[HOU] Houston Lunch Options 2011

[Chris Hennes]

I'm looking for ideas for lunch in Houston, especially favorite local haunts and anything that's unique to the HOU area, though a fantastic burger or tacos would not be objectionable either.

[thirtyoneknots]

Not sure what part of town you are in but apart from the aforementioned Feast, there's also Beaver's just off Washington which bills itself as a bbq place but I've never heard that that is the best thing to order per se. I admit I've never had much of the food there but my pal goes there regularly, and the bar program is great--lots of ties to the whole Anvil crew, as it was the last place the founders worked together before launching that.

Also some fun ethnic food places near Montrose and Westheimer, including Niko Nikos (Greek) which some people think is lackluster but I like a lot, good food for not a lot of money served from a counter. Also in the same neighborhood is a divey kind of cafe calles "Ones A Meal" or something along those lines, open 24 hours and great gyros.

And of course you're hip deep in Tex-Mex. And seafood.

[bmdaniel]

Sadly I am almost 3 years removed from living in Houston, but other ideas I'd add (besides echoing Feast) are Little Bigs (Bryan Caswell's slider restaurant), BB's for Cajun (if anyone will vouch that it is still pretty good), and Ruggles Cafe in Rice Village (it's not spectacular, but I have a soft spot for it; pretty impressive dessert selection, counter service).

There's also a number of decent lunches at nicer restaurants if that's what you want (just had lunch at Haven a couple of weeks ago and it was quite good; Reef and Catalan do good lunches as well). If you have a weekend lunch I highly recommend the Sunday Brunch at Hugo's.

[brucesw]

Houston is an immigrant city - not much that's really unique to our dishes. For good burgers, Christian's Totem (original on Washington only) or Lankford Grocery in Montrose (featured on DD&D and will be packed - was before hand; only serves til 3p). But you can get good burgers in OKC, right? Tacos - I mostly frequent taco trucks - El Ultimo on Longpoint, Tacambero behind Canino's produce market on Airline (sweetbreads tacos). If you go to the latter, check out El Bolillo across the street, the best local panaderia with freshly nixtamalized tortillas done the old fashioned way.

Niko Niko was also on DD&D and didn't need the publicity beforehand. I haven't been in years. One's A Meal around the corner is better for Greek but I hear the best gyros are at Al's Quick Stop on Waugh just a few blocks away but I haven't tried them. Little Bigs for the fries and sriracha remoulade but that's not my idea of sliders (I'm a traditionalist).

Ruggles Bakery for desserts but my favorite in the Village is Pasha for Turkish (doner, etc.). Istanbul Grill, around the corner is more popular and not bad by any means.

Hunyh, east of downtown, is getting a lot of talk for Vietnamese but I haven't made it yet. Of course we do have a huge Vietnamese population and lots of options.

Little India - SW Fwy (59S) @ Hillcroft - Northern Indian/Pakistani - Himalaya - just go for the lunch special if you can't decide what to order. Southern Indian Vegetarian (my current fascination) - Shri Balaji Bhavan (Udipi - Masala Dosa, Khachori, Thali), Shiv Sagar (doesn't peg itself but I've identified Gujurati and Marathi dishes; Dabelli is excellent). If you need any Indian spices or flours, etc., check out Chandrika Masala next door to SS.

Something you might want to consider - oysters. The recent Foodways Texas Symposium in Galveston has been much in the foodie news. Read Robb Walsh's report and followup here with mentions of some places already offering a sample to the general public. I've been seeking out oysters from Jeri's for years but I thought they were supposed to be 'Smith's Point' so I don't know if this is something different. I'm waiting until some places start offering comparison sampling options.

Spec's liquor warehouse downtown on Smith has good sandwiches and a great specialty food store, plus a huge offering of beers and wines and liquors. Another foodie shopping mecca is Phoenicia specialty foods way out on Westheimer - Middle eastern, mainly. Many foodies rave about the in-store deli (and new place around the corner in the same Center) but I haven't been wowed and just go for the shopping. It's been called a Sam's Club of spices.

Oh yes, back to tacos, you could check out the Original Ninfa's on Navigation (don't go to one of the chain operations, separately owned) - this where the fajita craze launched in 1973 - Tacos al Carbon or maybe Tacos a la Ninfa is the way they'll be on the menu. Tex-Mex - El Tiempo on Washington, run by the descendants of Ninfa with supposedly her recipes.

Edit to add: I like Calliope on Jefferson a little better than BB's for NOLA style po'boys, especially the roast beef. Former is run by Katrina evacuees, latter is really Tex-Cajun and has some unique dishes if you're not looking for traditional Cajun/NOLA stuff.

You'll find lots online about all of these places except perhaps Shiv Sagar which doesn't get as much foodie love as Shri Balaji Bhavan.

Edited March 11, 2011 by brucesw (log)

[thirtyoneknots]

When I bounced my recs off my buddy who actually lives in Houston he mentioned Lil Bigs on his short list so +1 I guess to that one. Haven't been there myself (I don't think).

[Chris Hennes]

Wow, what a list! Very nice, thanks for taking the time to write it up. Does anyone have any weekend hours information for these places? I'm looking for options for tomorrow and Sunday in particular.

[FoodMan]

I'm looking for ideas for lunch in Houston, especially favorite local haunts and anything that's unique to the HOU area, though a fantastic burger or tacos would not be objectionable either.

The Burger Guys make unique burgers and shakes (with homemade ice cream...like Bacon Vinnaigrette and salted caramel). They also have huge and delicious hot dogs, like the idaho one wrapped in potato ribbons and deep fried. The Fries are the best in town IMO, finished in duck fat. Give it a shot if you have the time.

Feast, is a favorite and a carnivore's dream with offal thrown in for good measure. It's rustic British/Spanish food done well with great ingredients. The place got written up in the NYT by Bruni at one point I think. I was just there last night and enjoyed the Bath Chaps very much (you got to go to find what those are).

For Vietnamese, the midtown area has several joints, one of my favorites is Van Loc. It has what is possibly the best tofu dish ever, the Tofu Luc Lac. Their soups are great as well.

There are a ton of options in Houston and if you are here for a few days, I'd be happy to meet up one day.

hope these options help.

[Chris Hennes]

I had lunch at Feast today and it was very good: I had the fat on toast and the chicken pie, and enjoyed them very much. The price is good, too: I think it was $14 prix fixe for the two courses.

[brucesw]

El Ultimo may be closed on Sunday; many taco trucks are. Tocambero should be open. Christian's and Lankford will both be closed on Sunday. I don't eat burgers very often and haven't been to either of those in a couple of years; I was reading on another board someone whose opinion I value who says to forget Lankford, anyway.

Places in Little India tend to start serving latish -- 11:30am or 12. I'm pretty sure Himalaya isn't open til 11 or 11:30; Shiv Sagar is open a couple of hours earlier - I was there last Sunday about 10am.

Spec's will be closed on Sunday by law.

[Chris Hennes]

Had lunch at Himalaya yesterday and it was excellent. It was a little intimidating because they just came up to the table and asked what sort of thing I wanted to eat, there wasn't a printed menu that I could ascertain. But the food was very good: the portion sizes were massive however. I felt bad because when the waiter came back with boxes for the leftovers I told him we didn't want them (I don't think you can bring curry through airport security): he had a shocked and then dejected look on his face, I had to reassure him several times that we liked the food quite well, we simply couldn't take it with us!

[thirtyoneknots]

Had lunch at Himalaya yesterday and it was excellent. It was a little intimidating because they just came up to the table and asked what sort of thing I wanted to eat, there wasn't a printed menu that I could ascertain. But the food was very good: the portion sizes were massive however. I felt bad because when the waiter came back with boxes for the leftovers I told him we didn't want them (I don't think you can bring curry through airport security): he had a shocked and then dejected look on his face, I had to reassure him several times that we liked the food quite well, we simply couldn't take it with us!

A little late now, but my friend has taken octopus from One's a Meal through security, and I took a huge box full of cake and other goodies from my wedding through security several times (flight issues). You just put it on the scanner, no problem. Just for future reference.