Need Recs for Houston
Hi, my significant other is receiving Chemo at MD Anderson on an outpatient basis and we are now traveling to Houston every 28 days and staying for 7-8 days for treatment. Neither one of us is familiar with Houston restaurants. The only restrictions on food she has is no sushi(which sucks as we both love it :() and neither one of us really like vietnamese. We had been staying at the Courtyard on Main st, but had to book a little further out this time at the Westchase Courtyard at 9975 Westheimer Rd. We have our own car and are willing to drive wherever for good food. I am mostly looking for good lower price food for everyday and one or two nicer places for when she feels up to it. Any recs would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!!!
By rachel219
on Feb 4, 2011 07:28 AM
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See the thread on this board discussing why I LOVE LIVING IN HOUSTON.
Most of the places mentioned there are in your part of town.
Good luck to you and your SO.
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You simply cannot go wrong with any of DW's suggestions and/or recommendations, and the thread he directs you to is a brilliant place to start.
I'd also ask - where are you coming from? What sorts of things are easily available where you are, and what in particular are you interested in trying here?
And let me add my best wishes to you both. I have a dear friend also undergoing chemo right now, and know it's not the most enjoyable reason for visiting Houston. Let's hope a great restaurant or two provides a few moments every now and then of pleasant relief.
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First of all Thanks for the best wishes and good luck!
We are traveling to Houston from Slidell, LA, which is a suburb of New Orleans. So we have access to plenty of good seafood and Cajun restaurants here. We love both and would not mind trying it there, but it would have to be good.
We would love to try some good Mexican or Tex-Mex places, doesn't have to be fancy just good food. We both also love Italian food. A good burger joint would be very welcome as well. Otherwise just any place that ya'll love and would reccommend.
Thanks for telling me about the other thread on my way to check it out!
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hope for a speedy rcvy for your husband.. MDAnderson is the best! As for food tips,, staying near the med cntr, its so convenient for you to go a few blocks over and head to West U.. From Istanbul Grill to, Patu (for Thai) Prego (Italian), El Messon (spanish), Bombay Brasseria, Jersey Mike's for subs, Bistro des Amis for French,, really you got it all there. In the Westchase Westheimer area, head towards the Galleria area, for Cafe Lili for terrific lebanese Kababs esp, Thai restaurant next door, Kenny and Ziggy's for terrific Deli. Enjoy!
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Bistro des Amis
2347 University Blvd, Houston, TX 77005
Prego's
2520 Amherst St, Houston, TX 77005
Cafe Lili
5757 Westheimer Rd Ste 112, Houston, TX 77057
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For great burgers, head east on Westheimer and Pappa's Burgers will be on your right. Or across the street is Beck's Prime. They both have great burgers. Both are outside the loop.
Further east is good Italian at Grotto. My favorite dish is the Scampi Grotto. They have great bread and wonderful desserts. Parking is awful though so avoid the eating rush hours. It is inside the loop.
Los Cucos is also near there on Westheimer and I haven't eaten at that location but the two locations I've eaten at were good. El Patio was still good the last time I ate there, it's been there for decades. Also on Westheimer, east of Voss/Hillcroft. Outside the loop.
Don Carlos on I-59 at Hillcroft is very good.
I'm sorry about your circumstances for being here but there is nowhere better to be for those issues. Praying for a positive outcome for your SO.
Edit to add: Just read your second post. I'm from southern La. also so have to tell you DO NOT go to Ragin Cajun. Ugh! Nasty. There are three decent seafood places here. Floyd's Cajun Seafood - which is probably a long way for you to go eat, Mardi Gras Grill - much more convenient and great food - at least what I've had of it and Boudreaux's on I-59 at the Loop, just south of the Galleria. Boudreaux's is very casual and reasonable. I don't recommend their shrimp, they are farm raised - yuck! But here are some of the things I like there - boudin balls, St. James Salad, Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad, fried oysters, dirty rice, jalapeno cornbread, blackened fish, fried fish, and best of all, their boiled crawfish. Anyway, they have a few things there I stay away from but overall, I've tried over half of the things on the menu. Floyd's and Mardi Gras Grill are both probably better but either further away or quite a bit more expensive.
Floyd's - http://www.floydsseafood.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=10
Mardi Gras Grill - http://www.mardigrasgrill.net/
Boudreaux's - http://www.boudreauxs.net/home
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Don Carlo's Restaurant
8385 Broadway St, Houston, TX 77061
Los Cucos
5831 Highway Blvd, Katy, TX 77494
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I had typed in Beck's, Pappa's, and El Patio when my server crashed. A good casual Italian place that's been around since the '70s is Antonio's Flying Pizza on Hillcroft just south of Westheimer. Really good pizza, and I frequently hear New York accents and sometimes Italian spoken at other tables. I also like Carrabba's on Kirby, still owned by Johnny Carrabba and not part of the chain.
http://antonios.com/
http://www.carrabbas.com/restaurant/l...
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Ha Ha - we are always thinking/eating very similar James.
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It was about to post about the same time you were when it crashed, I blame the ice. My wife was very upset that it didn't snow, and we sat in our apartment all day Friday with icy stairs that I wouldn't test. We got over our temporary cabin fever today with a trip to Captain Benny's on 290. We had wonderful, big fried oysters and salty raw ones, a little small for me, but delicious. The funny thing is at the old one on S. Main years ago, there were no checks, you went on the honor system and told the cashier what you had. Today, they rang up my bill and did not give me a check. Having done a mental calculation, it seemed off, and sure enough, they tried to add a beer and an iced tea on. I don't think anyone at the oyster bar had an iced tea at all.
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Yes best wishes to you and your SO. I hate that people have to come to Houston for that reason.
I second bornie's recommendation that you check out the Village for a good variety of eateries. I like Pasha for Turkish over Istanbul and it's a little more formal but still quite casual. Parking is a hassle in the Village so I seldom go there for anything. Houston's premier poboy franchise, Antone's is there with ready made sandwiches or made-to-order plus salads, tabouli, stuffed grapes leaves, etc., but I should probably not recommend poboys to someone from the NOLA area.
For the best NOLA style poboys in town get over to Calliope on Jefferson, east of 59 near downtown. The owners are some great folks, Katrina evacuees who wound up here.
Head up Main from the Med Center and circle around the Mecom Fountain and go off on Montrose into the Montrose area, a very gay neighborhood, where there are also a lot of great eateries of all price ranges and many different cuisines. Right at Westheimer and Montrose is One's a Meal Greek Village, open 24 hours, BB's Cajun Corner (Tex-Cajun), and Niko Niko's, another Greek place. N N is the more popular one and can be a madhouse with long waits in line to order so may not be what someone who's undergone chemo wants to deal with. Baba Yega in that neighborhood is also a very good cafe with a large menu. Likewise the original location of Barnaby's Cafe.
Houston is a great burger town and some of the best in town are at Lankford Grocery, on Denis on the eastern edge of Montrose (use GPS or a good map to find it) and Christian's Tailgate on Washington just north of I-10 west of downtown.
I'm a native Texan but not big on Tex-Mex. For a great mom and pop interior Mexican place with great food try La Guadalupana on Dunleavy in the Montrose, also.
In the Westchase area, try the Original Marini's Empanada House in the Carillon Center along Westheimer for Argentiinan empanadas and sandwiches and Kasra Persian Grill, a more formal place, at the corner of Westheimer and Gessner.
Again, best wishes to you both.
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Baba Yega Restaurant
2607 Grant St, Houston, TX 77006
Kasra Persian Grill
9741 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77042
Niko Niko's
2520 Montrose Blvd, Houston, TX 77006
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Himalaya is my favorite Pakistani/Indian restaurant. 6652 Southwest Fwy
Houston, TX 77074
If you go to Mockingbird Bistro 1985 Welch at McDuffie at lunch and sit at the bar you can get IMO the best burger in Houston for $9. Comes with fries. They have a lot of other things on the bar menu that are great.
There is a little Dim Sum place in the village that is pretty good and cheap. I forget the name though.
Also in the village area and mentioned before, Istanbul Grill. Great turkish food.5613 Morningside
Out by where you are staying their is a great bosniam place called cafe pita. 10890 Westheimer Rd
Burgers Guys about 2-3 miles west of Beltway 8 on Westheimer has really good burgers and even better fries that are fried in duck fat. 12225 Westheimer Rd Ste
Mexcico Deli on 2374 S Dairy Ashford St. Has very good mexican tortas. and across the street from Mexico Deli is a thai restaurant called V's if I remember correctly. Not the best thai in town but certainly in the top few. 2575 S Dairy Ashford St
For seafood, I think the most Houston place to get it would be Tampico on Airline. Get the whole grilled snapper. no need for the shrimp add on's. Just get the snapper. 2115 Airline Dr
Dolce Vita for neopolitan pizza. Brussel sprout slaw is really good as are just about every pizza they have. 500 Westheimer Rd
New pizza place called Piola 3201 Louisiana St. I had the carbanara pizza and lved it.
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Mockingbird Bistro
1985 Welch, Houston, TX 77019
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You say you don't really care for Vietnamese. Does that extend to all Asian food?
There's a great Korean restaurant up on Long Point (between Gessner and Blalock) called Bon Ga. It's definitely one of my favorite restaurants in town. If you're not familiar with what to order, you could begin with the bulgogi. I haven't met an American yet that doesn't like it. It's a sort of a Korean barbecued beef. It's very tasty, not terribly exotic, and in authentic Korean restaurants (which Bon Ga is), you get all these small side dishes, which are great fun. I think it would provide a different, interesting and diverting evening for you two.
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