The way we eat: houston dining trends then and now.
Houston is often described as a melting pot. And it iscertainly that: An immigrant-rich, multicultural metropolis that is home to2.25 million (6 million in the Greater Houston landscape). The city boasts oneof the youngest populations in the country with a median age of 34; it is alsoa relatively affluent populace with an average household income of $90,500.Fueled by international businesses, Houston is truly a global economic force(only New York City has more Fortune 500 headquarters).
More than 140 different languages are spoken here. The global face of Houstonis stamped with its own unique gastronomic identity. Make no mistake: Houston’spolyglot culinary culture is one of its most treasured characteristics.
It's a delicious stew where myriad ethnic foodways happily co-exist and in somecases cross-pollinate to create a distinctly Houston cuisine (some of the mostexciting new Texas barbecue purveyors are shot through with Asian and Mexicanflavors; Texas Gulf classics can sport Indian, Vietnamese, and Koreaninflections; and even the august steakhouse experience can revel in grace notesof immigrant flavors).
Here and some important and new observations/trends about the way Houston eats:
GLOBAL-GASTRO
Before the dawn of the Space Age when NASA choose Houston as a new spacecraft center in the early 1960s, Houston’s dining culture sported the basics. Texas comfort foods (chicken-fried steak, chili, cowboy stew, and homey casseroles)were standard suppertime fare. The other foodway threads included Gulf Coast flavors (abundant local seafood, oysters, fried fish baskets, and simple shrimp and grilled fish preparations sometimes sporting welcome Louisiana Cajun influences); Tex-Mex (the beloved Felix’s brought queso happiness to the city and old school kitchens such as Molina’s Cantina and Los Tios carved out their own niches); and legacy barbecue joints (especially those serving the predominantly Black community in the city’s Third Ward).
The 70s and 80s brought Vietnamese and Chinese immigrants in growing number sand the original downtown Chinatown moved west, triggering the expansion of the city’s vast, modern Asiatown with its abundance of Vietnamese fare that brought about the born-in-Houston Viet-Cajun phenomenon. Today, the influx of Asian and Southeast Asian immigrants has given the city a vibrant and ever-expanding Asiatown, a thriving Indian commercial area (Mahatma Gandhi District), its own distinctive Koreatown, and welcome pops of Japanese, Thai, Pakistani, Filipino,Malaysian, Singaporean, and Laotian flavors.
FOOD IDENTITY
The early 2000s saw a new culinary era taking shape. National media, fueled by an interest in food television and the celebrity chef sensation, discovered Houston, and the city’s restaurants and chefs became new darlings. Glossy food magazine stories and food television spots aimed a spotlight on the city and its emerging star chef scene. James Beard Awards piled up, and by 2021 Houston’s identity as a great American food city was cemented when Bravo’s “Top Chef” competition played out against a colorful, multicultural background.Houston hit the big time. And multicultural still defines Houston: 2022’s No. 1 restaurant on the Houston Chronicle’s list of the city’s top 100 restaurants was the thrilling, unexpected Norwegian seafood meets Gulf fish mashup Golfstrommen.
TODAY’S TRENDS
Upscale upswing: The city’s love for high-end dining has always been great, but even more so now. And across cuisine types. Recent openings show a hunger for high-ticket dining: Little’s Oyster Bar (the Pappas family’s new caviar-fueled seafood outpost); Annabelle Brasserie and Tavola (Berg Restaurant Group’s new upscale brasserie and Italian restaurants); Rumi’s Kitchen (luxe Persian farelands in Uptown neighborhood); Comalito (Underbelly Hospitality’s well-heeled concept for Mexico City flavors); Cocody (super luxe, French-driven dining appropriately roosts in River Oaks); and Lombardi (uptown’s snazzy Italian cucina from Dallas-based group that operates Toulouse in River Oaks District).The upscale outreach will continue this year with the openings of Toca Madera(high-octane Mexican steakhouse already established in Las Vegas and LosAngeles); Bar Bludorn (newest concept from Houston top toque Aaron Bludorn);Azumi (posh Japanese fare from Atlas Restaurant Group); Turner’s Cut (another high-end concept from Berg landing in Autry Park); PostScript HTX (the bubbles will flow at this new Instagram-worthy newcomer from Dallas); and Credence(Goode Company’s ambitious luxe Texas steakhouse coming to Memorial).
Pacific overtures: Speaking of upscale, Asian fare has gone glam lately.Houston diners still traffic in abundant affordable Asian foods but a new slate of exclusive restaurants show expensive leanings. MaKi in is a lavish new take on Thai from owners of KinDee; Katami, chef Manabu Horiuchi’s sumptuous new Japanese restaurant, comes out swinging; and Norigmi, the chic, intimate new Japanese nibbles and cocktails concept from Hidden Omakase owners, has opened in Rice Village. More coming down the pike in addition to Azumi: MF Lobster andAnnam (upscale Asian seafood and Vietnamese from MF Sushi chef); Doko (new sushi restaurant and companion bar Bar Doko from owners of Kokoro and Aiko);Phat Eatery (beloved Katy-based Malaysian street food restaurant to take up second home in The Woodlands); Bori (second outpost of the South Korean steakhouse restaurant is coming to Montrose); and Molihua (the much-anticipated upscale Asian restaurant opening in the Blossom Hotel in MedCenter).
The power of pie: Pizza, in all its crusty iterations, has Houston in apassionate grip. A new pizza chapter is being written by the recent openings ofNonno’s (mobbed, family-friendly pizza tavern in Montrose); Gold Tooth Tony’s(pizza wiz Anthony Calleo’s homage to Detroit-style pizza in the Heights);Betelgeuse Betelgeuse (Washington Corridor favorite opens new outpost inMontrose for its crispy-bottom pies baked in cast iron pans); CoastlinePizzeria (new artisan pie shop lights up First Ward); and Neighbors Pizza Joint(casual spot for wood-fired pizza makes new home at The Plant in East End).More coming: The Pizza Place from owners of The Burger Joint and The Taco Standwill bring New York- and Neapolitan-style pizza to the Heights; Magdalena’sPizza from a former DaMarco staffer will open in West U with pizza and Italiansmall plates; and Karbach Pizza & Pints will fire up Neapolitan pies on thecampus of the popular Houston brewery.
Plant it forward: Interest in vegetarian and vegan dining grows as plant-based offerings become more accessible, sophisticated, and, yes, tasty even for committed carnivores. Meatless options make a happy home on menus of restaurants that traffic in animal proteins. In Houston, Ojo de Agua in River Oaks District offers tofu al pastor tacos; Veegos vegan restaurant cooks up jackfruit flautas; Mo’Better Brews, a vegan eats coffee shop, serves chicken-fried mushrooms and bagel and “lox” made with carrots; Soul Food Veganin the city’s Third Ward offers smoked barbecue jackfruit; and Heartbeet, the brand from Hungry’s restaurants, boasts a menu section full of meatless and dairy-free options.
OTHER THOUGHTS
Smoke signals: Houston’s great craft barbecue boom has slowed down but that doesn’t mean interest in local barbecue is waning. Lines at Truth BBQ, Houston’s highest-rated smokehouse, still form every day; The Pit Room remains a must-do joint for both locals and out-of-towners; and J-Bar-M Barbecue has found a new lease on life with new all-day barbecue menu items (as well as Primesteak options). New projects that ’cue connoisseurs are excited about include The Pit Room’s expansion west with a second store in Memorial City; and a newbrick-and-mortar project from pitmaster Willow Villarreal who enjoys a cult following in Houston.
Mex marches on: Bright new Mexican and Tex-Mex concepts are planned for 2024,following the recent openings of Mi Cocina on Westheimer, Comalito at the Houston Farmers Market, and Agricole Hospitality’s new HiWay Cantina (the Tex-Mex takeover of the former Indianola space in EaDo). Coming soon: Popular Cyclone Anaya’s is still on track to open newest location on Westheimer; FordFry (of Superica fame) intends to bring Northern Mexican flavors to River Oaks with the opening of Little Rey’s; Mayahuel will bring Mexican street food and regional Mexican fare to Autry Park; Houston restaurateur Benjy Levit adds Mexican to his portfolio with Maximo Canteen in West U; and the Palacios Murphy Hospitality Group builds on the success of its Mandito’s Tex-Mex in Bellaire with a second outpost set for Katy.
Cheese hots: Raclette (that Swiss specialty of hot melted cheese scraped directly from the wheel of raclette) has showed up over the years at Squable, Nancy’s Hustle, Brasserie 19, and Montrose Cheese & Wine. But now Houston seems to be in a cheese goo moment. Eau Tour in Rice Village offers mushroom and raclette dumplings; PS-21's “raclette for two” is a tableside experience where fingerling potatoes are blanketed in warm raclette; and the new Annabelle Brasserie in Autry Park Sis mad for raclette, offering it as an appetizer with baguette and even garnishing its signature burger with a tableside flourish of hot cheese.