The 10 best restaurants to open in Houston in 2021
It was an interesting year for Houston restaurant openings, a very pleasantly interesting year given the ongoing pandemic. I’ve had few thoughts and insights about it in a recent post. This one is just for the best newcomers in a crowded year for very worthwhile new eateries. My criteria is firstly and primarily the quality of the food with setting, service, beverage programs, value following. It thought that a sense of utility, usefulness is also important; a high quality restaurant that can be visited for different meals and maybe even on the spur of the moment will be a more integral, and more often enjoyable, part of my dining future and for most. Below are the top ten new restaurants to open in Houston in 2021, listed alphabetically, and described in a mostly concise if occasionally blowsy fashion.
To note, the approximate average prices for each reflect a typical dinner, which might be an appetizer, side or dessert in addition to the entrée – or a suitable number of small plates – a couple of drinks, tax and a 20% tip.
Alba – $150 – The new concept at the Hotel Granduca replacing Ristorante Cavour features an updated rich, plush, green-hued setting, but thankfully has the old chef, Maurizio Ferrarese, who might be the top Italian toque in Texas and some ways beyond. At the new Alba, the “dishes are a balance between innovation and Italian traditions,” and with a very experienced hand and a big fan of the famed Michelin three-starred Piazza Duomo in Alba in Ferrarese, it offers a very enjoyable insight into the contemporary, refined and often indulgent cuisine of the region of the Langhe that surrounds Alba, which is highlighted by Barolo, Barbaresco, and white truffles. Even the region’s signature pasta dish, on Alba’s menu, ravioli del plin, is sometimes advertised in that area with being made with forty yolks of egg, for example. Terrific with fresh pasta like this and gnocchi, there is certainly no chef that does a better job with risotto that’s on the menu a couple of times, befitting one from Vercelli not terribly far from Alba, the European capital of rice production. You are in excellent hands here. Not unexpectedly, Alba is not cheap; the four mains featuring proteins average nearly $60. Uptown Park
Concura – $110 – Another Italian, and somewhat of a regional one with an emphasis on the cooking of the Marche, from where the owners and chefs hail. This is a region in central Italy north of Rome between the Adriatic and the Apennines that is rarely visited by American tourists, but which has some of the best scenery in that beautiful country and exemplary food, both from its coast and the interior. Some of that is replicated here with versions of Coniglio in Porchetta, aggressively herbed, stuffed and roasted rabbit, and the pasta-like passatelli served with stewed mushrooms and truffles along with the region’s most famous appetizer and a great party dish, olive all‘ascolana, stuffed and deep-fried large olives. Fittingly with chefs from the seaside town of Fano, there are several compelling seafood dishes, raw, fried, in a ragù over pasta and even a cod liver foie gras appetizer plus some Tuscan preparations and a couple found over much of Italy. The wine is rather tiny if studded with stars, but oddly no Verdicchios, the region’s premier varietal. Concura is small inside with a décor that blends contemporary and rustic notes in plenty of black and dark gray with an open kitchen that feels like a newer restaurant in Italy, as does its outdoor seating along a sidewalk. Highland Village
Da Gama Canteen – $60 – “Drawing inspiration from the former Portuguese-Indian territory of Goa, Gujarat and Portugal all through our Houston lens” is how the experienced local restaurateurs (Oporto and The Queen Vic) describe the fare here, which will be mostly recognizably Indian to local diners but something a little different, and readily appealing. Appealing also applies to the quite comfortable, contemporary space scattered with tables, banquettes that feels roomy along with an attractive long bar punctuating one end and pleasant patio seating off the side. Set in the somewhat sprawling M-K-T complex at the edge of the Heights, the restaurant resides alongside a breezeway and a park that adds to the charm. Also do the presentations of dishes, belying its reasonable prices, including water served in fetching metal cups that are very appropriate for our heat- and humidity-racked climate. Well-crafted mains run from $14 to $24, meat, seafood and vegetarian. And there plenty of tempting appetizers like East Coast oysters, plus house-made breads, curries, salads, and desserts, too. Cocktails in line with the cuisine, several fun wines on tap, and an intriguing, natural-heavy wine list. It all can encourage many returns. Heights
Golfstrømmen Seafood Market – $80 – The name is quite appropriate, meaning Gulf Stream in Norwegian, as this seafood spot from a duo of acclaimed chefs, one from Norway and the other in Texas, employs products, inspirations and preparations from there and here. It begins with excellent fish and shellfish sourced nearby and the north Atlantic, the bounty of the Gulf Stream and the Gulf. In the new Post Market development in the northwestern edge of downtown, the food hall setting isn’t much, but there is usually a tempting display of seafood set on ice that can be gastronomic eye-candy that might include fish commonly seen and not like langoustines, scallops, and oysters like the delicious and different Belon (though from Maine rather than Brittany). Christopher Haatuft, from coastal Bergen who has been on site in the early days, and Paul Qui, who had the excellent Aqui on lower Westheimer, have a kitchen that highlights the high quality of their sourcing with mostly straightforward creations in ways usually familiar to locals that can be absolutely delicious. A recent open-faced sandwich featuring plenty of the slightly sweet lump Jonah crab meat with melted lightly herbed butter, a bit of mayonnaise and some welcome strands of raw onion atop a toasted, tasty sourdough loaf with a side of crisp, freshly made potato chips was one of the best things I had eaten in a while. A nice array of wines, too, to complement, that have a welcome strong French accent. Downtown (Post Market)
Ixim – $50 – The A small counter-service place with a somewhat limited menu in Bravery Chef Hall, this effort from Tim Reading, a former executive chef at Caracol, dishes excellent, vibrant, attractive preparations from the broad culinary landscape of Mexico that are among the best in the city. The dishes might be on the small side among local interpretations of the cuisine, but pack a lot of flavor. Even the taqueria morning staple, chilaquiles was rendered artfully and deliciously with some carne asada that was aided by guajillo salsa and grilled red onions. Plancha-grilled Crispy Pork Tacos drenched in a mild salsa were nearly knife-and-fork-necessary and quite an enjoyable, messy lunch. The menu changes often the Vuelve a la Vida and Aguachile de Cameron that were popular early on might no longer be available but there still is the cumin-scented fried lamb and pork meatballs with chipotle sauce that is nicely out of the ordinary and a fun, if less healthy, way to start. Downtown (Bravery Chef Hall)
J-Bar-M Barbecue – $50 – The grandest setting for barbecue in the city has the smoked meats that at least match the clean-lined, extremely handsome build-out led by its moist and deeply flavorful brisket, as it needs to be. And that is USDA Prime. It goes into what is the best chopped beef sandwich in the city. That’s largely because it is not really chopped, rather mostly sliced, but, no matter, it’s delicious, helped by an excellent soft fresh bun. Pork ribs, pulled pork and turkey are the other meats, and the kitchen puts out a greater array of sides than any other barbecue joint around, including hand-cut fries and some fun desserts not seen at similar spots. The brisket alone warrants a visit, but the big well-stocked bars inside and out and the great picnic area with views to the downtown skyline a few blocks to the east might entice when you might not need to eat. EaDo
Le Jardinier – $135 – The new fine-dining star of the new, grand addition to the Museum of Fine Arts complex, the Kinder Building, this also succeeds grandly serving fairly ambitious modern French restaurant fare that largely substitutes many non-Gallic influences for the tradition extending from Escoffier through Bocuse. The results are interesting, intelligently composed and artfully constructed while being delectable, most importantly, from the amuse-bouche through dessert. Maybe not cutting-edge – foams are frequent, not entirely au courant while working very well at a meal this summer, for example – but this is still something new for Houston. The wine list is expansive, heavily French-laden and very food-friendly. A branch of a restaurant group with places in Miami and New York, which carries a Michelin star, along with La Table in the Galleria area, this place exudes professional competence and in an inviting way that makes a visit a real joy. The comfortably modern dining room looks out to the Isamu Noguchi-designed Cullen Sculpture Garden – always way too much concrete for my tastes – that does allow a gaze at a dramatic Rodin while dining, an additional pleasure not found elsewhere in town. Museum District (MFAH, Kinder Building)
March – $315 / $560 – Though it had a brief initial run in 2020, it truly opened this year, this is the best of breed of the quartet of pricey set-menu-only restaurants that came on the scene in 2021. The most ambitious offering in the Goodnight Hospitality Group (Rosie Cannonball, Montrose Cheese & Wine), and one of the most ambitious around, March is staffed by a very capable and broadly experienced team led by executive chef Felipe Riccio that can pull off Michelin-starred-quality creations inspired by top restaurants around the Mediterranean. It’s only dinner here in six- and nine-course meals that begins with snacks of the fanciest kinds and drinks in the lounge area. A seafood escabeche cooked in piquant harissa sofrito and aided with Jamón Ibérico, and blood sausage paté with black currants are a couple of the current items. The food is exquisitely rendered and served in a nicely understated setting along with informed and attentive service to make this one of the premier dining experiences in the city. One of the two wine pairings might be the easiest way to proceed but if you want to use the wine list you will be rewarded: eighty pages put together by Master Sommelier June Rodil has plenty of Burgundy or Bordeaux, but also lot from the finest cellars in Piedmont and a number of wines from top Italian and Spanish producers like Quintarelli, Fontodi and López de Heredia, and some nice choices in the two-digit range. Montrose
Soto – $125 – A transplant from Austin sporting a gorgeous dark interior, unrecognizable from that of the previous tenant Bistecca on the lowest of Westheimer, this offers an approachable, well-executed, well-sourced take on the popular Tokyo-style sushi occasionally spiked with some regional favorites like jalapeño, avocado and even tacos of a sort. Truffles and foie gras make appearances, too. Some items arrive from Tokyo’s Toyosu seafood market; the uni here is from Hokkaido rather than Santa Barbara. Japan Express menu changes daily and with often about ten seasonal available as nigiri or sashimi. The daily hour happy from 5:00 to 6:30 each day can be an enjoyable and generally affordable way to end the work day or begin an evening especially if it includes the Chef’s Choice of five pieces nigiri. One of the omakase menus, at $150 and $250 a head, offers an indulgence. In that vein is the A5 Wagyu beef that’s one of the fairly numerous hot dishes on the menu that might be worth visiting even if sushi is not part of the meal. Montrose
Urbe – $55 – Though this does not have the culinary fireworks you may encounter at one of Hugo Ortega’s other three local Mexican restaurants – Hugo’s, Caracol and Xochi – Urbe is easily the most accessible and maybe the most useful for many diners that is counter-service morning and midday and full service in the evening with pandemic-friendly take-away items easily feeding two. You can your quality Mexican fix here for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week all for a very fair tariff at an enticing, welcoming place that seats almost 300 people plus a patio. Attractively plated dishes inspired by the street foods of a lot of Mexico with maybe an emphasis on its sprawling capital include highlights like the Torta Ahoga, shredded inside a terrific birote bread with a side of chile de arbol-centric salsa, the large fried pork rind with sides of guacamole and salsas, an entire roasted cauliflower with aioli and cojita cheese, and the Arrachera, a tender and flavorful wood-grilled skirt steak complemented by roasted pineapple and mushroom relish. Uptown Park
To note, the approximate average prices for each reflect a typical dinner, which might be an appetizer, side or dessert in addition to the entrée – or a suitable number of small plates – a couple of drinks, tax and a 20% tip.
Alba – $150 – The new concept at the Hotel Granduca replacing Ristorante Cavour features an updated rich, plush, green-hued setting, but thankfully has the old chef, Maurizio Ferrarese, who might be the top Italian toque in Texas and some ways beyond. At the new Alba, the “dishes are a balance between innovation and Italian traditions,” and with a very experienced hand and a big fan of the famed Michelin three-starred Piazza Duomo in Alba in Ferrarese, it offers a very enjoyable insight into the contemporary, refined and often indulgent cuisine of the region of the Langhe that surrounds Alba, which is highlighted by Barolo, Barbaresco, and white truffles. Even the region’s signature pasta dish, on Alba’s menu, ravioli del plin, is sometimes advertised in that area with being made with forty yolks of egg, for example. Terrific with fresh pasta like this and gnocchi, there is certainly no chef that does a better job with risotto that’s on the menu a couple of times, befitting one from Vercelli not terribly far from Alba, the European capital of rice production. You are in excellent hands here. Not unexpectedly, Alba is not cheap; the four mains featuring proteins average nearly $60. Uptown Park
Concura – $110 – Another Italian, and somewhat of a regional one with an emphasis on the cooking of the Marche, from where the owners and chefs hail. This is a region in central Italy north of Rome between the Adriatic and the Apennines that is rarely visited by American tourists, but which has some of the best scenery in that beautiful country and exemplary food, both from its coast and the interior. Some of that is replicated here with versions of Coniglio in Porchetta, aggressively herbed, stuffed and roasted rabbit, and the pasta-like passatelli served with stewed mushrooms and truffles along with the region’s most famous appetizer and a great party dish, olive all‘ascolana, stuffed and deep-fried large olives. Fittingly with chefs from the seaside town of Fano, there are several compelling seafood dishes, raw, fried, in a ragù over pasta and even a cod liver foie gras appetizer plus some Tuscan preparations and a couple found over much of Italy. The wine is rather tiny if studded with stars, but oddly no Verdicchios, the region’s premier varietal. Concura is small inside with a décor that blends contemporary and rustic notes in plenty of black and dark gray with an open kitchen that feels like a newer restaurant in Italy, as does its outdoor seating along a sidewalk. Highland Village
Da Gama Canteen – $60 – “Drawing inspiration from the former Portuguese-Indian territory of Goa, Gujarat and Portugal all through our Houston lens” is how the experienced local restaurateurs (Oporto and The Queen Vic) describe the fare here, which will be mostly recognizably Indian to local diners but something a little different, and readily appealing. Appealing also applies to the quite comfortable, contemporary space scattered with tables, banquettes that feels roomy along with an attractive long bar punctuating one end and pleasant patio seating off the side. Set in the somewhat sprawling M-K-T complex at the edge of the Heights, the restaurant resides alongside a breezeway and a park that adds to the charm. Also do the presentations of dishes, belying its reasonable prices, including water served in fetching metal cups that are very appropriate for our heat- and humidity-racked climate. Well-crafted mains run from $14 to $24, meat, seafood and vegetarian. And there plenty of tempting appetizers like East Coast oysters, plus house-made breads, curries, salads, and desserts, too. Cocktails in line with the cuisine, several fun wines on tap, and an intriguing, natural-heavy wine list. It all can encourage many returns. Heights
Golfstrømmen Seafood Market – $80 – The name is quite appropriate, meaning Gulf Stream in Norwegian, as this seafood spot from a duo of acclaimed chefs, one from Norway and the other in Texas, employs products, inspirations and preparations from there and here. It begins with excellent fish and shellfish sourced nearby and the north Atlantic, the bounty of the Gulf Stream and the Gulf. In the new Post Market development in the northwestern edge of downtown, the food hall setting isn’t much, but there is usually a tempting display of seafood set on ice that can be gastronomic eye-candy that might include fish commonly seen and not like langoustines, scallops, and oysters like the delicious and different Belon (though from Maine rather than Brittany). Christopher Haatuft, from coastal Bergen who has been on site in the early days, and Paul Qui, who had the excellent Aqui on lower Westheimer, have a kitchen that highlights the high quality of their sourcing with mostly straightforward creations in ways usually familiar to locals that can be absolutely delicious. A recent open-faced sandwich featuring plenty of the slightly sweet lump Jonah crab meat with melted lightly herbed butter, a bit of mayonnaise and some welcome strands of raw onion atop a toasted, tasty sourdough loaf with a side of crisp, freshly made potato chips was one of the best things I had eaten in a while. A nice array of wines, too, to complement, that have a welcome strong French accent. Downtown (Post Market)
Ixim – $50 – The A small counter-service place with a somewhat limited menu in Bravery Chef Hall, this effort from Tim Reading, a former executive chef at Caracol, dishes excellent, vibrant, attractive preparations from the broad culinary landscape of Mexico that are among the best in the city. The dishes might be on the small side among local interpretations of the cuisine, but pack a lot of flavor. Even the taqueria morning staple, chilaquiles was rendered artfully and deliciously with some carne asada that was aided by guajillo salsa and grilled red onions. Plancha-grilled Crispy Pork Tacos drenched in a mild salsa were nearly knife-and-fork-necessary and quite an enjoyable, messy lunch. The menu changes often the Vuelve a la Vida and Aguachile de Cameron that were popular early on might no longer be available but there still is the cumin-scented fried lamb and pork meatballs with chipotle sauce that is nicely out of the ordinary and a fun, if less healthy, way to start. Downtown (Bravery Chef Hall)
J-Bar-M Barbecue – $50 – The grandest setting for barbecue in the city has the smoked meats that at least match the clean-lined, extremely handsome build-out led by its moist and deeply flavorful brisket, as it needs to be. And that is USDA Prime. It goes into what is the best chopped beef sandwich in the city. That’s largely because it is not really chopped, rather mostly sliced, but, no matter, it’s delicious, helped by an excellent soft fresh bun. Pork ribs, pulled pork and turkey are the other meats, and the kitchen puts out a greater array of sides than any other barbecue joint around, including hand-cut fries and some fun desserts not seen at similar spots. The brisket alone warrants a visit, but the big well-stocked bars inside and out and the great picnic area with views to the downtown skyline a few blocks to the east might entice when you might not need to eat. EaDo
Le Jardinier – $135 – The new fine-dining star of the new, grand addition to the Museum of Fine Arts complex, the Kinder Building, this also succeeds grandly serving fairly ambitious modern French restaurant fare that largely substitutes many non-Gallic influences for the tradition extending from Escoffier through Bocuse. The results are interesting, intelligently composed and artfully constructed while being delectable, most importantly, from the amuse-bouche through dessert. Maybe not cutting-edge – foams are frequent, not entirely au courant while working very well at a meal this summer, for example – but this is still something new for Houston. The wine list is expansive, heavily French-laden and very food-friendly. A branch of a restaurant group with places in Miami and New York, which carries a Michelin star, along with La Table in the Galleria area, this place exudes professional competence and in an inviting way that makes a visit a real joy. The comfortably modern dining room looks out to the Isamu Noguchi-designed Cullen Sculpture Garden – always way too much concrete for my tastes – that does allow a gaze at a dramatic Rodin while dining, an additional pleasure not found elsewhere in town. Museum District (MFAH, Kinder Building)
March – $315 / $560 – Though it had a brief initial run in 2020, it truly opened this year, this is the best of breed of the quartet of pricey set-menu-only restaurants that came on the scene in 2021. The most ambitious offering in the Goodnight Hospitality Group (Rosie Cannonball, Montrose Cheese & Wine), and one of the most ambitious around, March is staffed by a very capable and broadly experienced team led by executive chef Felipe Riccio that can pull off Michelin-starred-quality creations inspired by top restaurants around the Mediterranean. It’s only dinner here in six- and nine-course meals that begins with snacks of the fanciest kinds and drinks in the lounge area. A seafood escabeche cooked in piquant harissa sofrito and aided with Jamón Ibérico, and blood sausage paté with black currants are a couple of the current items. The food is exquisitely rendered and served in a nicely understated setting along with informed and attentive service to make this one of the premier dining experiences in the city. One of the two wine pairings might be the easiest way to proceed but if you want to use the wine list you will be rewarded: eighty pages put together by Master Sommelier June Rodil has plenty of Burgundy or Bordeaux, but also lot from the finest cellars in Piedmont and a number of wines from top Italian and Spanish producers like Quintarelli, Fontodi and López de Heredia, and some nice choices in the two-digit range. Montrose
Soto – $125 – A transplant from Austin sporting a gorgeous dark interior, unrecognizable from that of the previous tenant Bistecca on the lowest of Westheimer, this offers an approachable, well-executed, well-sourced take on the popular Tokyo-style sushi occasionally spiked with some regional favorites like jalapeño, avocado and even tacos of a sort. Truffles and foie gras make appearances, too. Some items arrive from Tokyo’s Toyosu seafood market; the uni here is from Hokkaido rather than Santa Barbara. Japan Express menu changes daily and with often about ten seasonal available as nigiri or sashimi. The daily hour happy from 5:00 to 6:30 each day can be an enjoyable and generally affordable way to end the work day or begin an evening especially if it includes the Chef’s Choice of five pieces nigiri. One of the omakase menus, at $150 and $250 a head, offers an indulgence. In that vein is the A5 Wagyu beef that’s one of the fairly numerous hot dishes on the menu that might be worth visiting even if sushi is not part of the meal. Montrose
Urbe – $55 – Though this does not have the culinary fireworks you may encounter at one of Hugo Ortega’s other three local Mexican restaurants – Hugo’s, Caracol and Xochi – Urbe is easily the most accessible and maybe the most useful for many diners that is counter-service morning and midday and full service in the evening with pandemic-friendly take-away items easily feeding two. You can your quality Mexican fix here for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week all for a very fair tariff at an enticing, welcoming place that seats almost 300 people plus a patio. Attractively plated dishes inspired by the street foods of a lot of Mexico with maybe an emphasis on its sprawling capital include highlights like the Torta Ahoga, shredded inside a terrific birote bread with a side of chile de arbol-centric salsa, the large fried pork rind with sides of guacamole and salsas, an entire roasted cauliflower with aioli and cojita cheese, and the Arrachera, a tender and flavorful wood-grilled skirt steak complemented by roasted pineapple and mushroom relish. Uptown Park
