Texas Monthly adds and updates approximately sixty restaurant listings for our Dining Guide each month. There’s limited space in the print issue, but the entire searchable guide to the best of Texas cuisine is at your fingertips online!
Below are a few highlights from the new restaurants reviewed in our November 2021 issue. Click “More Info” for further detail on each restaurant:
Houston
Georgia James Tavern
Handsome and lofty, this pint-size downtown spinoff of chef Chris Shepherd’s Georgia James offers a melting pot of American classics. Ample to share, the main plates from the hearth are impressive, such as the roasted Gulf grouper jazzed up New Orleans–style with shrimp-studded seafood rice and tangy rémoulade. No ho-hum chicken here—spicy wood-fired breasts, papaya salad, and coconut sticky rice were a medley of tropical island flavors. Go for the iceberg slab salad and you’ll be rewarded with Benton’s bacon, Shropshire cheese, and black pepper buttermilk dressing. Also get the mouthwatering 44 Farms-chuck Tavern Burger, dripping with smoked onion “fancy sauce” and American cheese on a potato bun.
American | ⭑⭑⭑ | $$$ | More Info
Dallas
Harper’s
This glitzy restaurant fills 7,600 square feet in the Epic development in Deep Ellum, and the globally influenced menu covers just as much ground. Small plates were our favorites here, including the foie gras pot stickers, artfully plated with dried-cherry ponzu and shreds of duck confit. The tiradito of Ora King salmon showcased fresh fish atop a mildly spiced Peruvian aji amarillo sauce. Scallops au poivre were caramelized, buttery, and served with a fiery Armagnac peppercorn sauce.
Modern American | ⭑⭑ | $$$ | More Info
Lubbock
The Nicolett
Chef Finn Walter infuses his menu with Parisian, Napa, and Santa Fe sophistication in a modern space inside a restored downtown building. For appetizers, we enjoyed the black pepper popovers with blue cheese butter and the elk tartare with juniper, peanuts, and chives. Quail smoked over pińon and baked in brioche is as delicious as it is pretty. Happy hour in the lovely courtyard requires no reservation.
Modern American | ⭑⭑⭑⭑ | $$$$ | More Info
San Antonio
Brasserie Mon Chou Chou
In what was formerly the Culinary Institute’s postmodern Nao, Mon Chou Chou showcases Parisian style with contemporary takes on French classics. This is a setting that begs for leisurely lunches or classy date nights. Drama is served with melted fromage raclette scraped directly onto your baguette tableside. Simple renditions of steak frites, duck confit, and lobster bisque are presented with panache.
French | ⭑⭑⭑ | $$$ | More Info
Houston
Ixím
As you enter downtown’s Bravery Chef Hall, a neon sign will draw you to the exceptional restaurant Ixím (“corn” in Mayan), helmed by former Caracol chef Tim Reading. On a humid night, the aguachile de camarón—Gulf shrimp marinated in cucumber-serrano water and served with thinly sliced peaches—was absolutely perfect. A crispy pollo pipián, with Mexican greens, beets, and pepitas in a savory pan juice, easily fed two. The shining star was the stunning fideo de marisco: the pasta is toasted in butter, finished in a seafood broth, and loaded with shrimp, fish, octopus, and lobster.
Mexican | ⭑⭑⭑ | $$ | More Info
Rating System
Our reviews are written by critics who live in the cities and regions they cover. They remain anonymous to ensure that they receive no special treatment. The magazine pays for all meals and accepts no advertising or other consideration in exchange for a listing. Comments? Write us.
- More About:
- Dining Guide
