(From April 2010) Compared with Biga, his dignified, starchy downtown temple of gastronomy, Bruce Auden’s new endeavor is a “have a cozy supper” kind of place, with the owner’s fun way with food and words quite in evidence. Two fine appetizers were the Brit specialty Scotch eggs (sausage-breaded, hard-boiled eggs fried and served with aioli) and a sliced beet salad with feta and pistachios. Main courses included “Duck Duck,” both roasted and sautéed duck with a tangy barbecue-like sauce, and braised lamb with broad, flat noodles. (Tried twice, both dishes exhibited wild swings in tenderness from one visit to the next.) Desserts include old favorites from downtown as well as a memorably extravagant lemon meringue pie. Beer & wine.

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(From October 2008) In a bare-bones storefront tucked behind a service station at the crossroads of Montrose and West­heimer, personable owner/waiter Brooks Bassler serves up Cajun favorites at all hours. His fine seafood gumbo was actually upstaged by (surprise!) a peppy vegetable bisque. Crusty, bursting-at-the-seams po’boys (roast beef, oysters, shrimp) had us vowing to try more NOLA standards, like grillades and grits. Not to mention Abita beer and Barq’s root beer. Beer, wine, & daiquiris.

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(From April 2010) If you can’t get to newly reopened Brennan’s, you can still satisfy your craving for gumbo—and much more—at this elegant marble and wood space opened by Alex Brennan-Martin. We raved over a slew of plump black mussels with tomatoes and a fennel-and-saffron rouille croustade (a steal at $12), New Orleans–style barbecue shrimp on a buttermilk-and-rosemary biscuit with Shiner Bock “beer cream,” and a black-eyed-pea-crusted rack of lamb with cabernet lamb jus. Only the shrimp remoulade salad lacked luster, with its ho-hum greens and five lonely shrimp. Bar.

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(From April 2010) We could be looking out on Bourbon Street, so convincing is the N’awlins vibe. The food matches the unpretentiously retro decor, like the wilted spinach salad with shrimp (one of our lunch favorites), the dark gumbo, and the crunchy coconut shrimp. Beer & wine.

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(From April 2009) Taken out of its natural environment, New Orleans food often lacks the fresh bite typical of Creole and Cajun cuisine. This relocated restaurant (formerly Bourbon Street Café, in Castle Hills) proves the exception. Two standards—the chicken-and-sausage jambalaya and the crawfish-and-shrimp étouffée—have an unmistakable authenticity about them: carefully prepared fish and fowl, a rich roux for the étouffée, a fine balance of fresh peppers, celery, and onion for the jambalaya. Competent service and a quiet dining room. Bar.

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(From September 2009) Tucked away in a small shopping strip is this family-owned, no-nonsense Kosher eatery. We dropped in one morning for a huge omelet with mushrooms, onion, corn, black olives, cheese, and a confetti of green, yellow, and red peppers. Wonderful additions to the plate included slices of fresh tomato and crispy hash browns. We finished it all off with some of the fluffy house-made cheese-cake.

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(From July 2009) Casual to the max—a mounted moose head sports Christmas lights—this friendly, 18-year-old spot offers “foods from sunny latitudes,” like nachos, tacos, and burgers. We had the Cozumel shrimp, sautéed with lime and garlic and served with melted butter and sides of steamed new potatoes, rice, and corn. And they actually threw in a bowl of shrimp chowder. Key lime pie is made in-house; it’s not too sweet, not too tart, and plenty good. Bar.

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(From April 2010) Chef-owner Tiana Worsham has quickly put this spot on the list of Port Aransas’s best. “Minimalist” is the key word here, given the small, weatherbeaten frame house (tastefully decorated inside) and the tiny menu. We rhapsodized over tender scallops with coconut milk–rum sauce sprinkled with cilantro and hot red pepper sauce; pan-roasted flounder topped with avocado, bread crumbs, and lemon beurre blanc; and a simply perfect rack of New Zealand lamb grilled with herbs and roasted garlic. BYOB.

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(From April 2010) We’ve lost count of the restaurants that have failed in this sleek museum-district space, but Claire Smith’s popular new venture could break the jinx. A sculptural “canopy” of wood slats hangs from the high ceilings and photo-murals of live oaks accent the room dividers. Fine starters included grilled asparagus (with creamy wild mushrooms and shards of Parmesan) and a hefty, meaty crab cake resting on fried green tomatoes. Very good, too, were the rack of lamb, crusted with herbs, and the simple roasted chicken with mustardy mashed potatoes. Bar.

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(From April 2010) Esther Etienne has brought culinary treasures from her native Haiti to South Texas. Lively with bright colors, tropical music, and a festive atmosphere, her friendly restaurant serves up the likes of savory braised oxtail and chicken with cashews. Served with rice, beans, and crispy fried plantains, the chicken was fall-off-the-bone tender and bathed in a rich, spicy sauce of chiles, tomatoes, and green peppers. Beer & wine.

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