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MIKE RICCETTI

Mostly food and drink...

...and mostly set in Houston

Some foods to try when visiting Houston for the World Cup and where to try them

5/19/2026

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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
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    Mike Riccetti is a longtime Houston-based food writer and former editor for Zagat, and not incidentally the author of three editions of Houston Dining on the Cheap.

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