Best bets and top dining picks for 2022 Houston Restaurant Weeks

Houston Cafe Months, the city’s major culinary party, returns for 36 times of areawide eating jogging Aug. 1 as a result of Labor Working day, Sept. 5. The lineup of places to eat, which include some of the Houston’s best eating places, was produced nowadays with menus featuring multi-class dinners (three or four classes) and two- or three-course brunch and lunch solutions. Some of the menus also are available to-go.

The participating restaurants contain Houston favorites these kinds of as Arnaldo Richards’ Picos, Carrabba’s Primary, Coltivare, Da Gama Canteen, Damian’s Cucina Italiana, Gratify, Hugo’s, La Griglia, Le Colonial, Loch Bar, MAD, Rainbow Lodge, Roma Ristorante, State Fare Kitchen & Bar, Tony’s, and Xochi. The pricing: Dinners are $55 (with $6 donation to the foodstuff lender) and $39 ($4 donation) lunch and brunch $25 ($2 donation).

Produced by the Cleverley Stone Foundation – the late Stone was the founder of HRW – the occasion positive aspects the Houston Food items Bank by delivering donations for just about every meal bought. To day, HRW has lifted extra than $17.6 million for the meals financial institution and furnished additional than 52.8 million foods for the area’s foodstuff insecure.

We culled by way of the first menus (the website will proceed to update with new eating places leading up to the party launch) and uncovered these standouts:

Patio perfection: Backstreet Café in River Oaks, which boasts a single of the city’s most charming patios, is giving both of those lunch and supper menus for HRW. The lunch menu provides starters these as tomato and cucumber gazpacho, fish cakes with home manufactured potato chips, and grilled peach salad. Lunch entrée alternatives contain shrimp and cheese grits, eggplant pappardelle, grilled rooster salad, salmon tacos, and Nicoise salad. For the three-class dinner, entrees incorporated striped bass with couscous, skirt steak with potatoes and Brussels sprouts, and tagliatelle with grilled kale pesto. 1103 S. Shepherd backstreetcafe.net

Steakhouse splendor: The legendary Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, recognised for its impeccable beef and big wines, is participating with its downtown site. Very first training course alternatives involve Caesar salad and turtle gumbo with aged sherry adopted by second-program possibilities of filet mignon, dry-aged New York strip steak, or King salmon with white wine sauce. For dessert: New York-model cheesecake, critical lime pie, or raspberry or lemon sorbet. 1200 McKinney pappasbros.com

Artwork for all: Bistro Menil, the refined restaurant established within just the artwork-filled Menil Assortment campus is participating in HRW with both of those lunch and evening meal menus. Evening meal very first class selections incorporate lump crab cake, watermelon and feta salad, and char-grilled octopus. 2nd-course alternatives are grilled shrimp skewer, crispy duck confit and 12-hour braised beef limited rib. End with lemon tart, crème brulee or Basque cheesecake with combined berry puree. 1513 W. Alabama bistromenil.com

Large Uncomplicated taste: The iconic New Orleans cafe Acme Oyster Household, now a Houston dining preferred, is supplying a a few-study course lunch with initial program possibilities of seafood gumbo and fried alligator next course contains choice of fried shrimp and fish platter, roast beef po’boy and seafood etouffee and dessert option of bread pudding, chocolate caramel pie or root beer float. 1201 Westheimer acmeoyster.com

River Oaks royalty: Brasserie 19, River Oaks’ beloved socializing and eating canteen, is participating in HRW with a meal menu that begins with French onion soup, deviled eggs, dwelling-produced gravlax, and arugula salad with goat feta and poached pear. Second-class possibilities: Toulouse susage and pork stomach with cranberry bean ragout trout almandine with brown butter grilled hangar steak with potato pave and Provencal greens and grains with eco-friendly olive tapenade. End with flourless chocolate tort, lemon pound cake or vanilla bean crème brulee. 1962 W. Grey brasserie19.com

Digging downtown: The Nash, the charming fashionable American cafe in the former Texaco constructing (check out the patio seating below the barrel-vaulted arcade) is offering a a few-program meal that begins with carrot ginger soup, wild mushroom toast, Korean bacon on bao buns, or yellowfin tuna crudo. Keep on with second study course possibilities of miso-glazed Atlantic salmon with stir-fry greens, herb-roasted chicken with wild mushroom and potato hash, or shorter rib pappardelle. For dessert: lemon basil cheesecake, tiramisu or chocolate banana cake. 1111 Rusk thenashhouston.com

James Beard cred: Christine Ha and Tony J. Nguyen, 2022 finalists for the James Beard Award’s Finest Chef Texas, will oversee the HRW menu at their contemporary Vietnamese cafe Xin Chao. The $39 meal gives eggrolls, wagyu meatballs or eco-friendly mango salad for initially system next program options include grilled pork chop with rice, petite steak with rice or wok fried rice noodles with tofu. Complete up with a coconut sherbet sundae or Ha’s renowned rubbish apple pie. 2310 Decatur xinchaohtx.com

Gulf leanings: Craving some bounty of the sea? Eugene’s Gulf Coastline Delicacies, the Montrose spouse and children-run household for upscale Cajun-style Gulf Coast eating, is a choice HRW location. Dinner 1st class selections include things like seafood gumbo, wedge salad and boiled shrimp, adopted by entrée alternatives of Salmon Bianca, Crab Balinese, Oysters Kyle (or Shrimp Kyle, the two seasoned with environmentally friendly onion and lemon garlic butter), and a seafood combo platter of catfish, shrimp and oysters served with onion rings. Dessert alternatives: white chocolate bread pudding, essential lime pie and crème brulee. 1985 Welch eugeneshouston.com

Houston icon: Brennan’s of Houston, one of the city’s most cherished aged guard restaurants, is offering brunch, lunch and dinner during HRW. A single of the dwelling signatures, snapping turtle soup splashed with sherry is on just about every menu. The supper menu is a real discount for these types of a luxe expertise. Starters consist of preference of gumbo, shrimp remoulade, watermelon salad, fried environmentally friendly tomatoes and duck boudin cake. Entrée selections: roasted quail with Creole oyster dressing, wooden-grilled Gulf fish, shrimp and grits, grilled pork chop, and grilled filet mignon. For dessert, the offerings consist of crème brulee, Creole bread pudding, and the famed Bananas Foster. 713-522-9711 brennanshouston.com

Go for the GOAT: Newcomer Chivos has been stunning Houston diners considering that it opened very last 12 months in the Heights. The restaurant that normally takes its title from a platy on “Greatest of All Time,” is offering meal that commences with burrata with stone fruit and pistachio relish, ceviche tostada or blistered shishito peppers with morita mayonnaise. 2nd-class possibilities are pork bello tacos with peach habanero salsa, 50 percent hen with soy glaze, and flank steak with chimichurri butter. Finish the food with peach tres leches cake, summer time berries, or a cajeta tamale with marshmallow. Do not go up on 1 of the signature cocktails. 222 W. 11th chivoshou.com

Berg-undian desires: Admirers of Benjamin Berg restaurants are in luck simply because the Houston restaurateur goes all in for HRW with The Annie Café & Bar, B.B. Lemon, Trattoria Sofia and NoPo Café. But his major and beefy B&B Butchers & Restaurant, regularly one particular of the leading donations for HRW, is a steakhouse preferred presenting lunch and dinner menus. For meal get started with thick lower bacon, B&B meatballs, wedge or Caesar salad, whipped ricotta or prosciutto and burrata. Evening meal alternatives include rooster shank with grilled lemon, pan-seared salmon with citrus beurre blanc, surf and turf (filet medallion and crab-stuffed shrimp), and vodka rigatoni. Dessert choices are crème brulee, chocolate cake or New York cheesecake. 1814 Washington bbbutchers.com

Greg Morago writes about food items for the Houston Chronicle. Stick to him on Fb or Twitter. Send out him information tips at [email protected]. Hear him on our BBQ State of Thoughts podcast to understand about Houston and Texas barbecue society.