Feel the Burn
A peck of tongue-tickling peppers will have you happily playing with fire at Houston’s newest Chinese restaurant.
Executive editor Patricia Sharpe grew up in Austin and holds a master’s degree in English from the University of Texas at Austin. After working as a teacher (in English and Spanish) and at the Texas Historical Commission (writing historical markers), she joined the staff of Texas Monthly in 1974. Initially, she edited the magazine’s cultural and restaurant listings and wrote a consumer feature called Touts. She eventually focused exclusively on food. Her humorous story “War Fare,” an account of living for 48 hours on military MREs (Meals Ready to Eat), was included in the anthology Best Food Writing 2002. Many of her stories appear in the 2008 UT Press collection Texas Monthly on Food. Her story about being a restaurant critic, titled “Confessions of a ‘Skinny Bitch,’ ” won a James Beard Foundation award for magazine food writing in 2006.
Sharpe has contributed to Gourmet, Bon Appétit, Saveur, and the New York Times. She writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
A peck of tongue-tickling peppers will have you happily playing with fire at Houston’s newest Chinese restaurant.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
There are certain dishes that every good Texan knows and loves. But do you really know how to grill a flawless ribeye? Season that cast-iron skillet in your cupboard? Make sure your dough rises? We asked experts around the state to share some how-tos and a few recipes that will
Courtney Bond is an executive editor of Texas Monthly’s Food & Drink and BBQ sections. She occasionally writes about travel, too.
Daniel Vaughn is the country’s first barbecue editor, and he has eaten more barbecue than you have.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Could these be the best pastries in Texas?
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Why Austin's L'Oca d'Oro will keep you coming back for contemporary Italian fare.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Get properly sauced at Arthur Ave, which offers a fresh take on classic italian dishes.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Ritual is turning tables with a Deep-South menu of gussied-up hush puppies and hoecakes.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Two famed chefs share the secrets behind their hamburgers.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
At Dallas chef Stephen Pyles’s Flora Street Cafe, Mexican, Southern, and cowboy foodways meet an internationalist sensibility.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
The Texas burger revolution continues.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Dallas chef Julian Barsotti’s Sprezza does as the Romans do.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
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.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
'The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks'
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Justin Yu of Oxheart brings a big prize home to Houston.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Dallas Asian-fusion restaurant Top Knot may be the newest member from the Uchi family, but it’s nobody’s kid brother.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Kevin Fink of Emmer & Rye furthers Texas's annual presence on the list.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Felipe Armenta’s secluded spot in Fort Worth serves up light steakhouse fare with a few surprises.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Two Austin chefs made the national categories, and Texas ruled the southwest regional competition.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Dallas chef Nick Badovinus has brought the Pacific Northwest to North Texas, brine included.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Variety is on the menu at the ten best new restaurants in the state.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
The Texas chefs and restaurants named as semifinalists.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
The contemporary Southern restaurant Filament is bringing light to Dallas’s Deep Ellum neighborhood.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
A look inside Top Knot, Dallas's new Japanese-Mediterranean-Latin American fusion restaurant.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Get ready to drool over the offerings at the Austin Food & Wine Festival 2016.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
The building may be aged, but the food at San Antonio’s Brigid is up-to-date.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
An ode to the drowned taco, one of the best tacos in Dallas.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
State of Grace may be new, but it evokes memories of old Houston.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
A new Spanish-style restaurant, Bullfight, puts Austin’s once sketchy Airport Boulevard right in the middle of the dining arena.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
How Evan Turner opened the taverna Helen in a fit of passion—and brought Houston a modern twist on dolmades.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
The poor 'Texas Monthly' taco team had to eat soooo many tacos.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Are Houston’s suburbs ready for “gel spheres” and “carbonated pineapple conserve”?
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Four Texas restaurants are in the running for the magazine’s best restaurants list.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
The couple behind Rancho Loma is bringing high-end cuisine to a town of 4,500.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
At Italic, the couple behind 24 Diner, Easy Tiger, and Arro worked out the kinks before they opened their doors.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Everything tastes better on (or near) the grill. Just ask Dallas chef Tim Byres, who invited five of his friends over to create these mouthwatering recipes for your next backyard shindig.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Feathers will be ruffled.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
At the Dallas ramen shop Ten, you have to stand to eat the food—all the better to give it the ovation it deserves.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
I covered the opening of Fino, in Austin. It’s only fitting to cover the day it shut its doors.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Houston’s Oporto Fooding House is almost certainly the finest Italian-Portuguese-Indian fusion restaurant in the world.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Michael Fojtasek and Grae Nonas join the ranks of Chris Shepherd, Tyson Cole, David Bull and seventeen other Texas chefs previously honored with the same recognition.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Including Aaron Franklin, Gilmore, Hugo Ortega, and Justin Yu.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
One thing is for sure—a Texan knows what’s for dinner and where to get it. But if you’re new to the state, check out these iconic restaurants.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Texans LOVE their tacos. Versatile, portable, and quick to wolf down, tacos are made with either corn or flour tortillas. In their different styles, you can trace more than half a century of Texas’s Mexican-food history.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
What happens when veterans of two of Austin’s finest Mexican and Thai restaurants try their hand at Mediterranean cuisine? Very delicious things.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
One of the most anticipated openings in what promises to be a jam-packed restaurant season in Austin is less than a week away. Here’s how things are shaping up in the converted washateria now known as Launderette.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Braised oxtail comes to the strip mall.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
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.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Last year’s ten best and brightest new restaurants.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Le Cep’s contemporary French cuisine drags Fort Worth’s culinary scene into the twenty-first century. Don’t have a cow, monsieur.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Rural Texas has more to offer than chicken-fried steak and quaint motels. Our guide to ten far-flung places where you can enjoy first-class dining and sleep in style.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.
Courtney Bond is an executive editor of Texas Monthly’s Food & Drink and BBQ sections. She occasionally writes about travel, too.
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.
Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pat’s Pick, for Texas Monthly.