In my humble opinion the best food in Houston can be found at Cafe Annie's. The meal I had there 2 years ago still stands out as one of my all time best. Go ahead and splurge - its worth it!!! I think you would be more comfortable there in a jacket although I really don't know if they have a dress code. The clientele were generally nicely dressed when I was there. >Someone wrote: >I will be in Texas in early September and was thinking about taking a couple days and going to Houston. If you could choose a >couple of restaurants not to miss, what would they be?? Also, if there happens to be a dress code of any type, please let me know. > I would hate to get excited for a restaurant and not be able to get in (e.g. jackets required, etc.) Thanks you for your help. > >Sherri >[email removed]
Houston, TX
Best food in Houston??
Someone wrote: > >I will be in Texas in early September and was thinking about taking a couple days and going to Houston. If you could choose a >couple of restaurants not to miss, what would they be?? Also, if there happens to be a dress code of any type, please let me know. > I would hate to get excited for a restaurant and not be able to get in (e.g. jackets required, etc.) Thanks you for your help. > >Sherri >[email removed] Hooh, boy, where to start. Fairly Expensive Cafe Annie's - formal (Southwestern) Churrasco's - nice (South American) DeVille - nice (in Four Seasons hotel, Southwest?) Moderate to Expensive Grotto's (Italian) Boulevard Bistrot (Eclectic Fusion) Woodway Grill (Eclectic American) Moderate to Inexpensive Kim Son (Vietnamese) Empire Baking Co. (Breads/Sandwiches/etc.) only at lunch Empire Cafe (coffee house, eclectic foods, desserts) Nice Casual will probably work everywhere except maybe Cafe Annie's, and you might feel more comfortable in DeVille with business attire. Enjoy. (PS, I've left out so many it's ridiculous.) [email removed]
Someone wrote: >I will be in Texas in early September and was thinking about taking a couple days and going to Houston. If you could choose a >couple of restaurants not to miss, what would they be?? Also, if there happens to be a dress code of any type, please let me know. > I would hate to get excited for a restaurant and not be able to get in (e.g. jackets required, etc.) Thanks you for your help. IMO, the two best restaurants in Houston are Cafe Annie and Americas. I'd recommend a jacket at Cafe Annie. | Albert Nurick | "In case of doubt, decide in | | [email removed] | favor of what is correct." | | http://www.tech.net/~albert | | | http://www.tech.net | - Karl Kraus |
Houston has so many good restaurants. I was there for a week last fall and can reccommend the following, all of which you can dress casually for: Mexican - Pico's at Kirby & the Freeway. Try the Chiles en Nogado. Italian - Nino's...WONDERFUL! BBQ - Goode company...very, very casual Chinese - Fu's Garden. FABULOUS! Happy Eating. Let me know if you find some other good places as I will be going back this fall on business. Steve
I've seen many post barbeque in Houston as Goode Company. I lived in Houston 5 years and I found Goode Company very overrated. A friend of mine became violently sick from their chicken. If you want real Texas barbeque, hit County Line. It's much, much, much better. I believe there's till one open in Houston (one closed, the company is based in Austin). Cafe Annies is the best restaurant. Be sure to hit Gingerman, best bar in the Western Hemisphere. Also, if you want someplace really funky, try Barnaby's on Fairview. It's really worth going to. Two good Thai restaurants: Nit Noi and Thai Orchid. Best Vietnamese: Tay Do Best Chinese: Nan Bei He (China Cafe) Best hole in the wall Vietnamese: Quan Ba Thao Restaurants that suck: Ruggles, La Griglia A real Houston restaurant: Carrabas Not to be missed under any circumstances Italian: Damian's
Scott S. wrote: > >I've seen many post barbeque in Houston as Goode Company. > >I lived in Houston 5 years and I found Goode Company very overrated. > >A friend of mine became violently sick from their chicken. > >If you want real Texas barbeque, hit County Line. It's much, much, >much better. I believe there's till one open in Houston (one closed, >the company is based in Austin). I have to disagree with Scott, Goode Company is the *REAL THING*. Not the glitz and glamour that County Line portrays. Nothing better than stepping into line at GC, anticipating that beer cooler that is coming up, grabbing a cold Shiner longneck, sipping as I ponder the menu, ordering, mouth watering as they prepare my delicious, sliced beef, or chicken dinner. (Sorry about your friend, but it is a roll of the dice everytime, regardless of what resturant you go to). If I am not extremely hungry, a sliced beef sandwich on GC's special Jalepeno cheese bread really hits the spot! Try finding this ambience and quality food at County Line. If I want a nice sitdown meal, I will choose elsewhere. I have been to County Line and it is ok. Just not my idea of a *REAL* barbeque place. I take my out of town freinds to Goode Company, and every one has walked away fat and extremely happy! Who do you trust more? a native Texan and Houstonian, or a transplant? PROSIT! KWK
SCOTT SOLOMON: I agree with KWK on one thing only. Don't trust a transplant regarding Texas barbeque. That's why I was a little skeptical when the Hawaii born Stanford graduated medical student I was dating took me to Goode Company for the first time. Goode Company seems to want to appeal to the most backward caricature of what Texas is supposed to be about. There are moronic "witticisms" hanging from the walls, and molded bull testicles hanging over the cash register. Then in the cafeteria style line you have to watch unsanitary, underpaid staff handle your food with their bare hands. No wonder another friend of mine got so sick from that place! Luckily I got to be friends with Mitchell Baumgartner -- Texan par excellence. Mitchell had been kicked out of St. John's, the Houston "elite" prep school. His family went back generations . . . all Texan. Mitchell could drink a dozen 23oz Spaten Oktoberfests at the Gingerman in one evening and still drive home. Mitchell graduated from University of Texas. He loved the Longhorns more than anything in the world. Mitchell had been in the Army Rangers. Mitchell would have beat the crap out of anyone who said Goode Company was better than County Line. Mitchell would have said only a dumb ass Aggie could possibly say Goode Company was better. (That would have been Mitchell talking . . . I don't go in for stereotypes, and Aggies are okay in my book). But then I'm a transplant, so what I say doesn't count. Mitchell was the one who took me to County Line. I knew instantly I had arrived at what Texas barbeque was supposed to be. The brisket at County Line is absolutely incomparable. The ribs are superb. The potato salad is the best I've ever had. Now maybe I don't know much about Texas, but I do know about glitz and glamour. I've eaten at every four star restaurant in Manhattan, and I've eaten at Lutece 18 times in the last year and a half. I can assure you that County Line is *NOT* about glitz and glamour, dude. But if County Line did open a Texas barbeque in New York, I'd celebrate for a week. The restaurant would make a FORTUNE! KWK: >I have to disagree with Scott, Goode Company is the *REAL THING*. Not the >glitz and glamour that County Line portrays. > >Nothing better than stepping into line at GC, anticipating that beer >cooler that is coming up, grabbing a cold Shiner longneck, sipping as I >ponder the menu, ordering, mouth watering as they prepare my delicious, >sliced beef, or chicken dinner. (Sorry about your friend, but it is a >roll of the dice everytime, regardless of what resturant you go to). If I >am not extremely hungry, a sliced beef sandwich on GC's special Jalepeno >cheese bread really hits the spot! > >Try finding this ambience and quality food at County Line. If I want a >nice sitdown meal, I will choose elsewhere. I have been to County Line >and it is ok. Just not my idea of a *REAL* barbeque place. I take my out >of town freinds to Goode Company, and every one has walked away fat and >extremely happy! > >Who do you trust more? a native Texan and Houstonian, or a transplant? > >PROSIT! > >KWK > >
I got so wrapped up in my defense of Goode & Co. BBQ that I neglected to mention a few of my other favorites. Try Churasco's in Rice Village for *excellent* Venezuelan fare -- the signature dish is the favorite of most people I know who've tried the place. I understand that Papacito's is among the best of dozens and dozens of good Tex-Mex restaurants, although I haven't tried it yet (plan to do so next time I'm in town, probably this January). 'The Americas' is a Churacsco cousin (same owner/executive-chef), and it's more upscale than Churasco's, but to my taste the churasco is the best thing on the menu, and for that, you will do better to go to the original Churasco's in Rice Village. You can take these recommendations to the bank, such is the infallibility of my pallate (except for Papacito's, since I'm still looking forward to trying it for the first time).
Someone wrote: > >Goode & Co. Barbeque overrated? Sheeit! You must not like >barbeque. I've eaten their brisket sandwich many times, and >their pecan pie is the best. As for your claim that a friend >got sick on the chicken, that's just a cheap shot.. bet you >can't prove it was due to the restaurant. > I didn't see the original post, but I think that Goode Co. is just one of several good places in Houston for BBQ. For different aspects, I might prefer either Otto's or Luling City Market. But I do agree that their pecan pie is one of the two best I've bought in Houston. [email removed]