Southern in Houston

5101 Almeda Third Ward

713-528-0020

This cafeteria-style restaurant on Almeda is like a smaller version of This Is It, with all of the heart and soul intact in a comfortable, homey setting. Standouts on the steam table here are the oxtails, chicken and catfish, as well as the bacon fat-laden green beans and cabbage, all of which are served with a genuine smile. Portions are immense, so beware: You won't be walking out of here hungry, or with room for dessert. Luckily, Alfreda's packages its desserts (try the banana pudding) to go, so you can enjoy them later.

Aunt Bea's Restaurant - CLOSED

5422 N. Freeway Outer Loop - NW

713-692-2432

American, Diner, Soul Food, Southern, Recommended

Hungry for a huge breakfast at 3 a.m.? Aunt Bea's to the rescue. It looks like a country kitchen, and the food tastes homemade. Their daily steam table offers a meat and three side dishes, and it's an incredible amount of food for $6. The rest of the menu offers fried food, funky Italian dishes and a ten-ounce rib eye steak for $14.

1 article

Avenue Grill

1017 Houston Ave. Heights

713-228-5138

American, Breakfast, Soul Food, Southern, Best Of, Menu

Cops, reporters, lawyers and other folks who frequent the police station and the municipal courthouse have made this steam-table diner a lunchtime institution. The people-watching is great: Downtown business types rubbing shoulders with folks in African-inspired tribal garb. Try one of the best chicken-fried steaks in town, presented with huge servings of true homestyle vegetables. And be sure to save room for a piece of near-perfect pie. Breakfast and lunch only.

1 article

Bacon Bros. Public House

2110 Town Square Place, Sugar Land Outside Houston

832-532-0342

Southern, Gastro Pub, Slideshow

Bacon Bros. Public House opened on March 6 at 2110 Town Square Place, adjacent to the Marriott Hotel in Sugar Land. The Greenville, South Carolina-based restaurant is known as a gastropub committed to Southern hospitality and a love of bacon. Food is flavorful and straightforward, and everything is made from scratch, save the maple bourbon ice cream, which is served with a delightfully nutty, homemade pecan pie. Skip the charcuterie and barbecue; items like the Mexican street corn (elote), fried quail and succotash are the true winners.

2 articles

Bernadine’s

1801-B North Shepherd Heights

713-864-2565

Southern, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Slideshow

Chef Graham Laborde might not have been well-known to Houston before Bernadine’s opened, but his résumé includes Commander’s Palace and Stella in New Orleans. Thanks to that background, it’s possible to luxuriate in raw oysters, fresh seafood, cocktails and Southern comfort food for hours at Bernadine’s. On busy nights, flavors and service can flag, but most of the time, both are quite appealing. The Creole-style gumbo, full of peppery andouille, fresh Gulf oysters and duck, is quite succulent thanks to the smoked duck stock. Upscale takes on humble county riffs, like cochon de lait au presse (pressed suckling pig) with chard standing in for tougher greens and hot sauce-tinged farro swapped for the standard black-eyed peas, don’t stray too far from the classics. Brunch at Bernadine’s is very strong and everyone should check it out at least once. It may become their favorite weekend stop.

10 articles

Bettie Jean's Homestyle Cooking

2604 Dowlen Rd., Beaumont Outside Houston

409-860-5326

Southern

Big Eyed Fish

908 Henderson St. Heights

American, Southern

Big Eyed Fish, located in an adorable 100-year old house painted bright turquoise with white trim, is lovely and likable. It can get noisy, but the venue makes that forgivable. The service is good, too, with frequent checkin, and the waiters and waitresses seem genuinely happy to see their guests. It’s the food that’s the problem. It’s not that it’s bad. It’s just that so few dishes here meet expectations. The exceptions include the bacon-wrapped quail with mushroom bread pudding, the Southern Sampler platter, with neat deviled eggs practically encrusted over the top with finely chopped bacon bits, flavorful, rich sausage sourced from Louisiana and serviceable cornmeal-breaded fried green tomatoes. The bread pudding is good, too, even if it stops short of notability. However, overall blandness, broken or insignificant sauces and menu items that seem totally out of place with the theme subvert the good intentions. There’s a good, interesting and reasonably priced beer list, though, as well as a wine program.

12 articles

Brennan's of Houston

3300 Smith St. Montrose

713-522-9711

Creole, Fine Dining, Southern, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Menu, Slideshow, Readers' Choice

Houston institution Brennan's is back after burning to the ground during Hurricane Ike. The grande dame of Cajun cuisine is looking even better than ever, and is still a reliable place for business lunches, intimate showers, date nights and expense-account meals. Southern and Creole food reigns supreme here, with rich and buttery dishes that aren't on your Weight Watchers plan but are easily worth the extra calories. The Courtyard Bar - a new addition - is the perfect place for a lunchtime 25-cent martini, while the elegant John Staub room is cozy and quieter than the rest of the busy Midtown restaurant. The main dining room, however, is still the place to see and be seen.

163 articles

Brick & Mortar Kitchen

West Grand Parkway South Richmond/Rosenberg

832-759-5912

Southern

Brick & Mortar Kitchen is smartly located nearly in the center of the rapidly developing nexus between Katy, Fulshear, Mission Bend and Richmond. Originally, the concept was an ambitious one, driven by a desire to create sophisticated dishes with local ingredients. Regrettably, the locals didn’t gravitate to the fare and complained about prices, so the menu has been overhauled. Among the missing: garden-fresh salads, hearty plates of lamb chops, perfectly cooked duck breast, elegant French fries covered in clouds of Parmesan and pizzas with bubbly, crispy crusts. In their places are overcooked fish tacos, pale pizza crusts, uninspiring “hot wings” that use fried oysters instead of chicken, and a Cobb salad that could be found in the prepared-foods section of a grocery store. On the positive side: It’s a beautiful, secluded setting that doesn’t seem like dining next door to a furniture store, and service is personable and considerate. Should Brick & Mortar Kitchen decide to revert to the original menu, that would be fine with us. As it stands, there’s nothing here worth driving for unless you’re also in need of a new sofa.

1 article

The Bronze Peacock at House of Blues

1204 Caroline Downtown/ Midtown

888-402-5837

Music Venues, Southern, Best Of, Slideshow

Right off to the side of the main stage at House of Blues, you'll find the Bronze Peacock Room. It's dead-on perfect for smaller bands who can't quite fill up HOB's bigger hall, and quite ideal for more intimate performances. There's an adequate bar, tables and even its own staffed smoking lounge off to the side (complete with a bartender).

27 events 65 articles

Brooks' Place

18020 FM 529 Outer Loop - NW

832-893-1682

Barbecue, Southern, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Menu

Trent Brooks’ humble trailer in a parking lot next to an Ace Hardware in Cypress is a treasure trove of barbecue and a selection of sides that rotate through the weeks. A few of the sides are daily constants: Baked Beans, Bacon Onion Garlic Potatoes and Cranberry Almond Slaw. Diners can get a selection of specialty meats by the pound and select a few sides for a combination plate. People feeding a crowd, though, can phone ahead to arrange for a whole brisket, rack of ribs or smoked pork butt. On nice days, there are picnic benches under a metal awning to dine at. Otherwise, there is no indoor dining so plan to take your order to-go. Brooks’ serves the best barbecue in the area, hands-down. The fat rendering on the brisket can vary but there’s always a reliable crust, and barbecue fans should most definitely try the pulled pork, pork ribs, deer sausage beef ribs. Also, we’d be remiss not to mention that the well-regarded trailer is one of the few local restaurants that encourage open-carry, even offering an open-carry discount to open carriers with a valid concealed handgun license.

8 articles

Chicken Salad Chick Pearland

2100 Pearland Parkway Pearland

954-893-9150

Southern

Chicken Salad Chick, the nation’s only southern inspired, fast casual chicken salad restaurant concept, announced today it will be expanding in Texas with its newest restaurant in Pearland. Continuing a string of development in the greater Houston area, the Pearland restaurant marks the fifth metro opening this year and ninth Houston market opening overall. The Pearland restaurant is located at 2100 Pearland Parkway and will celebrate its grand opening on October 21 with four days of giveaways, including free chicken salad for a year for the first 100 guests. Those awarded will be properly distanced and will receive a designated return time upon arrival to spread out the number of guests at the restaurant throughout the day.

City Acre Brewing

3418 Topping St. Outer Loop - NE

832-377-0237

American, Brewery, Soul Food, Southern, Breweries and Wineries, Slideshow

3 articles

Davis Meat Market

2204 Lockwood East End

713-672-1803

Barbecue, Breakfast, Soul Food, Southern, Retail, Services, Recommended

This old-fashioned meat market in the Fifth Ward serves some of the best soul food in the city. Choose from steam-table classics like oxtails, beef tips and chitterlings. There's also a sausage and egg breakfast, hamburgers and sandwiches, and a full line of barbecue items. Don't miss the homemade sweet potato pie.

Edgar's Hermano

1700 Smith St. Downtown/ Midtown

713-495-7854

Comfort Foods, Southern, Tex-Mex

We've staked our claim as one of Downtown Houston's best restaurants.

Edgar’s Hermano

1700 Smith Downtown/ Midtown

713-495-7854

Fusion, Tex-Mex, Southern

Pass the chilies, hold the queso at Edgar’s Hermano. The modern, turquoise-accented Edgar’s Hermano, tucked inside the Whitehall hotel, is a cute, welcoming spot to stop by for happy hour and nosh on any number of Southern Tex-Mex fusion dishes. The restaurant is split between a roomful of booths and rustic wooden tables and a long bar situated next to a row of smaller tables where sports aficionados can catch the latest game. The fare is mostly elevated beyond the typical hotel restaurant menu, though several dishes, like the salmon salad and the tres leches parfait, suffer from a lack of polish and execution. However, the fried chicken is tender and generously stuffed with creamy mac and cheese at dinnertime, and the doughy housemade tortillas — found in everything from the quesadilla appetizer to house-fried chips — are worth a second glance. Skip dessert, but be sure to try the savory fried chile relleno.

1 article

Eleven:Eleven Restaurant & Bar

607 W. Gray St. River Oaks

713-529-5881

New American, Seafood, Southern, Critics' Pick

Situated on the northern border between Montrose and Midtown, Eleven: Eleven seems out of place. It's an upscale dining restaurant with playful interpretations of classic dishes frequented by people who look like they belong in River Oaks. And yet it works. The seafood/Southern/wild game restaurant manages to produce something to please anyone and everyone - from the perfectly braised short ribs to the raw oysters to the decadent brunch offerings. Chef Kevin Bryant and house manager Joe Welborn developed some of the menu items together, and though the decor is muted and reserved, the food and cocktail lists reflect the duo's mischievous approach to cooking. Why not serve an open-faced foie gras sandwich for lunch? Who wouldn't like fried candy bars for dessert? More than 30 different types of raw oysters on the menu? We can do that! It's this attitude about dining that makes Eleven: Eleven not only fun and delicious, but also a place you'll want to return to again and again.

6 articles

Eloise Nichols Grill & Liquors

2400 Mid Lane No. 100 River Oaks

713-554-0136

American, Southern

A neighborhood eatery in the heart of River Oaks, Eloise Nichols Grill & Liquors serves lunch, brunch and dinner in a delightfully charming and stylish setting. Executive chef Joseph Stayshich sources ingredients from local farmers and purveyors to create a contemporary American menu with Gulf Coast, Asian and other global influences. On the menu you’ll find everything from a blackeyed peas hummus to fresh catch of the day and Texas grilled beefsteak. The menu is built so that you can order family-style and share, with reasonable prices aimed at making it easy to visit often. There’s an inviting bar where you can grab drinks or dine alone, a raw bar serving oysters, and very homey traditional American desserts such as the chocolate cake with hazelnuts.

5 articles

Field & Tides Restaurant & Bar (FTRB)

705 E. 11th St. Heights

713-861-6143

Southern, New American, Seafood, Best Of, Menu, Slideshow

Field & Tides or FTRB as it appears in bold blue lettered signage opened on February 13, 2017. The bright, little blue and white house with a huge presence in the Heights is chef/co-owner Travis Lenig’s first restaurant after leaving F.E.E.D.Tx. and the Liberty Kitchen. Lenig, along with partner Christopher “Chico” Ramirez as director of operations presents a Southern-inspired menu of land and sea dishes. Throughout the menu, there are hints of Italian, French and Asian flavor and the cocktail list created by Monique Hernandez (formerly of Liberty Kitchen River Oaks) reads like a dream. The pimento cheese fritters and oysters on the half-shell make for a great start. Seafood entrees are fresh and executed beautifully. Sit outside on the spacious patio to enjoy a meal; it can get uncomfortably loud inside at dinnertime.

8 articles

Frank's Americana Revival & White Star Bar

3736 Westheimer Greenway Plaza

713-572-8600

American, Cajun, Creole, New American, Southern, Steakhouse, Recommended, Menu

Located near the corner of Weslayan on Westheimer Frank's Americana Revival offers classic American food food with a strong dose of Texas hospitality. Owned by Michael Shine and his son and partner Chris Shine, this upscale restaurant operates much like a mom-and-pop restaurant, making you feel welcome and cared for. Executive chef Albert Estrada does a fine job delivering gourmet versions of dishes that we all know and love: chicken-fried steak, buttermilk fried chicken, USDA prime rib eye steak and Lyonnaise potatoes, and Gouda mac 'n cheese, to name a few. Frank's also offers a good happy hour from 4 to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at its White Star Bar.

5 articles

Frenchy's Chicken

3919 Scott St. Outer Loop - SE

713-748-2233

Fried Chicken, Southern, Critics' Pick, Menu

Crispy, spicy and hot. That's how you'll find the fried chicken at this Third Ward institution. Most people get their Frenchy's Chicken to go, although a few metal tables and chairs are available in this open-air spot. Sides include Creole basics like red beans and rice, dirty rice and jambalaya, all of which are superb, as are the flaky biscuits. The po' boy sandwich made with a spicy Creole sausage makes for a wonderful change of pace.

15 articles

Harold's Restaurant & Bar

350 W. 19th St. Heights

713-360-6204

American, Creole, Southern, Bars and Clubs, Best Of, Menu, Slideshow

Owner Alli Jarrett has transformed the 90-year-old building that was home to the legendary Harold's men's clothing store in the Heights into Harold's Restaurant and Bar, Heights General Store and Alli's Pizzaria. A memory wall to the late Harold Wiesenthal, who tailored custom suits for three U.S. Presidents, is on display in the restaurant as well as one of Harold's original dressing mirrors. An old flat-top roof has been converted into a bar and a terrace that offers up a great view for watching the people and shops down below. New Orleans native and Executive Chef Antoine Ware serves a seasonal menu of Southern Creole food prepared with local, fresh and natural items; Jarrett told us some of the favorite dishes include the Shrimp n' Grits and fried chicken. Local and regional beers are on tap, and specialty cocktails made with freshly squeezed juices include the Harold's Gimlet and Apricot Manhattan.

39 articles

Heights West

2307 Ella Blvd. Heights

713-868-6148

French, Southern, Recommended

This old auto repair shop has been converted into a homey restaurant with mismatched tables and chairs and a happy-go-lucky attitude. The daytime brings Southern dishes such as pot roast, meatloaf and smothered pork chops. At night, French dishes such as duck terrine, rabbit and roasted duck breast take over. The menu is small and manageable, the food is excellent if somewhat uninspired, and the service is attentive and caring.

Hoggs n' Chicks

8817 Highway 6, Missouri City Outside Houston

281-778-4644

American, Soul Food, Southern, Best Of, Menu

Hoggs n' Chicks, the latest Missouri City joint from long-time restaurateurs Frederic and Michelle Perrier, is helping transform this far-flung stretch of Highway 6 into a food destination, whether it knows it or not. In fact, the restaurant is so unassuming and so casual, you'd never know to expect items like a fiery Tabasco pulp rémoulade to pair with perfectly fried shrimp or a juicy Saigon pork slider that you can dress up even further with the ruby-hued jalapeño jelly that sits in jars on each table. That jelly, like everything else at Hoggs n' Chicks, is made in-house from scratch.

1 article

Hungry Farmer

8222 Airline Outer Loop - NW

281-931-0217

Barbecue, Soul Food, Southern, Recommended

Family-owned and operated, this expansive place has been around since 1975. Eating here is like eating in the country. Deer heads and other stuffed animals add a touch of authenticity. Food is served cafeteria-style, so you'd better know what to order so as not to hold up the line. The barbecue is solid, but the comfort food, like the chicken-fried steak, fried catfish or pork roast, will have you dreaming of home. The accompanying side dishes are so plentiful, you'll be hard-pressed to pick just two.

JOEY Uptown

5045 Westheimer Rd Suite X-01 Downtown/ Midtown

604-699-5639

American, Appetizers, Comfort Foods, Contemporary, New American, Restaurants, Soul Food, Southern

Just Oxtails Soul Food

4207 Reed Outer Loop - SW

713-733-8111

Soul Food, Southern, Recommended, Best Of, Menu

This stand-alone restaurant could do with some updating and cleaning, but the food is downright glorious. Just Oxtails serves down-to-earth soul food, and lots of it. The menu changes daily but, as you might imagine, the wonderful oxtails are featured every day. The smothered pork chops are excellent, as well as the ham hocks and chitterlings. All are served with corn muffins and three sides, such as collard greens, mustard greens, yams, rice, beans or corn. The homemade coconut cake is just like Mom used to make.

2 articles

Kelley's Country Cooking

8015 Park Place Blvd. Outer Loop - SE

713-645-6428

American, Breakfast, Southern, Best Of, Menu

Kelley's Country Cookin' is, perhaps more than anything else, famous for its ungodly huge portions. You'd better hope country cookin' is your thing, because you are going to be getting tons and tons of it. Featuring traditional country-style/greasy-spoon faresuch as steak, fried chicken, hamburgers, BLTs and a "Texas-Sized" chicken-fried steak big enough to cover most of your table, Kelley's is also famous for their house gravy? just make sure you ask for the "house" or "yellow" gravy so they don't bring you the glue-and-pepper flavored stuff they keep on hand for ignorant Yankees who don't know no better. Kelley's also has an extensive breakfast menu, which they serve all day, and whose portions are just as giant as the dinner menu. To surmise, here's all you need to know about Kelley's: they serve a salad with a mound of chicken fried steak strips atop it, and dressing is your choice of ranch, bleu cheese, Thousand Island or gravy. Buckle up.

1 article

Kitchen 713

4601 Washington Ave #130 Lower Shepherd-Kirby

713-842-7114

American, Southern, Menu, Slideshow

From oxtails braised in Chinese vinegar to carbonara with a Dixie state of mind, even winding through many of the hits on the cocktail list, Kitchen 713 is a fun and effective jaunt through the flavors that call Houston home and which, for those of us who love eating in this city, make it feel like home. The beauty of a lot of the food on offer is how inevitable, how right it feels. It’s often exciting, but in a way that manages to feel fundamentally correct, almost as if it should always have existed. The lines between the foreign and the familiar are blurred, gently and with care, until there scarcely seem to be lines at all. That’s Houston food.

8 articles

Louis' Bait Camp & Restaurant

3510 Highway 6, Hitchcock Outside Houston

Southern

Lucille's

5512 La Branch St. Third Ward

713-568-2505

Contemporary, Soul Food, Southern, Recommended, Best Of, Menu, Slideshow

Chef Chris Williams comes from a culinary legacy with deep Texas roots: His great-grandmother Lucille, the restaurant's namesake, was a pioneer of Southern foods who owned U.S. Smith's Famous BBQ in Fort Worth and helped establish one of the first college-level commercial foods departments in the nation at Prairie View A&M University. At his charming Museum District restaurant, Williams serves the same Southern food that Lucille did, including her "claim to fame" chili biscuits, shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes and braised oxtails.

17 articles

Mama's Oven

9295 S. Main Braeswood

713-661-3656

Soul Food, Southern, Recommended, Best Of

Items at this hole-in-the-wall comfort food joint include oxtail, meat loaf, smothered pork chops and turkey wings (suck it, vegetarians). If you actually have room for dessert, there's peach cobbler with a double portion option. You can get chitterlings with a side of broccoli-rice casserole on Sundays. Oh, man, after-church Sundays at this place...good luck with that!

1 article

Mikki's Soul Food Cafe

10500 W. Bellfort Outer Loop - SW

281-568-5115

Soul Food, Southern, Recommended, Best Of, Menu

Mikki's on the southwest side is the epitome of the "meat and three" soul food experience. Eating here is like eating at Grandma's house -- its huge portions of real home cooking are sure to elicit fond memories of times past. The food is typical soul food, with some mean oxtails in a thick, gelatinous sauce served every day and daily specials that include baked catfish, pork chops and meat loaf, all served over rice. Traditional sides, including collard greens, yams and cabbage, suffer from too much time on the steam table, although they still taste great.

3 articles

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Southern in Houston