocktail and crab cakes and salads like a Caesar and wedge; the sides to go along with the steak that will certainly include potatoes in several guises, and spinach, plus asparagus or mushrooms.  If steak is not enough, its natural partner at a steakhouse, lobster, is likely to be found.  Given the richness and amount of food usually consumed in the savory courses, desserts are an afterthought for many patrons, myself included; about a third of steakhouses don’t even bother to post their dessert offerings, and the offerings are often kind of rote.  It’s interesting that there is not much at all in the way of regional variations, some shrimp dishes along the Gulf Coast, but what works in Boston pretty much works in Los Angeles and all points in between.  Meat and potatoes remain popular throughout the country.
 
The very tender if less flavorful filet is found on nearly every steakhouse menu – the once-lauded Peter Luger’s in Brooklyn is the sole exception – and the New York Strip in about 90% of them.  The fattier ribeye is now on only about two-thirds of the concepts.  There are a lot of different sized cuts these days.  The filet comes in sizes ranging from four to sixteen ounces, with eight ounces being most common.  The sweet spots for the larger New York Strip steaks are fourteen and sixteen ounces.  The ribeye is found between twelve and twenty-two ounces, with sixteen ounces the most popular.
 
Some more about the star attractions:

• Prices for this prime beef in prime cuts, and these can be expected to become more expensive with the near-monopoly hold that the top four meat producers have.  The popular eight-ounce filet averages about $55 at upscale steakhouses, the fourteen-ounce New York Strip is $58 and the sixteen-ounce Ribeye is $61.
• The average prices are: filet ($6 per ounce), New York Strip ($4.25), Ribeye ($3.90).  The bone-in steaks are a little cheaper per ounce because, well, there is a bone among the meat: filet ($4.90), New York Strip ($4), Ribeye ($3.40).
• As expensive as aged, expertly presented and nicely presented USDA Prime steaks are, these are a bargain compared to A5 wagyu beef from Japan.  These average over $28 per ounce at top steakhouses here.
• A dramatic steak for two that’s become more popular (44%), giving another option to the porterhouse, the Tomahawk Ribeye with the bone extended far from meat is most commonly found at thirty-six ounces and priced at well over $100.

 
USDA Prime is the highest classification for beef produced in this country.  It comes from young, well-fed beef cattle and has abundant marbling, the intermuscular fat, and generally has more flavor than lesser grades when broiled or grilled.  Given the tenderness of the filets even at the Choice level, the next grade, and the mushiness possibly found with Prime, only about one-third of steakhouses use USDA Prime for their filets.  Capital Grille is an outlier among the upscale steakhouses in not using USDA Prime beef for any of its steaks.  These are a little cheaper than the other upscale places, but not cheap.  Capital Grille is owned by Darden, the folks responsible for Olive Garden.
 
Though steaks are the reason for the visit, there is much more on the menus and at the restaurants:

• Items are almost always served a la carte, adding to the expense.  Only four of the fifty I reviewed included sides and sometimes starters with a steak orders.
• The most popular starters are shrimp cocktail (82%), crab cakes (74%), oysters on the half shell (60%), and thickly sliced bacon (52%). At the highest end, caviar is found at the most lux or expensive places (18%).  Once popular, escargot and Oysters Rockefeller are rare, at 8% and 12%.
• Newer additions to the tops of the menus include preparations like fried calamari (40%), octopus (16%), and meatballs (16%).  The latter in case you are worried about getting enough beef.
• Caesar salad is almost as frequently found on menus as steaks; only one of the fifty steakhouse concepts surveyed did not have this iconic salad on its menu.
• Most popular sides are mashed potatoes (90%), mushrooms (90%), asparagus (86%), creamed spinach (82%), macaroni and cheese (72%), baked potatoes (72%), fried potatoes (64%).  There is some type of potato on every single steakhouse menu.
• Three-quarters of the steakhouses offered some kind of sauce for the steak for those who need more than just beef (and a little butter).  Filets often need some assistance.  A pepper sauce or coating (54%), blue cheese (50%), béarnaise (46%) were the most often found.  The decadent, old school Oscar – hollandaise, crab meat and asparagus – still has plenty of adherents (42%).
• For those not inclined to steaks, salmon (80%) is the most often found followed by lobster (74%) usually the tails rather than in its more-work entirety. Lamb chops or rack of lamb is on nearly two-thirds of the menus, while the veal chop is a diminishingly sought-after indulgence (20%).
• Most popular desserts are cheesecake and ice cream or sorbets, tie, at 69%.
• Several have excellent, expansive wine lists like Pappas Bros., Baltaire in Los Angles, Bern’s in Tampa, Del Frisco’s, and Mastro’s in Houston.

 
The steakhouse concept is probably more replicable than any other upscale concept.  These do not require a top chef at each location and the menus can be identical at each one; customers are not looking for creativity when choosing a steakhouse.  It is also more profitable for the owners with multiple locations as that can improve the per unit cost for the pricey beef.  The fifty brands I looked at have an average of nine locations.  The big national restaurant operations have been involved, of course, in addition to Darden.  Fleming’s is owned by Bloomin’ Brands that also owns Outback and Carrabba’s.  And Landry’s has more concepts and steakhouses than any other company: Morton’s, The Palm, The Strip House, Mastro’s, Vic & Anthony’s, and Brenner’s.  Landry’s is definitely not known for improving the food at the restaurants it’s purchased, though the quality of its steakhouses seems to remain fairly high.  The ease of entry along with the popularity of the upscale steakhouse has attracted top chefs.  Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse, Jose Andres, Tom Colicchio, Chris Shepherd, David Burke, Michael Mina, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Marc Forgione have steakhouses or some named involvement in one.
 
Though there are serious environmental concerns with beef, steak in particular.  It’s part of the reason why I have been eating less of it.  But, I do look forward to my next trip to a Great American Steakhouse.  These are better than ever, with larger menus, more nutty dry-aged steaks, more choices in the steaks, starters and sides, better cocktails and more wide-ranging wine lists.  A steakhouse visit comes a greater cost, but I can’t quit it.  Visits will just be an even more intermittent indulgence. 

An enticing image from Sparks Steak House in Manhattan

Yesterday I had a very enjoyable meal at Pasha, the longstanding Turkish restaurant across from the Rice campus that was highlighted by terrific babaganoush, a dish I feel I don't have often enough.  That meal helped me think back to something I had come across some time ago that seems to be mostly true.

Customers at the numerous Middle Eastern, Turkish and Persian restaurants both here and around the country will find quite similar fare at these regardless of country of origin, be it Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and even Israel.  This probably comes as a surprise to most patrons.  The reason for this is explained in 2005 article in Gourmet: “Unlike…Europe, which boasts stunning culinary diversity in a relatively compact area, the Middle East demonstrates broad gastronomic parallels from North Africa all the way to Central Asia.  There is more dissimilarity between Italy and France, which are adjacent, [and just along the Italian peninsula] than there is between Egypt and Iran, which are separated by nearly 1,000 miles.  Owing to a harsh desert climate interrupted by pockets of fertility, as well as more than a millennium of shared religious and cultural traditions, most Middle Eastern countries consume the same staples: freshly baked flatbread; rice and beans; a limited number of fruits, vegetables and dried nuts; rare treats of beef and lamb; and an infinite variety of sweet, sticky cakes and porridge.”  Greek food is very similar, and many dishes are nearly identical, as there were numerous Greek communities on the Anatolian peninsula for several millennia until last century.

Appetizers at Pasha

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: 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 new Urbe confirmed emphatically 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. 

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.
 
Listed in order of preference.
 
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
 
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
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, 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 even 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 some of the least spicy salsas in all of Houston.  West U
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

​A few years ago at a family reunion in the Chicago area, my cousin Nancy surprised me saying that maybe she and her husband Brian would come down to Houston for a weekend in the future to enjoy the restaurants.  They’ve never been, but I believe that my frequent blathering about the dining scene in Houston piqued their interest.  They enjoy wine and good food and frequent and savvy restaurant-goers.  Longtime fans of Rick Bayless’s restaurants, and I seem to remember that their favorite restaurant, at least one of their favorites, is a Chicagoland branch of Roka Akor.
 
So, I thought it would be a good idea – and something fun to do as a thought exercise at the very least – to create a list of possible restaurants to recommend here for them.  My tact was to highlight cuisines that aren’t found in the Chicago area, or not found in much quality.  Barbecue, Creole and Cajun, Gulf seafood, Tex-Mex, Vietnamese come quickly to mind.  But, I won’t suggest any places for chicken fried steak, as enjoyable as I occasionally find it.
 
And they won’t want pizza – it’s far better in Chicago to be sure, and not just deep-dish – nor Italian.  My cousin is Italian-American and they seem to go out for it a lot.  I don’t believe that there are any better Italian chefs in Chicago than Maurizio Ferrarese at the new Alba in the Hotel Granduca or Giancarlo Ferrara at Amalfi here, though.
 
There are only so many calories that can be ingested in a weekend, even a long weekend, but below is a list to work from, listed alphabetically.

• Barbecue – As extraordinary as Houston barbecue can be now, I had thought that this might not be an option given the inherent heaviness, but then I realized that if you show some restraint – something I can have a hard time doing, myself – like just having a sandwich or splitting a plate, a visit to a barbecue joint doesn’t have to be a one-meal day. – The Pit Room, Piper’s, Pinkerton’s, Blood Bros., Truth
  
• Breakfast – If they want breakfast, there are some excellent, casual and fun choices that are different from what is found near where they live. – The Breakfast Klub, Goode Co. Taqueria, El Tiempo
  
• Breakfast Tacos – For a quick and even more casual breakfast that can be picked up, and something that isn’t much of a thing at all in Chicago, breakfast tacos can be a piquant and tasty morning start when time is a consideration. –  Tacos A Go Go are clearly the top stop for these and there a few locations to from which to choose.  La Carreta in the Heights is a close second. – Tacos A Go Go, La Carreta
  
• Brunch – If they desire a brunch day, three of the Hugo Ortega-Tracy Vaught restaurants do a great job with brunch and in different ways, then there is the grand Creole brunch at Brennan’s, a high-calorie and necessarily alcohol-laden morning feast. – Hugo’s, Xochi, Brennan’s, Backstreet Café
  
• Cocktails – I think that they are into cocktails or maybe at least before dinner and several of Bobby Heugel’s spots can do the trick terrifically well, led by the trend-setting Anvil. – Anvil, Tongue Cut Sparrow, The Pastry War, BCN (for the Spanish gin and tonics)
  
• Creole / Cajun – Creole as practiced in New Orleans doesn’t exist in Chicago today though there have been some Cajun-themed eateries for while most prominently with Heaven On Seven that was popular when I was traveling frequently there decades ago; it’s all much better here, of course. –Eunice, Brennan’s, Ragin’ Cajun
  
• Gulf Seafood – Restaurants specializing in Gulf seafood will be something unique for them, and a few spots excel with it. – Goode Co. Seafood, Eugene’s, 1751 Sea and Bar
  
• Mexican – Hugo Ortega is our answer to Rick Bayless, except he is from Mexico.  He and Tracy Vaught’s trio of upscale Mexican restaurants are the best Mexican restaurants here and called the best in the state.  And the new, more casual Urbe looks like it will be an enjoyable asset to the dining landscape. – Hugo’s, Caracol, Xochi, Urbe
  
• Steak – The Great American Steakhouse template doesn’t vary too much across the country even as it has evolved over the years.  There is something to be said for top-quality, well-marbled steak from grain-fed Midwest beef seared over a very high heat with fatty sides and a plush atmosphere.  Georgia James does something different and is also fantastic while Pappas Bros. excels at the more familiar with a wine list that is a enophile’s dream, well, a well-heeled one. – Georgia James, Pappas Bros. Steakhouse
  
• Sushi – I think that Manabu Horiuchi at Kata Robata is not only a terrific sushi chef and for Japanese cuisine in general, but he is one of the very best chefs in Houston regardless of cuisine. – Kata Robata, MF Sushi, Uchi
  
• Tex-Mex – There’s not quality Tex-Mex there and this is always well liked by relatives from Illinois when traveling to Houston. – El Tiempo, Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina
  
• Viet-Cajun (during crawfish season) – A recently developed cuisine that has drawn considerable attention with its leading light an especially fun dining experience, and one that’s quite regional. – Crawfish & Noodles
  
• Vietnamese – A Houston staple, certainly for me.  My favorite place for Vietnamese food is still probably Jasmine then its sibling Saigon Pagaloc, both along Bellaire Boulevard.  A more modern, accessible and fun, and geographically easy location is probably better, unless they want to experience Seven Courses of Beef.  That can be fun. – Xin Chao, The Blind Goat
  
• Wine – Houston has some really good wine bars, both in terms of selection and comfort, one can be a fine way to began an evening or to be the evening. – 13 Celsius, Camerata, How to Survive on Land and Sea, Montrose Cheese & Wine, Vinology
  
• Other – A few other places to note mostly for their quality, as MAD and BCN are two of the best restaurants in Houston, and UB Preserv is also a proudly Houston-centric establishment that is worth showing off. – UB Preserv, MAD, BCN
  

 
Whittling this down for an itinerary for a weekend, even a long weekend, will take some additional work.  I think there will be some time before they actually make it here.

A medley of dishes at Eunice

One of the main attractions of wine bars for me is the opportunity to discover new wines, especially new wines that I can comfortably afford.  Thankfully, there are a handful of wine bars in Houston that do an excellent job in selecting wines and in introducing new wines to their offerings on a regular basis.

The best value of these is the relaxed and comfortable, and amusingly named, How to Survive on Land and Sea in the East End on Harrisburg.  This is because every day from 4:00 to 8:00, every day, it offers a red, white rosé and sparkling wine for just $5.50 a glass, with a regular-sized pour.  Amazingly, it’s been my experience that each of the four happy hour wines is very knowingly selected and often delicious.  I’ve about a dozen of these happy hour wines in the course of more than a few visits.

​The happy hour wines and the selections overall have a strong Old World tilt – restrained fruit notes, evident acidity, and more earthiness or minerality, generally – which I enjoy.  A few of the highlights have been:

Domaine Jean Royer Le Petit Roy 2020, Rhone, France – A blend of Mourvedre Grenache, Syrah and some Alicante, along with a bit of Chateauneuf du Pape wine that didn't make it into those bottles. This is essentially a Cotes du Rhone without the name, with maybe some more heft.  With more fruit than can be expected for a Cotes du Rhone, this is nicely balanced and quite easy to drink by itself. And typical of the area these days, it registers at 14.5% alcohol, hardly petit, but it doesn’t seem overly hardy.

Heger Pinot Noir 2015, Baden, Germany – More straightforward and not quite as interesting, but very enjoyable is this juicy and lively medium-bodied, well-rounded red wine from Germany.  One of the benefits of global warming is that there is more and more good Pinot Noir coming from Germany, and this is an affordable example.

Weszeli Zweigelt Rosé 2020, Kamptal, Austria – It’s tough for me not to look toward a rosé during these long summer months and this unusual one from Austria is easy to like.  It is made with 80% Zweigelt and 20% Cabernet Franc, all from older vines.  With nice fruit like some peach and raspberry, evident minerality, and tartness from the Zweigelt, it has some more structure than most rosés at this price point that might be welcome.

Weingut Schlossmuhlenhof 'Boden Funk' Riesling, Rheinhessen, Germany – This very dry, unfiltered Riesling is not-at-all funky despite the label and would likely appeal to those white wine drinkers who shy away from the varietal. Lots of acidity and citrus notes highlight this very well-made wine that I found terribly refreshing on a hot, humid day.

Zull Grüner Veltliner 2020, Weinviertel, Austria – More flavorful than the typical inexpensive 1-liter sized Grüner Veltliner, this is decidedly crisp, with some pear and minerals on the palate and that is easy to consume.

I would have, and have, readily paid the full price – two or two-and-half times the happy hour tariff – for each of these wines and a few others.  As far I can tell, most of the happy hour wines retail between $15 and $25 if you can find them elsewhere.  Most importantly, these have been very well chosen.

​Houston to Survive on Land and Sea
3401 Harrisburg (at Sampson), 77003, (346) 320-2926
howtosurvivehtx.com

Always taking the brief restaurant reviews in Texas Monthly with a grain or two of salt, I wasn’t too surprised to find in an otherwise positive review published last month for Tonight & Tomorrow in the recently refurbished La Colombe d’Or on Montrose a demerit like this: “Less successful was the bucatini, an undercooked pasta that heirloom tomatoes and pistou could not save.”

I immediately understood the phrase “undercooked pasta” as meaning that the pasta was cooked al dente or, more likely, even beyond that.  The Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink defines it as being “somewhat chewy, neither hard nor mushy.”  In one of her cookbooks Lidia Bastianich describes that “al dente is a sensation of slight resistance, generated by the pressure of chewing.”  Cooking dried pasta – only dried pasta can be cooked al dente – to a soft, near-resistance-free consistency, not al dente, is what the vast majority of Americans do.  This is why the box of DeCecco linguine in my pantry gives two different instructions for boiling – “Cooking Time: 12 Min / Al Dente: 10 Min.”

The owner of Perbacco, the longstanding Italian eatery in a corner of the Pennzoil Building downtown that does pasta well, made it a point to complain to me once how Americans like their pasta overcooked.  He didn’t seem too happy about it, but for me, I don’t see it as really a problem unless the pasta gets mushy or loses some of its flavor being too soft.  Let people cook it how they like it.  And Americans largely like their pasta fairly soft; Italians like their pasta more toothsome, al dente.  Though Italians might disagree, I believe it’s mostly a matter of preference.

And I believe that pasta cooked al dente is certainly not undercooked.