The Texas restaurant scene is as scrumptious because it’s ever been. I stated, “THE TEXAS RESTAURANT SCENE IS AS DELICIOUS AS IT’S EVER BEEN!” It’s also noisy (to not point out costly and in a state of significant flux). Final yr I used to be all labored up about small plates and the chaos they convey to the tabletop. This yr, although I indulged in lots of wonderful bites, I discovered myself stewing over one other unsavory improvement.
The place is all this noisy power coming from? Clubstaurants, largely, and so they’re right here to remain. (In case you’re questioning, I didn’t make up that phrase.) Most eating places can’t survive promoting meals alone. They want booze to remain within the black, particularly within the massive cities. That’s why increasingly new venues really feel like saloons. That $17 cocktail (or mocktail!) is why you didn’t pay $60 in your filet mignon. (Oh, you probably did? Sorry.)
On high of that, house owners have found out that they’ll get noise-averse patrons out and in early, then crank up the music for the younger and thirsty. And I hate to interrupt it to you, however “vibe eating”—which you’ll be able to consider as a clubstaurant on a bender, with bands, DJs, dancing, fairly individuals dressed to the nines—has additionally arrived and could also be coming to a neighborhood close to you. (No, I didn’t make up that time period both.) However regardless that consuming whereas eating is quick turning into the brand new regular, I’m glad to report that kitchens are as disciplined and cooks as gifted and bold as ever.
After a lot laborious consuming, I’ve picked my favourite new eating places of the yr (ranked one by ten), together with six honorable mentions. As typical, the range of the highest ten is spectacular: two French and three Italian ideas; one every representing Israel, Japan, Peru, and the southern United States; and, rounding out the group, a hard-to-pin-down enterprise from a New Zealand chef.
Listed here are the foundations—there are simply two—for the twenty-third version of The place to Eat Now. To be eligible, a restaurant (1) should have opened between December 1, 2022, and November 30, 2023, and (2) should be the primary location in Texas (desire is given to homegrown venues). And that’s about it. Are you getting hungry? Let’s eat!
1. Katami
Houston
It’s not day-after-day a James Beard–nominated chef stops by to shave a truffle at your desk. However Manabu Horiuchi is pals with one among my eating companions, so he came visiting to say hello and stayed to garnish our wonderful toro tartare. Then Chef Hori—as he’s identified—returned to his lookout on the sushi bar, the place he may control the expansive eating room of Katami, essentially the most thrilling restaurant to open in Texas this previous yr.
The atmosphere is polished and coolly modern, fairly the distinction to informal Kata Robata, the place Hori first made his title in Houston. Predictably, the seafood—primarily uncooked however with a number of cooked picks—is spectacularly recent, a lot of it having departed Tokyo’s famed Toyosu Market a mere twenty hours earlier. I beloved the numerous nigiri we sampled, particularly the white-on-white simplicity of squid reclining on a pillow of rice and the delicate sweetness of freshwater eel with sea salt and lemon.
This being Texas, the menu additionally addresses carnivorous wishes with a concise part of one hundred pc Japanese Wagyu steaks. One enjoyable choice provides your celebration with strips of Kagoshima Wagyu and a sizzling lava rock. If, nonetheless, you order the $65-an-ounce Kagawa Wagyu—which comes from cows fed the pulp of crushed olives—the kitchen will insist on cooking it for you.
You possibly can stick to pure protein and have a beautiful meal, however that might be a mistake as a result of then you definitely’d miss conventional choices equivalent to chawanmushi, Japan’s savory custard soup, or tidy shumai (dumplings) filled with Ibérico pork and shrimp. The okonomiyaki is an umami-rich mélange of mushrooms, cabbage, and egg beneath a sprinkle of orange carrot flakes and squiggles of Japanese mayo.
However as comforting as these on a regular basis dishes are, essentially the most enjoyable are these the place Hori takes aside concepts from his Japanese previous and American current and recombines them with creativeness as a key ingredient. The foie gras PB&J consists of toasted squares of Japanese milk bread anointed with foie gras and Nutella and topped with a maraschino cherry. However for pure Instagram attraction, the undisputed chief is the surreal kakigori dessert, a mountain of finely shaved flavored ice outfitted with a bevy of add-ons. Our inexperienced tea–infused model was lavished with white chocolate cream, caramel sauce, condensed milk, and red-bean-paste ice cream. Oh, and did I point out that the blocks of ice are imported from Japan, which is famend for its mushy, neutral-tasting water? At Katami, one would anticipate no much less.
Katami
Opened October 31, 2023
2701 W. Dallas
713-393-7376
D 7 days.
2. Le Margot
Fort Price
Pink crystal chandeliers. Black-and-white tile flooring. Floral-print cowhide wall protecting. At Le Margot, French is spoken with a Texas accent and a way of enjoyable. The proprietor is Felipe Armenta, a restaurateur with some eleven venues and counting. His govt chef and associate is Graham Elliot, winner of two Michelin stars and a former High Chef decide. The 2 keep on with the foundations with dishes equivalent to a satiny French onion soup normal from portobellos beneath a cap of melty Gruyère toast. Ditto a super-slow-cooked salmon filet resting in a buttery Cabernet discount—it defines good fish cookery. However they go loopy with the burger, named the Royale with Cheese, which arrives beneath a pour-over of béchamel, Brie, and Parmesan. For dessert, they shamelessly goal for laughs with a chocolate-drenched profiterole the dimensions of a baseball.
Le Margot
Opened June 22, 2023
3150 S. Hulen
817-720-9060
L & D 7 days.
Left: The eating room at Quarter Acre. {Photograph} by Brittany Conerly High: The SNIX dessert at Quarter Acre. {Photograph} by Brittany Conerly
3. Quarter Acre
Dallas
After I noticed peanut butter and jelly (I’m detecting a development) listed as a part of an appetizer, I assumed, “This chef is both nuts or he is aware of one thing I don’t.” Seems to be the latter. A local of New Zealand, Toby Archibald cooked in high kitchens, equivalent to Café Boulud in New York and Toronto, earlier than coming to Texas in 2016 (his spouse was born in Dallas). Quarter Acre’s beef tartare arrives in a dramatic cloud of smoke beneath a glass dome, the chopped meat sure with an olive oil emulsion and jazzed up with shaved brisket jerky. Scorching smoked salmon and nuggets of fried sourdough star in a seaweed-and-lettuce salad, whereas a novel linguine is enlivened with black olives, prosciutto, and earthy sunchoke puree. As for that peanut butter, it’s cooked with cream and piped onto a skinny cracker that’s served alongside delicately battered chicken-fried quail on a plate swiped with house-made blueberry jam (yep, it really works).
Quarter Acre
Opened December 30, 2022
2023 Greenville Ave
214-647-1616
D Tue–Sat.
4. 61 Osteria
Fort Price
Confronted with a hole, sixteen-inch piece of pasta, most cooks would lower it into smart lengths. Not Blaine Staniford. He stuffs the broad, ruffle-edged noodle with ricotta, turns it on its aspect, and coils it like a snake. Lined in mushrooms and a preserved-Meyer-lemon sauce, the Serpente has turn out to be a signature dish at 61 Osteria.
The trendy venue has additionally introduced tablecloths and carpets again to eating, rejecting the bare surfaces that flip eating places into noise pits. Seafood is superbly dealt with right here and contains wood-grilled blue prawns in a caper-studded salsa verde. The kitchen is equally adept with beef. The quick rib comes sided by kale, radicchio, and tender white beans in a golden broth. Ought to overindulgence make you prepared for a nap, the triple-threat tiramisu—espresso, chilly brew, and occasional liqueur—will wake you proper up.
61 Osteria
Opened February 2, 2023
First on seventh Constructing
500 W. seventh
817-953-3271
D 7 days.
5. Josephine’s Gulf Coast Custom
Houston
Jimmy Kimmel’s loss is our acquire. Chef Lucas McKinney fortunately gave up a plum job cooking on the late-night TV host’s famed South Fork Lodge, in Idaho, to open his personal restaurant within the humidity-ridden Bayou Metropolis. At welcoming Josephine’s, the menu takes the flavors of his Mississippi childhood and offers them the worldwide aptitude he soaked up whereas working with Houston’s prestigious Underbelly hospitality group. One among his favourite openers is a dip of house-smoked redfish infused with a lemony rémoulade and served alongside fried saltines flavored with ranch seasoning. A becoming follow-up is a contemporary fusion creation: plump barbecued shrimp splashed with “worsh butter” (a Worcestershire discount enriched with cream and butter, plus a splash of Vietnamese fish sauce). McKinney brings Mexico onstage together with his thyme-infused corn flan, accompanied by a blueberry compote and a topping of tiny cornflakes.
Josephine’s Gulf Coast Custom
Opened July 5, 2023.
318 Grey
713-527-8988
L & D 7 days.
6. Bureau de Poste
Austin
On any given day, the courtyard and indoor house of Bureau de Poste are full of diners who’re kidding themselves. They assume they are often smart and order simply the Gruyère-capped French onion soup and a easy endive salad with citrus and hazelnuts—oh, and maybe the eggplant-tomato-and-zucchini ratatouille.
However when the server arrives, they may in truth kick willpower to the curb and demand the scandalous pommes dauphine, 4 completely fried globes of whipped potato topped with crème fraîche. And once they’re completed with that, they may bask in a fourteen-ounce ribeye in peppercorn sauce (avec frites, s’il vous plait). By dessert, all pretense can be gone. They know they need to order the clafouti, a demure, cakey French custard, however are helpless earlier than the lure of darkish chocolate mousse. Merci to chef Jo Chan and restaurateur Steph Steele for protecting us trustworthy.
Bureau de Poste
Opened October 3, 2023
4300 Speedway
512-375-3320
D 7 days. B Sat & Solar.
7. Leche de Tigre Cebichería Peruana
San Antonio
In a small cottage close to downtown San Antonio, three brothers are tutoring the curious in the way in which of tiger’s milk. Equal elements metaphor and marinade, leche de tigre is the advanced, citrusy potion that provides Peruvian ceviche its distinctive kick. Ask Emil, Axel, and Alec Oliva—the chef, normal supervisor, and beverage director, respectively—and they’ll fortunately clarify that the important thing to a superlative Lima-style ceviche (the siblings spent eight years within the capital metropolis) is a fast soak in a exactly blended and strained mixture of lime juice, bits of uncooked fish, purple onion, garlic, cilantro, celery, and ginger. The chosen seafood—kampachi, yellowfin tuna, octopus—is shortly immersed within the bracing liquid, the suitable garnishes (avocado, plantain, roasted candy potato, two sorts of Peruvian corn) are added, after which it’s rushed to keen diners.
Leche de Tigre Cebichería Peruana
Opened February 24, 2023.
318 E. Cevallos
210-265-5933
L Sat & Solar. D Tue–Solar.
8. By way of Triozzi
Dallas
Dallasite Leigh Hutchinson wasn’t born in Italy, however she acquired there as quickly as she may. The Italian American remembers standing on a nook in Florence seventeen years in the past, throughout a semester overseas, and imagining how it might really feel to personal a restaurant like those she had come to like there. Final yr she realized her dream with By way of Triozzi, a decrease Greenville Avenue spot the place exposed-brick partitions are softened with a trove of household images. Many dishes owe their inspiration to Hutchinson’s thrifty grandmother; others she discovered whereas learning with an Italian chef in Florence and consuming her means across the nation—one superb instance being coccoli, yeasty orbs of fried dough served alongside San Daniele prosciutto and stracchino cheese. Entrées are more likely to be conventional, together with her lasagna with besciamella and her strong pork-and-beef Bolognese, however she takes liberties with cannoli, substituting waffle-textured pizzelle cookies for the standard tubular pastry shells and giving the well-worn favourite a enjoyable new twist.
By way of Triozzi
Opened August 16, 2023.
1806 Greenville Ave
469-897-5679
D Wed–Mon.
9. Elro Pizza + Crudo
Houston
Your first response can be “pizza and crudo?” Your subsequent can be “pizza and crudo!” The novelty of the Italian twofer is the principle attraction at a transformed Houston bungalow outfitted with cheery tortoise-and-hare-print wallpaper inside and a meandering picket deck exterior. The idea is the brainchild of Terrence Gallivan, who from 2012 to 2019 was half of the lauded crew behind the Cross & Provisions, an acclaimed near-downtown
restaurant with two completely completely different eating rooms—one excessive type, the
different easygoing. Elro’s seven pizzas embody a superb sausage-and-rapini combo brightened by stretchy scamorza and pickled Fresno chiles (its very good puffy-edged crust is barely crisp and boasts a tasty hint of char). Amongst his continent-spanning crudos is chopped tuna on toast, adorned with nori, pistachios, scallions, and ’nduja spices. And if a buyer craves somewhat selection, there are seven different dishes, starting from Caesar salad to a meatball sub.
Elro Pizza + Crudo
Opened July 4, 2023.
2405 Genesee
L & D Tue–Solar.
10. Ezov
Austin
In an extended room spanned by picket rafters, amid paper lanterns splashed with colourful graffiti, chef/co-owner Berty Richter places a private spin on Israeli and different Center Japanese dishes. He cites the vigorous culinary scene of Tel Aviv as an inspiration, however Ezov’s menu has as a lot to do together with his penchant for unbridled flavors.
I used to be taken with the Smashed Cucumber, the chunky slices atop a mattress of smoked labneh enhanced with Aleppo chiles and amba (a tart fermented-green-mango condiment). The Moroccan-tinged cigarim (trying relatively like lengthy, skinny flautas) got here filled with sweetbreads and rooster coronary heart, all kicked up with schug, a piquant natural sauce fashionable in Yemen. After all of the sinus-clearing spices, I used to be astonished to seek out that the menu’s most mild-mannered dish, grilled lamb with fingerling potatoes, was the scrumptious equal of the whole lot else I had tried.
Ezov
Opened April 27, 2023.
2708 E. Cesar Chavez
512-305-1118
D 7 days.
Honorable Mentions
Austin
At Bacalar, a hanging modern design bolstered by Mayan-inspired equipment makes a splashy backdrop for dishes that decision on concepts from the Yucatán Peninsula. The choices vary from octopus tostadas to cochinita pibil, the area’s well-known citrus-and-achiote-marinated pork shoulder.
Dallas
Seventeen stools encompass a blond wooden counter at Naminohana, tucked right into a strip heart on higher Greenville Avenue. It’s a nice, unpretentious spot specializing in wonderful nigiri, sashimi, and rolls. Right here you possibly can dive into an order of luxurious otoro (the richest a part of the stomach of the bluefin tuna) or pattern a choice of uni (sea urchin) from Hokkaido and Santa Barbara.
Houston
In a small, stark white eating room with dramatic darkish wooden accents, an bold menu—described as “New Asian American” by chef-owners Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu—is luring diners to Jūn with dishes such because the moist, superbly cooked salmon with leeks, trumpet mushrooms, and a sprinkle of gremolata. Little’s Oyster Bar, the newest addition to the Pappas household restaurant empire, has been packed just about from the day it opened. Properly-turned-out prospects—a few of whom bear in mind when the placement debuted as Little Pappas Seafood Home, in 1987—bask in dishes from govt chef Jason Ryczek, together with very good Louie-style lump crab and insanely creamy scallop chowder with parsnips and bacon.
San Antonio
A flotilla of gently glowing lanterns illuminates the white partitions and pale woods of Nineteen Hyaku, one of the vital luscious-looking eating rooms within the metropolis. Right here, the Japanese menu boasts alluring objects equivalent to crisply fried vegetable tempura and miso-glazed eggplant. The Mexican and Cuban specialties at not too long ago opened Paladar are way more bold than you’d anticipate from its small, modest eating room, outfitted with properly set tables and staffed by affable servers. A trio of creamy, colourful soups—corn, chayote, and purple bell pepper—goes effectively with deftly seared tuna salvaje in purple ponzu served over skinny slices of vivid yellow mango.
