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Houston might sit on the Gulf Coastal Plain, but there’s nothing flat about this city’s cuisine. Whether partial to cowboy boots or stilettos, Houstonians love upscale dining. A Zagat survey found that Houstonians eat out more frequently than residents of any other major city in America — seven times a week!
With so many upscale black-owned restaurants in Houston, why not dine out daily? As Texas’ most populous city and the fourth largest city in the nation, the Space City has fine dining options that are truly out of this world. H-Town is also affordable enough that residents can explore fun places to eat in Houston and its surroundings, from Pearland to Sugarland to Katy. Houston’s large international community gives it a diverse culture reflected in its food, earning it the title of the Culinary Capital of the South. Ready to visit Houston? Book your next unforgettable experience on Tripadvisor, with flexible bookings and free cancellations.
920 Studemont St. #150, Houston, TX 77007
Black Restaurant Week Listing | Website | Instagram | Facebook | (281) 501-1788
About five minutes from the Art Car Museum on Heights Boulevard, Trez provide a platform for local and national artists through exhibitions and cultural events while showcasing cocktails, wine, and small bites. Sometimes, great beauty can come from great difficulty. However, the brunch and dinner menus also rank it among the best restaurants to celebrate an anniversary. Trez features a baked brie or fried goat cheese board, chicken and sausage, gumbo topped with a cornbread muffin, crispy fried oysters on a bed of Cajun sweet potato fries, rosemary Jerk lamb chops, blackened redfish, and more. Make sure you save some room for the while chocolate peach cobbler or butter pound cake by the The Gr8Debake for dessert (Reservations recommended).
5512 La Branch St., Houston, TX 75235
Black Restaurant Week Listing | Website | Instagram | Facebook | (713) 568-2505
Founders Chris and Ben Wills named this acclaimed Southern cuisine restaurant in Houston’s here’s nothing quite like a taste of the Caribbean out here in the desert! Phoenix is blessed with the island vibes of Ms. Martha’s Kitchen, whose eponymous owner grew up in St. John’s, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Eagerly absorbing West Indies cooking traditions in her family kitchens, she brings her own authentic island cuisine experience to her tables. Seeking to offer a soul-satisfying experience, the ethos of service will come through in every bite. Try out the empanada-like Jamaican patties to start. The curry chicken bowl will hit that sweet spice spot in your gut, as will an ox tail entrée with some rice and peas on the side.
3.The Warwick
5888 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77057
Website | Instagram | Facebook | (713) 534-1545
Named after a 1960s Houston landmark that exemplified opulence, dining, and breathtaking views, The Warwick offers a posh patio, music, a vibrant bar area, and global flavas on the edge of the Westheimer corridor. Enjoy charbroiled Gulf oysters topped with cheeses and seasoned collard greens, redfish served on a cedar plank, lobster tails, spinach-and-crab-stuffed salmon, Hawaiian ribeye, and sides such as andouille Jambalaya risotto. Top it off with caramel bread pudding, chocolate mousse cake, or a “sweet libation” such as the White Chocolate Martini or Absolutely Amaretto. Proper attire (evening, business casual, or professional) is required
5925 Almeda Rd., Suite A Houston, TX 77004
Black Restaurant Week Listing | Website | Instagram | Facebook | (877) 328-4778
Next to the Hermann Park Golf Course, Davis St. at Hermann Park combines world-class sophistication with Southern hospitality. This jewel specializes in Gulf coast ingredients with a taste of Oaxacan cuisine, Caribbean zest, and Vietnamese spice. Try the ceviche flavored with ginger, spicy ponzu, togarashi, serrano peppers, and pickled grapes; the Caribbean mussels with Jamaican curry and coconut milk; or crispy Thai shrimp with cabbage slaw. The entrees include steaks, a market-price Thai-style snapper, and muddled stew with braised pork belly, redfish, Gulf shrimp, clams, and a thirteen-minute egg in a tomato-saffron broth.
5.Now Showing Juliet
5857 Westheimer Rd., Houston, TX 77057
Website | Instagram | Facebook | (713) 324-8831
Inspired by the seamless food and beverage experiences of New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and London, Now Showing Juliet creates one-of-a-kind dinners and brunches using local and sustainable ingredients. Its “previews” or appetizers include tuna poke tacos, crab cakes béarnaise, and pork belly seared in a Jack Daniels maple syrup sauce. Its show-stopping entrees include seafood and steaks such as the Golden Star, a USDA Prime gold tomahawk ribeye wrapped in 24K gold. Another fave is the crispy honey truffle chicken. Sides include candied marshmallow sweet potatoes with spiced walnuts, jumbo asparagus with lemon garlic butter, or brussels sprouts in a red wine vinegar gastrique (Reservations and private dining are available).
420 N. Main St, Houston, TX 77002
Black Restaurant Week Listing | Website | Instagram | Facebook | (713) 485-5803
This innovative Black-owned Downtown restaurant serves a fusion of Southern comfort foods and ethnic flavas. One peek at the extensive chicken and waffles menu makes these a “must eat when in Houston” treat. Options include Cajun chicken & waffles, General Tso’s chicken & waffles, and chicken fried lobster & waffles. The waffles alone include red velvet, pecan praline, peach cobbler, sweet potato, and fruity pebble flavas. Taste Bar + Kitchen also has a selection of champagne and wine, plus dessert cocktails such as Key Lime Pie, frozen cocktails such as Watermelon Telly, and specialty cocktails such as Superstar Sangria with mango nectar and the Jalaback Margarita with chili liqueur.
7.Bungalow Downtown Dining
407 Main St., Houston, TX 77002
Website | Instagram | Facebook | (713) 393-7868
For the best steak in Houston, Bungalow Downtown Dining is tough to beat. This upscale steakhouse opens at 4 p.m. nightly in the Skyline District and serves dinner, dessert, cocktails, and wine in a lush dining room with plush velvet booths and gold accents. It also offers multiple private dining spaces, a high-energy bar, and a rooftop patio with downtown Houston views. Choose from appetizers such as truffle fries or pineapple jerk lemon pepper wings, add a lobster and shrimp bisque or Greek salad, then order a New York strip, filet mignon, or Cajun or tomahawk ribeye. Top it with lobster tail, seared foie gras, or a selection of butters. Pasta or seafood more your style? Select the redfish with crab bacon butter, fried lobster tail, whole fried snapper, or fried vegetable lasagna. Round out your meal with mascarpone mashed potatoes or black truffle mac and cheese.
8.Thirteen
1911 Bagby St. Suite #100, Houston, TX 77002
Black Restaurant Week Listing | Website | Instagram | (713) 804-2025
Quietly closing it’s doors at the end of 2023, Thirteen has reopened with brand new interiors, executive chef and menu. Thirteen is among the dopest restaurants in Houston for guests wanting to have an experience and not just a savory, satisfying meal. Roughly half a mile from the Whitehall, this venue features a restaurant and patio, a hookah lounge with a live DJ, and a basement nightclub and private bowling alley. Executive Chef Sidd Cadena’s menu showcases his 10 year journey though Asia with dishes like Lobster and Shrimp Dumplings, Teriyaki Salmon Bowl, and Pork Bao Buns. Complement your dinner with a cocktail or a selection from over 2,000 wines. Reservations are recommended.
9.Kulture Houston
701 Avenida del las Americas, Houston, TX 77010
Website | Instagram | Facebook | (713) 357-9697
Roughly two blocks from Discovery Green, this “urban komfort kitchen” is known for creative dining concepts such as Black Chef Table, which gives local chefs and black-owned farms, gardens, beer makers, wineries, and others a showcase for their talents. Past collaborations include influences from the South, Mexico, Asia, Spain, and the Caribbean, such as oxtail pepper pot soup with rice and beans arancini, curried lamb with braised lentils, snapper escovitch, and rum cake with buttermilk ice cream. Call for details.
2736 Virginia St., Houston, TX 77098
Black Restaurant Week Listing | Website | Instagram | Facebook | (832) 353-2336
About half a mile from Color Factory Houston, Upper Kirby Bistro welcomes couples on date nights as well as larger parties for family gatherings. It gives lunch, dinner, brunch, and happy hour vibes with bites such as crispy Asian shrimp, hardshell fish tacos with creamy avocado and spicy mango relish, and Nashville hot sliders. Specialty cocktails include the Prickly Pear Purple Drank Daquiri and the Purple Rain. For dinner, nibble on collard and artichoke dip with wonton chips, coconut curry chicken wings, Louisiana gumbo, lobster ravioli featuring Gulf colossal shrimp, New Zealand lamb chops, or Fannie Mae’s Famous Fried Chicken, marinated in buttermilk for 24 hours and served with collard greens, Parmesan garlic mashed potatoes, Texas toast, and your choice of hot sauce.
11.The Honey Hole
2327 Post Oak Blvd., Houston, TX 77056
Website | Instagram | (832) 234-4260
Near the Galleria, this bistro and brunch place serves a variety of toasts, soups, salads, and sandwiches, plus a few entrees. Starters include smoked salmon toast or sunrise toast with strawberries, bananas, feta, and honey. Heartier fare includes the Monte Cristo beignets, stuffed with ham, turkey, Swiss, and mild cheddar; lobster and grits in a fire-roasted tomato sauce; honey-fried chicken on a sugar-dusted funnel cake; challah bread French toast stuffed with white chocolate; and squid ink pasta.
9603 Broadway St. Suite 101, Pearland, TX 77584
Black Restaurant Week Listing | Website | Instagram | Facebook | (832) 288-2326
Head about sixteen miles south of Houston for this tapas and music venue that serves dinner, brunch, cocktails, and wine by the glass or bottle. The upscale vibe includes curved-back sofas and a wall with a carved mural. Tapas favorites include crispy kataifi shrimp, lobster tempura satay, akaushi sliders, crispy Cleo wing lollipops, braised short-rib poutine, creole croquet, smoked chicken bao banh mi sliders, and that Cleo signature baby lamb chops. Book a table for Friday R&B night, and look for happy hour specials such as the Baha street tacos for $8.
1590 S. Mason Rd., Katy, TX 77450
Black Restaurant Week Listing | Website | Instagram | Facebook (832) 913-6465
About 28 miles west of Houston, in the cut of the Highland shopping center, Astor Farm to Table brings “adventurous cuisine” from Latin America and South Africa, promising vibrant, flavorful bites. It serves breakfast, lunch, brunch, and dinner with options that can be prepared vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, and gluten-free. Appetizers include Astor’s global platter, featuring African biltong, boerewors, Venezuelan tequenos, Argentinian fried chicken, and beef empanadas. Other items include Gordon’s Bay fried calamari; signature Venezuela pabellon with shredded beef, black beans, and fried plantains; Venezuelan patacone featuring shredded beef and white cheese atop fried plantains; and African seafood pasta.
Whether you’re hungry downtown or exploring Houston’s outer neighborhoods, you’ll find no shortage of upscale black-owned restaurants in Houston with exclusive atmospheres and flavors sure to be your next favorite. Why not surprise your sweetie on your next date night, or bring your friends together for a night to remember at one of these Houston favorites? Check out our national directory for even more great eating options.
Author: Black Restaurant Week
Content Team
