Houston and Galveston Restaurants

We’ve compiled the best of the best in Houston and Galveston - browse our top choices for Restaurants during your stay.

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  • 1. Max's Wine Dive

    $$ | Memorial Park

    Come to this loud, silicone-and-Rolex-filled place with a big appetite and a taste for a great selection of Texas and world-wide wines. This local favorite packs in young movers and shakers every night with upscale comfort food, including Lobster Thermadelphia—a twist on a Philly cheesesteak, with lobster, tequila, lime, and jalapeño cheddar cheese on a baguette, and the Texas Haute Dog, an all-beef hot dog with pickled jalapeño, Texas venison chili, cotija cheese, and crispy fried onion rings. Pair them up with an awesome selection of wines, many available by the glass, but much better priced as bottles. It's open until 2 am Thursday, Friday, and Saturday

    4720 Washington Ave., Houston, Texas, 77007, USA
    713-880--8737

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
  • 2. Américas

    $$$ | Uptown/River Oaks

    A colorful mosaic-tiled, multistoried room delivers outstanding New World cuisine that includes roasted pork filet mignon with grilled shrimp and lump crabmeat and the crowd-favorite Encamisado, a chicken breast crusted with plantains and Chontaleno cheese over black-bean sauce. The executive lunch, available weekdays, is just $15.95 and includes a signature entrée and dessert, plus your choice of soup or salad.

    2040 W. Gray, Houston, Texas, 77019, USA
    832-200--1492

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
  • 3. Arcodoro

    $$$$ | Uptown

    With executive chefs hailing from Sardinia, Italy, Arcodoro is the place to go for authentic Sardinian cuisine. The various pasta dishes, such as artichoke-filled ravioli and gnochetti (teardrop pasta) with wild-boar ragu (stew), are very popular, as are the chicken dishes and osso buco, and the rib-eye steak is succulent. Alfresco dining is available year-round, but only truly enjoyable in the cooler months and when you're sitting far enough away from the parking lot to be out of exhaust range. Check out the online store for authentic Sardinian products.

    5000 Westheimer Rd., Houston, Texas, 77056, USA
    713-621--6888

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
  • 4. Armandos

    $$$ | River Oaks

    Don't look for the sign—there isn't one at this clubby, see-and-be-seen River Oaks sorta-Tex-Mex favorite. Armando Palacios's eponymous eatery—fashioned after 1920s Mexico City—is consistently packed with friends and regulars who love the clean, simple signature fajitas, queso flameado (a cheese dip made with chorizo and served with flour tortillas), and fresh lime-juice margaritas. The bar is always hopping, and not with the young and the restless, either. Reserve the private room in the back for your next air-kissing celebration.

    2630 Westheimer, Houston, Texas, 77098, USA
    713-520--1738

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
  • 5. Baba Yega Restaurant

    $$ | Montrose

    An excellent choice for vegetarian cuisine, this eclectic bungalow in the Montrose neighborhood serves an avocado-and-mushroom-topped veggie burger plate that has been popular since 1975. Named after a Slavic witch, Baba Yega offers an award-winning weekend brunch, and full bar as well. Enjoy people-watching out front under the shade of a century-old oak tree, or dine on the covered patio before a waterfall and herb garden.

    2607 Grant St., Houston, Texas, 77006, USA
    713-522--0042

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, Closed Mon., Reservations not accepted
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  • 6. benjy's in the village

    $$ | Rice Village

    The self-designated "modern American cuisine" continues to evolve, but the cool factor and the quality remain the same at this Rice Village mainstay. Owners Benjy and Erica Levit deliver satisfying lunch, brunch, and dinner offerings, including warm pistachio-crusted goat-cheese cakes, seared sashimi-tuna pizza, and a standout grilled beef fillet with roasted-garlic mashed potatoes. If you're in the mood to stay late or arrive early, you can head upstairs to the lounge for beautiful people, generous-sized cocktails, and mid-century glam.

    2424 Dunstan Rd., Houston, Texas, 77005, USA
    713-522--7602

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
  • 7. Bistro Lancaster

    $$$$ | Downtown

    Breakfast—make that power breakfast—and lunch are popular with the business set at this small, classy restaurant in the Lancaster Hotel downtown, but dinner is the ticket, especially for the pre-theater crowd. Chef Jamie Zelko offers a changing seasonal menu based on fresh local ingredients. Try the crab cakes and bread pudding. Brunch is available on weekends. The adjacent Bistro Bar has a terrific wine list and a cozy, intimate setting.

    701 Texas Ave., Houston, Texas, 77002, USA
    713-228--9500

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, Reservations essential
  • 8. Brennan's

    $$$$ | Downtown

    A cousin of New Orleans's Commander's Palace, Brennan's puts a Texas spin on Creole cuisine. This is one of the few restaurants in Houston where people still dress up. Not that it's in any way formal: the landmark building's interiors are as charming as the hospitality is Southern-gracious. Chef Randy Evans's specialties, like turtle soup with sherry and pecan-crusted fish, repeatedly impress. Brunch in the peaceful courtyard is a memorable experience. For an extra-special night, book the Kitchen Table, a private dining room that seats 10 and offers a ringside view of all the cooking action.

    3300 Smith St., Houston, Texas, 77006, USA
    713-522--9711

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, Reservations essential
  • 9. Carrabba's

    $$ | River Oaks

    After all these years, the original location of Carrabba's remains the busy and quintessential Inner Loop destination for reliable, Americanized Italian cooking. This location is not part of the national chain: here the founding families retain control and you can tell the difference. From steaming vessels of robust pasta dishes (heavy on the garlic) to crusty pizzas and hefty grilled meats, the kitchen fires on all cylinders to keep the customers happy. Service is fast and ultra-chummy, and servers will even sing an Italian song for your birthday if you so desire.

    3115 Kirby Dr., Houston, Texas, 77098, USA
    713-522--3131

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
  • 10. Chuy's

    $$ | River Oaks

    Part wacky Tex-Mex restaurant, part shrine to Elvis, dogs, and hubcaps, and part kitschy gift shop, Chuy's is a true Texas original. Always busy and always fun, this is the place to go for large, many-flavored margaritas and original dishes like the Elvis Green Chile Fried Chicken, which is coated in potato chips. The Chuychanga—a fried flour tortilla filled with chicken, cheese, cilantro, and green chilies, and best when ordered with Deluxe Tomatillo Sauce—is bigger than most people's forearms and is life-alteringly good. Be sure to request complimentary creamy jalapeño dip to accompany your chips and salsa (trust us on this one). At happy hour, poor college kids and high-rolling energy traders dig into complimentary nachos served out of the trunk of a classic Cadillac.

    2706 Westheimer, Houston, Texas, 77063, USA
    713-278--2489

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
  • 11. Damian's Cucina Italiana

    $$$ | Downtown

    "Timeless" is the word for this sophisticated, authentic Tuscan restaurant located where downtown becomes midtown. It's been a business luncheon favorite for more than 20 years, and at night couples and families come to enjoy the cozy, old-world interior; extensive menu offerings; comprehensive wine list; and leisurely pace. The menu is huge; if you're having trouble deciding, try the deftly grilled veal chops or the ravioli del giorno (of the day). Chef Napoleon Palacios creates weekly specials, too, so there's always something new to try.

    3011 Smith St., Houston, Texas, 77006, USA
    713-522--0439

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Sun., Credit cards accepted
  • 12. Dolce Vita

    $$ | Montrose

    For fresh gourmet pizzas and interesting starters, head directly to buzzing Dolce Vita on lower Westheimer's restaurant row. Extremely casual, with gracious dining areas scattered throughout a restored older house, the restaurant has unexpected appetizers like marinated mussels tossed with capers, parsley, and potatoes, and calamari with mint, orange, and olives. Smoky Neapolitan pies are baked in the 800-degree wood-fired oven and include the crowd-pleasing margarita, with tomato, basil, and buffalo mozzarella and the salsiccia e friarelli, with sausage, rapini, and pecorino. Sit outside in good weather and bad—the patio's covered.

    500 Westheimer Rd., Houston, Texas, 77006, USA
    713-520--8222

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Mon., Credit cards accepted
  • 13. El Tiempo

    $$ | Memorial Park

    Wildly popular and wildly good, El Tiempo on Washington (there are other locations on Richmond and Montrose) is the go-to Mexican restaurant for socialites, families, singles (check out the swinging bar scene), and serious eaters. The place gets raves for its margaritas, fajitas, guacamole, green sauce, and the whopping, table-filling mixed grill, with beef and chicken fajitas, jumbo shrimp, quail, baby-back ribs, carnitas (spicy roasted pork), and jalapeño sausage. It's open for breakfast on weekends.

    5602 Washington Ave., Houston, Texas, 77007, USA
    713-681--3645

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
  • 14. Fisherman's Wharf

    $$$

    Even though Landry's has taken over this harborside institution, locals keep coming here for the reliably fresh seafood and reasonable prices. Dine indoors or watch the boat traffic (and waiting cruise ships) from the patio. Start with a cold combo, like boiled shrimp and grilled rare tuna. For entrées, the fried fish, shrimp, and oysters are hard to beat.

    2200 Harborside Dr., Galveston, Texas, 77550, USA
    409-765–5708

    Known For

    • Big and busy
    • Great views of the bay
    • Shrimp po-boys
  • 15. Goode Company Texas Bar-B-Q

    $$ | West University

    Down-home Texas barbecue is prepared ranch-style—mesquite-smoked and served with tasty red sauce. Patrons young and old line up on the sidewalk to eat at picnic tables on the covered patio. A standard order is the chopped-beef brisket sandwich on jalapeño-cheese bread. Don't skip the celebrated pecan pie for dessert. Goode Company Hamburgers and Taqueria across the street serves—no surprise here—hamburgers and tacos, as well as great weekend breakfasts. And for some honky-tonk atmosphere, shuffleboard, dominoes, pool, and lots of cold beer, check out Goode's Armadillo Palace next door. You can't miss the place: it's the building with the giant stainless-steel armadillo standing guard out front.

    5109 Kirby Dr., Houston, Texas, 77098, USA
    713-522--2530

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
  • 16. Ibiza

    $$$$ | Midtown

    Gutsy, sometimes playful cuisine prepared by Chef Charles Clark is served in a bustling Midtown dining room as seductive as its namesake island off the coast of Spain. Generous portions of seasonal dishes intermingle with delectable Spanish tapas and hearty entrées such as braised lamb shank with mint oil. Oenophiles appreciate Ibiza's ever-changing wine list of rare tastes at fair prices. Don't miss the outdoor patio on pretty days or the homemade sangria chock-full of fresh fruit. Insider tip: cotton candy is available as a lunch dessert; just ask! An adjacent lounge, Ibiza Lounge Next Door, packs in a young, good-looking, and chic crowd in a cozy dark room with lots of low seating.

    2450 Louisiana St., Houston, Texas, 77006, USA
    713-524--0004

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Mon., Credit cards accepted
  • 17. Irma's Original

    $$ | Downtown

    Irma and her family dish out home-style Mexican specialties to a wait-in-line breakfast and lunch crowd (weekdays only) of lawyers, judges, cube-dwellers, and sports fans. The surroundings may be homey, but this place is not cheap—still, the food has made Irma's a local landmark. There's no menu: your server will tell you what is available. Opt for the chicken-and-spinach enchiladas with green chili sauce, and wash it all down with the famous lemonade. Irma opens on weekends when the Astros are in town—and stays open until 6 pm during the week on home-game days.

    22 N. Chenevert St., Houston, Texas, 77002, USA
    713-222--0767

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Sun., Credit cards accepted
  • 18. La Griglia

    $$$ | River Oaks

    You know you've come to a dining hot spot when you're greeted by the cement handprints of local notables outside the front doors of the ebullient La Griglia. Even after all these years (it opened in 1991), no other Houston restaurant can match its buzzy social energy. Dramatic decor, an open kitchen, imaginative and dependable food, and fair prices make this River Oaks favorite a touchstone among those in the know (and in the gossip columns). This place fills by 7 pm, so arrive early or prepare to enjoy the scenery for a while. Try the seafood cheesecake, maybe the richest appetizer in town and worth every calorie or smooth, silky shrimp bisque. Soft-shell crabs and fillet of red snapper are excellent entrées. La Griglia has open-air dining on a covered side patio.

    2002 W. Gray St., Houston, Texas, 77019, USA
    713-526--4700

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
  • 19. Las Alamedas

    $$$ | Memorial Park

    You could forget you're in the city at the grand hacienda of Las Alamedas, which overlooks a peaceful wooded ravine in Memorial. The menu is upscale Mexican (not Tex-Mex!) cuisine, and the kitchen is sometimes uneven, but generally very good. Two splendid entrées are tacos de cochinita pibil (chunks of pork simmered in achiote sauce) and huachinango à la azteca (red snapper stuffed with corn mushrooms in poblano sauce). There's a kids' menu.

    23501 Cinco Ranch Blvd., Houston, Texas, 77494, USA
    281-347--3030

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
  • 20. Mosquito Café

    $$

    This popular eatery in Galveston's historic East End serves fresh, contemporary food—including some vegetarian dishes—in a hip, high-ceilinged dining room and on an outdoor patio. Wake up with cinnamon French toast or a crab omelette, or try an oversized sandwich or large gourmet salad for lunch. The juicy burgers or Asian shrimp skewer are hits in the evening.

    628 14th St., Galveston, Texas, 77550, USA
    409-763–1010

    Known For

    • Bountiful breakfasts
    • No fried seafood
    • Tacos (grilled shrimp, carnitas, or filet mignon)

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Mon.

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