The Best Restaurants in Houston, by the Record
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Rank 120. 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 120. El Taconazo
Mexican
The hood of your car doubles as your table at this late-night taco truck on Fulton, where the line forms fast after the bars close and moves just as fast. Fajita tacos with Oaxacan cheese and a creamy green salsa that bites back are the reason to show up, along with a Mexican Coke cold enough to justify the wait. No seating, no frills, just the sidewalk and whoever else is hungry at this hour.
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Rank 120. El Tiempo Cantina
Tex-Mex Mexican
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Rank 120. El Tiempo Cantina
Tex-Mex Mexican
The queso flameado arrives still bubbling, and that's the right way to start at this Tex-Mex cantina with deep roots in Houston's Ninfa's family tree. The menu runs the full Tex-Mex spread: big crispy tacos, cheese enchiladas, fajitas, fresh guacamole. Order the combo plate if you want a little of everything, which most tables seem to. The margaritas have their own following, and for good reason.
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Rank 120. Gerardo's
Mexican
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Rank 120. Laredo Taqueria
Mexican
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Rank 120. Molina's Cantina
Tex-Mex Mexican
The menu at this old-school Tex-Mex cantina names dishes after the regulars who inspired them, which tells you something about how long people have been coming back. The Berlys Burrito, the C.W. Special, the Williams Special: each one a standing order that became permanent. It's the kind of place where the margaritas are a serious matter and the chili con carne shows up on everything for good reason.
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Rank 120. Molina's Cantina
Tex-Mex Mexican
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Rank 139. Alamo Tamales
Mexican
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Rank 139. Atchafalaya Crawfish
Cajun & Creole
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Rank 139. BOIL HOUSE
Louisiana-style Cajun & Creole
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Rank 139. Cajun Craven
Cajun & Creole
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Rank 139. Cajun Kitchen
Cajun & Creole
Crawfish cooked wok-style, the way you'd handle crab or lobster in Chinese cuisine, so every crevice gets a proper coating of spice and oil. This Cajun-Asian boil spot in southwest Houston does mudbugs in flavors like Thai Basil or a butter-garlic-citrus house special, and the heat scale runs up to something called Cray Cray, which should tell you all you need to know about who's ordering it.
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Rank 139. Cantina Barba
Mexican
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Rank 139. Chilosos Taco House
Mexican
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Rank 139. Cooking Girl
Sichuan
Flounder served in a hot bath of pepper, cucumber, and ginger is the kind of dish that announces where Cooking Girl stands on the question of restraint. It's a Sichuan restaurant with outposts scattered across Houston, so the odds are good one is nearby. The menu leans into the numbing, oily heat the region is known for, with beef, chicken, and tofu all pulling their weight. A practical neighborhood spot, not a special-occasion production.
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Rank 139. Crawfish Cafe
Cajun & Creole
Real butter and sugar go into the crawfish boil here, which tilts the whole thing sweeter than the standard Cajun approach. This Viet-Cajun seafood spot on Bellaire runs a long roster of sauces, from garlic butter to Thai basil, and lets you mix them into something entirely your own. The menu does what it promises and little else, which in this corner of Houston is plenty.
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Rank 139. Delicias Maya
Mexican
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Rank 139. Dichos Taquería
Mexican
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Rank 139. Don Pepe
Mexican
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Rank 139. 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 139. Duck n Bao
Sichuan
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Rank 139. El Patio
Mexican
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Rank 139. El Tiempo Taqueria
Mexican
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Rank 139. Flying Idlis
Indian
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Rank 139. Fung's Kitchen
Cantonese
The live seafood tanks near the entrance set the agenda at this Cantonese dining room, where the kitchen has been turning out Hong Kong-style crab, lobster, and fresh fish for Houston since the family arrived from Hong Kong decades ago. Weekend dim sum draws a crowd that knows better than to sleep in. It's a big, bustling room, and the sweet-glazed barbecue pork alone tends to settle any argument about where to sit.
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Rank 139. Honore's Cajun Cafe
Cajun & Creole
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Rank 139. India's Restaurant
Indian
A banana-leaf-wrapped fish fillet steamed with chutney is the kind of dish that tells you this old-school Indian restaurant takes its regional cooking seriously. North Indian classics anchor the menu, from chicken tikka masala to saag paneer, but Goan fish curry and chicken Ceylon give regulars a reason to wander off the familiar path. A daily lunch buffet draws the Richmond Avenue crowd in reliably.
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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.
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Rank 139. Kitchen Rumors
Indian
Butter chicken ramen sits comfortably on the same menu as goat biryani and branzino with black fried lime, which tells you everything about Kitchen Rumors' approach to Indian food. The restaurant comes from the Kahani Social Group, the Houston hospitality team behind several eclectic Indian spots around the city, and the cooking leans confidently into fusion without making a fuss about it. Dessert runs to a pecan pie cookie bar riffing on gulab jamun.
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Rank 139. Kumar's
Indian
South Indian cooking is the reason to come to this Westheimer restaurant, even though the menu covers North Indian ground too. Fermented rice batter crepes, peppery tamarind curries, and spiced seafood or goat dishes built on black pepper and sour notes give the kitchen its personality. Finish with an Indian coffee or the sarsaparilla-and-bael-fruit cocktail, which sounds obscure until you try it.
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Rank 139. La Imperial Bakery
Mexican
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Rank 139. La Mexicana
Mexican
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Rank 139. Lao Sze Chuan
Sichuan
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Rank 139. Late August
New American
A converted Sears store turned tech hub is an unlikely address for one of the more interesting restaurants in Houston, yet here we are. Chef Chris Williams blends American, Mexican, and African influences into a seasonal menu that changes without feeling restless. The produce comes from a farm the team actually runs in Fort Bend County, which explains a lot. The "surprise tasting" is the move if you're willing to let them decide.
- Esquire The Best New Restaurants in America
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Chris Williams - Lucille's Hospitality Group
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Rank 139. Maharaja Bhog
Vegetarian Indian
The move here is to sit down, and keep sitting: every meal arrives thali-style, a platter loaded with a dozen-plus curries, chutneys, and small bites from the vegetarian kitchens of Rajasthan and Gujarat, and it's all unlimited. Flag your waiter when anything runs low. This southwest Houston dining room is the only US outpost of the Indian chain, and it handles vegan and gluten-free without fuss.
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Rank 139. Ocean Palace
Chinese
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Rank 139. Old Alley Hot Pot
Chinese
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Rank 139. One Dragon
Chinese
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Rank 139. Picos Restaurant
Mexican