Pat’s Pick
November 22, 2017
Justin Yu Roars Back With Theodore Rex
Foodies freaked when the famously fastidious chef closed Oxheart. But there’s much to like about its easygoing successor, Theodore Rex.
Pat’s Pick
Patricia Sharpe’s restaurant column on the places and people who shape Texas’s dining scene
Pat’s Pick
October 19, 2017
Sonya Coté Creates Big Flavors in a Tiny Town
Austin chef Sonya Coté takes her expertise to Clifton (population 3,392).
Pat’s Pick
September 20, 2017
Upscale Hill Country Cuisine at Pitchfork Pretty
Don’t let the folksy branding of this Austin newcomer fool you.
Pat’s Pick
August 23, 2017
Going Up to Mirador
Elevated American food and killer views of downtown Dallas make Mirador destination dining.
Pat’s Pick
July 24, 2017
From Far and Wide
From his childhood in Winnipeg to stops in New Orleans and Hong Kong, Ryan Lachaine goes his own way with an eclectic menu that spans the globe.
Pat’s Pick
June 19, 2017
Use Your Noodle
San Antonio’s Battalion serves primo Italian, including some of the best pasta in the state.
Pat’s Pick
May 24, 2017
Cheers for Speer
Mix one part Parisian bistro with one part American diner and voilà! Philip Speer’s Bonhomie.
Pat’s Pick
April 19, 2017
High Five
Everyone thinks he’s nuts, but if any Texas chef can pull off rehauling an entire restaurant every year, it’s Chris Shepherd.
Pat’s Pick
March 22, 2017
The Apprentice
How a few formative years out in the middle of nowhere led Hugo Ortega to places he never imagined.
Pat’s Pick
February 22, 2017
Rabbit at Rest
Paul Qui dispenses with pomp and pageantry at Kuneho, his ode to perfect bites and grateful smiles.
Pat’s Pick
January 25, 2017
Here’s the Beef
And the crab cakes, pork chops, and black-eyed-pea gumbo. It’s all here at Ronnie Killen’s latest and greatest.
Pat’s Pick
December 21, 2016
On Tapa His Game
At the Bin, chef Jason Dady reveals his long-running love affair with Spain’s small dishes.
Pat’s Pick
November 23, 2016
Feel the Burn
A peck of tongue-tickling peppers will have you happily playing with fire at Houston’s newest Chinese restaurant.
Pat’s Pick
October 19, 2016
Golden Age
Why Austin's L'Oca d'Oro will keep you coming back for contemporary Italian fare.
Pat’s Pick
September 21, 2016
Red, Red Time
Get properly sauced at Arthur Ave, which offers a fresh take on classic italian dishes.
Pat’s Pick
August 24, 2016
Loud and Proud
Ritual is turning tables with a Deep-South menu of gussied-up hush puppies and hoecakes.
Pat’s Pick
July 20, 2016
Texas Nexus
At Dallas chef Stephen Pyles’s Flora Street Cafe, Mexican, Southern, and cowboy foodways meet an internationalist sensibility.
Pat’s Pick
July 5, 2016
When Not in Rome
Dallas chef Julian Barsotti’s Sprezza does as the Romans do.
Pat’s Pick
June 15, 2016
Nipped in the Bud
When Austin’s vegetable-forward restaurant Gardner failed, the proprietors transformed it into Chicon, a place aimed at the (adobo-rubbed) meat and (fingerling) potatoes crowd.
Pat’s Pick
April 20, 2016
A Cut Above
Dallas Asian-fusion restaurant Top Knot may be the newest member from the Uchi family, but it’s nobody’s kid brother.
Pat’s Pick
March 23, 2016
Start the Presses
Felipe Armenta’s secluded spot in Fort Worth serves up light steakhouse fare with a few surprises.
Pat’s Pick
February 24, 2016
Seattle Homesick Blues
Dallas chef Nick Badovinus has brought the Pacific Northwest to North Texas, brine included.
Pat’s Pick
January 27, 2016
Idea Factory
The contemporary Southern restaurant Filament is bringing light to Dallas’s Deep Ellum neighborhood.
Pat’s Pick
December 23, 2015
In With the Old
The building may be aged, but the food at San Antonio’s Brigid is up-to-date.
Pat’s Pick
November 18, 2015
Ford Fusion
State of Grace may be new, but it evokes memories of old Houston.
Pat’s Pick
October 21, 2015
No Bull
A new Spanish-style restaurant, Bullfight, puts Austin’s once sketchy Airport Boulevard right in the middle of the dining arena.
Pat’s Pick
September 17, 2015
Get Him to the Greek
How Evan Turner opened the taverna Helen in a fit of passion—and brought Houston a modern twist on dolmades.
Pat’s Pick
August 13, 2015
To The Woodlands . . .
Are Houston’s suburbs ready for “gel spheres” and “carbonated pineapple conserve”?
Pat’s Pick
June 12, 2015
Serves Austin Right
At Italic, the couple behind 24 Diner, Easy Tiger, and Arro worked out the kinks before they opened their doors.
Pat’s Pick
May 13, 2015
Take Ten
At the Dallas ramen shop Ten, you have to stand to eat the food—all the better to give it the ovation it deserves.
Pat’s Pick
April 10, 2015
You Say Potato, I Say Batata
Houston’s Oporto Fooding House is almost certainly the finest Italian-Portuguese-Indian fusion restaurant in the world.
Pat’s Pick
March 18, 2015
Their Beautiful Launderette
What happens when veterans of two of Austin’s finest Mexican and Thai restaurants try their hand at Mediterranean cuisine? Very delicious things.
Pat’s Pick
February 10, 2015
Strip Tease
Braised oxtail comes to the strip mall.
Pat’s Pick
January 14, 2015
What the Hay?
Yes, a key ingredient at Austin’s Gardner usually comes in the form of a bale. But you wouldn’t want to squander these astonishing dishes on a horse.
Pat’s Pick
December 11, 2014
It’s Getting Haute Out Here
Le Cep’s contemporary French cuisine drags Fort Worth’s culinary scene into the twenty-first century. Don’t have a cow, monsieur.
Pat’s Pick
November 7, 2014
To Dai For
Nose-to-tail, locally sourced, and heavy on the protein: Austin chef Jesse Griffiths’s Dai Due moves from the supper club circuit to a permanent home.
Pat’s Pick
October 13, 2014
Peace Out
Despite its name, Pax Americana is not exactly a tranquil space. But after one taste of chef Adam Dorris’s menu, who could stay calm?
Pat’s Pick
September 12, 2014
Southern State of Mind
Get your biscuits down to Austin and revel in a new take on classic Southern meals at Olamaie.
Pat’s Pick
August 7, 2014
The Feast of Stephan
Gloriously novel flavors permeate the menu at Stephan Pyles’s latest venture, San Salvaje.
Pat’s Pick
June 5, 2014
Have a Cow
Dallas chef John Tesar takes the steakhouse to new heights.
Pat’s Pick
May 13, 2014
Texas Dreamin’
California chefs Bradley and Bryan Ogden give the Lone Star State a whirl.
Pat’s Pick
April 11, 2014
You Never Can Tell
The setting and wine list may be sophisticated, but down-to-earth French fare gives Austin’s La V everyday appeal.
Pat’s Pick
November 12, 2013
The Italian Job
Mockingbird’s John Sheely returns to his roots.
Pat’s Pick
May 13, 2013
Something in the Waters
Chef Jon Bonnell’s new venture is the biggest fish to surface in Fort Worth’s West 7th development.
Pat’s Pick
April 12, 2013
Boot and Thai
Austin’s modern new Thai restaurant Sway takes a clue from Down Under.
Pat’s Pick
February 12, 2013
Hunger + Games
At Houston’s theatrical Pass, to dine is to be entertained.