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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mark Cox during the heyday of Mark's

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

The very fun wallpaper at The Marigold Club

Houston, the country's fourth largest, sprawls and sprawls over 640 square miles. An automobile is a necessity here as much as in any other metropolis. Plus, it is notoriously not encumbered by zoning. So, it might be odd to know that it is home one of the country’s very best nexuses of interesting and high-quality restaurants – and certainly the best in the state and the entire South – occurs along a stretch of road that’s a shade over a mile-long not too far from its downtown. As growth has occurred along the edges of the metro area, an increasing concentration of high-quality restaurants and bars has also taken place in the last couple of decades or so in the area between downtown west to the 610 Loop, the innermost of city’s three concentric roadways. This part of lower Westheimer, the heart of the Montrose neighborhood, is the best example of this trend, and it is better than ever for dining and wine.
 
This an update to an article I first penned in 2012 – when the area might have reached a critical mass following the opening of Underbelly – and for a regional e-zine a couple of years later. And to also note, I’m a homer for Houston, so I am very confident about the claim about this dining superiority versus the other cities, definitely those in Texas, and didn’t dig too deeply about Atlanta, Charlestown and elsewhere points due east or west to the rest of the Sunbelt. Though I have really enjoyed a number of spots in the Warehouse District in New Orleans, especially from Donald Link, over the years, to be sure. And that’s not quite a row, either.
 
Houston. Westheimer is one of the city’s main thoroughfares, and one that runs twenty miles to the west. Soon after its humble, if increasingly nicer beginnings, when Elgin turns, and turns into Westheimer via a name change less than a mile southwest of downtown, this narrow strip of roadway is where many of the city’s best restaurants call home. Attention from prominent national publications and awards and nominations from the James Beard Foundation have abounded on this part of the thoroughfare for a while. 
 
Traveling west from Westheimer’s start at Bagby, the very first restaurant is a not-yet open Nigerian one, an example of Houston’s growing dining diversity in which west African restaurants are becoming more widely seen. The first restaurant of note, is Maderas, tucked into the edge of a strip center. Serving well-done takes on “Fresh Modern Mexican Fare” in a fairly attractive setting, it offers what might very well be Houston’s prettiest enchiladas. A couple of blocks down across the street is another modern Mexican bar and restaurant, Xolo, which opened in early 2026. Directly across from it, is Soto, one of the city’s best sushi stops and the first of several successful Austin transplants found on this row of restaurants. Sporting a gorgeous dark interior and an occasional Lamborghini in its small parking lot, 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. Traversing just past the club Numbers, a part of Montrose’s history, there is a two-story outpost of El Tiempo at Taft. Maybe showing a bit of strain from expansion, it remains one of the best for Tex-Mex, with frozen margaritas tough to miss.
 
A couple of blocks further down, in the old wood-framed house that was the exemplary Dolce Vita for fifteen-plus years, is Osaka, a reliable visit for sushi that has been well-regarded for its comparative value. It began nearly across the street in the early 2000s. Directly across the street is the stylish and hip 100-seat standalone West African ChòpnBlọk that drew a rave review in The New York Times in December 2025, which cited its “welcome jolt of flavor, energy and joy.” In the next-door strip center on the south side of Westheimer, easily the most compelling of its seven restaurants, is the tiny La Sicilia. Offering lush Sicilian pastries and savory focaccias, it was started in 2018 by a native of southern Sicily. Directly across the street in a setting purpose-built for Aqui the previous decade is the eclectic Traveler’s Table with its globe-spanning dishes that won televised attention from Guy Fieri. The next block, just as Westheimer begins to twist slightly right as you continue west, is a small plate place from local Italian restaurant star Marco Wiles, Poscol. Named after the main thoroughfare in his hometown of Udine in northeastern Italy, this serves pastas, flatbreads, salumi, and cheeses, mostly from the provinces well north of Rome. Not incidentally, it was named in recent years the best cantina, or Italian wine program, in Houston by the Italian publication Gambero Rosso.
 
Not too many steps from Poscol is the oft-bustling Katz’s, housed in a handsome brick building, a present-day rendition of New York deli, one that never closes, and a reminder of my not-always-sober student days in Austin. Next door is the multi-use, multi-storied Montrose Collective housing a couple of interesting dining or wining options, and adorned by signage from everyone’s favorite concert monopoly, Live Nation. At the corner, with a nod to the pedestrian-friendly aspect of this very small section of the area is Fiora's Bottle Shop with a café-like setting and tables for the afternoon shade. It can be a nice place to enjoy a glass of wine from an idiosyncratic short list or a spritz or vermouth and also has small retail selection of mostly European wines. Its close neighbor Okto is an inviting stop for a drink and small plate from a short menu that is well-suited to noshing and sharing from a restaurant group with a couple of successful local concepts. Its dishes are inspired mostly by the Levant, Greece, North Africa; the usually meaningless Mediterranean description actually fits here.
 
Across the side street is yet another restaurant, like Katz’s and Soto, whose roots, improbably, lie in Austin. Serving an inspired take on modern Japanese food and known for its sushi and sashimi preparations, Uchi is a version of the most acclaimed restaurant in Austin that won chef Tyson Cole a James Beard Award and became the start of his restaurant empire. It quickly became part of the restaurant firmament in Houston soon after opening in early 2012, and remains a top destination for sushi and seafood. Around the corner, at the busy intersection of Westheimer and Montrose, is Aladdin, an inviting and welcoming oasis of very well-prepared and appropriately clean-tasting Lebanese food served cafeteria-style amidst the car and even foot traffic, which offers of the best dining values to be found in the Houston area.
 
Crossing west on Montrose is the last of the collection of establishments that once involved star chef Chris Shepherd, Blacksmith. This occupies a squat brick building and appeared in numerous lists of top coffee shops in the nation. In addition to its roasting and brewing capabilities, its savory fare, like Vietnamese steak and eggs, help make it popular brunch stop, too. Travel + Leisure included it as one of its fifteen “Best Breakfast Restaurants in the U.S” some years ago, and it also earned glowing mention in Condé Nast Traveler. Across the street to the west, is a steakhouse with a Rat Pack vibe from a Dallas chain that sits in the space where Shepherd earned national acclaim with the groundbreaking Underbelly. Directly across Westheimer as it turns a little left, is the building that once housed the Tower Theater – and where I once saw the ‘Mats give an excellent performance; they were far more sober than in previous Houston gigs. Now, it is back to music as a neat jazz club, Doc’s, an import from San Antonio. Its next door neighbor is one of the several noted Mala Sichuan restaurants, popular with fans of spicy Chinese fare both from here and China.
 
Walking five minutes west and back across Westheimer, next to a longtime bar, is The Montrose Grocer, a quite quaint and scruffily charming wine bar and bottle shop. Opened in late 2025, it sports a very well-edited and nicely priced selection of mostly Italian and French wines along with an enlightened range of vintage vinyl that includes Fela Kuti and Bowie. A few hundred feet away, also on the north side of Westheimer, Anvil, is almost popular as it is proficient. This was Houston’s first bar dedicated to artisanal cocktails. It might be impossible here to order a cocktail that is not terrific, and there are always over 100 on its ever-evolving list. Just around the corner, as Westheimer bends to the right again, sits Da Marco and the luxury vehicles that crowd its small parking lot, Marco Wiles’ white-tableclothed temple to Italian gastronomy. It’s long been very adept at replicating top trattorie and ristoranti preparations mostly from the northern regions of Italy like the classic Venetian take on calf’s liver and onions. Celebrating its quarter-century in business last year, it was once named among the top 30 restaurants in the country by Gourmet and would top the Zagat ratings while those were around. The casual, inviting counter-service Ramen Tatsu-Ya, yet another Austin reproduction, is across the small street north of Da Marco, about 20 yards and visible from Westheimer. It is possibly the top ramen restaurant in Houston.
 
About a block west, at Mandell, is the city’s first serious Mexican restaurant, and one of its most accolated, upscale Hugo’s that opened in 2002. It serves modern preparations on a tempting menu that takes inspiration from throughout Mexico. What is on the plate is serious, but Hugo’s can be fun and loud, especially during the weekend brunches. Led by James Beard Award-winning chef Hugo Ortega, it is now just one of five of excellent Mexican restaurants here from him, which includes, Xochi and Zaranda downtown and Caracol and Urbe in the Galleria area.
 
Next is the quartet of dining and wine establishments from Goodnight Hospitality, clustered in a couple of buildings. The first is two-storied that faces Westheimer across a few parking spaces and houses three of the concepts. Its culinary and wine leads are chef Felipe Riccio and Master Sommelier June Rodil, both of whom have earned tremendous amount of critical praise. The initial outpost, going west, is Montrose Cheese & Wine, a pretty spot with a small array of wines by the glass, but interesting, buttressed by a splendid wine shop. And there are the glorious cheeses, too. Rosie Cannonball, next door, is essentially an Italian restaurant with a more than a few nods to the Iberian peninsula on the short menu. There are a few very well-crafted, if quite precious, fresh pasta preparations in the Emilian tradition, pizzas, plus breads, and greens and other vegetables, and several proteins including the requisite steak. The crowd-pleasing dishes and stylish space have made it an attractive stop for the ladies who lunch and a busy spot at night. The wine list is expansive and mainly Old World, as throughout these four properties. March is the best of breed, and most ambitious of pricey set-menu-only restaurants that has opened in Houston in recent years, with a Michelin star to show for it. Staffed by a very capable and broadly experienced team led by Riccio, its creations from a menu changing twice a year are 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 creative cocktails in the Lounge. That can be a cool stop even when the few hours and few hundred dollars for a meal at March is not in the cards. The newest is the upscale Marigold Club that opened in 2024. It references London’s Mayfair on the menu and a name that might evoke a gentry-rich men’s club there, but this is might be best described as American with some French touches, or mid-century wealthy American updated for present-day Houston; intelligently and even slyly updated. Though possibly stuffy on first glance, it can be fun, when noticing the wall treatments of jubilant well-to-do diners of possibly Houston today and then the sundae cart on the menu that prowls the dining room. Its Golden Hour, from 5:00 to 6:00 six days a week, that is highlighted by $10 expertly crafted martinis and terrific service, is worth a special trip.
 
Last among the notables along this stretch of Westheimer is across Dunlavy, Common Bond. A serious bakery, both boulangerie and pâtisserie in the French tradition, it initially, publicly aired aspirations to be the best bakery in the country. Its founding baker, Roy Shvartzapel, and opening team did raise the bar for baked goods in Houston beginning in 2014 and the operation multiplied. With amazing croissants, terrific baguettes and delicious breads, and French sweets in a variety of renditions, it’s still a nice, popular little restaurant and coffee shop, too. This dynamic 1.1-mile stretch of asphalt. Though over two dozen establishments are highlighted, there are others worthy of a visit here, and there are more on the way. It and Houston’s dining scene, keep getting better and better, and more interesting. And, with a concentration of spots, people can actually be something that is still rare here and visit more than one place on an evening without a car: be a pedestrian.

The list of highlights along the best restaurant row in Houston, Texas, the South, and the Sunbelt:
 
Maderas – 120 Westheimer – Mexican
Xolo – 223 Westheimer – Mexican
Soto – 224 Westheimer – Sushi
El Tiempo – 333 Westheimer – Tex-Mex
Osaka – 500 Westheimer – Sushi
ChòpnBlọk – 507 Westheimer – West African
La Sicilia – 515 Westheimer – Bakery
Traveler’s Table – 520 Westheimer – Eclectic
Poscol – 608 Westheimer – Italian
Katz’s – 615 Westheimer – Deli
Fiora’s Bottle Shop – 888 Westheimer – Wine Bar / Wine Shop
Okto – 888 Westheimer – Middle Eastern
Uchi – 904 Westheimer – Sushi
Aladdin – 912 Westheimer – Middle Eastern
Blacksmith – 1018 Westheimer – Coffee Shop
Doc’s – 1201 Westheimer – Jazz Club
Mala Sichuan – 1201 Westheimer – Sichuan
The Montrose Grocer – 1340 Westheimer – Wine Bar / Wine Shop
Anvil – 1424 Westheimer – Cocktail Bar
Da Marco – 1520 Westheimer – Italian
Ramen Tatsu-Ya – 1722 California (twenty yards north of Westheimer) – Ramen
Hugo’s – 1600 Westheimer – Mexican
Montrose Cheese & Wine – 1618 Westheimer – Wine Bar / Wine Shop
Rose Cannonball – 1620 Westheimer – Italian / Spanish
March and The Lounge – 1624 Westheimer – European
The Marigold Club – 2531 Kuster (steps from Westheimer) – American
Common Bond – 1706 Westheimer – Bakery

If interested in the recent history of this strip, I have compiled lists from several times in the past fifteen years and the collection of notable chefs heading kitchens here over the years.

A risotto dish at Poscol

I recently updated my fun survey, A passeggiata through Houston’s Italian restaurant history, elsewhere on this site. It had not been revised since 2023 and felt it was time to do so. Adding not just items from the past few years, it’s been amended from top to bottom, with new information throughout. Though nearing Divine Comedy length, the article is presented in hopefully enjoyable, easy-to-digest vignettes listed chronologically, which can be consumed in fits and starts.

A gnocchi dish at the Amalfi, one of the city's best

The menu at Som Boon, set in a strip center at Durham and the feeder of I-10, is a little larger than the typical local Thai restaurant. Though enticing, I have not explored very much of it, as the lunch specials are such a good value and done quite well, it regularly draws a midday detour from me. Som Boon has eight familiar options for lunch for just $13, These include a fried eggroll or a light soup, and sometimes both.
 
There are the popular wide rice noodle dishes pad se ew and pad kee mao, the ubiquitous pad Thai and the panang and green curries, Thai fried rice, cashew chicken, and stir fried vegetables. Something for everyone. These lunch dishes are also customizable, more so than elsewhere. Each, excepting the cashew chicken, of course, can be made with one of a half-dozen centerpieces: beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, tofu, or mixed vegetables. And no additional charge for beef or shrimp as at every other inexpensive Thai restaurant of which I am familiar. The restaurant doesn’t skimp with the amount of proteins, either. With most served with steamed jasmine rice, a lunch visit will be satiating. I usually opt for one of the curries and haven’t yet been disappointed and finishing the sauces to the last drop.
 
The setting is casual, smart and contemporary, if done-on-the-cheap and in line with the prices and setting. Service is noticeably attentive and professional, which is another distinguishing item. Orders arrive quickly from the kitchen. There are at least a half-dozen homey Thai restaurants that are closer to me in the Fourth Ward, but Som Boon is a cut above. But what is most distinctive aspect is its spicing. I’ve thought that in the much more white-bread, blander, and less diverse swaths of the country, the heat at Som Boon would be entirely unacceptable for the vast majority of its customers. This restaurant could not exist as is in Iowa. The lowest level, mild, might earn the top three chiles. I enjoy spice, but Som Boon can be too much for me. Most of the time, the medium is too spicy. Medium. There is also hot and Thai hot. For the Thai customers.  
 
Som Boon
1801 Durham (at I-10), 77007, (713) 993-6241
somboonthaikitchen.com

Recently finishing the draft of a book about the history of Italian restaurants in this country, I thought I should watch Big Night again. I had not seen the film since I had caught in an arthouse cinema – at time when there were actually a number of arthouse cinemas around – soon after its release in 1996. With a notable cast, especially for a small-budget film that was made for just over $4 million, which included Stanley Tucci, Tony Shalhoub, Ian Holm, Isabella Rossellini, and the singer Marc Anthony in a seen-but-not-heard role, the story centers around a couple of immigrant brothers from Italy, Primo and Secondo, played respectively by Shalhoub and Tucci, who operate a struggling Italian restaurant in small town in coastal New Jersey. A central theme is the apparent irreconcilability between serving authentic Italian cooking and commercial success in 1950s America. A grand baked pasta dish, a timpano, became the movie’s most significant image, and inspired special dinners in Italian restaurants in the years afterwards. This is the endeavor that prefaced by a quarter century Tucci’s two seasons of culinary adventures throughout Italy featuring glorious cinematography. Big Night is co-written and co-starring Tucci. I happened to enjoy it less in the recent re-watch – re-watches, actually – as I now know much more about Italian dining in America over the years. Ignorance had been bliss; I found it tough not to nitpick during the recent viewings, to the detriment of my appraisal of the film. Inaccuracies and anachronisms abound in it, if not nearly to the Braveheart level.
 
Very early in the film, a customer at the brothers’ nearly empty restaurant, named Paradise, asks if her order of risotto comes with a side of spaghetti much to the chagrin of the brothers, especially Primo, the chef, played by Shalhoub, who is furious. Though not explicitly stated in the film, most of the commentary around the film assert that the brothers come from Calabria in the Italian south, where Tucci’s family’s roots are. It would have been highly unusual that restaurateurs from Calabria to have served risotto in a restaurant in America then.
 
Risotto had been frequently served at Italian restaurants until about the Second World War. The large number of Italian restaurant owners who had hailed from the northern regions where risotto was a common first course like Piedmont and Lombardy started to be replaced in numbers by southern Italians and their descendants after Prohibition. These were people from the regions, including Calabria, where pasta was king and risotto was essentially unknown, being very far from the rice-growing areas in northern Italy. Though not alluded to in the film, it could have been that the brothers might have experienced cooking and serving risotto while working in a restaurant elsewhere in Italy before emigrating. Later in the film, Primo is shown calling an uncle in Rome who has an eatery. There might have been some restaurants in Rome serving risotto then, but it might have been a single preparation or two from what I have seen looking at a number of postwar restaurant menus from Roman restaurants. Dried pasta was at the Roman heart that showed in the trattorie and ristoranti, often written as “ascicutte” on the menus then. Risotto was, and still is, an afterthought in the Eternal City. Maybe they worked not in Rome but in Milan, Turin, or even Venice, much less jammed with tourists then. Maybe. The film is set just before the great migration in Italy durn the 1950s from the south to the northern industrial cities, though. Primo does describe the joy of the lush lasagne alla bolognese to his crush played by Allison Janney. Maybe Primo had worked in Bologna, which is north of Rome. But, known as La dotta, La grassa, La rossa, the prosperous university city of Bologna is famously the epicenter of fresh pasta that gives scarcely a thought given to anything with rice.
 
The use of risotto early in the film and during the great feast later was, most likely, because risotto was a dish that started to gain traction at the more expensive Italian restaurants in America in the 1990s when the film came out. It was a symbol to many diners at that time of authentic Italian food, something more sophisticated than the numerous spaghetti dishes that ruled menus for decades. Risotto was also very familiar to the film’s culinary consultant and Tucci’s tutor in preparing for the role, Gianni Scappin, who was from the Veneto in northern Italy, another northern region where risotto is typically served.
 
Also, no matter how clueless a customer might have been about risotto, they would not have expected a side of spaghetti. The risotto dishes, if any, on menu during the 1950s would have been listed among the pastas under a title like “Farinacei,” “Farniceous” or “Italian Paste.” It would have been clear on the menu. A small pasta dish in addition to the main choice would have been served typically just with a full dinner option, a legacy of the fixed menu table d’hôte meals that were the default option at most Italian restaurants up until the war. Then they would not have expected meatballs with it. Spaghetti and meatballs starting to become really popular during the 1950s, but as the main dish for someone visiting a restaurant, never as a side.
 
After that slow dinner service, the restaurant closes early and Tucci’s Secondo makes the very short walk across the street to another small Italian restaurant, but that is busy and lively, Pascal’s Italian Grotto. Midcentury was still a time when ”Grotto” or “Italian Gardens” was often included in the name of an Italian eatery. Ian Holm plays the proprietor Pascal. He is presented as a sellout, a restaurateur denigrating the true cuisine of Italy in the pursuit of commercial success. Spaghetti and meatballs are shown a couple of times as the camera spans the restaurant and Pascal prepares a flaming dish for a table. Flamboyant and gauche, he is shown as a stark contrast to the staid and serious Secondo. Holm’s often histrionic and strangely enunciated performance seemed unnatural to me when I first watched it. Even more so in the rewatches. Speaking in chopped, heavily accented English, the accent presumably coming from his learning the language as a native Italian speaker. But his English sounds much different to me to than any of the many native Italian speakers I’ve talked and listened to over the years. He also looks to be wearing an American school ring on his right hand, not something you see Italian immigrants with. But Holm’s Pascal is given some very sage, and true, advice to offer to Secondo: the customer doesn’t want to eat something that he has never seen; “give the people what they want.” Then the restaurant can serve the more adventurous or authentic food. This has been a truism in restaurants almost no matter the cuisine. He then offers to get the popular Italian-American musician Louis Prima, who happens to be performing nearby, to come to their restaurant, which will provide some much needed publicity. Spoiler alert: this gesture is rather hollow.
 
Before that spiel, Secondo walks past a Faema brand espresso machine. This type of horizontally mounted machine was not introduced until in 1961, several years after the film’s setting. That particular model even seems to be from the 1970s. Espresso, becoming much more common in the US when the film was made, is not treated accurately in the film. Later, before the first hour is out, at the brothers’ restaurant, Primo quickly and easily works a giant, old pre-war espresso machine, which is strangely silent, with just a simple push of a level. His espresso was made much more easily and more quickly than a Nespresso at home today. This was quite unlike how the old machines actually worked. These required some time plus experience and skill in getting out an espresso from the contraption while avoiding getting splashed with scalding-temperature water.
 
Concerning other beverages, spirits and wine are not treated so accurately, either. When Secondo heads to Pascal’s restaurant, Primo walks over to his barber friend, who offers him grappa. The distilled grappa was not a product of southern Italy, presumably the birthplace of the barber, too. At the time, grappa was almost solely popular in its home area in the region of the Veneto. Very few people from there came to the US prior to when this film was set. And grappa was not commercialized until after the war and did not make it to American restaurants until the 1980s or later. In restaurants during when the film was set, there would be cognac, scotch, bourbon, Benedictine and from Italy, Strega and anisette. There was never grappa. It would have been the widely available anisette, popular with southern Italians, that the barber would have shared with Primo. The barber also doesn’t seem to mind that Primo makes a call to Italy – at about 10 PM or so in the scene, about 4 AM in Rome – on his phone. International rates were not inexpensive then.
 
Then the wines. The half-dozen or so bottles of red wine that are placed on the table for the feast noticeably sport a purple-colored DOC color on the necks. DOC is the Denominazione Origine Controllata system implemented by the Italian government in an attempt to improve wine quality. That started in 1966, a decade after the film’s was set. That purple color tag was used for red wines until 2011. Those bottles are Villa Antinori Chianti, a big-name brand that has been around since 1928. Its front is displayed in a scene later on. It is clearly a bottle from the 1990s, when the movie was filmed, much different than the brand’s labeling a couple of decades earlier, much less from the 1950s.
 
The feast made for Prima is elaborate, gorgeously filmed, and lengthy, even if Primo and Secondo have very little assistance and are away from the kitchen at varying extended times during the preparation of the many dishes. Waiting for Prima, the dinner starts late. There does not appear very much in the way of antipasti in the movie, a big part of the glories of the southern Italian tables, and perfectly suited to late-starting dinners. A portion of it is only shown is when Secondo is explaining to a seated guest a small plate with focaccia and crostini. Oddly two breads. Crostini, a Tuscan preparation, and its bready brethren bruschetta were never found on menus in midcentury America. These only started showing up in the 1980s. But crostini was popular in Tuscan restaurants where Tucci trained and Scappin worked.
 
When the guests are seated and the feast properly begins, its first course is prefaced by the words on screen, “La Zuppa,” the soup. The thin-looking soup, mostly broth, would have been a common way to start a meal. But a zuppa is a thick soup, “semi-liquid” according to Italian Cuisine by the master restaurateur Tony May. What was served was minestra. Then comes three versions of risotto, misspelled on the screen as “Il Risotto” instead of “I Risotti,” the risottos. These are followed by the elaborate, baroque baked pasta timpano that was modeled on a Tucci family dish from Calabria. Guests are starting to get full. The secondi, the meats and fish courses follow. There are roast chicken on one tray. A large whole fish is another – something never found on Italian menus then – and finally an impressive roast pig. The side dishes, contorni in Italian, given no introduction are interspersed with the proteins: artichokes, tomatoes, asparagus, and potatoes. It is a tremendous amount of food, even if Prima and band were there. It ends with “I Dolci,” the sweets, which are rather mostly fruits and nuts in the Italian fashion, with amaretto cookies. The trick with the fired then floating amaretto wrappers is shown, which is always fun to witness. The pears poached in red wine are shown after all the guests have left. It is a dish from Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta in Italy’s northwest that crossed to America in the last decade or so of the last century, something else that the brothers would not have served. Another spoiler alert. The wait for Prima and turns out like that for Godot. The brothers give up at 3 AM. Everyone was having fun for six or seven or so hours before acknowledging that there would no Prima with his band. 
 
It was fun time for most. At least everyone enjoyed the foods. The choice of those dishes were colored by Tucci’s roots in Calabria – where one of my great-grandmothers was born – possibly his time in Florence with his family when young, certainly his work in the kitchen of the popular Tuscan restaurant Le Madri in New York, the Italian restaurant trends of the 1990s, and the influence of the film’s consulting chef. No matter the provenances, the dishes do look enticing throughout Big Night. What is served is just not terribly historically accurate for a restaurant, especially one from a couple of Calabrian brothers.

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

The Tostada of Bluefine Tuna at Mayahuel.

It’s been over a year-and-a-half since I’ve revisited this, about one of the most popular restaurant dishes actually not just at Italian-themed establishments, but also at any type of restaurant. Chicken Parmesan is the most popular of any restaurant chicken dish, at least according to a fairly recent poll.
 
The previous update was sparked by reading a piece about Ken Auletta, the longtime New Yorker writer  who has had an obsession in finding excellent Chicken Parmesan preparations, and part of a group of guys who have been foraging the Italian-American eateries of the New York area for years in search of quality versions. For Auletta, a “test of a good Southern Italian restaurant is whether their chicken or veal parmigiana had a good sauce, the breading is crisp and has not been drowned in sauce, and the chicken or veal is not so thin it tastes like cardboard.”

Chicken Parmesan is an American creation that grew from the eggplant parmigiana preparation from southern Italy and Sicily, with the meatier chicken substituting for the less caloric eggplant at its core. Veal Parmesan came first, at least by the 1930s while Chicken Parmesan debuted on restaurant menus at least a couple of decades later. Veal Parmesan is certainly a much better dish – though the version at the venerable Ralph’s near the Italian Market in Philadelphia a few weeks ago was disappointing – and my favorite dish as a kid, but Chicken Parmesan is ubiquitous throughout the country, the veal version much less so. Industrially produced, widely distributed, easily affordable, and easy to cook with, abnormally large, if typically fairly tasteless, chicken breasts provide the key reason for the popularity of Chicken Parmesan. The dish at restaurant is a chicken breast or two – rarely pounded very thin – breaded and pan-fried, sometimes baked, and topped with mozzarella and maybe some other Italian-inspired cheeses and melted in an oven, and served in a tomato sauce usually with a side of pasta, likely spaghetti, also in that tomato sauce. You know what it is. And even longtime New Yorkers and Italian-Americans like Ken Auletta might really like it if done well.

People like Italian-American food, in even the most minor key. And here is what Chicken Parmesan will currently cost at the biggest Italian-American restaurant chains:

• Bertucci’s – $24.99, served with spaghetti in tomato sauce – 13 locations
• Biaggi’s – $23.25, served with something called “Three-Cheese Alfredo Rigatini” – 16 locations
• Bravo! Italian Kitchen – $26.99, served with herbed linguini; – 23 locations
• Brio Italian Grille – $28, it is called the fancier, slightly Frenchified Chicken Milanaise, but it is Chicken Parmesan; served with herbed pasta – 25 locations
• Bucca di Beppo – $33.99 for a portion that feeds three, $11.33 per person – 69 locations
• Johnny Carino’s – $21.99, served with spaghetti with tomato sauce – 24 locations
• Carrabba’s Italian Grill – $24.49, Served with your choice of side – 212 locations
• Fazoli’s – $11.99, served with spaghetti with marinara sauce and two breadsticks – 196 locations
• Il Fornaio – $39 – served with spaghetti pomodoro – 18 locations (only offered in two, though)
• Maggiano’s Little Italy – $26, served with spaghetti and marinara sauce – 52 locations
• North Italia – $26, served with “parmesan rigatoni” – 40 locations
• Olive Garden – $21.29, served with a side of spaghetti – 943 locations
• Romano’s Macaroni Grill – $22, served with spaghetti and tomato sauce – 17 locations
• The Old Spaghetti Factory – $22.75, served with a side of spaghetti with tomato sauce – 41 locations
• The Spaghetti Warehouse – $18, served with spaghetti with tomato sauce, bread and salad or soup – 5 locations

 
The average price is just about $22, $2 more than in February 2024. Interestingly, the number of locations for each of the chains decreased when I did this in February of last year with one exception, Olive Garden.
 
Chicken Parmesan is also a common menu item on Houston area Italian-American menus. It will average about $3.50 more than the national chains, but will hopefully be tastier. Certainly it will at some of these:

• B.B. Italia – $26
• Carrabba’s, The Original – $28.39, served with a side of fettuccine Alfredo
• Cavatore – $26, served with a side of penne with tomato sauce
• Ciro’s – $22.95, served with a side of fettuccine Alfredo
• Coppa – $29, served with a side of fettuccine with a cheese sauce
• D’Amico’s – $26, served with a side of fettucine Alfredo or spaghetti with tomato sauce
• Enoteca Rossa – $32, served with side of pasta
• Fratelli’s – $18 (only on the lunch menu), served with a side of pasta with tomato sauce
• George’s Pastaria – $24.95, served with a side of pasta
• Grotto – $27, served with a side of angel hair pasta with tomato sauce
• Italianio’s – $14.95
• Marmo – $30
• Mia Bella – $26, served with a side of pasta
• Milton – $30, served with a side of spaghetti
• Numero 28 – $24, served with a side of spaghetti
• Palazzo’s – $22, served with a side of fettuccine Alfredo
• Passarella – $21.95, served with a side of spaghetti with tomato sauce
• Piatto – $24.95, served with a side of fettuccine Alfredo
• Primo Pasta – $18.95, served with a side of fettuccine Alfredo
• Rocco’s – $18.95, served with a side of fettucine Alfredo
• Trattoria Sofia – $28
• Triola’s Kitchen – $28, served with a side of rigatoni with tomato sauce
• Zammitti’s – $21.75, served with side of linguine
• Zanti’s –  $32, served with a side of pasta

 
The version at Maggiano's Little Italy

Wines by glass are often disappointing and expensive for what they are. A recent visit to a high-profile new restaurant was a case in point. The red Rhône I ordered that was just $14. It was pleasant, mild, well-made and quickly forgettable though it helped to wash down my entrée. Disappointingly, the pour seemed to be just 3-ounces, a half-pour at local wine bars. That amount was actually more than one I’ve had at Jun before. Wines by the glass are a big profit centers, sometimes very big. Wine bars mostly traffic in single pours so they have to be more generous, but two offerings always on the list at 13 Celsius are especially notable. Not surprising, as 13 Celsius is Houston’s best wine bar.
 
With a new white wine on the menu, 13 Celsius now has undoubtedly the best-valued pair of house wines in the city. Last year, it began serving the Patina Due Gelsi Barbera d’Alba from the 2021 vintage. I’ve long been a fan of Barberas, and this is an easy one to enjoy. With some berry and cherry notes on the nose, the first sips are smooth, dry, with less immediate acidity that Barbera was once largely known for.  It has a nice body, rich and with some tannins from the wood-aging but those are not prominent. It is easy wine to drink without food; the 15% alcohol is pleasantly obscured. Made by Guidobono, which makes several wines including a Barolo in the Langhe and Roero in Piedmont, exclusively for 13 Celsius under the Patina label and found nowhere else. This will readily appeal to most fans of Italian reds and it has also resonated with a big range of red wine drinkers at 13 Celsius.  
 
Last month, it began serving Patina Blanc Petit Chablis 2022 that is made for the bar by the respected Domaine des Malandes, which also produces Premier and Grand Cru wines. This Chardonnay from northern Burgundy has notes of grapefruit and green apple and a quickly evident liveliness, though the acidity is maybe a little less than expected from a Chablis and a touch more roundness on the palate. This is a very easy wine to like, with a nice balance among its fruit, acidity and minerality. There certainly cannot be a better house white wine in town today. These are truly house wines, too. You’ll notice that the Barbera features a photo of the distressed tin tile ceiling at the bar that might not readily be noticed after the second glass. The Petit Chablis has an image of the wall of the courtyard. Both are $13, of course, for a full pour, and $7.50 for 3-ounce half pour. 
 
13 Celsius
3000 Caroline (just north of Elgin), 77004, (713) 529-8466
13celsius.com

The first, and most widespread type of Italian-American cold sandwich is one on a typically eight- to ten-inch fresh loaf of bread about three inches wide sliced lengthwise and filled with a copious amount of Italian or Italian-style cold cuts, or boiled ham, slices of cheese, usually Provolone, and tomatoes, often shredded lettuce, maybe preserved peppers, plus a dash of olive oil and another of vinegar. Never mayonnaise, at least on the East Coast. The combination features tartness from the vinegar, the bite of peppers, satiating meatiness, the slightly crisp texture of the lettuce, the aroma and taste of recently baked, fresh and usually crusty bread, and often some residual oil on hands or clothing. At least when served fully sized, its origins as a laborer’s lunch are easy to see. These sandwiches, often stuffed to the brim and wrapped in paper to contain the bounty, reflected the abundance of America, not the restraint of Italy. Whether named hero, submarine, hoagie, grinder, Italian, spuckie, zep, or torpedo, these are fairly similar regional variations created in the northeast by southern Italian immigrants or their offspring.  In one version or another, most frequently with the “submarine” or “sub” name – often to the dismay of many Philadelphians – these are now found throughout the country in various forms and level of quality, courtesy of the business magic of franchising. The name, sub for these, appears to have originated in northern New Jersey in the early 20th century.  The origin stories are often not so clear – for both the creations and their names – but it seems that several of the familiar cold sandwiches on a long roll developed independently in several areas in the northeast after the arrival of Italian immigrants.
 
The first of these sandwiches made and served to immigrant labor from southern Italy seems to have been in the west side Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York in the late 19th century at a grocer called Petrucci’s. From the bowels of New York it spread south to other Italian enclaves on the island than across the East River to Brooklyn and then Queens and north to the Bronx. It took a few decades to acquire the name “hero.” That seemingly came from famed New York Herald Tribune food writer Clementine Paddleford in 1936, who wrote about the large sandwich: “You'd have to be a hero to finish one.” Another very early version was created in the unlikely town of Portland, Maine, the Italian sandwich, a name that carries until today. Descriptively named for its creator, Giovanni Amato in 1902, and most of the earliest customers, it consists of fresh bread casing slices of cold cuts, cheddar cheese – using what could be sourced – and tomatoes, with green peppers, spicy pickles, olives, onions, and oil with salt and pepper. What began as a cart, Amato’s Sandwich Shop is still open today, and in a number of locations. 
 
Philadelphia’s favorite sandwich, the hoagie, got its start at DiCostanza's Grocery, just south of the city in Chester, in the mid-1920s according to most of the reliable sources, but without the odd name.  As for that, it could be that a certain Al DePalma was walking down busy Broad Street when two men holding huge sandwiches passed near, he heard one say “you have to be a hog to eat one of those.”  A few years later, DePalma remembered the vignette when he opened a small restaurant, and named his long sandwiches at DePalma’s, likely modeled from others in the area, as "hoggies.” This vignette may not be entirely true, but Al DePalma apparently deserves the credit for naming the iconic sandwiches in a commercial sense, at least in its initial moniker.  The original version probably consisted of Italian-style cold cuts, cheese, and lettuce garnished with a choice among tomatoes, onion, peppers and pickles, and slathered with oil, mustard, and, unusual for Italian-run places, mayonnaise. Its success drew many imitators. After the Second World War, the sandwich name became a “hoagie,” reflecting the distinctively pleasant Philadelphia accent featuring extended vowels, “HO-gie.”  This type of sandwich has taken deep root.

The Italian with some extra hot peppers from Primo Hoagies. Quite tasty.

Elro and its Hoagie and Meatball Sub are gone as the last year closed, but there are still a fair share of worthwhile detours for sandwiches, hot and cold. Below is a current list of my favorite sandwiches. Sandwiches, not shawarmas, wraps, or the sandwich-adjacent hamburgers or hot dogs, though I like all those – with the expected exception of wraps. Unintentionally, among the sandwiches I’ve got on the list: a Houston original; Texas barbecue; a regional Italian; Italian-American via New Orleans; a New Orleans-style po boy; deli, including pastrami a couple or three times – always loved pastrami – banh mi; Philadelphian; and a torta. Properly Houston. Here are the ten favorites, listed alphabetically:
 
Angelo’z – Regular Po Boy – $7.15 – With the distinctive, airy 9-inch rolls, a tad dry and slightly crunchy, recently baked at Royal Bakery in Montrose, Angelo’z is the truest and best successor to the once-loved, family-operated Antone’s that plied Houston with inexpensive sandwiches for several decades. My favorite these days, this basic, classic cold combination features ham, salami, provolone cheese, the signature chow chow, mayonnaise and pickles that somehow tastes much better than it seems it should.
 
Blood Bros. BBQ – Tritip Pastrami Sandwich – $15 – This is a terrific take on the familiar starring a 44 Farms-brand ground brisket patty bearing a lightly smokey taste, melted Swiss cheese, onions, and its Duke’s of Hazzard spread in between slices of grilled marbled light rye. Delicious there and even travels well.
 
Casetta Cucina – Mortadella Schiacciata – $15.50 with the robiola – If you enjoy the sandwiches in Italy, from the Autogrill or lesser autostrade stops or just like Italianate versions anywhere, you'll really like the ones here featuring top-notch ingredients used intelligently and judiciously. Schiacciata is a slightly dense focaccia-like bread from Tuscany, where chef and proprietor Francesco Casetta hails, which provides a sturdy base for these sandwiches that are a little different. Baked in house, the bread makes a difference in the quality, too. In between slices of the schiacciata, with some big chunks of sea salt atop providing a little additional texture, goes the soft mortadella with pistachio, melted, mild robiola cheese, contrastingly bitter arugula, and a little peppery Tuscan olive oil (I’ve assumed). This is a perfectly Italian or Tuscan construction.
 
Feges BBQ – Chopped Brisket Sandwich – $15, large – There are a lot of really good brisket sandwiches in town these days, but I opt for the one at Feges in Spring Branch here, a comfortable stop. Sliced is a better test for barbecue joints, which Feges passes with flying colors, and I often go for the fairly manageably-sized and lazier-to-eat chopped. The roughly chopped beef is fitted with a quality soft bun and is best with a few squirts its mustard-y barbecue sauce to add a little complementary zestiness.
  
Josephine's – Muffuletta ½ – $19 – It does a terrific job with the muffaletta, even better than at the reported originator, Central Grocery in New Orleans, and now my favorite version in Houston. Unlike the original, it is toasted and served a bit warm, and the meats – capicola, mortadella and salami – slightly melted provolone and Swiss, and the bracing olive salad meld together extremely well, maybe helped by some of the cooking heat. The bread from Royal Bakery on Dunlavy is properly robust, tasty and fresh, making for a great start and base for the sandwich. It goes on from there, from the slight crunch of the warmed loaf, then the vinegary touch of the vegetable mix and soft, hearty slices of meaty proteins, making for a delicious bites.  With a lot of oil, it is messier than most. Served with potato chips.

Kenny & Ziggy's – The One And Only Reuben, with pastrami – $26.95 – Quite overstuffed, with melted Swiss, hot sauerkraut, and Russian dressing, excellent seeded rye baked on site, and a copious amount of the triple-smoked, house-made pastrami – making a cardiologist’s nightmare – is even more delicious than it is messy to eat. Many extra napkins are necessary. The Pastrami Sandwich, $23.95, served hot, is worthwhile substitution that’s also a favorite.
 
Pappa Geno’s – Philly Steak and Cheese Sandwich – $13.99 – These invariably also messy sandwiches are large, featuring fresh, soft rolls, thinly sliced seasoned beef that is tender and flavorful and well complemented by the plentiful melted provolone and nearly caramelized onions that come with it in this, its base cheesesteak. The ingredients might not have the provenance of those on many upscale restaurants, but they are more than good enough and work wonderfully together. This and the other versions were definitely better than from the local location of Tony Luke’s – highly regarded in the City of Brotherly Love – that I tried a couple of times but had the misfortune of being located near of Pappa Geno’s during its brief tenure.
 
Roostar – Grilled Pork Sandwich – $8.19 – Now with a trio of locations in various parts of town, this Banh Mi 2.0 operation is both slicker and more efficient, and better, overall, than its predecessors. Jalapeños cut horizontally – if less plentiful than I like – shredded pickled carrots, cucumbers, cilantro with stems, soy sauce and garlicky aioli fill the sliced rolls from the 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, including grilled pork, are generally better quality than elsewhere, too. It’s my favorite of the bánh mì thịt nướng options these days, a sandwich I’ve consumed into the hundreds by now.
 
Tio Trompo – Torta al Pastor – $9 – This is a fairly bare-bones counter service taqueria with a limited menu that specializes in cuts of pork from the spinner, the trompo, the vertical spit used to cook pork al pastor. That slowly roasted pork from it – which retains its moistness even in crisp pieces, unlike for al pastor at far too many taquerias in Houston – fills several types of tacos and the torta. Telara bread from local favorite El Bolillo, almost always quite fresh and crusty, provides a tasty complement to the pork, which is joined by a thin slather of refried beans, tomato slices, shredded lettuce, and wedges of avocado. Excellent salsas complete the experience.
 
Winnie’s – Shrimp Po-Boy – $17 – This New Orleans-style po boy is just one of the reasons to fight the parking hassles to get here. Featuring medium-sized, cornmeal-dusted Gulf shrimp deep-fried and properly overflowing from the classic Leidenheimer po-boy roll that’s shipped in fresh twice a week, it is dressed a little differently – tomato, Savoy cabbage, pickles, mayonnaise a Creole mustard vinaigrette – that all works really well.

The Shrimp Po-Boy at Winnie's

The biggest dining news of 2024 was the Michelin Guide’s restaurant recommendations for the first time for the state, the company drawn by subsidies from local and state tourist boards. Its inspector(s) was, were, reportedly based in Austin, which is why the state’s capital in laughably ludicrous fashion had both more stars and many more recommended restaurants overall – 44 to 26 – than did the fourth largest and one of the very best dining cities in the country. There were quite a number of glaring omissions for Houston. And the French seemingly had their first taste of our excellent Texas brisket and were utterly thrown off kilter for the guide, producing wildly uneven results. Just about a quarter of all its recommended restaurants in the state were barbecue joints and also a quarter of its stars. But it is a start and a positive that Michelin is here.
 
Maybe not as exciting as last year with highlights that don’t quite reach Katami or Little’s Oyster Bar, this year saw a number of enticing new eateries. I had good luck with most of the anticipated newcomers, if with a handful of significant exceptions. Nicely, long punching under its weight, Houston’s pizza landscape improved some more with the openings of Pizzana, Karbach Brewing’s Pizza & Pints, and Magdalena’s, that last which dished pizzas like the old Dolce Vita, if somewhat inconsistently. That scene is taking a hit with the closure of Elro – excellent for pizza and a good deal more – at the end of the year. Hopefully, chef Terrence Gallivan’s hiatus will on local dining scene with be brief.
 
If there was any theme this year among several of the top new places it might be comfort. Steaks had prominent places in several of the top newcomers, and there were more new upscale steakhouses to be found, of course. And Berg Hospitality again opened some additional concepts, all with expensive, attractive build-outs. One just too late for this year is Barbacana, featuring the former chef de cuisine at March and a well-pedigreed team. It limited service just before Christmas, fully so early next year for what might be an exciting new stop downtown.
 
Here are the ten best restaurants in Houston this year, listed alphabetically.
 
Bar Bludorn – New American – Entrées: $19 to $75, $49 average – Bringing its signature level of service and attention to detail to west Houston, this is the third restaurant from the group that incudes the Bludorn and the terrific Navy Blue. Along with the name, the mid-century modern-inspired décor helps give a more casual feel, and the welcoming and proficient bar upon entrance reinforces that. There are Atlantic oysters to start that can be baked and fried, too, for the more squeamish. Fries also work at the bar, but could be crispier and accompanying aioli more assertive. The dining room menu highlight steaks along with a roasted duck and a fried chicken with a peanut butter gravy, both of which have drawn critical praise. The handful of pastas can be primo-sized or a full portion, and there should be plenty more from which to choose for nearly any diner, with familiar items done somewhat creatively. Fun desserts like the Foie Gras Candy Bar provide some very tempting calories before you are out the door. The wine list has a French accent and is nicely chosen, as expected, with Burgundies, more red than white. These can satiate both the well-heeled Memorial Villages burghers and those planning to spend a under $100. There are more than enough enticing options on the list that won’t break the bank.  Memorial
 
Baso – New American – Plates: $16 to $200, $80 average order – Easy to miss, though directly across 19th Street from the outstanding Squable, this another destination spot in the Heights. Inspired by the live-fire cooking at the lauded restaurants of the Basque region, a hearth greets diners at the start of the lengthy open kitchen of this earnest establishment with a from-the-bootstraps design that includes a neat kitchen bar that should attract curious diners. The menu is even much more inscrutable than most, but the attentive staff will ably describe the night’s offerings and help offer a course through the visit. Dishes are mostly small, composed and imaginative, and all meant for sharing. Subtle spiciness is common aspect in many, welcome for Houston. Among the handful of larger preparations is a grilled pork chop topped with “jowl condiment” that results in a juicy, delicious slab, certainly one of the best porcine creations in town. But watching one of the beefsteaks near the glowing embers might be an even more tempting treat. You’ll need a few plates, and prices quickly add up. With wine, plan on at least $200 per person. More if you are an enthusiastic diner. Prices skew high on the short list with some temptations: there is not much desirable in two-digits among the reds, for example. But the wines by the glass are well-chosen and mostly under a dollars under $20, not a given at many nicer spots these days. The seemingly oddly constructed cocktails can be a very good place to start, too.  Heights
 
Late August – New American – Entrées: $17 to $60, $35 average –  Set on the first floor of the multi-use ION at the edge of Midtown, not too far from Chris Williams’s Lucille’s, here Williams teams with chef Sergio Hidalgo to offer a menu that ranges widely and should resonate with most local diners. About half of the creatively turned and nicely plated dishes feature Mexican ingredients and preparations while also going to neighboring Louisiana, Jamaica, Africa, east, west and south, and the Middle East for ideas, with all the fruits and vegetables coming from their farm near Sugar Land that also supplies Lucille’s. There are shrimp meatballs, pea hummus with chorizo and chapulines, green macaroni and cheese with pureed greens and coconut cream, Louisiana barbecue seafood – more than just the shrimp – and Navajo fry bread to sop up the sauce. One highlight is the Crispy Octopus with an well-integrated, typically wide mix of components: yucca, romesco sauce, corn, avocado cream, and something called shrimp chorizo. The contemporary space is handsomely done and inviting. With wines by the glass and cocktails to a lesser extent a little more lightly priced than most nice restaurants, the bar can be even more so.  Midtown
 
Leo’s River Oaks – American – Entrées: $40 to $150, $76 average – The menu is far from exciting, the expensively wrought interior might seem to many dark and gloomy rather than romantic, bar service a bit clunky with uninspiring creations, and the California-heavy wine list is much better suited for the suburbs than the heart of the city. But the main reason to visit is that Tim Reading is heading the kitchen and you can be assured that the mostly familiar fare will be executed very well. Reading was last at Georgia James Tavern, as Underbelly Hospitality was in the early days of its implosion after it parted ways with Chris Shepherd, and before that executive chef at Caracol and then his really nicely done counter-service Mexican spot in Bravery Chef Hall, Ixim. One of the several steaks here will drive up the bill if not as much as the necessary caviar service. The menu veers Italian at times, with risotto, carpaccio, burrata with beets, a side of broccolini, agnolotti and veal Milanese done properly with a bone-in veal chop. The gnocchi are French, though, but lightly done and quite tasteful, even if the portions are truly side size. There is plenty of which to choose for most diners and it can be an easy visit before a movie, with the newly renovated River Oaks Theatre adjacent. If not, it services the theater, too.  Heights
 
Marigold Club – American – Entrées: $21 to $92, $58 average – Though this upscale spot references London’s Mayfair on the menu and a name that might evoke a gentry-rich men’s club there, this is might be best described as American with some French touches, or mid-century wealthy American updated for present-day Houston; intelligently and even slyly updated, as you might expect from the folks at Goodnight Hospitality (March, Rosie Cannonball). Steak tartare, a seafood tower, pâté with a cherry chutney, Dover sole with the tomato-y vierge sauce, and the Duck Wellington with green peppercorns, highlight an approachable and playful-at-times menu. There are black truffles that can be shaved on, and caviar service, of course, if not the beluga of the Russian oligarchs who once widely owned in Mayfair. Though possibly stuffy on first glance, it can be fun, when noticing the wall treatments of jubilant well-to-do diners of possibly Houston today and then the sundae cart on the menu that prowls the dining room. As expected from the group, the wine list is excellent, and bar service is exemplary.  Montrose
 
Maximo – Mexican – Entrées: $16 to $30, $22 average – Tucked well into West University Place, occupying a long-standing restaurant space in retail strip, this almost-too-cute-to-be-this-good spot was the best Mexican restaurant to open here in this year. From the Local Foods Group, which had another new winner with Milton’s, this dishes up a focused menu of casual, sometimes heathy, always interesting Mexican preparations that not dumbed down in any way for the address. The smaller sized portions are usually executed quite well with presentations more artful than usual. There are tacos anchored by flavorful house-made tortillas in a half-dozen ways – no trompo so pass on the invariably slightly dry pastor – soups and salads, smaller plates and some bigger items from the plancha like a butterflied whole red snapper, fajitas and bowls and burritos with a choice of meats.  West U
 
MF Lobster & Seafood – Seafood – Entrées: $18 to $60, $36 average – Set in a striking, stand-alone circular structure, if reminiscent the Monitor’s turret fitted with a brimmed hat, and joining Auden and other restaurant concepts in the usually idyllic and sometimes bustling Autry Court, sushi star Chris Kinjo and his lieutenant Miguel Alvarez have created a enticing menu that includes New England seafood items along with Mexican, Japanese and Italian-American preparations. In lesser hands, it might seem unfocused, but here, knowing the level of sourcing and execution, it can be tougher to decide what to order than at most places. There is silky and substantial clam chowder, delicate crudos and ceviches, shrimp tacos, lobster rolls, seafood pastas, and cioppino. The interior is attractive, with floor-to-ceiling windows providing nice vistas and there is a bar made for lingering. The wine is a weak link here, though there are bottles displayed for sale throughout the dining room, somewhat distractedly.  River Oaks
 
Milton’s – Italian-American – Entrées: $23 to $68, $33 average – One tipoff that the restaurant is worthy is at the start, the bread service. It is terrific and tough to resist: excellent, unique breadsticks, soft mouth-watering rolls, and a white country bread that is the best of the three. The quite obscure tigelle on the menu – a bread type from Emilia-Romagna – is also quite tasty. In the space that the really creditable Eau Tour occupied last comes an easier sell than French here, Italian-American. Described as an “American trattoria,” a phrase that doesn’t make a lot of sense, this serves chef-y touches to Italian-American fare with some contemporary Italian-from-Italy items in an approachable neighborhood setting fitting for the pricey zip codes nearby. If jazzed up, there are the expected-today octopus, arancini, burrata, branzino and n’duja but also sweetbreads, honest-to-goodness veal Parmesan, and Shrimp de Jonghe, Chicago’s gift to seafood cookery. For nearly ten different hearty preparations, the pastas are made in house guided by Seth Siegel-Gardner, the culinary director at the parent Local Foods Group, formerly the one half of the Pass & Provisions duo. The chicken liver survives from its predecessor, while and the Italian-heavy wine selections are a big improvement from the very odd ones offered before.  Rice Village
 
Okto – Mediterranean – Entrées: $30 to $62, $48 average – In the multi-used Monrose Collective, this is an engagingly created space, from the patio to lively dining room and immediately upon entering, the quite expansive, impressive horseshoe-shaped bar. This is an inviting stop for a drink and small plate from a short menu that is well-suited to noshing and sharing. The sharing might be the best option here. With dishes inspired mostly by the Levant, Greece, North Africa, the usually meaningless Mediterranean description actually fits here, and these choices are mostly easy to eat with others. Seafood carpaccio and tartare, olives, feta, plenty of vegetables, a grill, lamb, of course, and a couple of steaks including an old school Tournedos Rossini, and with foie gras. Monte Carlo is on the Med, after all. It can be thought of as a more attractively set version of its sibling Hamsa – but with the similarly tough parking situation. Valet. Decent short wine list, though there are hardly any red wines for under $100 a bottle, rather annoyingly. And if the dullest gin and tonic imaginable is an indication, don’t bother with the house cocktails. The bar is still an attraction, though.  Montrose
 
Pizzana – Pizza – Entrées: $16 to $27, $22 average – Los Angeles-bred, celebrity-backed, this is the real deal for Neapolitan-inspired pizzas, immediately becoming one of the best pizzerias in town when it opened early in the year. You can’t have a good pizza without a good crust and these “neo-Neapolitan” creations sit on a sturdy, crispy, airy and very tasty platforms created with a dough kneaded by hand and fermented for a couple of days. Rather than the traditional soft Neapolitan pizza dough, it is actually modeled on the bread dough from the bakery of chef Daniele Uditi’s aunt in Caserta near Naples. It works extremely well. Available in a variety of combinations with a number of high quality toppings used judiciously. There are classic Neapolitan, American, along with some occasionally fanciful like its signature Cacio e Peppe, and a seasonal Carnitas with sliced Mexican-spiced porchetta, two salsas, parsley-cilantro and roasted tomato chipotle, imported cow’s milk mozzarella, fresh cilantro, and sliced raw serranos that nicely played to the Houston palate. Antipasti, pastas, and salads, too, but the pizza pies are the reason, and not the atmosphere, you should visit this perfunctorily designed spot.  River Oaks
 
A couple of honorable mentions for nicely utilitarian, affordable counter-service options that work well for lunch (and breakfast): Casetta’s Cucina for its Tuscan-inspired sandwiches on house-made bread in Spring Branch, and The Little Taco Shop for tacos, quesadillas and more that dishes similar items better than can be expected from this small storefront in the Upper Kirby District.

One of the enticements at Late August

It seems for a while now that supermarkets and big liquor stores have aggressively featured panettone: palettes of them in at least a dozen different brands and a number of sizes. Panettone is the Italian tall, dome-shaped cake that makes its appearance before Christmas. Originally from Milan, it is popular throughout much of Italy during the Christmas season, at least the lands north of Rome. Somewhat like an Italian version of fruitcake, if much tastier even in industrialized form, it is big business now, and makes for a pleasant dessert or a semi-sweet accompaniment to coffee or something stronger.
 
Panettone is actually a little more versatile than you might expect. This is good to know if you end up with plenty of it left after Christmas and tired of eating it with coffee or a liqueur, tempted to toss out the remainder of the often substantially sized box. At an Italian Expo event here some years ago, a chef who had worked in Milan served an amazingly simple sandwich from his restaurant’s booth. It was mascarpone slathered between a couple of slices from a panettone. It was very good, and extremely easy to replicate at home, and affordable. An inexpensive one kilo (two-pound-plus) panettone can be had for $10 or so. I picked up one at Kroger the other for just $6.99. Even better with the slices of panettone are toasted.
 
Another use was suggested to me by famed restaurateur Piero Selvaggio of Valentino a while back, especially for somewhat past-prime panettone. It makes the base for terrific French toast. Something I’ve done a number of times. Or, more accurately, that might be Milanese toast.