Jane & The Lion is a tiny strip mall bakery in The Heights that looks like it was plucked from the pilot of The Great Victorian Baking Show (producers, shoot us an email). Inside, you’ll find antique furniture, vintage teacups, and a wall of framed pastry paintings in competition with the real bacon fat chocolate chip cookies and crusty sourdough loaves in the massive display case. If you show up hungry (or hungover), order the Lion Board.

Doko came out swinging when it opened at Autry Park alongside Bar Doko across the alleyway. The $75 set menu at this casual-but-fancy sushi spot makes it one of the most affordable omakase options in town, and also more relaxed than the usual 15-course extravaganza. You get a bit of everything, including scallop aguachile and perfect toro flown in straight from Japan, but it’s worth adding a few la carte items or upgrades.

Many hyped-up restaurants in Autry Park have hit the scene lately, with few worth the $8 parking. But Annam stands out. The Montrose spot serves Vietnamese food with a bit of French inspiration throughout the restaurant. Servers pour fish sauce tableside in a dining room with intricate archways that mimic French architecture. But beyond the atmosphere, the food is actually good. The citrus broth surrounding the steamed mussels will inspire rogue dunks just to re-experience the flavor.

Haii Kaii in Upper Kirby could be the backdrop of a futuristic action movie. One where the villain is sitting in an almost-too-dark dining room while synthy house music plays in the background. Eating at the two-story Japanese fusion place feels a little sexy. Somewhere after lobster dumplings covered in heaps of butter, you realize Haii Kaii is more than lighting and cool projector images on the walls.

Formerly Lees Den, Lee’s in Rice Village has transformed into a cocktail bar with expertly balanced drinks and small plates. You can see every table in the space’s dining room from the host stand, but it never feels cramped. It’s a speakeasy-type spot you’d keep in your back pocket to impress someone on a third date. Each table is full of gin and tarragon cocktails with glittering daisies in the center. And folks are taking down buttered crab rolls packed with shredded crab and briny trout roe.

Somehow, Maximo in West University just got better. After landing on the 2024 Best New Restaurants guide, this previously Tex-Mex spot took a break to rebrand with a new Mexican menu. The dining room is still recognizable—think velvet banquettes and tasteful uses of cacti—and you’ll still see the suadero tacos on the menu. But new iterations, like the masa-fueled small plates, are now the most exciting dishes at Maximo.

Barbacana fills a gap for those who want a tasting menu that doesn’t feel too stuffy. This fusion restaurant Downtown takes inspiration from Houston’s food scene. You’ll find nods to West African dishes and, of course, the main food group in Texas: beef. Like the Denver cuts of steak doused in suya spice or potato pavés with light dollops of cream cheese. The staff keeps the meal rolling casually.

This decades-long Don Huang Plaza resident now has new digs on the west end of Chinatown. The massive restaurant has floor-to-ceiling seafood tanks, electronic rotating Lazy Susan tables, and an expanded dim sum menu. Dishes arrive fast and lava hot, as is tradition with Fu Fu, like the xiao long bao with its explosive soup interior and juicy shu mai with enough tender shrimp and pork for two or three bites.

Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera offers quality sushi delivered to you on a moving track. Plates of buttery chu toro float to your table alongside pieces of mackerel with a rich umami flavor that makes us question how it’s only $3. Devote your energy to the nigiri because the glistening cuts of fish dissolving into your mouth are worth several orders. The Mid-West spot, which looks like a giant glass box from the outside, leans on the minimalist side with a non-fussy interior of beige and grey.

Set between a few bungalows in The Heights, the Mediterranean restaurant Herand’s Kitchen is instantly comforting. This casual neighborhood spot is where you can show up daily and eventually get on a first-name basis with the owner. You can grab a quick plate of tender beef koubideh for a solo meal or wrangle six folks for a long lunch over light plates like a tart refreshing ikra. There’s also a small patio where you can slowly sip a bowl of rose-and-lime-spiked faloodeh for dessert.

We’re big fans of ChòpnBlọk downtown because of their fast-casual bowls flying out of the food stall. And this Montrose location is like an expansion pack of the first concept, with the same bowls making appearances, and some added newcomers. Like the Black Star Bowl, packed with grilled shrimp laced in a peanut-based dry rub and a delicious waakye fried rice with enough smokiness, we are considering it for our BBQ guide.

We love that Milton’s focuses on the classics and puts all its energy into perfecting pasta. The folks at this Rice Village Italian restaurant do it well with their “100 Layer Lasagna,” which rotates ingredients like tender oxtail ragu but maintains a decadence that keeps us coming back. And the only thing that makes swimming in red sauce better is the service. The staff is attentive, giving recommendations on which cocktail is best to accompany your cresta di gallo.

Refurbished historic buildings are rare in Houston, especially ones with excellent breakfast and some of the best fried chicken and waffles in town. But that’s exactly what the second location of Dandelion Cafe offers. The menu includes housemade sausage stuffed into extra large and extra spicy omelets, crispy chicken with spiced butter waffles, and fresh baked goods like soft chocolate chip cookies and croissants.

If refined, Texas cowboys decided to open up a restaurant, it would look like Credence. The dining room is straight out of Southern Living—high ceilings and shades of hunter green find their place next to walls of vintage butcher knives. The Memorial restaurant focuses on seafood, steaks, and just about anything that can be cooked over a live fire. Keep your meal as carnivorous as possible because the best dishes at Credence involve red meat.

Októ in Montrose is phenomenal. This Mediterranean restaurant is the blended progeny of the folks behind Doris Metropolitan, Hamsa, and Badolina. Dining here feels like sneaking into a trendy tropical plant shop after-hours, one that serves incredible food. On our first visit, we couldn’t stop ourselves from wiping the eggplant carpaccio plate clean. The tuna tartare makes us wish we could take it home in bulk, along with a gallon of the shiro shoyu that's poured on top tableside.

Mikiya Wagyu Shabu House is the perfect spot for a hot pot. This Chinatown restaurant provides 90 uninterrupted minutes of unlimited wagyu. Four AYCE levels—the cheapest option starts at $45—give you increased access to different cuts of meat and special perks. Upper levels include seafood platters covered in crustaceans and “specialty dishes” like the crispy-seared wagyu nigiri. No matter which level you choose, you can dunk the marbled shoulder cuts of meat into a subtly sweet sukiyaki broth.

Now open in Montrose, the second location of this Japanese restaurant has a menu that's full of enough different dishes that at least one should address whatever’s causing you anxiety. It's like when you’re suffering the tragic end of a summer situationship and need griddled skewered chicken hearts for personal vindication or were cursed by a soup witch, and the only cure is spicy ramen with perfectly al dente noodles and charred chashu.

This Japanese restaurant from the team behind Neo has a wooden counter at center stage, 15 seats for its audience, and a sound system playing ‘70s jazz albums for the duration of the show. Kira focuses on handrolls, with chefs routinely placing the temaki in your hand as if they were crisp $100 bills. When people aren’t eating nori stuffed with bouncy salmon roe and silky tuna, they’re having spoonfuls of donburi with clouds of fresh wasabi.