Houston, TX

Hello,

Any recommendations for simple, but really good dining spots in Houston? I'm open to any cuisine, hopefully with a good selection of beer or wine.

Thanks

Search is your friend.

P.S. Call ahead for Thelma's. They might have burned down and not reopened.

Houston's a pretty good eating town for certain cuisines, Tex/Mex & Vietnamese being two:

Try the char-broiled South Texas Quail at Guadalajara Hacienda in The Woodlands (other locations too). Excellent rendition--squeeze on some lime and pico do gallo, and with their homemade tortillas, you're in business.

Haven't been in a few years, but I always thought that Kim Son in Houston had some of the most solid Vietnamese fare I've ever tasted. Their Cua Rang Muoi--crab in black pepper sauce--is messy as hell but unbelievable.

Guadalajara Hacienda
27885 I-45 North
The Woodlands, TX
(281) 362-0774
http://www.fiestacateringinc.com/

Kim Son
2001 Jefferson St.
Houston, TX
(713) 222-2461
http://www.kimson.com

Thanks!

Good wine list and great food at acceptable prices:

Laurier Cafe
3139 Richmond Ave
Houston, TX 77098
www.lauriercafe.com

Some college friends and I are going to Houston for Illinois’ bowl game. I have searched here and other places and have found the following for consideration:

Avalon diner
2417 Westheimer Road

Thelma's BBQ
1020 Live Oak St
Live Oak at Larmar
Might have burned down

Otto's Bar-B-Q
5502 Memorial Dr

Williams Smokehouse
5903 Wheatley

The Breakfast Klub
3711 Travis St

There were a few others, but I perceived them as more upscale than my group would want. There were also some oriental and Tex-Mex recommendations, which I don’t think we would want. Basically I think we were looking for great Tex Q. The other two places looked interesting.

Comments?

D.

http://irmashouston.com/

http://houston.citysearch.com/profile/9 ... essen.html

http://houston.citysearch.com/profile/9 ... urger.html

http://www.becksprime.com/

http://www.goodecompany.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninfa's

http://irmashouston.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninfa's

Thanks. My research did turn up Irma’s and Ninfa’s, but I just don’t think my group wants to go for Mexican cuisine.

http://www.goodecompany.com/

This looks good, but do you have any personal comments on their food?

D.

dodger wrote:http://irmashouston.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninfa's

Thanks. My research did turn up Irma’s and Ninfa’s, but I just don’t think my group wants to go for Mexican cuisine.

http://www.goodecompany.com/

This looks good, but do you have any personal comments on their food?

D.

Ninfa's didn't do it for me. Pretty much run of the mill Tex-Mex, though they do have some local history. I didn't care about that because there's better Mexican food to be had elsewhere.

As far as Goode's goes, it's pretty good Texas BBQ. Perhaps not the best in town, but very respectable. An even better choice is Goode's seafood restaurant located around the corner from the BBQ place. Very fresh fish cooked over mesquite. There is also a Goode's Mexican Restaurant/Burger Joint located directly across the street from the BBQ joint. While I can't recommend the Mexican food (I've never tried it), I can highly recommend the burgers. Again, they are cooked over live wood and are very good.

Goode & Company BBQ
5109 Kirby Dr
Houston, Texas 77098
713-522-2530

Goode & Company Burgers & Taqueria
4902 Kirby Drive
Houston, Texas 77098
713-520-9153

Goode & Company Seafood
2621 Westpark Drive
Houston, Texas 77098
713-523-7154

My son lived in Houston and suggested The Grove when I was there for a business meeting. We ended up at a cocktail party there and were wow-ed. Not sure if it fits your "simple" request - it's a beautiful place in a neat park, has a treehouse feeling deck upstairs for cocktails and just amazingly good food: http://www.thegrovehouston.com/menus.html

This is one of those things where if you were there you'd know:

Like Beck's Prime's location with the staggered patios and the live oaks, or

if you were like me and growing up in the eighties in Houston and like me you'd stock up on books(and porn) at the Alabama BookStop, grab COIL's Scatology at Record Rack, ponder hanging out on The Curve(but, it's midweek, and it's dead....but, then again Lobo has porn), could be, maybe your dad, like mine, would swing by, and take you to Goode's where you'd choose whatever suited yr fancy plus the jalapeno cheese bread...I'm just sayin'...

Irma's catered a friend's wedding not too long ago...and they remain stolidly within genre good

And Nielsen's...my favorite delicatessen ever...their house-made spread and ephemeral roast beef, and a slice of deliquescing, pudding-esque cheese cake...like epoisses went to heaven fucking cinnamon

I'm just sayin'...

Given the influx of Asian cuisine in Houston, I really have no enticement to explore others. Yes, I wish I had more time to explore other cuisine such as Mexican/Tex-Mex, but haven't had time on recent trips.

Would like to share my latest finds, and will try to follow up with pics and more details/contact info:

Banh mi - Nguyen Ngo
Banh cuon - Thien Thanh
Bun Bo Hue - Kim Chau
Pho - Pho Binh

Authentic Cantonese - Tan Do
Dumplings and such - FuFu (original ONLY)
Late night Asian - Tan Tan
Taiwanese Ice - Star Ice

More details to follow...

So, after spending the majority of the last 4 months in Houston, I feel like I have only scratched the surface of the dining scene, but I do have some winners and losers to share that will hopefully serve future visitors well.

First, thanks to those who've shared their advice above. Even if I have nothing good to say about several of the places recommended here*, I certainly do appreciate the effort that everyone has gone to in creating a resource for people like me who are frequently thrust into foreign lands and forced to fend for themselves with only an expense account to guide them.

Here's my list of recommended places. It's a rough overview, broken down by price and includes several places recommended above, as well as many recommended by a friend who is a less frequent poster here.

$ - Dirt cheap, hard to spend > $15 pp.
Pho Binh by Night – Really good Southern Vietnamese-style pho. Pick a type of meat and bowl size, that's it. There's nothing else on the menu.

Gerardo’s Drive-In – A grocery serving cafeteria-style Mexican specialties. The barbacoa (which is what you want) is only served Fri-Sun. Not the best Mexican food you’ll ever have, but in the sea of Tex-Mex that is Houston, it’s a rare authentic gem. Sadly tortillas are not made on-site, but the delicious salsas are.

Nielsen’s Delicatessen - Loved the homemade mayo & the cheesecake. Also, Zapp's chips!

$$ - Easy to stay below $30 pp.
Himalaya – Go here, now. Epic Indian/Pakistani food. I've eaten here at least once a week since I found it, and it's easily my favorite spot in Houston. Try the mirchon ka salan, karahi gosht, chicken hara masala & garlic naan. I've been told by someone who would know that the biryani is the best in the U.S. I've tried the chicken and the lamb and neither really wowed me, but maybe I just don't care for biryani. They claim to be the only restaurant in the US serving Indian 'Hunter's Beef'. It's far from my favorite thing on the menu, but if you've got a decent sized group, it's worth ordering (minimum order is 1.5 lbs). It's an interesting take on pastrami, cooked overnight and served with a mustard-based sauce on the side. The flavors are at once familiar and completely out of context.

Vieng Thai – Authentic Thai. Maybe half a notch below the best Chicago has to offer, but still very good. I visited at least 2-3 times a month during my stay. Recommended: Issan sausage, thai chicken wings, boat noodles, catfish curry with thai celery.

Que Huong – Vietnamese. Huge menu of just about every dish you can imagine, including many I haven’t previously seen stateside. Cha gio and Bun Cha Hanoi were both very good. The pho is actually the only thing that I’ve had that wasn’t that great. Love the salt-preserved lemon with soda water (chanh muoi).

Blue Nile – Ethiopian. Excellent mesir wot & kitfo. Great for a group.

$$$ - Creeping up toward $40-50 pp.
Kata Robata – Japanese. Sort of a flashy version of Ginza. The sushi is good, but the cooked dishes (chawanmushi, robata skewers, etc.) are really where it’s at. They make a serviceable traditional ramen every day, but the oxtail or curry ramen they often have on special is amazing. I really like the pork belly buns, too. Their daily happy hour (before 7 pm) food specials are a steal.

Max’s Wine Dive – Fried chicken & Champagne. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Bistro Provence – Decent French bistro-type food. Can get pricey, particularly specials.

The Hay Merchant – Sort of a Publican-esque Gastro-pub from the guys behind Anvil & Underbelly. Amazing beer list. I went on opening night, so I didn't get to try much of the food, but reports are very positive.

$$$$ - Going to go over $50 pp unless restraint is shown.
Underbelly – Bills itself as "The Story of Houston Food," and makes you wonder why fusion has gone out of fashion with its melding of Southern & Asian flavors in dishes like cornmeal crusted soft-shell crab with kimchee butter.

Hugo’s - Upscale regional Mexican. Not quite Frontera Grill, but trying much harder to apply traditional Mexican techniques and flavors to quality ingredients than anywhere else I visited during my time in Texas.

Feast – Farm to Table, Nose to Tail…inconsistent on my visit, but those I was with tell me it's one of the city's best when it’s ‘on’.

Also, on the topic of bars...I had some great drinks at the renowned Anvil (including an outstanding Vietnamese salted lime caipirinha), but for service and vibe I found Down House a more pleasant experience overall.

*Avoid Goode Company everything (a step above TGIF's...I tried 3 separate locations/genres during the early days of my time in Houston and found nothing worth going back for) and Guadalajara Hacienda probably served me the worst meal I've had all year. Beck's Prime is fine for what it is, but not really anything special (though their 'Sportatorium' in Memorial City Mall is a pretty good place to watch a game). Similarly, Kim Chau produced a Bun Bo Hue that was middling at best. Even the original Ninfa's failed to impress, save for the mezcal selection.

kl1191 wrote:.$$ - Easy to stay below $30 pp.
Himalaya – Go here, now. Epic Indian/Pakistani food. I've eaten here at least once a week since I found it, and it's easily my favorite spot in Houston. Try the mirchon ka salan, karahi gosht, chicken hara masala & garlic naan. I've been told by someone who would know that the biryani is the best in the U.S. I've tried the chicken and the lamb and neither really wowed me, but maybe I just don't care for biryani. They claim to be the only restaurant in the US serving Indian 'Hunter's Beef'. It's far from my favorite thing on the menu, but if you've got a decent sized group, it's worth ordering (minimum order is 1.5 lbs). It's an interesting take on pastrami, cooked overnight and served with a mustard-based sauce on the side. The flavors are at once familiar and completely out of context.

Thanks for the good info for this huge but perplexing and difficult to figure food town.

The hunter beef claim above from the Himalaya owner is inaccurate however. Turns out, there has been a fair amount of hunter beef discussion lately.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=34471

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5501

JeffB wrote:The hunter beef claim above from the Himalaya owner is inaccurate however.

Sounds authentically Pakistani.

Himalayan hyperbole. I like it.

Some very useful stuff in this thread, especially from kl...but it seems its been over 2 years since a report of *any* kind about Houston!

Will be going to Houston next week, for a couple of weeks. Will probably have access to a vehicle (for at least late-evening or occasional weekend exploration). Anyone have any strong recs, cant-miss spots? Especially interested in BBQ - all of it, but any brisket better than Chicago would be great; good "soul food"; great burgers; Ive heard there's good Vietnamese - bahn mi's especially - so that too...really, anything truly praiseworthy, especially stuff thats better than can be found in Chicago (with the food being the most important part, as opposed to ambience - very happy with a good hole-in-the-wall, for example)..

Any help appreciated - will report back. Thanks in advance.

c8w

c8w wrote:Some very useful stuff in this thread, especially from kl...but it seems its been over 2 years since a report of *any* kind about Houston!

Will be going to Houston next week, for a couple of weeks. Will probably have access to a vehicle (for at least late-evening or occasional weekend exploration). Anyone have any strong recs, cant-miss spots? Especially interested in BBQ - all of it, but any brisket better than Chicago would be great; good "soul food"; great burgers; Ive heard there's good Vietnamese - bahn mi's especially - so that too...really, anything truly praiseworthy, especially stuff thats better than can be found in Chicago (with the food being the most important part, as opposed to ambience - very happy with a good hole-in-the-wall, for example)..

Any help appreciated - will report back. Thanks in advance.

c8w

I had some great BBQ at Gatlin's a few years back but haven't been there recently. It was the best BBQ I had in Houston, the brisket in particular. The owners couldn't have been nicer.

Gatlin's BBQ
1221 W 19th Street
Houston, TX 77008

Dlongs wrote:I had some great BBQ at Gatlin's a few years back but haven't been there recently. It was the best BBQ I had in Houston, the brisket in particular. The owners couldn't have been nicer.
Gatlin's BBQ
1221 W 19th Street
Houston, TX 77008

Thanks! I looked up "50 best bbq spots in TX" according to Texas Monthly...and they listed Gatlin's too (one of only 2-3 places near Houston that were mentioned). I definitely plan on stopping in here now - especially after your strong first-hand report!

Plan on checking out some of kl's recs too - given the apparently large size of the Vietnamese and Pakistani populations, Iam hoping a couple of his recs of those cuisines (even though theyre a couple of years old) will prove really solid as well..

c8w

A second vote for Down House for cocktails as well as the Vietnamese inspired shrimp and grits.

Some recent hits from Houston (October 2015) in slightly decreasing preference:

Torchy's Tacos (http://torchystacos.com/menu/)
Local chain. Breakfast tacos! Really well-executive migas, unusual salsas, battered avocado tacos, smoked Texas jalapeno sausage tacos, very strong guac and beans. Tortillas were a weak link.

The Hay Merchant (https://www.haymerchant.com/)
Exceptional wings and local cellar. Dr. Pepper bread pudding was delicious but not "flaming" as promised (laugh it up, fuzzball). House-smoked pork shoulder and blackbird Cajun meat pies very strong and savory. Pig ears.

BB's Cafe (http://bbscafe.com/locations/upper-kirby/)
Some of the slower service and better Cajun food ("Tex-Orleans") I've had. Legit sweet tea, dark-roux gumbo, boudin balls, creole taquitos, po' boys, oysters, we tried everything and it was all very nice. I understand the locations vary; this one seemed to have excellent cooks and leisurely staff.

Oporto Wine Cafe (http://www.oporto.us/)
Earnest Portuguese small plates, which were hit and miss, but all clearly scratch (almost too casual at times, as if made in a home kitchen rather than a restaurant). Great atmosphere and service. Highlights were the piri piri chicken pizzette, blood chorizo with little potatoes, lamb meatballs. Tortilla (egg) and steak and salads were a bit rustic / thrown-together. Flavors were good, sangria strong and sweet, value excellent.

The Flying Saucer (http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/houston/)
Very fun atmosphere "beer emporium" with local kitsch, some rare regional kegs, ass-kicking knowledgeable servers. The food is homebrewed and all over the place - some scratch, some combination of food service items. Loaded tater tots and the "German" menu (brats and pretzels) were very good. Wings not as umami as Hay Merchant.

Panda Garden (http://www.pandagarden.com/).
This was a clock-pressured stop for a quick cheap lunch. I was dreading it and it was then totally fine - competent American Chinese, dark soy fried rice, reasonable hot & sour with lots of white pepper, non-frozen chicken breast and thigh in large pieces for the entrees, good tea.

Yia Yia Mary's Greek (http://yiayiamarys.com/home/).
Local-chain Greek with bountiful portions. Proteins and greens good, pita and feta not so much. Some nice non-alcoholic drink options with fresh juices. Pretty shaded patios. Running theme of Texas Greek seems to be capers on everything (which I don't see anywhere in Chicago Greektown; perhaps I'm not looking).

We had great weather and crowds (was gigging) and the parts we saw suggested a pleasant and welcoming, very recently diversifying city. Many of the local coffee shops and college canteens had little inexpensive banh mi stations integrated (good pipeline of the right bread from somewhere!). New halal mini-markets in lots of places. Lots of kolache (http://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants ... ou-6433834).

Trying to jog my memory about a particular mexican place, known for fajitas. It was divey in a charming way, about a 20 min ride from the convention center, not a chain, and not Irmas or Ninfas.

Any help would be VERY appreciated.

I was in Houston a few weeks ago before a cruise. Not far from where we stayed was a local place called T-Bone Tom's that was excellent. Great food, service and atmosphere. I had to go with the chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes - impossible to pass up when in Texas. They did an excellent version of it. Their cream gravy was a little different, it was chicken stock based which still worked for me. I still love a classic milk pepper gravy. They do steaks, BBQ, and classic fried southern dishes for affordable prices. Location wise it's southeast of the city, on the water, about 10 minutes from NASA and Space Center.

T-Bone Tom's
707 Texas Hwy 146
Kemah TX 77565
281-334-2133
http://www.tbonetoms.com/

Looking for some houston help, great beer shops, cocktail bars, near the convention center. Thanks!

I spent a few days in Houston this past week for work. That being said, I only had time for two dinners (my lunches consisted of cookies and bagged snacks -- the joy of being busy).

The first dinner was at the original Ninfa's on Navigation and I enjoyed it. I sat outside with my work colleague (a nice patio). My margarita was terrific. I had the skirt steak fajitas (they are credited with making fajitas famous, at least in this area) and the meat was delicious. My lone complaint is that they didn't cut the meat against the grain, but still, some of the better tasting skirt steak I've had. They serve the fajitas with housemade tortillas, both flour and corn. I liked both, though the flour were a tad greasy.

Chips, housemade salsa and another sauce . . . and charred jalapeno (a fiery one too) all made for a really nice dinner. Not sure what you didn't like Steve, but I came away impressed.

Not as good was Massa's South Coast Grill downtown. A decent cup of chicken and sausage gumbo, but my shrimp and grits was an average version at best. Grits a little too smooth and thick for my liking, shrimp a tad overcooked and just not all that flavorful, and a tomato-based sauce that dominated the flavors too much. Not a bad meal at all, but the whole experience (including the flavors) had me thinking hotel dining, not that it was in a hotel.

I assume nobody needs me to review the cookies, chips and the like that got me through the work day, right?