These diverse Restaurant Award winners show why Texas’ largest city is a culinary capital for wine lovers
In recent years, Texas has become a stronghold for world-class dining. But where to start a culinary tour of the massive Lone Star State? One of your first stops has to be Houston. Space City’s restaurants are upping the game with impressive wine lists and diverse menus, as these 11 Wine Spectator Restaurant Award winners show, offering everything from steak-house luxury to contemporary takes on French and Asian classics. Time for liftoff!
This is just a small sampling of standout wine spots. For more wine-and-food destinations in Texas and around the world, search all of Wine Spectator’s Restaurant Award–winning restaurants, including our choices for 5 Great Wine Lists in Dallas, as well as all our Grand Award recipients.
Do you have a favorite you’d like to see on this list? Send your recommendations to restaurantawards@mshanken.com. We want to hear from you!
Pappas Bros. Steakhouse Houston
5839 Westheimer Road, Houston, Texas
Telephone (713) 780-7352
Website www.pappasbros.com
Grand Award
Pappas Bros. Steakhouse proves that everything is indeed bigger in Texas. The group boasts Wine Spectator Grand Award–winning restaurants in Dallas, in downtown Houston and on Houston’s restaurant-lined Westheimer Road. At this latter Houston location, wine director Steven McDonald impresses with a 5,000-selection wine list that highlights producers in Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne, the Rhône Valley, Piedmont, Tuscany, Austria, Spain and Napa Valley, among other regions. Leading names abound, from France’s Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey to California’s Abreu. There’s also a sizeable Port selection among the restaurant’s 28,000 bottles. Alongside these wines, executive chef Michael Velardi offers a wide range of steaks, including a 12-ounce filet mignon and a 26-ounce dry-aged porterhouse; beyond beef, there’s Australian lobster tail, broiled Ora King salmon and much more, including all the classic, steak house fixings. Like its sibling locations, the restaurant hosts a range of events throughout the year, including wine tastings, wine dinners, Scotch dinners and holiday meals.