N.C. 1201 South Lamar BoulevardAustin, TX(512) 433-6521 | oddduckaustin.com, WHAT: Tex-Mex classics and community, from third-generation Austin taco royalty. WHAT: Whole-hog barbecue done the old-fashioned way. WHAT: A celebration of Pakistani cooking from the skilled hands and elastic mind of chef-owner Kaiser Lashkari. Gino's Deli Stop N Buy - San Antonio 3. When youre in the mood for simple, good food made with wholesome local ingredients, look for the winged pig painting on East 53rd Street. We have quite a few places like this here in Texas, but by using reader comments and critic reviews, weve compiled a list of some of the best. Yelp: 4 stars, 196 reviews It's not Texas without some good old-fashioned barbecue. Try the signature prickly pear margaritas, mojitos, and sangria and stay tuned for loteria aka Mexican bingo starting in August. 16 Kid-Friendly Houston Restaurants That Grown-Ups Wont Hate, 16 Classic Restaurants Every Houstonian Should Visit at Least Once. You might want to eat like an Austinite. 1903 Main St, Dallas, TX 75201. More impressive is how consistently David produces it. WHY: Wearing his unmistakable toothy smile and custom-made Lucchese boots, Dean Fearing has played a huge role in shaping the citys culinary identity for decades. These eateries serve meals that satiate both body and mind. Best Dining in Humble, Texas Gulf Coast: See 6,417 Tripadvisor traveler reviews of 399 Humble restaurants and search by cuisine, price, location, and more. And guess where the restaurant gets all its meat? Shoot, wed even take pecan pie. Jos R. Ralat is the proprietor of thetacotrail.com and author of the forthcoming book American Tacos: A History and Guide to the Taco Trail North of the Border. Amid smoke-stained walls lined with old Japanese beer ads and beat-up Texas license plates, they serve delicious aberrations like guaca-poke and sticky rice tamales with beef tongue and chorizo. When the seafood restaurant opened in 2017, Express-News food critic Mike Sutter said the spot's defining moment came when he slurped the. It's no surprise that Houston is chock-full of hidden gems that don't get the same fanfare as Houston's James Beard Award-nominated restaurants or those helmed by celebrity chefs. Houstonians love the sweet and savory morning fixes at this time-honored locale on the corner of W. Gray and Montrose. Daniel Vaughn, 900 East 11th StreetAustin, TX(512) 653-1187 | franklinbbq.com. B.A. To learn more, visit their website, The fine people behind Joe's have spent every bit of the past 37 years perfecting their craft. Roger builds upon these standards with more outre dishes, like sauteed sea cucumber with lobster rice and an improbable but smashing entree of duck breast with quince, Idiazbal cheese sauce, pine nuts, and balsamic reduction. For pure Texan comfort, order the upscale rendering of chicken-fried steak, golden and crisp and covered in peppery white gravy. 13628 Gamma RoadDallas, TX(972) 805-0999 | cattleackbbq.com, WHAT: Southern comfort food in one of Dallass swankiest dining rooms from one of the citys stalwart chefs. A glassed-in locker at the restaurants entrance displays beauties like culatello (ham made from the loin of a pigs hind leg) aged for one year, and the kitchen assembles smart novelties such as hot goat sausage and catfish mortadella. Pork steaks and spare ribs will have you questioning why anyone would say Texans can only barbecue beef. If you share their taste for meat and cured meat in particular do whatever it takes to have dinner at Salt & Time. Grab a seat at the counter and watch your meal being prepared from start to finish. 2404 Southmost RoadBrownsville, TX (956) 546-4159 | no website, WHAT: The oldest Czech bakery in Texas, opened in 1952. WHAT: Hugo Ortega and Tracy Vaughts gracious, 16-year-old lodestar of hospitality, whose success presaged this moment of upscale Mexican dining in the United States. Katie Lawrence is a Southeast Texas native who graduated 18th in her high school class with a GPA of 4.25. Dawn Orsak, 113 East Oak StreetWest, TX(254) 826-5151 | no website. Except at this place "where everybody knows your name," it's up . D.V. Order extra hot-from-the-Tandoori (clay oven) naan for soaking up the rich sauces and fluffy Basmati rice. Get more stories delivered right to your email. Franklin Barbecue has an international reputation (and maybe even an interstellar one Texas Monthly called the restaurants offerings the best barbecue in the known universe). Topping the list are the Texas Dip (with Shiner Bock au jus) and the spinach artichoke grilled cheese, mushroom brie soup, and the buffalo chicken . B.A. Oops. 3. To learn more, visit their Facebook page, Since 1947, this family-owned haunt has been a neighborhood institution. Bill Addison is Eater's national critic, roving the country uncovering Americas essential restaurants. Enjoy the citys culinary riches, and dont worry too much about keeping Austin weird, as the local bumper stickers like to implore. Here are 11 more delicious hidden gem restaurants in Texas that will please your taste buds if not your eyes. Mary's Cafe serves up enormous burgers and traditional Southern cooking that has been pleasing hungry Texans for generations. Today, there remains only 63-year-old Veras Backyard Bar-B-Que in the Spanish-is-as-good-as-English border town of Brownsville. Open in Google Maps. Book well ahead, or be prepared to dine at the well-trafficked but comfortable bar near the entrance. WHAT: The last standard-bearer of a Texas culinary tradition along the Rio Grande. Contact: 021 761 0648. No matter which of the above 13 restaurants you visit the next time youre in Austin, do yourself a favor: Scan the dessert menu for pecan pie. Counter Culture. The emphasis here is on quality ingredients. Less than 10 miles north of downtown Austin, youll find the finest flavors of New Jersey in the South. WHY: Every 45 dinners, Diego Galicia and Rico Torres introduce a new theme perhaps a state of Mexico, or a period of the countrys history around which they build multicourse dinners. Book a table at the South First Street location for a full-yet-casual dine-in experience. Open in Google Maps Foursquare 514 Medina St, Austin, TX (512) 770-6880 Visit Website imafoodaddictx Fukumoto: Sushi & Yakitori Izakaya imafoodaddictx 541. It's definitely worth the chunk of change - there's no menu, it's a HUGE set meal that gets delivered to your table. Between the weather, wood, and meat, there are plenty of variables to deal with when cooking in an offset smoker, but Cattleacks barbecue never seems to suffer. And its Doa Juanita herself who with the help of her family prepares Purpechas menu, an ever-changing carousel of traditional Mexican ingredients presented in untraditional ways. WHAT: Southeast Texass finest beef links for more than a century. Outside of work, you can likely find her curled up on the sofa with a hot cup of coffee, watching a crime TV show or scary movie. 1. Pair it with beer, wine, or a cookies and cream milkshake. This 24/7 diner is the ideal place for Southern breakfast, any time of the day or night. Get the goods to go or take in the charm of the dining space great for watching the steady stream of customers and the busy streets outside. Here are a few of our favorites. Serving family recipes of enchiladas, chile relleno, and carne guisada, La Fiesta is one of the best restaurants in Waco! Clear Springs Restaurant. Save space for the decadent desserts like baklava and rice pudding. Vegetable-centric dishes ribbons of minted kohlrabi hiding blue crab meat, charred broccoli with burnt tangerine glaze and benne seed hearken to the season and to national dining trends. Open in Google Maps. Ask for them by the bakerys trademarked name, klobasniki. Anyway, the important thing here is the menu, which is packed with contemporary takes on French classics. 1. Dubious at how many separate items I was ordering, the server stopped me and said, If you want to know our food, order the deluxe plate. A gushing chile relleno anchored the feast. WHY: Chef Laurie Williamson and her husband Robert left behind successful careers in commercial filmmaking and opened their restaurant in a restored 1870s-era limestone farmhouse in 2003. Austin is a thriving metropolis, and it has a little bit of everything and that includes a French-inspired gastropub. Chef Coles twist on traditional Japanese cuisine launched in 2003; since then, its grown into a foodie standby for the citys well-heeled. But once youve exhausted all the big names, you may find yourself hungry for more. In that short time, they upgraded to a brick-and-mortar, they served our last president, and Aaron Franklin took home a James Beard award. Items are affordable ($9 for breakfast plates, for instance), the service is fast, and the atmosphere is full of Keep Austin Weird spirit. La Fiesta is a true Tex-Mex restaurant and one of the best places to eat in Waco! Its like a graduate-level course for cured meats where spectacular pasta is just for extra credit. Zoom in on cabrito with roasted cactus, lechn with a piercing habanero salsa, and lamb barbacoa. David C: Quality sushi and a happy hour where everything is 20% - 50% off. Dallas, TX 75201 | Map. The meal, ticketed at $97 per person, typically careens through seven or eight courses and lasts a concise 90 minutes or so. Get more stories delivered right to your email. If you like things smoky, youll have no trouble finding some tender brisket and ribs. Add to wishlist. Flora. Serving Texas beef is rarer in Lone Star steakhouses than you might expect, which makes the gorgeously marbled wagyu ribeye raised by local farmstead Marble Ranch a double treat. Heres something you might not expect: One of the worlds most original contemporary Japanese restaurants is hidden in a bungalow in South Austin. Resha gosht, hailing from the southwestern province of Balochistan, pairs steamed and shredded beef with a brightly herbed tomato sauce. Best Restaurants near TX Computers - The Chef's Table, Clementine's Restaurant, Bluewater Seafood - Champions, Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar, BunSlut, Ambriza, Kumo Sushi, ZaZa Lounge, JINYA Ramen Bar - FM 1960, Noodle Kitchen . 1. The pricing is mid- to top-tier, though the establishments seasonal menus make exact pricing predictions difficult; think fine dining when making your plans. Come for the award-winning menu of Gulf Coast favorites, stay for the hospitality of a well-oiled dining machine owned and operated by siblings Francisco Ruiz and Martha Lopez. Address: 420 Carolyn Street, Freer, TX 78357. But it also boasts an. When youre in downtown Austin looking for a quick breakfast or an unforgettable lunch, you cant do much better than Arturos Underground Cafe. 1. WHAT: Extraordinary burgers in an old-world sweets shop, borne from the mind of a classically trained pastry chef. Open in Google Maps 2514 Times Blvd, Houston, TX 77005 (713) 523-4753 Visit Website Ellie Sharp/EHOU Hobbit Cafe An expansive patio deck hidden behind lush foliage encourages lingering over. Ivar's River Pub in San Marcos sits along the picturesque San Marcos River. Ivar Gunnarson, its late owner, purchased and opened the San Marcos River Pub and Grill in 1996. Good thing we all have a separate stomach for dessert because the coconut cream pie is absolutely unreal. Please enter a valid email and try again. WHAT: A Tex-Mex landmark whose timeless signature skirt steak fajitas defies and transcends chain-restaurant bastardization. In southeast Texas, garlic- and chile-laced beef links bursting with juice (dont call it fat in SETX) are the barbecue gold standard, and the Patillo family has been serving them since 1912. Service is old-school elegant the waitstaff lifts the silver domes over your entrees in unison. This eclectic local favorite has been slinging Austin-style breakfast tacos since 1996. WHY: Even in the shadow of West 7th districts flashy new developments, the original Freds Texas Caf still shines bright as a beacon for down-home Texas cuisine. Eaters Regional 38 series previously named the vital dining destinations across three fertile swaths of America: the South, New England, and the Great Lakes region of the Midwest. Open in Google Maps. 3. The meat sampler plate . This restaurant is attached to a full-service butcher shop. We want to inspire you to explore new destinations, discover new experiences and savor the journey. 13. Visit the Facebook page for. Something went wrong. Smoky brisket, breakfast tacos, chile con carne, and 200,000 square miles of belt-busting beauty. Terry Chandler known as the Outlaw Chef for his early West Texas chuck-wagon days took the reins of his familys restaurant in 2005. OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. Voted the best ribs in Texas twice in a row by Texas Monthly, you won't be disappointed by the fall-off-the-bone tender meat.