If a friend comes to Houston, where would you take them ... to show off the food and spirit of the city???
The first question would be, what kind of food does the friend like? Or what kind of food do they expect when you hear "Houston"???Houston is a diverse land or people and food ... BBQ ... Tex-Mex ... Country ... Seafood ... Steak???
How about the varying and refined cuisines that make-up the city ... Cajun ... Southwestern ... White Linen ... Soul Food???
Or the flavors which have migrated to 29/95 (our latitude and longitude) through the years ... Italian ... Chinese ... Vietnamese ... Greek ... Indian ... Columbian ... Guatamalan ... Czech???
And where do you go for a really good hamburger (or in Houston's case, a hot dog) ... or a cold one???
So much food - so little time!
When discussing this topic over the past weeks, I thought about the family and friends who have come here and where I've taken them. And where would I take, say, a classmate from high school in Michigan, a displaced Texan living in Philadelphia, or even a visiting head of state?
The first place I would take someone visiting Houston would be - Goode Company BBQ on Kirby Drive. It's quintessential Texan! It's basic BBQ, but also some fancy 'cue (turkey and chicken). There's basic sides, but also nice touches (fried okra and mac and cheese). And then there's Goode's Pecan Pie (I just voted GCPP as my favorite "Comfort Food" in the Houston Press Best of Houston poll). You can eat inside, or out on the covered porch (next to one of the town's busiest streets). They have a couple of other locations and even some company variations (I'll do a report on Houston Food chains later), but the original location says - "Welcome to Houston."
For Tex-Mex, I'd head down Navigation Boulevard to the original Ninfa's Tacos al Carbon. Mama Ninfa is gone and the Laurenzo sons don't have anything to do with the operation any more, but it's a Houston favorite and one of those "Bucket List" places where you have to eat. Sure, there's other places that have better this or that, and we'll talk about them at a later time, but if you only had one place for Tex-Mex in Houston, this would be it.
For good o'l country cooking, like a chicken fried steak or friend chicken or even pot roast. some mashed potatoes and gravy, good biscuits and the like, I'd take you to Hickory Hollow just off washington Ave. Even their "small" is good sized. They also serve good BBQ and sides, but just staying IN Houston -that's the best CFS. If you want to travel a little, my favorite place for CFS is Vincek's Smokehouse in East Bernard. Like the name says, you'll find BBQ there (and lots of good meat cuts), but they have a great CFS and sides.
A good place in Houston for seafood is Christie's. They have a location in Galveston. In fact. many places in Galveston once had Houston locations. The seafood is fresh there and it's served like the olden days. you can get dressed up or be casual. Now, if you wanted to eat yourself silly with catfish, then I'd choose Sudie's on the Gulf Freeway. Or for a good selection of seafood done right - Jim Goode's Seafood place over on Westpark near the original BBQ location. Oooops ... there's three places ... and if I did that with every food catergory I'll never get through writing.
Texas was (and still is) a cow town. We love our steaks ... as you can tell by all the national chains coming here and doing a great business (even Don Shula is here and doing well at the top of the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Oiler fans have let the Dolphins fade from memory). Truth be told, I don't go out for steak - I grill them myself. Get a great cut of meat ... fix the fire just right ... I'll put my steaks up against anyone's. But to recommend a place to dine besides my house, I'll recommend Perry's. They started with one restaurant and have become a bit of a chain. Not as much as Brenner's and Vic & Anthony's is part of the Landry's chain ... or Pappas has their multi-restaurant chain that includes a couple of good steak places.
Getting a good hamburger is just as easy - or difficult. So many places. If I was trying to impress you with atmosphere and environment, I'd take you to Beck's Prime. They have a couple of locations, they have saved huge oak trees in building them, and they have great burgers and buns. But if I was going to impress you with taste, I'd be taking you to Bubba's Burger Shack. Bubba's sits on some right-of-way property just off the SW Freeway at Westpark and Chimney Rock. Bubba's keeps things pretty simple with burgers and burgers - 8 different ways to order.. NO FRIES, onion rings or even tater tots. They do have a baked potato, jalapeno potato salad, and bags of chips. They also have buffalo burgers. If you ever eat a bison hamburger, you'll have a hard time being satisfied with "just beef" ever again. I eat here about one a year and it's the same thing.
The Houston palate has expanded ... and it's come from the east. Recipes have crossed the Sabine River from Louisiana and my personal favorite is Zydeco Louisiana Diner. They have great recipes, authentic flavorings, and generous portions. The only problem is, they're only open for lunch Monday through Friday. For places that are open longer, I like Mandola's Ragin Cajun. There's the original on Richmond Avenue (inside the loop by the railroad tracks) and several neighborhood locations.
But if you ask me to take you to MY FAVORITE place to eat in Houston ... that would be Collina's Cuccina Italia on Richmond at Wesleyan. It's nothing fancy - just good food, great service, good prices, great atmosphere. Collina's started with 8 tables in the fall of 1993. It's now grown to 30 tables and several other locations. Paul Hill uses family recipes for dough and pasta and sauces. The menu isn't too complicated and I can say that in 16 years I've had everything on it and a few off the menu chalkboard items. Our family has celebrated milestone birthdays and graduations here, as well as eating before and after Houston events, and just having fun. One of the catches is a throwback to when HISD headquarters and Poe Elementary were across the street ... they couldn't get a liquor license so it's BYOB. Collina's now serves beer and wine, but you're still welcome to bring your own for $1 per person (bring as much as you'd like!).
Well, there's a start on places where I take people to eat in Houston.
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