The Top 35 Restaurants Near Gaido’s
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A smudge stick salad opens the meal, which tells you most of what you need to know about Ishtia's ambitions. This intimate tasting menu in Kemah builds a multicourse experience around Indigenous American ingredients and tradition, run by a chef who also operates a molecular gastronomy restaurant nearby, because apparently one mode of cooking wasn't enough. Seating is limited to Thursday through Saturday, so reservations are not optional.
- Texas Monthly #5 · Texas’s Best New Restaurants
- Eater Best New Restaurant
- Eater The Best New Restaurants in America
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- Houston Chronicle Houston’s Top 100 Restaurants
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant
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- The New York Times The Restaurant List
- Houston Chronicle #25 · Houston’s Top 100 Restaurants
- Houstonia Houston’s Best Restaurants
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Rank 5. Pook's Crawfish Hole
Cajun & Creole
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Rank 9. Double Bayou Crawfish Farm & Boil House
Cajun & Creole
The crawfish come from the fields you can see from your table, which is either the most logical supply chain imaginable or a mild existential moment for the mudbugs. This BYOB boil house sits about an hour outside Houston, and the lines form by six, so early arrival is less a suggestion than a survival skill. Tours and boat excursions through the rice and crawfish fields are available if you call ahead. Order by the pound or go straight for the full feast.
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Rank 10. Cajun Craven
Cajun & Creole
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Rank 12. Atchafalaya Crawfish
Cajun & Creole
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Rank 13. Nancy's Hustle
New American
The cheeseburger on a housemade English muffin has become something of a Houston landmark, but at this EaDo bistro the menu makes every decision feel equally consequential. Nancy's Hustle holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and a James Beard semifinalist nod, and the cooking is seasonal and bold without being precious about it. The room stays packed and loud most nights, which somehow only adds to the fun.
- The Infatuation Infatuation’s Highest-Rated Restaurants In America
- Food & Wine The Top 15 US Restaurants
- Wine Enthusiast Forward 50 Restaurants
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Thai hip-hop overhead and papaya salad that bites back even on medium spice sets the tone fast at this street food restaurant from James Beard Award-winning chef Benchawan Jabthong Painter. The menu pulls from across Thailand rather than settling into one region, so the pad see ew and house curries share the table with Northern Thai dishes her grandmother used to make. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand, which tracks.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Winner · Best Chef: Texas · Benchawan Jabthong Painter
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Houstonia Houston’s Best Restaurants
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Rank 15. Honore's Cajun Cafe
Cajun & Creole
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Rank 17. Villa Arcos
Mexican
- Houston Chronicle Houston’s Top 100 Restaurants
- Houstonia The Best Mexican Restaurants in Houston
- Houstonia The Best Tacos in Houston
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Rank 19. The Original Ninfa's
Mexican
The Ninfarita has been mixed the same way since the early 1970s, and Houston would riot if that changed. This Navigation Boulevard Tex-Mex institution is credited with bringing fajitas into the national conversation, a fact locals mention with the quiet pride of a sports championship. Order the tacos a la Ninfa, the original play, and the frozen margarita that started the whole legend.
- Houston Chronicle Houston’s Top 100 Restaurants
- Houstonia The Best Mexican Restaurants in Houston
- Houstonia The Best Margaritas in Houston
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- Houston Chronicle Houston’s Top 100 Restaurants
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Chris Williams - Lucille's Hospitality Group
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Rank 23. Tortillería Tlaxcali
Mexican
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Rank 26. Boo's Burgers
American
A walk-up burger stand on Navigation that grew out of years of pop-ups, Boo's is the kind of place where the menu fits on a napkin and that's the whole point. The smashburger comes on a challah bun from Cake & Bacon, topped with shredded lettuce, tomato, shaved onion, and a smoky house sauce that regulars already treat as non-negotiable. Crispy fries, bottled sodas, and a colorful roadside aesthetic round it out.
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Rank 28. Tacos la Sultana
Mexican
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Rank 29. Dichos Taquería
Mexican
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Rank 31. La Imperial Bakery
Mexican
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Rank 33. Brothers Taco House
Mexican
A colorful mural marks this East End taqueria, where the breakfast taco is taken seriously and the line on weekends is not a rumor. Chorizo, potato, and egg; bacon and egg; barbacoa on Saturdays when the patience holds out. It's a cash-and-plastic, paper-plate kind of spot, which is exactly the point. Show up early or budget time to stand around looking forward to it.
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Rank 34. Taconmadre
Mexican
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A taco spot near NRG where the trompo al pastor, shaved from a vertical spit with pineapple, draws the kind of loyalty that has nothing to do with proximity to a stadium. Weekends bring taquitos de canasta, basket tacos steamed soft under onions until they collapse on contact. There's also a dice roll and a buzzer game at the counter: land right and the meal is free, which keeps things lively in ways most taco spots don't bother with.