The Best Places to Eat and Stay in Houston

1. Houstonia The Best Barbecue Restaurants in Houston

1. Houstonia Best Ice Cream Shops in Houston

1. Houstonia Best Ice Cream Shops in Houston

1. Houstonia Best Ice Cream Shops in Houston

1. Houstonia Best Ice Cream Shops in Houston

1. Houstonia The Best Barbecue Restaurants in Houston

The sauce arrives on the side at this Houston barbecue joint, which tells you something about the confidence in the pit. Brisket, jalapeño cheddar sausage, and smoked turkey anchor the menu, but a "Something Different" section runs brisket mac and cheese and loaded fries that could pass for a full meal. The rotating sandwich specials are worth checking before you order anything else, especially the pastrami Reuben.

1. Houstonia The Best Barbecue Restaurants in Houston

1. Houstonia The Best Indian Restaurants in Houston

1. Houstonia The Best Indian Restaurants in Houston

1. Houstonia The Best Sushi Restaurants in Houston

Vegan kolaches stuffed with plant-based sausage, bacon, egg, and cheese are the kind of thing that makes you stop arguing about what veganism can and can't do. This Midtown bakery has been supplying Houston coffee shops with its pastries for years, so there's a decent chance you've already eaten here without knowing it. The Everything Bar, loaded with nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate chips, is a regular reason to come back.

1. Houstonia Best Bakeries in Houston for Pastries, Cakes, and Bread

1. Houstonia The Best Tacos in Houston

1. Houstonia The Best Sushi Restaurants in Houston

1. Houstonia Best Ice Cream Shops in Houston

1. Houstonia Best Ice Cream Shops in Houston

1. Houstonia The Best Tacos in Houston

1. Houstonia The Best Tacos in Houston

1. Houstonia The Best Tacos in Houston

1. Houstonia The Best Sushi Restaurants in Houston

The kolaches here come from a family recipe that's been turning out round, fruit-filled Czech pastries in this 720-square-foot shop for generations. It's a counter-service bakery on Telephone Road where things move fast: trays come out of the oven and disappear before the display board gets warm. House-roasted coffee and fajita-stuffed croissants round out a menu that has grown without losing the grandmother's-kitchen feel it apparently started as.

1. Houstonia Best Bakeries in Houston for Pastries, Cakes, and Bread

An old-school Jewish bakery that's been a Houston institution for generations, Three Brothers turns out egg bread, rye, pumpernickel, bagels, Kaiser rolls, pecan pie, and gingerbread men year-round from its Braeswood location. The roots run deep, tracing back to Eastern European family recipes, and the counter still feels like it. Three other outposts have opened around the city, but this is where the habit starts.

1. Houstonia Best Bakeries in Houston for Pastries, Cakes, and Bread

This is an old-school Houston bakery with a display case that runs from rye and pumpernickel to Kaiser rolls, bagels, coffee cakes, and pecan pie. The recipes trace back to Poland by way of a family that's been at it for generations, which explains why the gingerbread men show up year-round instead of waiting for permission. Expect a line of regulars who already know their order and a cashier who's heard every question about the cookies.

1. Houstonia Best Bakeries in Houston for Pastries, Cakes, and Bread

This is an old-school Houston bakery with Eastern European roots, the kind of place where rye, pumpernickel, and Kaiser rolls share a case with coffee cakes and pecan pie. Gingerbread men are made year-round, which tells you the cookies have no concept of a calendar. It's a counter-service stop with a few tables, a bag-it-yourself pace, and a line that's mostly regulars who already know what they came for.

1. Houstonia Best Bakeries in Houston for Pastries, Cakes, and Bread

Three Brothers is an old-school Houston bakery with a counter, a line, and a bakery case that does not believe in restraint. Rye, pumpernickel, and Kaiser rolls sit near coffee cakes, pecan pie, and gingerbread men that are available in any month, apparently because December has no monopoly. It's cheap, casual, and busy, the kind of place where you walk in for bread and walk out holding a box of cookies you can't quite explain.

1. Houstonia Best Bakeries in Houston for Pastries, Cakes, and Bread

1. Houstonia Best Chinese Restaurants in Houston

1. Houstonia Best Chinese Restaurants in Houston

1. Houstonia Best Ice Cream Shops in Houston

1. Houstonia Best Ice Cream Shops in Houston

1. Houstonia Best Ice Cream Shops in Houston

1. Houstonia The Best Tacos in Houston

1. Houstonia Best Ice Cream Shops in Houston

1. Houstonia The Best Sushi Restaurants in Houston

1. Houstonia Best Ice Cream Shops in Houston

1. Houstonia Best Ice Cream Shops in Houston

1. Houstonia Best Ice Cream Shops in Houston

1. Houstonia Best Chinese Restaurants in Houston

1. Houstonia Best Bakeries in Houston for Pastries, Cakes, and Bread

1. Houstonia The Best Sushi Restaurants in Houston

Mi Luna is a Spanish tapas restaurant with Moorish touches, tucked into the Montrose Collective. It spent two decades in Rice Village, vanished for a while, then reappeared in a shinier address, which is the Houston way. The menu leans on shared plates, a paella built from seafood, meat, and chicken, and a sweet-and-savory Moroccan chicken pie. Come hungry and with friends, because ordering for one defeats the point.

1. Eater The Best Restaurants in Montrose

1. Eater The Best Restaurants in Montrose

1. Texas Monthly #6 · Texas’s Best New Restaurants

1. Houstonia Honorable Mention · The 10 Best Restaurants That Opened in Houston

1. Esquire #17 · The Best New Restaurants in America

Each cocktail on the menu is credited to the specific bartender who created it, which is either a charming act of transparency or a very public performance review. This neighborhood cocktail bar and casual kitchen in the Heights has a wraparound patio that fills with locals who treat it like a living room. The team behind Anvil runs the place, so the drinks are taken seriously even when the vibe stays loose.

1. Bon Appétit America's Best New Restaurants
2. Houstonia The Official 50 Hottest Bars in Houston

1. Eater The Best New Restaurants in America