7 Best Restaurants in Houston and Galveston, Texas

Come to this loud, silicone-and-Rolex-filled place with a big appetite and a taste for a great selection of Texas and world-wide wines. This local favorite packs in young movers and shakers every night with upscale comfort food, including Lobster Thermadelphia—a twist on a Philly cheesesteak, with lobster, tequila, lime, and jalapeño cheddar cheese on a baguette, and the Texas Haute Dog, an all-beef hot dog with pickled jalapeño, Texas venison chili, cotija cheese, and crispy fried onion rings. Pair them up with an awesome selection of wines, many available by the glass, but much better priced as bottles. It's open until 2 am Thursday, Friday, and Saturday

An excellent choice for vegetarian cuisine, this eclectic bungalow in the Montrose neighborhood serves an avocado-and-mushroom-topped veggie burger plate that has been popular since 1975. Named after a Slavic witch, Baba Yega offers an award-winning weekend brunch, and full bar as well. Enjoy people-watching out front under the shade of a century-old oak tree, or dine on the covered patio before a waterfall and herb garden.

Breakfast—make that power breakfast—and lunch are popular with the business set at this small, classy restaurant in the Lancaster Hotel downtown, but dinner is the ticket, especially for the pre-theater crowd. Chef Jamie Zelko offers a changing seasonal menu based on fresh local ingredients. Try the crab cakes and bread pudding. Brunch is available on weekends. The adjacent Bistro Bar has a terrific wine list and a cozy, intimate setting.

Irma and her family dish out home-style Mexican specialties to a wait-in-line breakfast and lunch crowd (weekdays only) of lawyers, judges, cube-dwellers, and sports fans. The surroundings may be homey, but this place is not cheap—still, the food has made Irma's a local landmark. There's no menu: your server will tell you what is available. Opt for the chicken-and-spinach enchiladas with green chili sauce, and wash it all down with the famous lemonade. Irma opens on weekends when the Astros are in town—and stays open until 6 pm during the week on home-game days.

This popular eatery in Galveston's historic East End serves fresh, contemporary food—including some vegetarian dishes—in a hip, high-ceilinged dining room and on an outdoor patio. Wake up with cinnamon French toast or a crab omelette, or try an oversized sandwich or large gourmet salad for lunch. The juicy burgers or Asian shrimp skewer are hits in the evening.

At Elouise "Ouisie" Adams Jones's casually elegant, ersatz preppy restaurant, American cuisine is prepared with eclectic, Southern accents. Dine in the main room, or request a table on adjoining Lucy's Porch for a view of the herb plantings snipped daily by the kitchen staff. Fine dinner choices include a brace of roasted quail with apple-smoked bacon, and a shrimp curry with lemon-ginger rice. There's a fabulous weekend brunch and an afternoon "little bites" menu.

Though the Four Seasons Hotel is sort of fussy and dated, its in-house restaurant is a sleek, lively set of smartly designed dining rooms with inspiring food. Quattro—its name representing the four "faces" of the restaurant—breakfast, lunch, dinner, and the antipasto bar—focuses on popular American-Italian dining that's fresh, simple and seasonal. The wine list includes 25 wines by the glass, 250 bottle selections, and a private cellar selection of reserve and boutique wines. It's frequented by lots of political types, pampered travelers, birthday boys and girls, and theater-goers. From maitre d' to server, attention to your enjoyment is given unobtrusively and plentifully.