One of the questions we're asked most often is "Where should I eat".
Here is our list of our favorite Tex-Mex restaurants in the Woodlands area. This list is of full service Tex-Mex restaurants that offer a complete menu; taquerias have their own list.
Our Favorites
Alicia's - This local chain excels at its grilled entrees. Our favorite is the Cowboy Steak - a slab of skirt steak, three shrimp, and two very good cheese enchiladas. The energetic bar serves up potent cocktails to thirsty patrons. Alicia's Mexican Grille - 20920 Kuykendahl Rd, Spring TX 77379 - 281-350-8383
Casa Medina - This deceptively low-profile jewel on I-45 impresses discerning foodies with well prepared Tex-Mex classics, solid chips and salsa, and gotta-try-it avocado margaritas, which taste much better than they sound. If Old School Tex-Mex is what you crave, look no further. Casa Medina - 28777 I-45, The Woodlands TX 77381 - 281-298-9866
Guadalajara - The upscale, family-friendly dining room is a great place to enjoy out-of-the-ordinary dishes. Excellent ceviches and outstanding roast chicken enchiladas highlight the diverse menu. Guadalajara Hacienda - 27885 I-45 N, The Woodlands TX 77386 - 281-362-0774
Also Recommended
Chuy's - Locals flock to this Austin Icon for reliable Tex-Mex and strong margaritas. Skip the fajitas and go directly to the more unique options, like the Chuychanga and huge combination plates. Insiders know to ask for the complimentary creamy jalepeño dip with the chips and salsa... it's addictive. Chuy's - 18035 W I-45, Shenandoah TX 77385 - 936-321-4440
Lupe Tortilla - Fajitas are the entree of choice at this local chain. The lime marinade's signature flavor keeps regulars coming back, but creeping prices are causing some rumbles on social media. Bring your gold card. Lupe Tortilla - 19437 W I-45, Shenandoah TX 77385 - 281-298-5274
The scene: The waning days of Advent, Christmas coming up. I'm winding up the year for clients and getting ready for the holiday with family.
Out of the blue, a cryptic message from an Italian man that no one wants to cross. Tony Faour, the BBQ Godfather, master of smoked meats and sautéed mushrooms. Tony's reputation is known all up and down I-45: If you have a craving for excellent BBQ, Tony can hook you up, and you don't have to wait hours for the privilege. He is a gracious host. He may, in the future ask you for a favor. It may not be pleasant. Today his instructions were simple:
"Meet me at Phil's. I have cannoli."
Phil would be Phil Nicosia, proprietor of Pallotta's Italian Grill, and another Italian businessman you do not want to cross. Phil controls the world's supply of Dominick's Mud, la chac la bread, and an addictive substance he'll only identify as "Number 84". Get on Phil's naughty list, and these and other vital substances disappear from your life. No rehab facility in the world can help you when you can't get Number 84.
I arrive at Phil's place, festively decorated for the holidays, filled with local residents chowing down on Phil's great Italian food. These citizens had no idea what was about to go down, literally across the room from them.
I casually sauntered up to the bar, and noticed that Tony had brought his crew. His lovely bride was at his side. He'd also brought his consigliere, the saucy brunette known only as Brittany SoFly, the woman who'll present your BBQ with a smile... for a price. (Actually a very reasonable price, considering the quality of both the BBQ and the smile.)
Taking a spot at the bar, I noticed a mysterious blonde next to me. We made eye contact, and it was none other than Kim Bellini, foodie femme fatale, fantastic photographer, and renowned expert on ranch dressing and cream gravy. Kim's finely-tuned palate for all things creamy made her an obvious choice to judge these traditional Sicilian pastries.
Was I in over my head? Me, a simple boy who loves good food, sitting down with these dangerous characters, daring go toe-to-toe with them and declare my favorite?
Well, mom always liked me. Armed with that comforting thought, I kicked back the Coca-cola I ordered, my resolve steeled.
After some pleasant chit-chat where the competitors took measure of each other and exchanged friendly barbs, the cannoli appeared.
Both were beautiful examples of the pastry chef's art. Phil's were slightly thick, bursting with creamy filling, each end dotted with the oft-seen candied cherry. Tony's were lighter, more delicate, the ends festooned with crushed, salted pistachios.
It was the moment of truth. I tasted them both.
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| Cannoli from BBQ Godfather (Not on the menu. Yet.) |
Tony's cannolo was an impressively authentic rendition of the best cannoli you'd find in New York City. The shell was light, delicate, and delicious, with a savory flavor reminiscent of a pie crust. The filling was mild and delicate, with zings of sweetness from small chunks of dried fruits. No flavors overpowered the others. The salty pistachios added another layer of complexity. The overall experience was a balance of semi-savory flavors with only a hint of sweetness. This is a very sophisticated cannolo, one that any Manhattan white tablecloth restaurant would be proud to offer.
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| Cannoli from Pallotta's Italian Grill |
Phil's rendition of this classic pastry was very different. Biting into it gave a burst of flavor; cinnamon, sweetness from the cream filling, a bit of chocolate, the bright flavor of the candied cherries. Phil's shells were as solid and substantial as Tony's were light and delicate; they delivered a satisfying crunch when you bit into them. This cannoli was very sweet, with big flavors. I could see lines around the corner if a street vendor in Brooklyn offered them to the public.
Declaring a winner was difficult. The competitors couldn't have been more different, reflecting the totally different styles of the men who created them. I really enjoyed them both, and would gladly order either one. But for me personally, the brash, in-your-face flavors of Phil's creation tempted me to take that one last bite, and for that, I have to declare Phil the winner in a very close contest.
If you find me at the bottom of Lake Woodlands tomorrow, have a very Merry Christmas.
Gino's East, the renowned Chicago pizzeria, is in the process of opening it's first location outside of Illinois. They ran into a big problem, and RC Gallegos, owner of RC's NYC Pizza, an established pizzeria located near the new restaurant, stepped in to save the day.
Gino's East was in the process of training the staff for the grand opening when their huge Hobart mixer died. Almost every pizzeria has a Hobart; it's used to mix the pizza dough, and without one, you're not going to make dough in commercial qualities. Repairs for these big machines are neither fast nor cheap, and Gino's East was facing days of downtime, jeopardizing the opening.
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| A broken Hobart Mixer |
Phil Nicosia, owner of Pallotta's Italian Grill, describes what happened:
"They (Gino's East) were having issues with their dough mixer and RC let them come over to his place a borrow his and prep their dough in his place. He also set them up with local vendors and repair guys to help with the issues they had. I gotta say, that is pretty awesome of him! Whether he serves deep dish pizza or not, they are direct competition and he stepped up and helped them out of a huge bind. THAT'S what supporting local and being a good business person is all about! Hats off to RC!"
To us at HTownChowDown, this is a great example of the type of act the world needs to hear about.
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| RC Gallegos, owner of RC's NYC Pizza |
RC's Pizza is the type of business that is a valuable member of the community; if you've not been lately, go enjoy a great NYC-style pizza and thank RC for doing what he does. They have locations in Kingwood and the Woodlands area.
It's frustrating to wait in line at our favorite BBQ spots, only to find out that they're run out of the meat you're craving. This happens to most BBQ lovers at some point, and many ask themselves the obvious question:
"Hey, BBQ guy! Why don't you just cook more BBQ when you run out?"
There's a very good reason.
BBQ takes hours to cook. Unlike just about every other food served in restaurants, there's simply no way to cook to order.
So pit masters at top pits prepare as much as they think they can sell, while keeping in mind the individual attention that each brisket requires. To execute at a high quality, a pit master can only manage so many briskets, no matter how much capacity his physical smoker can handle.
Lots of average BBQ places cook in larger quantities. The briskets don't get individual attention, and thus the quality varies from brisket to brisket. If the 'Q doesn't sell, it goes in the cooler, and gets reheated the next day. Again, quality suffers.
Rudy's is a great example. They produce very good commercial BBQ, but it's not consistent. Sometimes it's moist and juicy. Sometimes it's dry. Tenderness varies, too.
Pros like Will Buckman of Corkscrew BBQ even stage their briskets, so a certain number are ready at 11, more at 1pm, etc. This way the Q you get hasn't been sitting half a day in a warmer, drying out and losing flavor. It's also sliced right as you order it, again to maximize quality.
If you're less picky, places like Rudy's can provide tasty BBQ right up until closing. But if you crave world class BBQ, you've got to understand the realities of the business. They're not in a position to change how they create the BBQ; it's your choice whether or not you think the potential inconvenience is worth it or not.
Out here in the Woodlands we've got more than our share of foodies. No matter where you go, you overhear people talking about food: What's the new hot place, what's about to open, where's the best place for a steak. Some even take photos of their food.
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| Not a Woodlands Area Foodie |
But folks who say these things could be anyone... not necessarily a real foodie. As a public service, we'd like to humbly offer the following list to help identify real Woodlands Area Foodies:
Your friends message you when they can't decide where to eat. They may or may not invite you to come along.
Cary Attar greets you by name when you walk into Fielding's. You don't expect him to feed you for free.
Your iPhone's camera roll contains more photos of your meals than of your kids.
You first noticed Chef Austin Simmons when he was the sous at Tesar's. And you happily devour whatever he's offering as a special that night at Hubbell & Hudson Bistro. You don't expect him to feed you for free.
You belong to three different Facebook foodie groups, but only admit to two of them.
You find yourself at 11pm driving across Houston to a restaurant where you won't speak the language just because Tom Nguyen said that the food was superb. As always, Tom was right.
You know whether Phil Nicosia is in the house at Pallotta's before you walk in the door. You don't expect him to feed you for free.
You get sad thinking about Jay Stone's late, lamented Wicked Whisk food truck. But you cheer up after you pledge your support for his Chingu project.
You have no problem having lunch at Twin Peaks, but you wouldn't set foot in Hooter's or Bikini's.
You see nothing wrong with having a second lunch when friends message you from Hello Taco. Or a third when they've ventured down the street to Viva Itacate.
You get excited to find a great new place for chicken fried steak in the Woodlands. But you hold off visiting until Kim Bellini states whether the cream gravy meets with her approval.
You run into at least four friends on Saturday morning waiting in line for Corkscrew BBQ to open. You don't expect them to feed you for free... but you enjoy the free beer they're providing.
Starting a restaurant is a risky venture. Even proven concepts from established operators carry a great deal of risk. 60% of all restaurants fail in the first five years. So getting investors can be tricky, and restaurateurs often give up a great deal of control to the money guys in order to gain financing.
So what is a talented young chef with a vision to do? If it's 2014, and the chef is Jay Stone (of Wicked Whisk, Vallone's, and Jasper's fame) you take your idea to Kickstarter, the on-line marketplace that funds hot new ideas.
Kickstarter is a successful online phenomenon that's funded everything from the Pebble smart watch to the new Veronica Mars move. If you've got a great idea and you can present it well, Kickstarter is a good way to raise capital.
Chef Stone brings serious talent to the table. His cuisine has always drawn both popular and critical acclaim. Ever since we first sampled his cooking at the Wicked Whisk food truck, we were unabashed fans.
Houston mayor Annise Parker called Jay's Wicked Whisk her favorite food truck, and it's one that we miss very much. At a recent wine dinner at Jasper's, Chef Stone's dishes were the hits of the evening, and the popup events he's hosted with Will Buckman at Corkscrew BBQ all sell out within hours of being announced.
Chef Stone has the skills. We believe that the concept of New American comfort food with a Korean twist is one that will resonate well with Texans. So what is Chingu? In his words:
"Chingu has been my brainchild for quite some time and has evolved as I grew as a professional cook. After hosting pop-up dinners, food truck stops and collaborating with other local industry folk it came to me that this is what cooking is all about. Having fun, doing what you love and meeting great people along the way. Chingu means "Friend" in the Korean language and it represents my project perfectly.
"The Korean inspired fare will touch on American and Southern classics and be approachable by a wide audience. Korean Fried Chicken and Biscuits, Braised Beef Cheeks with Gochujang Mashed Potatoes and several varieties of In-House Fermented Kimchi will be menu staples. "Redefining Comfort Food" as I like to say."
Chef Stone has a clever strategy for his physical facility: He plans to start with a food truck, keeping his costs low and his location flexible. He'll then transition to a brick-and-mortar building when the time is right.
We're excited about Chingu, and urge our followers to support this exciting project. You can get onboard for as little as $5, but check out the larger pledges. They include generous rewards, up to a catered lunch or dinner for 15 guests at a bargain price.
We're unabashed fans of the food Chef Austin Simmons creates at Hubbell & Hudson Bistro. From his incredibly creative seafood presentations to his world-class burgers, we've not seen a misstep from this talented young chef.
While the media was socializing, the culinary team had converted the beautiful residential kitchen into a line worthy of four-star restaurant. Homebuilders brag about commercial-grade kitchens, but Pasternak Custom Homes truly delivered.
The hungry mob was seated, and Chef Austin presented his first course, escolar served with jalapeño marmalade, and a ponzu bouillabaisse. As CultureMap's Eric Sandler quipped, "Just like mom used to make".
Next the chef introduced a beef course, but not just any beef - A5 grade Japanese Wagyu. It was topped with shaved perigord truffles, and accented with artichoke, anise and peppercorn. The beef was superbly tender and indulgently marbled, and the earthy truffles elevated the savory beefy flavor to even greater heights.
A unique cheese course appeared next. After the bold, strong Wagyu, Chef Austin juxtaposed a light, airy goat cheese puree, accented with hyperlocal Woodlands honey, winter truffle, almond, lavender, and cranberry.
Desert was served shortly thereafter. A deconstructed pallet of yuzu, green tea, miso, shoo, sable, and cilantro. At the chef's instruction we combined these wildly individual flavors into a coherent whole. It was hard work. Hard, delicious work.
Finally the chef presented petite petit-fours. They were not your typical cookies; flavors of pink peppercorn, soy, caramel and dark chocolate were blended and perfused, and the result demonstrates the formidable chops of Katrina Autem, the pastry chef.
Chef Austin's culinary team did a superlative job delivering eight courses of innovative, technique-driven cuisine in a residential kitchen they'd never worked in before. The evening progressed flawlessly, a tribute to the hard work of Executive Sous Chef Lance Criswell, Pastry Chef Katrina Autem, Sommelier Tanya Hinson, and the rest of the Hubbell & Hudson team.
Of course, now that the chef's formidable skills have been put on display in the heart of Houston, we predict that a table at Hubbell & Hudson Bistro will get even tougher to snare. Make your reservations early, folks.
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Our thanks to Hubbell & Hudson, Pasternak Custom Homes, and John Daugherty Realtors for making this event possible.
We were saddened to hear of the closing of the venerable b4-u-eat.com website, one of the oldest food review sites covering Houston since the mid-90's. They'd survived the rise of Citysearch and Yelp, and continued with their bare-bones format and ad-free approach.
Thanks for all your hard work, guys. You'll be missed.
Update: More Information!
WHAT: The 2nd Annual Houston Barbecue Festival will celebrate and recognize what is unique about Houston barbecue. Specifically, we want to:
Recognize the talent, hard work, and dedication of the owners and pitmasters that make Houston barbecue great.
Make the citizens of Houston (and Texas, and the U.S., etc.) aware of the long history of barbecue here and that the quality of Houston barbecue is comparable to other regional styles of barbecue.
Make Houstonians true connoisseurs of barbecue by offering samples of great barbecue so they can choose to patronize those barbecue joints committed to only the highest quality of barbecue.
Celebrate the diversity of Houston barbecue by including the many styles of barbecue found here.
WHEN: Sunday, April 6th, 2014 from 1:00-5:00pm. VIP Admission at 12pm.
WHERE: Reliant Park, Purple Lot. Parking entrance on South Main Street.
COST: General Admission ($50) includes entry into the festival and unlimited sample portions from each participating Houston barbecue joint. VIP Admission ($90) includes entry into the festival one hour early (at noon) and unlimited sample portions from each participating Houston barbecue joint. A T-shirt and one (1) drink ticket are also included. To ensure a quality event for everyone involved, ticket sales are limited. All tickets sold in advance, online at http://houbbq.com. No ticket sales at the door. A bar (beer and wine) and live music will also be included.
About the Houston Barbecue Festival
In its second year, the Houston Barbecue Festival will build on the success of the inaugural festival by including more Houston barbecue joints for a larger audience of Houston barbecue lovers. Expecting 20-24 barbecue joints and 2000-3000 guests, the event has moved to Reliant Park, one of the most prestigious and recognizable event venues in Houston.
This year's festival will feature most, if not all, of last year's list of the who's who of Houston's best barbecue. Currently confirmed are: Blake’s BBQ, The Brisket House, Brooks’ Place BBQ, CorkScrew BBQ, Fainmous BBQ, Gatlin’s BBQ, Gerardo’s, Killen's BBQ, Lenox Bar-B-Que, Pizzitola’s Bar-B-Cue, Ray’s BBQ Shack, and Tin Roof BBQ.
Additionally, the festival will include a few newcomers to the Houston barbecue scene: Feges BBQ, Oak Leaf Smokehouse, and Pappa Charlie's Barbeque. Baker's Ribs, a veteran of the Houston barbecue scene, will also be a new participant this year.
Also new for 2014 will be a lineup of select out-of-town barbecue guests who will be rolling into Houston to showcase their barbecue side-by-side with Houston's best. More details on this at a later date.
Additionally, staff from Texas A&M University's BBQ Genius Counter will be answering attendees' questions about all things barbecue, backyard or otherwise.
Returning as a founding sponsor, Texas Original Pits will have a selection of their Houston-made smokers, grills, and fire pits for sale.
Charitable Partner
The Houston Barbecue Festival has partnered with Vita-Living, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency in Houston, Texas that has supported people with disabilities for over 30 years. They currently serve almost 500 clients in seven counties through their residential, case management and foster companion care services. Vita-Living is recognized as a leading proponent of integrated community living and an expert in the care of individuals with complex disabilities and behavioral challenges.
"We were looking for a partner in an under-served charitable area," explained Chris Reid, festival organizer. "Public funding for care of those with disabilities has decreased considerably in recent years. So, on behalf of the Houston Barbecue Festival staff, restaurants, volunteers, and sponsors, we are happy to contribute a portion of all tickets sales and sponsorships to help Vita-Living in this important mission."
The needs of Vita-Living’s clients will not go away. They continue to be vulnerable throughout their lives and require lifelong services. For that reason, 88 cents out of every dollar donated to the agency goes towards the lifelong care of Houstonians with disabilities.
"I'm so happy that Vita-Living can support the local flavor of barbecue in this great city," said Jillian Day, Director of Development at Vita-Living. "We're very grateful for the opportunity to partner with another organization that represents the best of what this city offers; namely, opportunity and innovation. It will also be a great way to recognize our volunteers since everyone loves great food."
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OK, BBQ fans. The event you've been waiting for is coming. The second annual Houston BBQ Festival is on its way, and tickets go on sale February 17.
The event will be held on Sunday, April 6, from 1pm to 5pm at Reliant Park.
The new venue for the festival is Reliant Park, which will allow a bit more elbow room - the 2013 inaugural festival attracted huge crowds and tested the capacity of the venue.
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| Scene from 2013 Houston BBQ Festival |
The 2014 lineup hasn't been announced, but participating in the 2013 festival were Blake's BBQ, The Brisket House, Brooks' Place BBQ, Burns BBQ, Corkscrew BBQ, Fainmous BBQ, Gary Burns Old Fashioned Pit BBQ, Gatlin's BBQ, Gerardo's, Killen's BBQ, Lenox Bar-B-Que, Pizzitola's Bar-B-Cue, Ray's BBQ Shack, Tin Roof BBQ, and Virgie's BBQ.
If you attended the 2013 festival, keep an eye on your e-mail: Rumor has it that a special offer for early tickets (at a discount!) will be sent to 2013 participants.
For more details, keep an eye on the official festival website.
This fascinating video from 2008, sponsored by Burger King, chronicles people around the world who are tasting their first hamburger.