For customers at 13 Celsius who are in the mood for a red wine but not sure which one, the staff can be quick to suggest the Patina Due Gelsi Barbera d’Alba from the 2021 vintage. I’ve long been a fan of Barberas – actually traveling to that area again next month – 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.
 
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.  This is truly a house wine, too.  It is made by Guidobono, which produces several wines including a Barolo in the Langhe and Roero in Piedmont, exclusively for 13 Celsius under the Patina label and found nowhere else.  You’ll notice that the label features a photo of the distressed tin tile ceiling at the bar that might not quickly be noticed after the second glass.  The Patina Due Gelsi Barbera d’Alba is $13 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

I am a big fan of Elro and it’s unique, smart and very approachable take on upscale casual dining, believing it was one of the top new restaurants to open in the city last year. Texas Monthly recently opined the same thing. Having dined there about ten times already – it’s nearby and easy for me for lunch which helps – and being sucker for a good sandwich, especially an Italian-accented sandwich, I was looking forward to its second sandwich offering, the Meatball Sub that debuted after my last visit.
 
And that is a favorite for many. The meatball sub finished number thirteen on a YouGov survey of the country’s most popular sandwiches a few years ago. I do like it when done well or even fairly well, though it’s number three for me among hot Italian-American sandwiches. With family roots in Chicago, Italian beef has been tops for me probably followed by Veal Parm – though I haven’t had a good one of those in a quarter century. Elro’s version of the meatball sub might change my sandwich pecking order.
 
Its meatball sub was likely the best of that genre I’ve ever had. Arriving solo on a plate with its two halves enclosed in aluminum foil, it doesn’t make a striking appearance. Unwrapping a half of very hot sandwich gingerly reveals a crusty sesame seed-topped hoagie roll filled with beef and pork meatballs, melted provolone and mozzarella, with a judicious amount of a tomato sauce and, somewhat unusually, big leaves of basil. The meatballs, half pork and half beef, were soft and flavorful, and were complemented perfectly with the melted white cheeses, a lighter tomato sauce, the fragrant green herbs, and the wonderful, crusty bread, the same that’s used for The Hoagie. I made a small mess devouring it. Though a hearty sandwich, this is the freshest, lightest version of a meatball sub I’ve ever had: better bread, higher quality, tastier meatballs, the bit of basil, and fresh-tasting rather than a long-cooked tomato sauce.
 
Not so not inexpensive at $18, but a fair price for the quality and what will be a filling meal for most. It might be a favorite, too.
 
Elro
2405 Genesee (at Fairview), 77006
elrohtx.com

Italian restaurants have been popular in this country, some parts of the country, at least, since the big wave of immigrants from Italy in the late nineteenth century, becoming even more widespread than the significant numbers of Italians would indicate. But, it seemingly took until the end of 1926 for a full-time Italian restaurant to open in Houston.
 
There was Italian food publicly served on a special occasion, or occasions, before then. On July 20, 1924 both the Houston Post and Chronicle reported a society vignette that a certain Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Godwin gave a small dinner party “at the new Italian restaurant in Hermann park.” This was at the café that was opened to patrons of the golf course at the park by John Pappa and Vincent Vallone – Tony Vallone’s grandfather – the month before. This café seemed to also be used for private events, but was not really an Italian restaurant.
 
The honor of the first Italian restaurant in Houston appears to go to Mme. Cerracchio’s that opened in December 1926 in a “stately colonial mansion” at 2414 Main Street at half-block north of McGowen, in today’s Midtown. This also housed the studio of Mrs. Cerracchio’s husband, the sculptor Enrico Cerracchio, who created one of the city’s most iconic civic artworks, the bronze equestrian statue of Sam Houston in Hermann Park. The restaurant advertised table d’hote service from 6:00 to 9:00 PM and a la carte afterwards in “an atmosphere of refinement and culture.” She is quoted as saying a few months after opening that “I have always had the urge to show the Americans how the people in Naples, Enrico’s native city, serve their foods – and at last I’ve found the chance.” It offers “raviolis, meat balls, and fine Italian spaghetti.” Mme. Cerracchio’s was a more appealing-sounding for an Italian (and French) restaurant than that of her maiden surname.

She was born Marion Kowalski in Shamokin, a coal mining town in eastern Pennsylvania that, incidentally, was the also the birthplace of fellow Polish-Americans, Stan Coveleski, a Baseball Hall of Famer, and his brother Harry, who, too, pitched successfully in the major leagues, with a lifetime record of 81-55 and was a three-time twenty-game winner.
 
Coincident with her husband’s work as a sculptor, the restaurant becomes a “rendezvous for the artistic, bohemian element” as many Italian restaurants were famously known to be in New York, Chicago and San Francisco and elsewhere. Mme. Cerracchio’s adapts a slogan of “Where Houston’s ‘Who’s Who’ meets and entertains the Nation’s ‘Who’s Who’”. Nonetheless, it becomes Nino’s in August 1927, just eight months or so after opening, with a new proprietor. This is the first of three Italian-themed restaurants named Nino’s in Houston over the decades, none of them related.

If interested in reading more about the sometimes amusing and surprising history of local Italian restaurants like this, you might want to scroll through some of “A passeggiata through Houston’s Italian restaurant history.”

An advertisement from the Houston Post, March 2, 1927. The address is incorrect.

I hadn’t been to Tacos del Julio in almost a decade and it had been in mind recently after visiting Feges BBQ and Stuffed Belly as one of its locations shares the revitalized now restaurant-heavy strip center on Long Point west of Wirt. I had liked its casual Monterrey-rooted food in the past; it was recommended it in my guidebook Houston Dining on the Cheap some years ago.
 
So, after long last, I drove out there for lunch today. An item at the top of one part of the menu caught my eye: tacos de trompo with beef. I don’t remember having that before – and knowing it existed – and really enjoying well-crafted tacos al pastor and tacos de trompo made with the traditional pork, I ordered it after the waiter confirmed it really was beef sliced from a trompo.
 
Arriving at five to order set flatly on a plate, the marinated slices of beef, which had been slightly crisped on the plancha were set atop a pair of fairly substantial, deep yellow corn tortillas with a bit of melted asadero cheese in between then topped with sauteed onions and slices of avocados. After liberating them from the three separate small plastic bags, accompanied with squeezes from lime wedges, chopped cilantro and chopped fresh onions. With some squirts from the bottle of spicy, flavorful orange salsa, made with chiles de arbol, I assume, the tacos were terrific. The beef was tender, more tender, mildly beefy but much tastier than the beef in a typical taco. With all the complements, even much better.
 
For just $12.49, which came with a cup of nicely satisfying charro beans, it was quite a nice deal. Their slogan is spot on, certainly with this order: ¡No comas ansias, come tacos! When here, don’t worry, eat tacos.
 
Tacos del Julio
8203 Long Point (east of Wirt), (832) 358-1500
tacosdeljuliousa.com
 
Locations also on I-10 in Katy and at 7515 Westheimer. There are two other operators of the restaurant have locations on Airline Drive, in Pasadena, and then one on Highway 6.

I met an old friend the other day for lunch at Winnie’s, a place I have always liked but had not been in a little while. The reason is that the less-than-ideal parking there in a crowded part of Midtown is seemingly always in the back of my mind. Very glad we went there.
 
Winnie’s menu has grown, and it now sports a half-dozen or so sandwich options in addition to a couple burgers and an obligatory wrap in addition to a number of other slightly whimsical and always well-crafted choices. I ordered a new sandwich for me, the East Coast Italian. It’s their take on the classic sub or hoagie, which I am partial. A lot of folks are partial to that style: it’s launched several national sandwich chains, after all.
 
The East Coast Italian has about a dozen components: mortadella, ham, mild capocollo – or cabbacall in my grandfather’s dialect or the cruder-sounding gabagool on the menu that’s familiar from The Sopranos – sliced provolone, a bit of tangy cherry peppers, relish, lettuce, tomato, sliced red onions, mayonnaise, oil and vinegar, and whatever exactly Italian seasoning is all within a fresh sesame-seed-topped hoagie roll from local Luloo’s bakery. Those all play very well together. It’s a great mix of flavors, with enough enjoyingly contrasting textures and easily-good-enough ingredients, notably the bread.

It's delicious and fairly substantial in a whole order, not quite tasting like a classic Northeast sub but something very well-suited for just about any cold sandwich-lover here. And something else to keep in mind when visiting Winnie’s. It’s been tough for me to go wrong here food-wise. Though it is a little out of the way for most for lunch – and that parking  – with the quality of the sandwiches and other casual items and an approachable, comfortable setting, keep Winnie’s in mind for a lunchtime meal, especially on a nice day. And it is a straight shot on the light rail if officing downtown. You can be tempted by a cocktail, too.
 
Winnie’s
3622 Main Street (just north of Alabama), 77002, (713) 520-0660
winnieshouston.com

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve revisited this, about one of the most popular restaurant dishes actually not just at Italian-themed establishments – where a nephew seems to order it every time and Ken Hoffman wanted my thoughts on the best local versions – but also at any type of restaurant. Chicken Parmesan is the most popular of any restaurant chicken dish, at least according to a recent poll.
 
The previous update was sparked by reading a piece about Ken Auletta, who had just written a biography of the horrible Harvey Weinstein (one of whose lawyers I very oddly happen to know). It seems that the longtime New Yorker writer has had an obsession in finding excellent Chicken Parmesan preparations, and part of a group of guys who have been foraging the Italian-American eateries of the New York area for years for it.
 
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, 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 bakers dozen of the biggest Italian-American restaurant chains:

• Bertucci’s– $23.99, served with spaghetti in tomato sauce – 23 locations
• Biaggi’s– $19.25, served with something called “Three-Cheese Alfredo Rigatini” – 16 locations
• Bravo! Italian Kitchen– $23.99, served with herbed linguini;  – 26 locations
  
• Brio Italian Grille– $25.99, it is called the fancier, slightly Frenchified Chicken Milanaise, but it is Chicken Parmesan, served with herbed pasta – 31 locations
  
• Bucca di Beppo– $32.00 for a portion that feeds three, $10.67 per person – 69 locations
• Johnny Carino’s – $20.99, served with spaghetti with tomato sauce – 31 locations
• Carrabba’s (chain) – $22.49, Served with your choice of side – 219 locations
• Fazoli’s – $9.79, served with spaghetti with marinara sauce and two breadsticks – 208 locations
• Maggiano’s Little Italy – $22.50, served with spaghetti and marinara sauce – 52 locations
• Old Spaghetti Factory– $20.75, served with a side of spaghetti with tomato sauce – 42 locations
• Olive Garden– $19.49, served with a side of spaghetti – 918 locations
• Romano’s Macaroni Grill – $20, served with spaghetti and tomato sauce – 32 locations
• Spaghetti Warehouse – $18, served with spaghetti with tomato sauce, bread and salad or soup – 6 locations

 
The average price is just about $20 now, up 7% from when I did this in 2022. It’s up over 40% since 2010.
 
Chicken Parmesan is also a common menu item on local Italian-American menu. It will average about $4 more than the national chains, but will hopefully be tastier. Certainly at some of these:

• B.B. Italia – $26
• Carrabba’s, Original – $27.39, served with a side of fettuccine Alfredo
• Cavatore – $24, served with a side of penne with tomato sauce
• Coppa – $28, served with a side of fettuccine with a cheese sauce
• Damian’s – $27, served with a side of fettuccine with tomato sauce
• D’Amico’s – $23.99, served with a side of fettucine Alfredo or spaghetti with tomato sauce
• Fratelli’s – $16 (only on the lunch menu), served with a side of pasta with tomato sauce
• Marmo – $28
• Passarella – $17.95, served with a side of spaghetti with tomato sauce
• Piatto – $23.95, served with a side of fettuccine Alfredo
• Rocco’s – $16.50, served with a side of fettucine Alfredo
• Trattoria Sofia – $27
• Triola’s – $28, served with a side of rigatoni with tomato sauce

 
A version at Maggiano's

Having even gone to one of her book release events, I really enjoy and look forward to Mimi Swartz’s columns, both in Texas Monthly and occasionally in the New York Times. Except when she writes about restaurants; her loss at the closure of a nearby Luby’s – Luby’s – and the local establishments that undeservingly, and sometimes so in the head-scratching fashion, get a blurb in Texas Monthly’s dining listings, sometimes with good ratings, in lieu of much better places, which I ascribe to her influence as a Heights resident, rightly or wrongly. The current article about La Griglia’s move is another one, if not Luby-esque.
 
Swartz is certainly spot-on about the clientele, the moneyed, the society names, the politically connected, who were the main story concerning the restaurant over the years, which was the focus of the article. But what was barely alluded to, which I thought was very important, was the design of the original restaurant, a testament to La Grigila’s founder, Tony Vallone.
 
Tony Vallone had an excellent sense of style and design. I don’t believe that he received enough credit for that, and it extended to all of his restaurants, at least from the 1980s on. Grotto featured a sprawling, fun and often bawdy, well-rendered mural adorning the walls and columns featuring Naples-inspired figures street scenes and those from the Italian commedia dell’arte that was part of the draw of the restaurant. La Grigila was maybe even more attractive, with its seaside motif, if just slightly more restrained in the content of its décor. But both gorgeous and still kinetic and in a key that alluded to Italy, coastal Italy for well-heeled foreign vacationers. That beautiful design was actually replicated quite closely, at least for a short time in Dallas in the 1990s, as Joey’s, opened for Vallone’s wayward son. The second act of Anthony’s, coming after Grotto and La Griglia was completely different, but strikingly handsome. The latest incarnation of Tony’s, which opened in 2005, has an intriguing modern setting, light but sumptuous, punctuated with dramatic late-century works by Robert Rauschenberg and Jesus Moroles.

The Landry’s restaurants, and all of Tillman Fertitta’s properties, lack that sense of style and design that Vallone possessed. It is immediate obvious with the new location of La Griglia, housed in the space that was another, very popular Italian-American restaurant, Nino’s, for several decades (which is strangely not mentioned in the article; and neither is the clear star of that new development, the terrific Katami, from top chef Manabu Horiuchi, steps from La Griglia). I’ve walked through the new La Griglia and it’s attractive; white tablecloths throughout, and a neat patio with a separate small bar, all highlighted with pandering photographs of Italian movie icons and scenes. But it seems like a chain restaurant, which it essentially is. It’s lacking personality that both its previous location and the previous tenant had.

You probably don’t want to visit for the food, either. I never really went to La Griglia or Grotto after those became Landry properties. The items were certainly not as well-prepared nor as interesting as when those were Vallone-run. What was one of Esquire’s best new restaurants in the country when it opened in 1991 – as were Vallone siblings Grotto and Anthony’s in other years – was an afterthought for most discriminating diners after Landry’s took over. As if stuck in amber, the menus even do not seem to have changed that much from that time, over two decades ago, and appear quite similar at the new La Griglia address, too, if pricier. There is still no reason to visit La Griglia, unless you were a cosseted regular, I guess.

Maybe it is better now, but why bother there are much better Italian restaurants to be found in Houston. Alba, Amalfi, Bari, Da Marco, Tavola, Potente, and, yes, Tony’s, too, to just name a few. And a few additional suggestions.

The dining room at La Grigila, as it was for over three decades.

From the first edition of my guidebook Houston Dining on the Cheap that was published in 2001 about the green salsa at Taqueria Arandas:
 
Not insignificantly, the green salsa, offered complimentary with chips, is quite possibly the best salsa in town. A purée of chiles of a thick consistency, it is both very spicy while remaining very tangy and savory. It seems to complement every dish offered. Unfortunately, not all of the locations have this salsa. The Highway 6 and N. Gessner locations do. 
 
That green salsa eventually spread to the other locations of Taqueria Arandas where it have been a tabletop staple for years. It’s also been copied or attempted to have been copied at a number of other Mexican restaurants in town though never with quite the result.
 
I love that viscous green stuff in a squeeze bottle at Taqueria Arandas, on chips, on almost anything I order there, though it’s been sometimes hotter, sometimes tastier; if not entirely consistently made, I find it always at least enjoyable, and it’s a significant part of the attraction of the restaurants. Certainly rooted in Mexico, I don’t know if it comes from the town of Arandas in Jalisco, at least I didn’t notice it at the restaurant we ate there many years ago. It doesn’t really matter; it’s here, thankfully.
 
Given my infatuation with it, I’ve tried to make it at home a couple of times, from a couple of different recipes cajoled on a couple of different occasions from waitresses there. Briefly sauteed serranos, whole except for the stems, garlic, and some white onion that is then pureed with lime juice is the closest I’ve come.
 
It’s yet another example of my palate being more demanding than my cooking skills and I likely have to be satisfied with trip to the restaurants.
 
Taqueria Arandas
Multiple locations throughout the Houston area
taqueriasarandas.com

Some truth in advertising: mural at Taqueria Arandas on N. Shepherd

The year that’s been, 2023, has been a terrific one for new restaurants, probably the best since I’ve been actively following the Houston dining scene. As I’ve done in the past, the intent for this effort was to devise a list of the ten best restaurants to open in Houston during the year. But the shear number of high-quality restaurants to open here in recent months, rather than editorial slackness, made me to include a bakers dozen. It’s been a fun time to visit new restaurants here, even if the trend has been toward ever higher tabs. Many of the top newcomers will engender a hefty bill, if almost always worth it. Truffles, caviar, foie gras, cold-water lobster, A5 wagyu beef, sushi with fish sourced from Japan, a deep wine list, an overly stocked bar, and inspired design and the contractors to make that happen need to be paid for, after all. A fair number of Houstonians can afford these delights, though, and it shows with the oft-difficult reservations.
 
My list skews toward the more expensive, as these were clearly the best of the new restaurants this year.
 
In addition to the greater expense, other notable trends were appealing new French- and Italian-themed eateries, including ones with kitchens manned by actual Frenchmen and Italians; the number of enticing stops for sushi grew; and beautiful build-outs were displayed in newcomers like Annabelle, Andiron, Bari, Cocody, Eau Tour, Katami and Tavola. Bennie Chows, I’m not so sure about. Underbelly Hospitality, that grew from Chris Shepherd’s Underbelly, was net up one restaurant. Comalito, featuring Mexico City tacos and its brethren, shows promise after a rocky opening. But the group, which was once the city’s most exciting restaurant purveyor, lost another acclaimed chef – and another alum started receiving acclaim elsewhere –  and it became a much better bet for its more casual concepts, those tacos along with burgers.
 
The Berg Hospitality Group, an early local adopter of the grating credit card surcharge, added three wildly different, if each wildly expensively constructed concepts: Chinese, French and Italian. Two of which were among the best new restaurants to open here. The third, the French brasserie Annabelle, if suffering from some execution issues early on, is among the most fetchingly designed dining spaces in the area. The Azuma Group also had a noteworthy year, successfully transforming the Japanese Izakya into the Gulf Coast-centric Josephine’s then opening the city’s grandest stage for sushi, Katami. It’s been a fun year.
 
Listed alphabetically.
 
Andiron – Steak – Entrées: $39 to $150, $84 average – Yes, Houston does need another expense account steakhouse when it is something as striking, distinctive and proficient as this opulent effort from the folks at The Pit Room, Candente and, formerly, the excellent seafooder 1751. Featuring steaks and more cooked over a post oak-fired grill rather than the typical steakhouse broiler, the USDA Prime offerings, with just a scent of smoke and lower temps of the grill, taste just a little different. In a welcome way. Even with some turmoil in the kitchen as the initial executive chef departed early on, it’s recently settled on Michael O’Connor, longtime head of the kitchen at Vic & Anthony’s, the best of the Landry’s restaurants. The menu now features the standard quartet of cuts plus a steak au poivre, A5 wagyu cooked on a robata, and a recognizable array of steakhouse sides and accompaniments done a little uniquely. The expansive wine list encompassing both the Old and New World is an enophile’s dream, a wealthy enophile’s dream. The cocktail program is just as serious. Set just off Waugh near the AIG tower and Stages Theater in an older single story Spanish and Mediterranean-influenced building, it’s part of a River Oaks-adjacent nexus of excellent, pricy newcomers including Auden, Cocody and Katami. “Handsome” or “gorgeous” might be the first word many would use to describe the main interior that seats 110 including a bar area, done in browns, blacks and green. This is Houston’s most attractive steakhouse. And the most interesting.  Montrose
 
Auden – New American – Entrées: $20 to $40, $27 average – Announced in late 2021, husband and wife Chefs Kirthan and Kripa Shenoy – savory and sweets, respectively – finally opened Auden around Halloween this year. The sleek, modern restaurant in the new multi-use Autry Park development was well worth the wait, as it impressed right from the get-go, from the cocktails to the smart, short list of wines with friendly prices and mostly the kitchen. Kirthan, from Sugar Land, and Kripa, from Goa, both worked at the Michelin-starred Italian seafood Marea and Ligurian-inflected Ai Fiori from renowned chef Michael White in Manhattan. That top restaurant background shows strongly, even if there is not much among the offerings that are truly Italian. Nor Indian, either. The twenty savory plates, both smaller and more substantial, are mixed on the menu encouraging sharing or a progressive-type dinner. Fried oysters with trout roe and Fresno chiles, a Parisian-style seared gnocchi with Calabrian chiles and spinach in a rosemary beurre blanc, red snapper in a chicken broth are few of the well-executed winners. The nearly globe-spanning influences shown with preparations scallion pancakes with cultured buttered and chile-spiced agrodolce, and Gulf shrimp given Japanese and Thai ingredients, spicy and cooling, will resonate in a ready Houston market, as will the interplay of lower-key and luxe. Hamburgers share printed space with caviar and shaved Perigord truffles. Do save room for desert with the rich Le Choclat featuring milk and dark chocolates, Bomboni with blackberry sugar, or a neat take on that Houston favorite, tres leches.  River Oaks
 
Bari – Italian – Entrées: $24 to $60, $39 average – Opened in May 2023 with seasoned chef Renato De Pirro, a native of the Maremma in Tuscany, at the helm, this serves delicious pan-Italian cooking that tastes like Italy – likely no other local restaurant imports as much of its product from the home country – in an striking upscale trattoria-like setting with a soaring ceiling and sprawling sidewalk patio space that fits in perfectly with its high-dollar neighbors. The menu features recognizable favorites like Insalata Caprese, fritto misto, pappardelle Bolognese, spaghetti with clams, and veal scaloppine with lemon that are executed with excellent ingredients and more skill, understanding and flair than most places. A seafood tower, East Coast oysters on the half shell, and the now-days necessary caviar and truffle menu items – and tartufo bianco from Alba when in season – can help make this an overly indulgent lunch or dinner. The enticing, Italian-focused wine list has the well-known labels Gaja, Solaia, Tignanello and Ornellaia, but about a dozen nicely chosen ones by the glass for $15 and less and many selections under $75 – like a bottle of Rosso di Montalcino from star producer Casanova di Neri and a Pinot Grigio but from the Collio. Bari is both a restaurant for special occasions and one to be frequented regularly without tiring of it, especially for those who can shop frequently at the stores outside its doors.  River Oaks District
 
Bennie Chows – Chinese – Entrées: $18 to $115, $51 average – Cheeky, a bit garish in design, but with seriously good and fun food, if seriously pricey, and certainly overpriced in spots, e.g. $28 for vegetable fried rice, this is nonetheless a nifty, eclectic addition to our diverse dining landscape. From Berg Hospitality, this continuously expanding concern has, for the first time, hired an acclaimed chef, Shirong Mei, who began his cooking career in Hong Kong and delighted local diners at Yauatcha, the upscale dim sum spot in the Galleria a few years ago. Having an excellent chef really shows. Though maybe not fully the expected “American Chinese” its site proclaims, the fare is mostly Cantonese- and Szechuan-inspired dishes along with Peking Duck and the now locally must-have soup dumplings that hale from Shanghai. There is a version of General Tso’s Chicken and Orange Beef, too, but the “American” comes in more so with the inspired, rich restaurant-ready preparations like foie gras rolls, uni-laden siu mai, egg drop soup topped with Parmigiano Reggiano, and a couple with barbecued beef brisket from nearby Truth BBQ. A fun way to start is with a Smoked Brisket Egg Roll featuring Truth’s brisket, or the Szechuan Hot and Sour Soup, just a cup for $18, which is probably the most layered and flavorful version in Houston. It is oddly, if delightfully, garnished with a nicely grilled shrimp on a wooden skewer. Reflecting the ethnicities of most of the clientele – my Chinese co-workers were quick to decline a suggestion for lunch after seeing the prices – chopsticks are used less frequently than at about any Chinese restaurant in the area outside of those sad all-you-can-eat buffets serving low-budget local Gargantuas and Pantagruels. But they are very nice chopsticks as is everything here.  Sixth Ward
 
Cocody – New American – Entrées: $29 to $96, $53 average – The first thing to impress is the dramatic light-filled décor: the spacious dining area filled with thin crystal chandeliers dangling down and plush mauve- and cream-colored chairs and bangquettes along with the many-seated oval bar near the entrance, home to inspired cocktails and the playful lollys. Along with the elegant patio, the setting is a perfect complement to an increasingly upscale stretch of West Gray. But owners Edith and Edwin Bosso, whose roots in Côte d'Ivoire give the restaurant’s name, Cocody, provided chef David Denis and team an equally impressive work space that can be just glanced at from many tables: a roomy, state-of-the-art, and nearly fully stainless steel kitchen with the latest induction stovetops. It’s a serious kitchen and the restaurant is much more than a pretty destination, and featuring a stellar staff. Along with Denis, there is co-executive chef Lionel Debon with several Michelin-starred stops in his background including the famed La Pyramide in Vienne and recently at the excellent Alba here. Denis is quick to say that the offerings are not French, and global flavors and ingredients are found, but the French technique and sensibility are felt and seen in the dishes. A cod filet with jumbo lump crab meat in a beurre blanc emulsion and the Roasted Lamb Saddle Cut in a butter-garlic au jus are two entrées the kitchen is quick to tout. For the wine, brother Sylvain Denis constructed largely French list that should fit any mood, featuring enough fruit-forward Californian offerings for those not in tune with the Old World. And any meal should finish with a dessert – a visit might be a splurge, after all – rich, exquisitely rendered and certainly jibing with the sumptuous surroundings.  River Oaks
 
Elro – Pizza / American – Entrées: $18 to $23, $22 average – This, “a neighborhood pizzeria and crudo bar located in a bungalow house at the confluence of the Montrose and Midtown neighborhoods,” might seem like an odd thing, but unpretentious Elro makes splendid sense. This is largely because its headed Terrance Gallivan, who was one of the principals at the acclaimed Pass & Provisions once nearby – in the space now housing Bludorn – that turned out some good pizzas among its many adept preparations. The pizzas here are different than what I remember from Provisions, but superb. It begins with the crust, which are puffy, with a slightly raised crown at its edges and a bottom that is nicely charred; light and flavorful throughout, with a welcome fresh taste that is delicious to the last bite, In a big city with a deficit of quality pizzerias, the terrific pizzas are a start and a draw for many, but this, a smart, comfy place will appeal to frequent diners even when not in the mood for pizza. The cooling crudos are mostly seafood including East Coast oysters on the half-shell and four appealing and unique combinations: tuna with pistachio and some ‘nduja spice; smoked kampachi with pumpkin seeds and a Japanese flavors; snapper with pickled mangos, olives and chile peppers; and the Italian mint nepitella-cured salmon with apples and hazelnut; plus a take on steak tartare, a dish that has become more commonly seen here again. There’s also a couple terrific sandwiches, fun cocktails sporting the names of Springsteen songs, and a well-chosen, mostly Italian list of wines.  Montrose
 
Eau Tour – French – Entrées: $18 to $45, $29 average – From Benjy Levitt, who delighted diners at this address for years beginning with benjy’s, this newest concept, “a new Community Bistro,” might be viewed as a comfortable, localized and capable take on the French brasserie with a self-stated emphasis on seafood and dishes from a wood-burning oven. East Coast oysters, crudo or jumbo lump crab with aioli can start and then on to other expected preparations: escargots, French onion soup, steak tartare, quiche, beef bourguignon, steak frites featuring 44 Farms strip and duck fat fries. But there’s also a butter-poached trout with smoked roe, a grilled snapper, and a pork Caesar Schnitzel that’s fitted with Little Gem lettuce, Parmesan and boquerones. The wine list is eclectic, mostly French, and with an emphasis on bubbles and reds. You should have a number of fairly decent options from which to choose, and nearly all in double-digits. There is a creative “heavy pour” cocktail program to get you in the proper evening mood at this second-floor setting above Levitt’s Local Foods. It’s charming, with a whimsical contemporary décor, and quaint, just sixty seats in booths and banquettes along with nearly a dozen at the bar. This is a very welcome addition for the surrounding, well-heeled neighborhoods.  Rice Village
 
Josephine’s – Gulf Coast Seafood – Entrées: $19 to $45, $29 average – Replacing Izakaya, the Azuma Group did something non-Japanese, the locally familiar Gulf Coast cuisine but with accents further east to Mississippi, the home of state of chef Lucas McKinney, an Underbelly Hospitality alumnus. Casual and playful in spirit – the “Snacks” section lists ten items – but serious in execution, even with those more informal items like po boys and red beans and rice. The former, graced with the parbaked Leidenheimer rolls, crustier and in better shape than most places, are nearly spot on, if a little small. The oyster service is quite adept, even sourcing surprisingly flavorful oysters from Galveston Bay. The Smoked Redfish Dip featuring chucks of farm-raised redfish and a lemon remoulade is fun way for the table to start as are the moist, crisp and locally peerless hushpuppies served along a piquant pickled jalapeño tartar sauce. The handful of bigger plates include a grilled redfish on the half-shell, fried chicken and dumplings, and snapper collars with a Jamaican jerk rub. With a lengthy bar, Josephine’s has an enthusiastic cocktail program. The tiny list of wines leans hipster and obscure, and can use some work, but there are bottlings from Weszeli and Raventos among the more widely pleasing offerings. The interior is brighter than it’s predecessor and seems to add to the intended atmosphere. Service is friendly, and this is an inviting place to augment to Houston’s broad dining landscape.  Midtown
 
Jun – Southeast Asian – Entrées: $17 to $53, $31 average – An attractive and early 2023 entrant on 20th Street in the Heights, this builds on the success of Kin that charmed diners in the Politan Row food hall in the Village before the pandemic and Chef Evelyn Garcia’s star turn in the locally set “Top Chef” season in 2022. Plates here are meant for sharing and are divided among snacks, raw, vegetables, and proteins, plus desserts. Gulf shrimp aguachile; sweet potato lebneh; beef tartare in croute with its classic egg yolk accompaniment but also toasted rice and a sesame buñuelo; lamb curry with pickled daikon and pistachios; and a whole fish with guajillo chiles, red onions and charred limes are some of the inspired combinations that trek between Asia and Mexico and elsewhere. To accompany, it’s just beer, wine and wine- and sake-based cocktails, and ordering a bottle of wine has been the best bet.  Heights
 
Katami – Japanese – Entrées: $29 to $260, $105 average – Chef Manabu Horiuchi, Hori, of Kata Robata acclaim is one of the very best toques in Houston regardless of cuisine, and the enchanting, grand new space that opened in October, long home of the Italian-American Vincent’s, is a fitting setting to shine even more. Imbued with a Japanese design ethos, this “sushi, wagyu and sake-focused restaurant” features clean lines, blond woods interspersed with black, a separate ebony colored bar and over 180 seats along with a few dozen more in a somehow tranquil patio near busy W. Dallas. But it’s the food that’s the star. With the most wide-ranging regular selection of nigiri and sashimi around, it includes a number of items flow in regularly from Japan, all fashioned and served in optimal fashion. Hori has some fun with the makimono, the rolls, like the Southern Smoke Roll with fatty tuna belly, uni, caviar, shiso, wasabi and soy sauce, or the less opulent Texas Hamachi Roll filled with fried shrimp, spicy tuna and yellowtail with yuzu juice and topped with slices of fresh jalapeño. And others such as the Foie Gras PBJ Milk Bread. The lengthy menu has much more than sushi, with plenty of hot preparations including A5 beef from two different prefectures and two types of cooking methods. It might be overwhelming, but you can make it easier by ordering the sashimi or two or chirashi, sashimi over rice, or the kitchen’s choice of ten pieces of nigiri. It seems like it’s tough to go wrong here, and the plentiful staff will be sure to explain and encourage exploration, which can cost.  Montrose
 
Little’s Oyster Bar – Seafood – Entrées: $33 to $69, $48 average – Pappas Restaurants did something it’s never done before with this spring newcomer, hire a top chef to head one of its kitchens, when it enticed Jason Ryczek who had been the executive chef for several years at Farallon, one of San Francisco’s leading seafood restaurants, to move here. Bringing a fresh and seasoned perspective to the space that housed popular Little Pappas Seafood House for over three decades, it now boasts one of the very best seafood restaurants in the entire Gulf Coast. Possibly the city’s top raw bar does expert duty with oysters including an actually enticing cocktail sauce made with a pomegranate molasses that offsets its dull mignonette companion. Cold platters large and small include a deconstructed Crab Louie with delectable plump pieces of lump blue crab meat. And Ryczek’s past with caviar ensures its service might be the most impressive in town if you can indulge in that luxury and skyrocketing the bill at already expensive spot. A star among the warm preparations is the Texas Redfish served skin-on with an Italianesque salsa verde featuring Castelveltrano olives. Another is the chicken fried snapper with a tangy sauce ravigote. Resolutely a seafood restaurant – and a destination-worthy one at that – but a pricey Prime dry-aged steak or a white truffle risotto, or even some of the compelling vegetable sides, might satisfy those in the group who desist from the ocean’s charms. Wine offerings reach to the deep Pappas’ cellars for a list that is rather unusual, lengthy, and heavy on Champagne and Burgundy. The wait staff is trademark Pappas attentive, accommodating and forthright. Start with a cocktail, something chilled, and about anything else to continue, probably getting some help with the wine, and it be tough not to be impressed here.  Montrose
 
PS-21 – French – Entrées: $24 to $56, $35 average – A self-described “unassuming Frenchie Restaurant and Bar” is a comfortable and friendly, if somewhat dark, contemporary bistro from local favorite Philippe Schmit, and well-suited to the Upper Kirby District. Quite inviting for lunch – and when the tiny parking will have a space sans valets – with more casual offerings including well-done quiches, croque monsieur, salade Nicoise and moules frites. Those fries; properly crisp and lightly salted, are some of the best around, especially when paired with house-made mayonnaise or bearnaise. Meats, fish, and butter- and cream-laden sauces help make for a more robust dinner. Even more so when choosing steak tartare Rossini, foie gras terrine, a Duck Breast Wellington, or a 10-ounce entrecote with a decadently delightful seared foie gras topping. There is a short, smart, and nicely all-French wine list that’s aided with sage suggestions from the staff. And fun cocktails with a strong French or French colonial accent can help start the fun here.  Upper Kirby District
 
Tavola – Italian – Entrées: $24 to $68, $41 average – The third new restaurant from Berg Hospitality, only opening in December, is easily its most Italian, and easily its best Italian-themed effort – the others have been quite easy to overlook. This time it partnered with the Bastion Group of local Le Jardinier to bring the seasoned Luca di Benedetto, the former head corporate chef of the 20-restaurant Giorgio Armani Group, from Milan to lead the kitchen. And the result is truly Italian and well-executed, comforting and upscale pan-Italian trattoria-like fare. You get a sense of its sure-handedness soon after sitting with a surprisingly enticing amuse bouche of marinated, pitted and herbed, plump Castelveltrano olives served with biscuit-like taralli. Then the menu is approachable and easily discernible with items Caesar salad, fritto misto, spaghetti with clams, house-made pappardelle with Texas wild boar, tagliatelle with black truffle, chicken cacciatore, and tagliata with Prime New York strip. You might consider starting with a crudo or tuna tartare – taking advantage of the chef’s time at Nobu Milano – and then seven-layer Bolognese lasagna or one of Milan’s specialties, the osso buco ragu-laden Risotto Milanese or plate-sized Veal Milanese. Desserts are not an afterthought with cantucci made in house and a decadent cannoli for two, and paired with vin santo or an amaro or more. The setting and service – prices, too – are befitting a top ristorante, both elegant and inviting; an excellent fit to gleaming surrounding Post Oak towers and of the multitude of gleaming passing and nearby-parked vehicles originating from Stuttgart, Munich, and even Modena.  Galleria Area

The dramatically presented Beef Rib Au Poivre at Andiron

Was off the other day and suggested to a buddy, who also enjoys nice meals, about meeting for lunch at Tony’s, as we had done in the past. And it as enjoyable as before and still a value. Yes, lunch at Tony’s can be a very good value. Not really so if you “make it rain” those precious Alba white truffles in season now over a plate of fresh pasta.
 
Tony’s offers what is called the Greenway Express, three distinct courses which currently consists of a choice of soup of the day or salad – currently, a jump on the seasons with the Primavera Salad, roasted grapes, baby arugula, Tomino cheese, and pecan – to start. The main for it is one among a sandwich featuring Chilean salmon and Green Goddess dressing, a Roast Hen Salad flavored with honey mustard, and silky cappelletti filled with short rib, and topped with crisp garlic chips and gratings of tangy 24-month-aged Parmigiano, then a choice from a couple desserts. For a value lunch, there’s also a burger with 44 Farms beef and fries featuring its best partner, Kennebec potatoes, for $21 – and that cheekily comes with a Coke, too – plus a club sandwich and house-made chips for $15. And all this comes with a setting and level of service much beyond nearly all local restaurants.
 
I opted for the soup, stuffed pasta and Toasted Coconut Roulade to finish. The day’s roasted tomato soup accented with a dollop of Pugliese burrata, was a flavorful first course. Not cream-laden but substantial enough, with more complexity and pronounced notes of tomatoes than typical with the tomato soups. I sopped up the last drop ot it with some of the trio of terrific house-made breads that day: focaccia; sourdough and cranberry-studded. These were probably the highlight of the meal for me, and reminder that high-quality bread service has been a hallmark of Vallone restaurants for decades. The attractively presented pasta – a focus of Executive Chef Kate McLean’s kitchen – was very well-made, thin, and nicely complementing the tender strands of beef inside and then crunchy bits of garlic atop. More bread for a scarpetta, scarpette, was necessary, of course, to clean off the plate. The fetching-looking and fancifully named Toasted Coconut Roulade, caramelized pineapple with a small scoop of cream gelato was a nice, sweetish coda to the lunch that was much better, much more relaxed and cosseted, civilized, than usual.
 
Relaxed. I’ve found that Tony’s during lunch can be especially inviting and not stuffy, as I’ve felt there in years past. Service is quite friendly, even familiar in a good way, gracious and among the most attentive and polished in the city. That includes the wine service, which is excellent, even for those not wanting to spend a lot of money. There’s a list of at least seventy-five wines priced $75 and under. The wine director helped steer us toward a 2019 Morgon from Laurent Perrachon for $50 that did admirable duty with the richer dishes.
 
When it comes to a longer lunch, remember Tony’s, even if your not one of the ladies who lunch. Along with another table, we seemed to be about the only ones there that weren’t that day, but we were treated to views of a couple festively expansive hats, something you won’t see about many other restaurants these days.
 
Tony’s
3755 Richmond (at Timmons) 77046, (713) 622-6778
tonyshouston.com

Known for its pizza and crudo, the restaurant’s subtitle, the newish Elro at a Montrose-Midtown juncture is also a great stop for a sandwich. There’s just one, The Hoagie, that’s listed in the “Starters” section of its small menu.
 
It’s a version of the familiar Italian-American sandwich, inspired by ones that proprietor Terrence Gallivan grew up with south of Washington, DC. But it’s made with much better ingredients and culinary sense than you’ll find with any chain sub shop offering. The Hoagie arrives wrapped in restaurant-branded paper, cut in half and served on a small plate. It’s quality mortadella, hot coppa – spicy, dried, cured capocollo – slices of provolone, a bit of mayonnaise and pickled vegetable giardinera, with its liquid seeping into the fresh and terrific house-made roll that’s densely topped with plentiful sesame seeds, which are much more for adornment and adding to the overall taste of the sandwich. A bit of a mess, as the fillings extend past the limits of the nearly-sliced-through-roll and with the giardinera juice, but delicious. The wrapping is a necessity in addition to making for a cool presentation.
 
No fries. No chips. No matter. Served solo, it can make for a near-perfect workaday lunch. The Hoagie arrives in two parts, perfect for sharing and as a part of a dinner with other items. Maybe not cheap at $18, it’s certainly worth it.
 
Elro
2405 Genesee (at Fairview), 77006
elrohtx.com

There actually are some very good Italian restaurants to be found in Houston. These varyingly serve Italian, American-Italian, and the familiar red sauce-heavy Italian-American fare, descriptions that hopefully help explain three broad types of Italian-themed restaurants found here.
 
Restaurants that might be called Italian, I believe, try to mimic how food is prepared in Italy, or in very capable and knowing hands express the ethos of Italy, and made with Italian products when necessary. The chef or proprietor is almost always from Italy or has worked there. They know Italy and aim to serve dishes as Italian as possible, as possible as the customers and budget allow. Italian food varies tremendously by locale and region, maybe more so than other cuisines. Trattoria menus in Siena will look entirely different than one in Palermo or Verona, for example. Here, Italian restaurants rarely try to have a regional or local focus, but will usually have a menu of appealing and somewhat familiar items from around that country.
 
For me, American-Italian restaurants use contemporary ideas and products from Italy, but the food is, generally, noticeably different than it is in Italy. It is an Americanized Italian take, done in an enticing fashion. These places are often from an experienced chef who puts their spin on Italian dishes, or a notion of Italian dishes, and might use the Italian cooking philosophy as an inspiration. There is always pasta made in house; showing off kitchen skills and providing a canvas for creativity. The quality of ingredients is usually high, and sometimes expensive. Italian descriptions are often used to signify an understanding.
 
Italian-American cooking is distinct enough for those restaurants to have its own post.
 
The entrée ranges and averages shown do not include items with the increasingly popular seasonal fresh truffles or caviar service, both of which are seen at all of the pricier of these restaurants, and can add a fair amount to the final tab.
 
Below are the best dozen Italian restaurants in Houston listed in order of preference.
 
Alba – Entrées: $25 to $68, $41 average – The successor to Ristorante Cavour in the upscale Hotel Granduca is still led by the estimable Maurizio Ferrarese, and is the best Italian restaurant in Houston. The cooking is rooted in northwestern Italy, if ranging beyond the rich cuisine of its namesake Alba and the Langhe, the land of Barolo and white truffles, though there is agnolotti del plin and with shaved truffle. Ferrarese has the sensibility and creativity of a modern, top chef, but also does a wonderful job with more traditional fresh pasta preparations and no one here is better with risottos, as you might expect of a native of Vercelli, Europe's rice capital, made typically with the aged Acquerello rice. Secondos, meat and seafood, also shine. The setting is comfortable, attractive and usually staid and quiet. Also in the hotel is Giorgio’s, a more casual but quite adept, lightly trafficked option that shares a kitchen and chef with Alba that also shines with a large number of items including a sous vide octopus salad and butternut squash ravioli. Uptown Park
 
Amalfi – Entrées: $23 to $79, $40 average – Focusing largely on the cuisine of his home region in southern Italy, Salerno native Chef Giancarlo Ferrara produces dishes in this bright strip-center locale that are generally familiar but lighter and more vibrant that what you will typically find here. There are preparations with the house-made strands of scialatelli, tubes of paccheri and another pasta flavored with the colatura, the beguiling fish sauce from the Amalfi coast, among the Campanian coastal specialties. The wood-burning is put into good effect; the whole fish encrusted in rock salt and pizzas are specialties, too, serving some of the city’s best Neapolitan-style pies, which can work very well as a starter or a lunch. Save room for desserts, if possible. The dessert menu is lengthier than most and includes Pasticceria Amalfi, a delectable selection of mini Italian pastries, and a fun, Baked Alaska. Briargrove
 
Bari – Entrées: $24 to $60, $39 average – Opened in May 2023 with seasoned chef Renato De Pirro, a native of Tuscany, at the helm, this serves delicious pan-Italian cooking that tastes like Italy – likely no other local restaurant imports as much of its product from the home country – in an striking upscale trattoria-like setting with a soaring ceiling and sprawling sidewalk patio space that fits in perfectly with its high-dollar neighbors. The menu features recognizable favorites like Insalata Caprese, fritto misto, pappardelle Bolognese, spaghetti with clams, and veal scaloppine with lemon that are executed with excellent ingredients and more skill, understanding and flair than most places. A seafood tower, East Coast oysters on the half shell, and the now-days necessary caviar and truffle menu items – and tartufo bianco from namesake Alba when in season – can help make this a luxe lunch or dinner. The enticing, Italian-focused wine list has the well-known labels Gaja, Solaia, Tignanello and Ornellaia, but about a dozen nicely chosen ones by the glass for $15 and less and many selections under $75 – like a bottle of Rosso di Montalcino from star producer Casanova di Neri and a Pinot Grigio but from the Collio. Bari is both a restaurant for special occasions and one to be frequented regularly without tiring of it, especially for those who can shop often at the stores outside its doors. River Oaks District
 
Da Marco – Entrées: $24 to $75, $47 average – Intimately set in a small house with gated parking on Westheimer, Marco Wiles’s Da Marco has long served excellent fare that represents the best of many of the northern Italian regions. Da Marco is much like a very proficient, upscale trattoria whose cooking is not tethered to a particular locale. True to form, here you are expected to dine in the Italian fashion with antipasti, a first course, a meat or fish entrée, and separate sides. The fish on ice that greet you upon entrance is one of Da Marco’s highlights, but it’s all done quite well here and this has been among the best restaurants in the city for years. Along with the food, the wine list is strictly Italian, and pricey, pricier than most. Noticeably attentive service does come with the lofty prices, though. Back in 2006, Gourmet named among the top 50 restaurants (number 29) in the country and the restaurant might be better these days; there’s much more competition. Montrose
 
Tony’s – Entrées: $26 to $105, $55 average – As its website touts, fairly accurately, “Tony's presents fine dining Italian inspired by Naples, influenced by Milan and Cherished in Houston.” The pan-Italian sensibilities expressed here seek to present the best of Italy, the best of prosperous, gourmet Italy, at that, usually infused with a rich American exuberance. Namesake and legendary local restaurateur Tony Vallone passed away in September 2020, but his widow carries on very well with Kate McLean leading the kitchen for the second time, and Tony's seems more approachable and more Italian than ever. Excellent ingredients have long been the hallmark here, and that includes seasonal, fresh truffles whose aroma can pervade the dining room. Flavorful, thin, freshly made pastas – which nicely all come in first or main course size – tender Provimi veal and impeccable seafood are just some of the attractions, not to mention the excellent service, broad wine selection and gracious, modern setting punctuated with dramatic works by Rauschenberg and Jesus Moroles. There’s maybe more attention paid to caviar here than most top restaurants in case you need the tab to reach toward four digits. The wide-ranging wine list is excellent, as its been for decades, with more older vintages and many of bold-faced French names, but also many nice bottles for $75 and under. Greenway Plaza
 
Potente – Entrées: $39 to $99, $61 average – Serving American-Italian fare with a luxurious bent, this spot across from the ballpark – and sharing an owner with the perennially contending ‘Stros – has a top chef at the helm, Danny Trace formerly at Commander's Palace then the head of hometown Brennan's. It uses approachable preparations inspired from Italy with excellent ingredients to a satiating and robustly flavored, if quite expensive result. The cheapest pasta preparation is $42, for example. Authenticity is not part of the equation nor appeal here, and the preparations reflect a decadent, ingredient-heavy New Orleans heritage. Veal braised in Amarone with locally sourced mushrooms and served with a contrasting white polenta and a beetroot agrodolce, and agnolotti filled with lump crab meat, artichoke, melted leeks, bright beets and limoncello are just a couple. The wine list is lengthy, with plenty of enticements from Italy, France and California for those on expense account, but also nicely selected to appeal to most wine lovers with affordable bottles from excellent producers like Produttori di Barberesco, Pieropan, and Arpepe. Downtown
 
Ostia – Entrées: $21 to $78, $34 average – Another American-Italian, and fitting in very well in the heart of Montrose. Owner Travis McShane parlays his years with top Manhattan toque, Jonathon Waxman and his well-regarded Barbuto, to serve vibrant, well-executed and very satisfying fare from an edited array of salads, pastas, the famed roasted chicken, and other proteins that evokes a lighter, Californian-Italian tenor. It's also worthy of a visit solely for the pizzas, even one with kale, and just at lunch. Each version feature a properly enjoyable, fairly flavorful soft crust with ingredients that are noticeably higher quality and so tastier than usual. The setting is handsome, casual and inviting with an open kitchen and a pleasant patio. Montrose
 
Rosie Canonball – Entrées: $18 to $60, $31 average – Italian preparations including well-done fresh pastas and pizzas plus a few dishes ranging to other southern European spots. The second of several concepts, three currently serving food, to open in a very smart, quaint complex – acclaimed March is housed just above – this is essentially an Italian restaurant with a more than a few complementary nods to the Iberian peninsula on the short menu. There are some very well-crafted, if possibly too precious, fresh pasta preparations in the Emilian tradition, excellent pizzas, plus breads and greens and other vegetables, and a quartet of proteins including the requisite steak and seafood items. These crowd-pleasing dishes and stylish space have made it an attractive stop for lunch, business or otherwise, and a busy spot at night. The wine list is expansive and mainly Old World and fun for almost any wine lover. Montrose
 
Giacomo’s – Entrées: $15 to $35, $23 average – Lynette Hawkin’s comfortable, friendly spot near River Oaks has been easy to love since it opened in 2009. Affordably priced and featuring a big menu that includes plenty of well-rendered small plates of trattoria-style Italian dishes that often highlight Rome and Tuscany, including items like crostini with chicken livers and fine quality freshly made pastas – the best might be the tortelli di bietola, medium-sized ravioli filled with Swiss chard and soft goat cheese and topped with a sage leaves and melted butter – which are paired with a nicely assembled and extremely enticing 150-bottle or so mostly Italian wine list that has many tempting choices between $25 and $40 in a setting that is comfortable and coolly retro. Casual, welcoming, proficient and well-suited for Houston, this is a tough restaurant not to like. River Oaks
 
Poscol – Small plates: $7 to $20 – The restaurant takes its name from the name in dialect of the main thoroughfare in Udine (Via Poscolle), Wiles’ hometown in the northeastern Italian region of Friuli, can work as an all-Italian wine bar supported with enticing small plate preparations, many meant to be shared. The food has a strong northeastern Italian influence along with impeccably Italian sensibilities that have worked extremely well for Houston diners at Da Marco, not far down Westheimer. The roughly 50-item menu will be comprised of regional Italian specialties. There are risotto dishes, fresh pasta preparations, bruschette, salumi, fried items, a well-chosen selection of Italian cheeses, and seafood including shrimp and prosciutto with garlic and capers and octopus and cannellini beans. Its longtime Sunday special of porchetta, a roasted pork preparation, has even thrilled a former resident of Umbria, where the dish was born. Though a sibling of the dearly departed Dolce Vita that was a few addresses down, the pizzas here show that they miss that proper oven. Montrose
 
Davanti – Entrées: $18 to $31, $24 average – Building on the success of the counter-service Fresco on the Southwest Freeway, and the considerable publicity from an appearance on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives in 2021, Fresco was essentially replicated as Davanti this summer, in nicer digs. Higher prices, too, but this is still casual Italian done well from the kitchen of Chef Roberto Crescini who hails from near Brescia in northern Italy and cooked professionally for years in Italy before coming to Houston. The main attractions are freshly crafted pastas made with at least a substantial portion of hard wheat flour for a toothsome texture, and the ability to be shaped. And shapes there are. If one of the tasty listed options don’t interest, in user-friendly American fashion, you can choose a shape from among a wide array: bucatini, linguine, fettuccine, pappardelle, spaghetti, conchiglie, small or large rigatoni, tagliolini, fusilli, tagliatelle, casarecce, cavatappi, and gluten-free penne; then top it with one of eight sauces, and even add a choice from a few proteins to that. A ravioli preparation, pasta with the braised lamb sauce or with an all-beef ragù bolognese – this is Texas, after all – and the thick Roman-style pizza al taglio are the highlights from an enticing menu. Also, Crescini is a certified Norcino, butcher, so be on the look out for any salumi specials. Greenway Plaza
 
Perbacco – Entrées: $18 to $30, $22 average – Lower-key, featuring very approachable, familiar Southern Italian cooking geared toward local sensibilities from a longtime restaurateur from Capri, off the coast of Naples, the fare is largely lighter and better prepared than similar dishes elsewhere. It’s set in pleasantly utilitarian fashion in the ground floor of an office building, albeit Philip Johnson and team’s landmark Pennzoil Plaza, the emphasis is on enjoyable eating rather than fine dining. Maybe not a destination restaurant, but it works admirably as a downtown lunch spot and stop pre-symphony or -theater at the end of the week There are several, somewhat hearty, baked pasta dishes such as lasagna and cannelloni, and a dozen other pasta preparations like Penne della Casa with perfectly sautéed Gulf shrimp in garlic, brandy pink sauce, and house-made potato gnocchi with eggplant in a tomato sauce. Its version of the traditional, simple linguine and clams is one of the best around. There are a fair number of protein-centric entries, too – veal Marsala, and Gulf snapper sautéed in white wine, onion, fresh tomatoes, capers and basil, aptly carrying the Snapper Napoli name. Even tripletail was a recent lunchtime fish special. Entrées are served with a small salad, helping to make this an especially nice value. Downtown

Fresh pasta with fresh truffles at Bari

Ham and cheese remains one of the country’s favorite sandwiches, a mostly lunchtime creation at home, with ham usually paired with a slice of cheese. Simple to assemble from easy-to-find, and easy-to-afford ingredients, a well-done ham and cheese sandwich can be quite satisfying. The version at Common Bond is also inexpensive – just $8.99 – but likely tastier. Certainly more French, in any case.
 
Just called the Ham & Cheese, it features the jambon de Paris – the cooked ham from Paris – Gruyère, and is slathered with some Dijon-spiked butter in between a slice of a section of one of Common Bond’s excellent, crusty baguettes. Fairly straightforward and not that large, it’s quite enjoyable, with the nutty, rich and delicious Gruyère – a step up from that slice of industrial cheese used in most homes – and the bite of a bit of mustard complementing the ham. But the tasty, fresh baguette really helps make this a savory treat. You can’t have a good sandwich without good bread, and this bread is better than what you are usually using for sandwiches.
 
The Ham & Cheese can be ordered warmed or not. Warmed is the better choice, as the cheese gets melted some. Though just $8.99 at the drive-thru versions of Common Bond, the sit-down ones charge $11.50 for it, but for the additional two-and-half dollars it comes in two halves skewered with a lengthy, sturdy toothpick, not necessarily an attractive presentation, but a different one.
 
Common Bond’s ham and cheese seems to be a take on the famed Parisian Jambon Beurre sandwich, which is just the ham, butter and baguette. Europeans can seem to shy away from combining ham and cheese on sandwiches. Philippe Schmit’s newish modern bistro, PS-21, takes the same tact as Common Bond and adorns its similar sandwich with cheese, too. Ham and cheese is popular in America, rightly so.

After three full days of mourning following the sudden end to the Astros season, I’m finally able to think about something Astros-related, at least obliquely.
 
The Mucky Duck or the Duck, as McGonigel's Mucky Duck is always abbreviated, in addition to being a great place to catch live music in an intimate setting, has had a really good kitchen since its inception over three decades ago. It’s long been the best spot for pub grub in Houston, in my opinion. It begins with noticeably high quality ingredients – grass-fed Akaushi HeartBrand beef, for example – for all its preparations, both British-inspired and those more locally popular, including sandwiches. Its “number one selling sandwich,” a unique and delicious one, is The Mark Portugal. Turkey and avocado slices are topped with melted Muenster cheese and then large, thick strips of excellent bacon that is served warm on an open-faced, crusty French roll from Slow Dough.  An order comes with crisp and tasty fries and a length of a pickle, nice complements.
 
Fairly hefty and caloric, it appropriately takes the name – and was actually created under the inspired direction, I believe – of the festively plump, beer-loving former Astros starting pitcher who was a regular at the Mucky Duck while he played for the Astros for five years in the 1990s, a tenure that included an 18-win season. Not just Portugal, but a few other Astros, including a couple of future Hall of Famers, frequented the Duck back then for good beer and good food when the team played down Kirby at the Dome. And another future Hall of Famer, Dusty Baker, was seen just before the start of spring training.
 
McGonigel's Mucky Duck
2425 Norfolk (just east of Kirby), 77098, (713) 528-5999
mcgonigels.com

Though there hasn’t been anything approaching the considerable buzz about it as the sensation that is Trill Burgers, another new burger joint featuring smashed burgers, Stuffed Belly in Spring Branch from the folks at the well-regarded Blind Goat and Xin Chao restaurants, is certainly worth a visit. The small, mostly drive-thru concept sits like a box, usually with cars in its queue, in the parking lot off Long Point in front of the redone strip center that houses Blind Goat.
 
The burgers at Stuffed Belly begin with two smashed all-beef chuck patties – there’s not a single patty option – and are fitted with caramelized onions, duly melted American cheese, quality pickles, the mayo-centric house Stuffed Sauce, all in between a toasted potato bun that was pulled from a bag of Martin’s Famous Sandwich Potato Rolls. The pickles are the only thing green to be found at Stuffed Belly. The caramelized onions provide a note of differentiation to the burgers. The burgers do taste a lot like those at Trill, which are also really good, but with the slight distinction of those onions. The dull American cheese or cheese-food, as always, does not add very much, but burgers can be fitted with provolone or cheddar for an additional buck. Though that’s really the only change you might need, the burgers can be modified in a number of ways. That might be much easier to do when ordering online rather than in the drive-thru, though.
 
From two, you can go to three, four and six patties, with three slices of American cheese. The last is likely overkill, especially for the soft buns. And these are messy burgers to begin with, even messier than most.  There’s also a couple of patty melts, if you want Texas Toast instead of a potato bun.
 
Somewhat oddly, no fries here, but tater tots. But these are much better than typical, certainly much tastier than the tater tots served recently at Wild Oats, for example; even better when dipped in some of the Szechuan mayo ordered for an additional 50-cents, though there’s just some of the “la,” the heat, and no “ma,” the tingling sensation in that.
 
As a new spot, some kinks still need to be worked out. The packages of ketchup thrown into your bag are of a cheap brand, the napkins are the barely helpful cocktail napkins, and on one of my visits, the onions were not caramelized and so the burger was not quite as tasty.
 
If a burger is not in order, there is also an egg sandwich, the Tuna Crunch – tinned tuna with creamy egg, red onion, celery, crushed potato chips, crustless Texas toast – a chicken sandwich with buttermilk fried chicken, Sichuan mayo, pickles. And cookies for a sweet finish, seemingly from Pudgy’s, though some days there might only be one type.
 
Stuffed Belly
8133 Long Point (just west of Wirt), 77055, (832) 224-5422
stuffedbelly.co