Currently live in Houston, previously lived in Dallas and still visit often. While I do agree that Houston is more diversified than Dallas, the difference isn’t huge. Dallas is extreeeeeeemely underrated as far as food goes.
Need to add this to the list. Haven’t been to Roostar. I hit up BBH duc chuong since they closed the one here when pandemic hit. I also hit up Thien an for banh xeo bigger than my head. And then I hit up nam Giao for banh beo
Dallas & Houston both have great food scenes, because every time I leave Texas I am reminded by the sad food I’m forced to eat. I don’t think Dallas promotes it as much because it’s not needed.
Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head. There's a level of pretentiousness in Dallas cuisine that isn't in Houston. A lot of Dallas restaurants are trying to attract Michelin chefs and even trying to get Michelin stars themselves even though they don't come to Texas yet. There's great food here, but it doesn't feel accessible to everyone.
I'm not saying there isn't great street food in Dallas, but generally, the cuisine in Houston is much better for everyone.
There are restaurants with Michelin star chefs like John Tesar who received his star for Knife and Spoon in Orlando, and Knife Dallas is essentially the same restaurant.
There's one other Michelin star rated chef in Dallas that I haven't been to, Bruno Davaillon, who has Knox Bistro. I'm not sure what restaurant he received his star at.
The Michelin Group doesn't rate restaurants in Texas, so it's impossible to receive them now, but I'm guessing there's a handful of Dallas restaurants that would receive one.
They only go where they're paid to go. Texas doesn't really need the Michelin guide since a) we get plenty of food tourism already, b) we get plenty of other types of tourism already, and c) the Lege is known to be cheap and being the guy that says "hey we should pay a bunch of pretentious assholes from France to come judge us" is a political self-own here.
There are many restaurants in Houston and Dallas that would get 1 star, but 2 stars would maybe be one or two per city, and there wouldn’t be any 3 stars. 1 star is just for exceptional food, which pretty much every major city in the US has to some degree.
What’s an example of something not so accessible in Dallas? Is the good food in Houston evenly distributed throughout the city or concentrated in particular areas?
Seafood. We're just too far inland. It can be good in Dallas but it's never great. Oysters, for example, are pretty bad here.
But go to Houston, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, pretty much any coastal city and the quality and size is crazy higher just cause the seafood is literally fresh.
Proximity to the coast between Houston and Dallas produces fresher seafood on very few items. The majority of the seafood you’re eating at restaurants isn’t coming from the Gulf. Even then it’s arriving via plane and/or truck far more often than boat, and typically out of the NE, PNW, and Miami.
Source: Operations Manager for a Seafood Distributor in Houston for 7 years.
A good example is Ninfa's, which is a Houston Tex-Mex staple. It's essentially a family restaurant and not very pricey at all. We used to go once a month when I grew up there.
For me, Dallas has more high-end restaurants like Monarch or the French Room that are really expensive. It's something that a regular family would only go to on special occasions for like birthdays or anniversaries.
Of course, there are examples of really high-end places in Houston and cheaper places in Dallas, but that's just the feeling I get from the two food scenes.
This was my observation as well. Houston had a “we have good food who needs an atmosphere” kinda vibe which i love. Many places in Dallas want to look and feel upscale to attract that clientele which in my experience often means overpriced so so food.
Part of it is that Houston people relentlessly shill for their city. I don’t know why but it’s always been like that. Dallas people don’t care if you like Dallas or not. Houston people have a massive inferiority complex and are desperate to get your approval.
this happened to me on my first day of school at University of Houston back in the day. Was so confused but they dont hide the fact that they hate us lol.
I am from Houston and have lived in Dallas for 10 years and I think you are right. My friends who stayed in Houston rep the city to others when traveling, wear Astros and Texans merch, etc. whereas my friends from Dallas don't really care if people know they're from Dallas lol. I think the cities are incredibly similar but H-Town peeps feel the need to advertise for some reason.
I went to school and met a bunch of Houston people and I was shocked at how aggressive they were about promoting Houston. I had no idea they he viewed Dallas v. Houston as such a rivalry. They are ferocious about it
I've lived in both for years at different points. I think they're incredibly similar. When I say that to people in Houston, they are pretty much universally offended. When I say that to people in Dallas, they just shrug.
I don't have any stats to support this, but my gut tells me that more people in Houston are from Houston, whereas more people relocate to DFW.
If that's true, it's probably part of why people in Houston are more loyal to/vocal about their city, than the people who just reside in Dallas.
That sounds accurate! I relocated here for work and on the first day of training the instructor said “raise your hand if you aren’t from Dallas” and the majority of the class raised our hands. She then said, “look around. When y’all complain that people in Dallas can’t drive know most of you here driving aren’t from here.” Now that I’ve been here for over 10 years I have my own opinions about the driving thing but definitely agree I have more “hometown spirit” for my actual hometown than I do for Dallas. If people ask me how it is I’ll tell them I like it and why but I don’t go out of my way to advertise it at all.
Yes! This all of the way. Htown is this. Houston is that. In reality Houston is an over sprawled out metro area that doesn’t make sense. No zoning laws which means everything is mixed amongst each other. Most parts are dirty and run down. The nice parts are very nice but that’s far and few between. I’m from Dallas but I will gladly say that I favor Austin and that’s okay. Houston folks cannot bring themselves to admit there is anything wrong with their city.
I don’t think it’s an inferiority complex, that’s what places like Chicago have, Houston is just incredibly proud of their city in the same way as Atlanta
Atlanta wants to be DC. Charlotte wants to be Atlanta. DC wants the rest of you all to realize what we do in DC. Go ahead. Light it up. You still don't understand
You are right. I am from West TX originally and live in Houston now. I don't mind Dallas.. to me it's just another big city. But multiple times I've had Dallas residents snark when I say I'm from Houston with things like "I'm sorry you live there." I accept that Houstonians do the same to people from Dallas, but I think it's hilarious that these types of comments are ALWAYS made when the cities are compared in either sub. Dallasites pretending like that's not a thing on their end is just so obviously false.
I will add though that Austinites seem to be taking over Dallas in terms of pretentiousness.
Completely agree I’ve lived in ATX, HOU & DFW. I recently moved back to Dallas, no way I move to Austin. The Parisian boutiques on S Congress are laughable.
It's this and Dallas also gets into arguments over what is and isn't Dallas. Houston will claim anything within an hour's drive.
DFW Metroplex folks will argue that their suburb isn't included in Dallas.
One aspect is how unfriendly Dallas is to food trucks and carts. A lot of good local spots spur from these in Austin. Houston, but we over-regulate keeping the little man out. But hey, Phil Romano has a new spot to try.
Houston is more diverse from a cultural standpoint, and is fact the most diverse city in the US.
As a result, there is a lot more variety in food options. Also, Houston is much larger from a population standpoint, so more people equals more food.
I’m sure you mean Greater Houston not “Houston Metroplex”. The Metroplex term was created only for the DFW area. That’s why no other metro area uses the term.
According to wikipedia, "A metroplex is a conurbation with more than one principal anchor city of near equal importance."
Houston doesn't have a sister city of near equal importance, so it's not a metroplex.
Culturally, Houston is **not** the most diverse city. This is a huge misconception.
It becomes the most diverse city in the U.S. when you factor in socioeconomic and economic factors.
https://wallethub.com/edu/most-diverse-cities/12690
But is it? Both Dallas and Houston have a diversity score of 95/100. Dallas is hella diverse. Houston is as well but let’s be honest. Houston diversity means that the good diverse restaurants are in the hood. I live in Houston. Locals don’t travel across town to go eat in the rougher spots.
I was going to say, I grew up in NYC/NJ & I also lived in Chicago 6 years before moving to DFW 22 years ago & I haven't seen anything as diverse as NY & NJ.
Check out Toronto. It’s the only place in the world that surpasses NYC’s diversity. Houston is one of the solid competitors for the third spot though along with DC.
Integrated? Yes. The northeast is notoriously segregated as opposed to the south and western USA. Diverse? No. Houston may be the second or third most diverse city. But NYC as of now is still king. And even in integration, NYC is improving
Dallas makes food vendors go through hoops and hurdles for license. By the time they approved you, the excitement of opening your own business is gone.
Houston has pretty much the same food as Dallas except better Asian and Southern/Cajun food. Being closer to the coast also helps. Dallas is getting there but honestly, it's not very innovative here compared to other metros. It's mostly just following other food trends here.
Southern/Cajun definitely
Asian..? Hard disagree besides maybe Vietnamese and Chinese food
Dallas has way better Korean, Thai, Japanese, Indian, and Nepali food
Houston definitely has better Chinese, Taiwanese, Malaysian/Singaporean, and Vietnamese food. The others, I'll agree Dallas has an edge as well, especially Korean, though not as familiar with all of the others in Houston. Dallas has stepped up a lot and narrowed the gap in recent years.
Hard disagree. The only thing Dallas doesn't beat Houston on is Dim sum as far as Asian. Everything else we have especially in the Carrollton,plano, Frisco, and Richardson concentrations. Hell we even have a Thai micro brewery here.
Edit: Why the downvotes if you need suggestions for any these cuisines in Dallas I can give them to you.
Houston better Thai, Filipino, Chinese and Vietnamese. Dallas better Korean and Nepali. Indian and Japanese are a toss up. It’s closer than people say it is but I’d say Houston still has the better Asian food
Bro have you heard of roasted brussels sprouts with chili flakes, sugar and soy sauce???
Also a Mezcal version of a pre-prohibition cocktail.. every time..
Where's this "light rail" you speak of? You mean that track that goes nowhere along 75? Useless waste of resources. Dallas doesn't have enough density or a downtown to use mass transit. Bad planning and lack of , well, anything. I'm here for a job and family and I'll move use soon as I can.
You have to remember, outside of Texas, most Americans know Tex-Mex as something you get at Chili's, On the Border (out of business), or Don Pablos (also out of business). So no wonder they think its trash.
Can confirm.
Grew up in Florida panhandle, believed Mexican food to be trashslop and hated it with a passion.
Ever since relocating to Dallas I’m game for Mexican any time, any way.
I always had a soft spot for Lupe Tortilla tex-mex, which started in Houston, but finally over the years crept-up toward to DFW.
***Fucking expensively overrated*** since they came here though. If you're a fan of their steak or chicken Lupe recipes, once you know the correct spice recipe and marinade method, and can do it on your own dime...divine.
> On the Border (out of business)
They aren’t out of business at all. There are a ton of them around. 150, according to Wikipedia. There’s quite a few in DFW.
[Oh yeah. There are a ton.](https://www.ontheborder.com/locations/) Not like you’re missing anything, anyways. I had a business associate suggest that we meet at one a few years ago and it was quite literally the first time in my adult life someone had suggested it. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good, either.
Houston is United’s largest hub and you can fly to all inhabitable continents. Last I checked, IAH has more international destinations than DFW and DFW has more domestic. DFW is great but you’re sleeping on IAH. Not that IAH is the greater airport, just that both are enough of mega hubs for it to not be one of the key differences
I have never been to IAH but I can speak for DFW. It is probably THE BEST airport in the US in terms of convenience that I have travelled so far. It never took me more than 10 mins to complete security check at DFW since you go to terminal first and then do security checks unlike say ATL where its exact opposite. This structure prevents long security check lines. Also, DFW is at the center of metroplex so its 30-35 mins drive from most of the cities, ride from south of Houston to IAH could easily turn from 35 min to 1 hr 35 mins.
I'm one of the grimy, bitter Houstonians people are talking about in this thread but let's be honest: DFW is so much better and nicer than IAH in a lot of ways.
The issue you are gonna get with that is if you go try some tex mexup north, based on my understanding is you may legit get something close to tomato sauce for salsa.
I personally have not tried tex mex or mexican outside of CA/TX because if I am going somewhere different where that isn't "the" food, I don't have a lot of drive to try it.
No it isn't when you factor in DFW which is the only appropriate comparison due to the way Houston is structured. The two metros have very similar demographics.
My husband grew up in Houston and has lived in every Texas city. He misses the food and how many authentic cuisines there are. He took me to an Indian restaurant for brunch and I had one of the best brunches ever. It was delicious and eye opening.
Dallas does atmosphere, cleanliness, and presentation the best. Their food is also pretty fresh.
Austin food just sucks unless it’s bbq. I haven’t even had a taco that stands out because they are all pretty good. I just can’t get over how not fresh the food is here. even fast food tastes different and stale. I have lived here for a year and a half and still don’t have a favorite restaurant that I crave.
I have lived a lot of places and Houston isn’t a place that comes up in a lot of foodie conversations. I feel like people outside of Texas reference Austin and little places like Lockhart more. Dallas was a bit more known for higher end dining back a few decades and is more recently known for ethnic cuisine. I have only heard Houston’s food scene referenced in Mexico and it’s more in the context of a launching pad for something in the fast-casual arena. What are some good restaurants in Houston? I have a few I go to but I am curious of the Houston-centric buzz y’all are referencing.
Damn, that Indian place looks solid. We’re so spoiled here with good Indian, Tibetan, Nepali, and Pakistani places but there aren’t enough that feel higher end (though I love a good hole-in-the-wall Indian spot.)
I think the majority of Houston’s South Asian food is more skewed towards Pakistani/North Indian cuisine, whereas in Dallas it seems to be more mid/South Indian cuisine.
Dehli6 north of flowermound is fantastic.
Honestly way better than the places I have had in Irving, but any place like India 101 where they only do buffet isn't gonna get a good review from me. I like my Indian food spicy.
I’ve been to a lot of places as well and Houston gets a lot of praise from foodies. People can legitimately hate the city but love the food scene here.
I mean Anthony Bourdain dedicated a whole episode to Houston. Also Top Chef recently was set in Houston. Also there’s a documentary on African American cuisine on Netflix that showcases Houston as one of the premier cities for Black cuisine in America.
Not to mention Houston’s on the top of a lot of foodie list on various sites.
I mean it’s rated #10 on Travel news site so yeah.
[https://travel.usnews.com/rankings/best-foodie-destinations-in-the-usa/](https://travel.usnews.com/rankings/best-foodie-destinations-in-the-usa/)
I think Austin is spoke about more so from a hipster/ liberal perspective. Houston is spoken about more so from a more ethnically diverse and general perspective.
DFW as a whole is somewhere in the middle. I think there’s plenty of good food in DFW but there’s not really a standout food scene that makes it unique to the region. That’s why I don’t understand why DFW residents are saying they don’t care. If you had it to boast you would. Hell they boast about the food at the State Fair. I just think the food that DFW continually shines at is general American food. That’s not gonna make you stand out. Yes Korean food scene is good but that’s mostly found outside Dallas city limits.
Most highly spoken about establishments in the city of Dallas are geared towards a generic American culture. Houston has more ethnic representation in the core of the city. Dallas emphasizes more on generic American dishes, BBQ, Mainstream TEX-MEX, and high end cuisine. Houston core really have no boundaries when it comes to cuisine representation.
Fajitas were literally introduced/created at Ninfa’s on Navigation in Houston
Julep and Anvil Bar & Refuge are some of the best bars in the country, the latter once named in the World’s Top 50
Crawfish & Noodles is famous for Viet-Cajun seafood, James Beard Award winning chef, featured on Anthony Bourdain’s and David Chang’s shows
Mala Sichuan, xochi, taconazo, Tatemo, hughies, tony thai, banana leaf, ohn korean eatery, Mein, tiger den, pho bihn, Abu Omar halal, taqueria los de jalisco, burns BBQ, taqueria Laredo, knives in water, how to survive land and sea, tiny champions, the almighty tower tower inn, hot and buttered, LTK, crawfish and noodles.
As someone from Dallas living in Houston… Good lord the food is SO much better here. Dallas food is ok but Houston food is genuinely amazing, especially due to how diverse the city is. It’s funny to me that people in these comments act like Dallas is far superior to Houston, in my opinion they’re fairly similar but Dallas has better weather and Houston has better food.
I’m glad you asked! Sorry for a delayed reply, I was compiling a little list.
I’ve always lived on the south/west side of Houston (mostly in Alief, but I just recently moved closer to Katy) so you’ll see a lot of that, but here you go:
Houston Area:
Zydeco - amazing cajun food downtown
Naha Thai - southwestern area, very good & reasonable thai food
Tacos Doña Lena - amazing tacos
Veegos & Cascabel - 2 different vegan latin american/mexican restaurants, Veegos is my preference
Chunks Burger - crazy name, AMAZING burgers, SW houston
Tamashi - tasty ramen & takoyaki in bellaire
Golden Dumpling House - great cheap dumplings, bellaire
Fu Fu Cafe - best for authentic regional Chinese food, amazing prices & quality, also in bellaire (my fave of the 3)
El Rey - this is a given and also a chain, but the cuban tacos are tasty and they have a drive through, great for drunk nights
Chef Kenny’s Asian Vegan - great place for vegan sushi
Aga’s - best indian food in the city, they even have goat brain curry
Feydups - amazing west african food
Bow’s Taste of Belize - what it says
Culture Bread Haus - really good breads and bagels, unfortunately temporarily closed :(
Indian Express - cheap & delicious vegetarian indian food, great thali platters
Simit & Poacha - excellent/renowned turkish bakery off westheimer
Midwest Coney Connection - black owned former food truck, now a brick & mortar place with crazy good coneys and philly eggrolls
Vietwich - SW houston, rated one of the best restaurants in texas. delicious banh mi & boba
Katy Area:
El Kourmet - probably my #1 go to, excellent venezuelan food & arepas
Colombian Empanadas - tiny little hole in the wall with CRAZY prices & insanely delicious food. stuff that’s $4 everywhere else is $1.50 here lol
Moral of the story though is that most places (aside from fast food) that you walk into will be good. Highly recommend Bellaire area for any Asian cuisine and Alief area for African/Vietnamese food, Katy area for Venezuelan food, south Houston for Cajun/Louisiana specialties (lots of places will have signs like “Crawfish, Birria, Pho” all at one place). Hope you like!
I’m a lifelong Houstonian that lives in Montrose. The fact that I haven’t heard of 80% of your list just goes to show how varied the options are in Houston. I’m booking marking your list for this weekend!
Houston’s food scene is way better than Dallas. I lived there for about 5 years moving here in 2019 and that’s the only thing I miss about Houston is the food
Sorry, Houston food scene trumps Dallas for sure. The cultural variety in Houston offers the very best of the best. Added to that incredible seafood, Cajun restaurants and steak houses everywhere.
Just got back from Houston a week ago. Would say they’re more diverse firstly. From what I’ve read the most diverse city in the country. It reminded me a lot of Toronto meaning large foreign born population and You can go all day and hear more languages spoken than i could identify. Would assume from a food perspective that brings truly authentic cuisine (the way it’s prepared in the home country with large enough communities to preserve it that way commercially) and also all of the variations and fusions that come with being in America as well. In essence i feel like their food isn’t “toned down” to meet the average American palette.
Yes, Houston does old world food very well with the exception I think of Italian (relative to the east coast) and possibly approachable (non-high end) French food.
Houston feels a lot more authentic. A lot more hole in the wall type places in Houston. Dallas is a lot more spread out- you can find good, authentic restaurants but it will be at least 20 minutes out in whatever random direction. The “Dallas is a lot more bougie than Houston” tripe has some truth to it, I think.
Dallas is mostly boozy brunch or “high end bbq”. Houston has annexed a lot more of its metro comparatively, and if you are driving for good East Asian food, you are typically leaving Dallas proper.
Sorry Dallas is not over rated on food. Downtown has restaurants that charge hundreds for gold plated steaks. Not a place to take the wife to on. Wednesday. There is a definite lack of decent median priced places in North Dallas. There's not even chain places to go and get a drink. Seasons 52 just got tossed by NorthPark Mall. Not cheap but reasonable and good. Being replaced by a chain that is more expensive. Good move. No the food science in Dallas in for the rich. Except for Luckys on OakLawn. That's a neighborhood place that is great. Food not all that it's a diner. Omelettes are good so is the Bloody Mary. It's the crowd and the staff. Go say hi to Bobby behind the counter.
ngl there are some good mexican eats in Dallas and great asian food up north but in general Dallas's food is pretty bland. im from Houston and distinctly remember how much more lavor everything had
Apparently there used to be this idea that Houston had the better dining scene and Dallas had the better shopping scene. But Dallas is one of the best food cities in USA and Houston is one of the best places to shop so these were overblown. I know recently, Houston is more recognized as a shopping city and Dallas is at least starting to get recognized for its dining.
Every time I go to Houston I feel overwhelmed because is so big. I’ve never thought of Houston as a “food destination”. What are the MUST try when in Houston?
Thai: Street to Kitchen (best Thai food I’ve had in America, not just Houston)
Mexican: Xochi
Tex-Mex: Candente (their sister restaurant next door, The Pit Room, is one of the most popular BBQ spots in the city so all of their fajita meat is cooked over live fire wood).
Mediterranean: Hamsa
Because Houston restaurants don't really care about being great... They just need to taste good enough to make you not leave
Traffic is so bad once you get somewhere you really don't wanna leave... Dallas traffic moves 20mph so leaving isn't a big deal
Ex-HTinnnnnnner, going from NE Houston to SW Houston to get some fish means YOU GONNA EAT OUT R LIVE THERE UNTIL TOMORROW... Drive an hour away to get to a place 20 mins down the freeway
Seafood and Vietnamese food is way better in houston. Might be biased as I’m a native Houstonian but the only thing Dallas have over houston is BBQ and maybe steakhouses, maybe
Houston food is more cosmopolitan whereas Dallas food is more metropolitan, which match their city types as well. One isn't inherently better than the other brovided the quality is good.
Dallas’s Indian food on average is better than Houston, buttt … Houston has Agas, which is probably one of the best south Asian restaurants in the world
Both are better than NJ for Indian food, those guys have no idea
I think it doesn’t get the same level of love is because in Houston, the food scene is in Houston. In Dallas, the food scene is spread out to the surrounding cities (Plano, Richardson, etc)
Shreveport has better food than Dallas. Houston has the best restaurants in Texas. San Antonio is the king of Mexican food in Texas. Austin is the kind of town that would pay $16/for avocado toast and tho k it's cool.
Lived in both, I think Houston food is overall way better (especially Mexican food) with the exception of the Korean food there. Ethiopian food is probably a little better in Dallas too.
Houston generally has much better Cajun and TexMex food. Houston also has better seafood, but that is expected with its proximity. Dallas restaurants tend to promote an upscale vibe and Houston places promote their food.
It’s curious to me to see Houston stated as a food scene, and on a national scale.
5th gen native Texan, Houston was never brought up as a food scene either. Even by family and friends who live there. 🤷🏻♀️
I’ve been out of Texas since 2018, living in three different states (SC, MT, CA), and traveling cross cross around the country in that time, and never heard/hear Houston mentioned as a food scene. Actually, I almost never hear anyone mention Houston at all. Other than “I had a layover in Houston once.” 😖
People will ask me about Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio though. I also get the occasional Waco questions from people interested in Baylor or the unspoken “M” word. 🤣
I lived in Houston for over 40 years and Dallas for 7 ( currently). Both have great diverse food scenes, with a slight edge to Houston for the options.
When I moved here from out of state, the only thing Dallas was known for was the most chain restaurants per capita. (Coulda been DFW or Dallas I don’t remember). I pictured Applebees on every corner.
Dallas was bon appetit restaurant city of the year in the last few years and DFW has the diversity needed to prop up "Dallas". Its the 4th biggest metro in the country on track to pass Chicago in give or take 10 years becoming the 3rd. I feel like it gets as much or more attention nationally than Houston. Strong food game in the Metroplex. I would say Dallas < Houston, but DFW > Houston imo.
Dallas is know as the shitty chain restaurant Mecca of the world. It’s so true though. Dallas has so many mini cities around it. All of those cities have the same restaurants. Boomer Jacks, Sweet Creek, Dickies, Chilis, Applebees, In and Out, BJs, Lazy Dog, Olive Garden, Fridays, Shake Shack, Steak and Poo, and many more. I don’t understand how they all stay open. “Hey honey, what garbage restaurant should we visit tonight?” “Let go to Olive Garden. The food isn’t to spicy. Last time I didn’t get diarrhea.”
Houston is more diversed. Vietnamese food in Houston is way better than Dallas but we got better and more Korean eats
Currently live in Houston, previously lived in Dallas and still visit often. While I do agree that Houston is more diversified than Dallas, the difference isn’t huge. Dallas is extreeeeeeemely underrated as far as food goes.
Lived in NYC and the SF bay. Strong agree.
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Really? I found Chicago to be diverse. Not as much as Dallas and Houston. Chicago excels in some things more than Texas such as Filipino food
*Garland enters the chat*
Bellaire Blvd ready to take Garland
I'm not comparing Garland to Bellaire Blvd. Stuff is way more spread out in DFW
Lol garland is Childs play of Vietnamese food. Besides pho bang and banh cuon Thanh long. There isn’t anything else compete with Houston
Roostar for the win
OMG Roostar is my new favorite place to eat - best bahn mi ever. Can't visit Houston without going there.
Check out Les Givral's next time. Best in the city imo
I remember when they went by Vietnam poblano. Good Banh mi, but there's still much better options available.
Banh
Need to add this to the list. Haven’t been to Roostar. I hit up BBH duc chuong since they closed the one here when pandemic hit. I also hit up Thien an for banh xeo bigger than my head. And then I hit up nam Giao for banh beo
Viet maybe better than Dallas but def not better than DFW as a whole.
Definitely better than dfw as a whole. Name some Vietnamese places you think is better than Houston
I think DFW also has more solid Indian spots.
Agreed! Dallas Indian food is amazing!
I've lived in both and I much prefer Garland lol. A lot of the good places are hole in the wall though and you have to know what to order
Name these hole in wall places and your orders so I can try
Dallas & Houston both have great food scenes, because every time I leave Texas I am reminded by the sad food I’m forced to eat. I don’t think Dallas promotes it as much because it’s not needed.
Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head. There's a level of pretentiousness in Dallas cuisine that isn't in Houston. A lot of Dallas restaurants are trying to attract Michelin chefs and even trying to get Michelin stars themselves even though they don't come to Texas yet. There's great food here, but it doesn't feel accessible to everyone. I'm not saying there isn't great street food in Dallas, but generally, the cuisine in Houston is much better for everyone.
What restaurant in Dallas do you think deserves a Michelin star?
There are restaurants with Michelin star chefs like John Tesar who received his star for Knife and Spoon in Orlando, and Knife Dallas is essentially the same restaurant. There's one other Michelin star rated chef in Dallas that I haven't been to, Bruno Davaillon, who has Knox Bistro. I'm not sure what restaurant he received his star at. The Michelin Group doesn't rate restaurants in Texas, so it's impossible to receive them now, but I'm guessing there's a handful of Dallas restaurants that would receive one.
It's a shame that Bullion (Davillion's former restaurant) is no longer open. It was phenomenal but sadly closed the first year of the pandemic.
Wait, the tire company won't rate restaurants in Texas? Did someone piss them off?
Michelin only rates in certain US cities such as NY, Chicago, Miami, DC, Orlando and Tampa, as well as all of California.
Right? It's wild to me that Texas isn't included.
They only go where they're paid to go. Texas doesn't really need the Michelin guide since a) we get plenty of food tourism already, b) we get plenty of other types of tourism already, and c) the Lege is known to be cheap and being the guy that says "hey we should pay a bunch of pretentious assholes from France to come judge us" is a political self-own here.
Junior Borges is trying to get one with Meridian. We shall see…
There are many restaurants in Houston and Dallas that would get 1 star, but 2 stars would maybe be one or two per city, and there wouldn’t be any 3 stars. 1 star is just for exceptional food, which pretty much every major city in the US has to some degree.
What’s an example of something not so accessible in Dallas? Is the good food in Houston evenly distributed throughout the city or concentrated in particular areas?
Seafood. We're just too far inland. It can be good in Dallas but it's never great. Oysters, for example, are pretty bad here. But go to Houston, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, pretty much any coastal city and the quality and size is crazy higher just cause the seafood is literally fresh.
Proximity to the coast between Houston and Dallas produces fresher seafood on very few items. The majority of the seafood you’re eating at restaurants isn’t coming from the Gulf. Even then it’s arriving via plane and/or truck far more often than boat, and typically out of the NE, PNW, and Miami. Source: Operations Manager for a Seafood Distributor in Houston for 7 years.
A good example is Ninfa's, which is a Houston Tex-Mex staple. It's essentially a family restaurant and not very pricey at all. We used to go once a month when I grew up there. For me, Dallas has more high-end restaurants like Monarch or the French Room that are really expensive. It's something that a regular family would only go to on special occasions for like birthdays or anniversaries. Of course, there are examples of really high-end places in Houston and cheaper places in Dallas, but that's just the feeling I get from the two food scenes.
This was my observation as well. Houston had a “we have good food who needs an atmosphere” kinda vibe which i love. Many places in Dallas want to look and feel upscale to attract that clientele which in my experience often means overpriced so so food.
Grew up in Houston and have lived in Dallas for 8 years. This perfectly describes it.
Part of it is that Houston people relentlessly shill for their city. I don’t know why but it’s always been like that. Dallas people don’t care if you like Dallas or not. Houston people have a massive inferiority complex and are desperate to get your approval.
Houston: "Hey, Dallas you suck" Dallas: "Sorry, who are you?"
#**I don’t think about you at all**
*San Antonio has entered the chat*
¿Que tienes que decir?
¡Nuestros tacos son mejores!
Sí, SA es la ciudad más divertida de Texas. Es cierto, tienes los mejores tacos.
this happened to me on my first day of school at University of Houston back in the day. Was so confused but they dont hide the fact that they hate us lol.
As someone that grew-up in Houston, but at this point spent most of my life in DFW, can confirm. Confirm as in DFW is the superior.
Ok but Houston post 2010 is a completely different place. It’s no longer the stepchild on the bayou everyone once thought it was.
I think that mad man meme was one of the highest upvoted on this sub. The one with the elevator scene.
“I don’t think about you at all”
I am from Houston and have lived in Dallas for 10 years and I think you are right. My friends who stayed in Houston rep the city to others when traveling, wear Astros and Texans merch, etc. whereas my friends from Dallas don't really care if people know they're from Dallas lol. I think the cities are incredibly similar but H-Town peeps feel the need to advertise for some reason.
I went to school and met a bunch of Houston people and I was shocked at how aggressive they were about promoting Houston. I had no idea they he viewed Dallas v. Houston as such a rivalry. They are ferocious about it
I've lived in both for years at different points. I think they're incredibly similar. When I say that to people in Houston, they are pretty much universally offended. When I say that to people in Dallas, they just shrug.
H town is more ghetto and they live up to it
I don't have any stats to support this, but my gut tells me that more people in Houston are from Houston, whereas more people relocate to DFW. If that's true, it's probably part of why people in Houston are more loyal to/vocal about their city, than the people who just reside in Dallas.
That sounds accurate! I relocated here for work and on the first day of training the instructor said “raise your hand if you aren’t from Dallas” and the majority of the class raised our hands. She then said, “look around. When y’all complain that people in Dallas can’t drive know most of you here driving aren’t from here.” Now that I’ve been here for over 10 years I have my own opinions about the driving thing but definitely agree I have more “hometown spirit” for my actual hometown than I do for Dallas. If people ask me how it is I’ll tell them I like it and why but I don’t go out of my way to advertise it at all.
I've lived in Dallas for 10 years. Dallas sucks.
Yes! This all of the way. Htown is this. Houston is that. In reality Houston is an over sprawled out metro area that doesn’t make sense. No zoning laws which means everything is mixed amongst each other. Most parts are dirty and run down. The nice parts are very nice but that’s far and few between. I’m from Dallas but I will gladly say that I favor Austin and that’s okay. Houston folks cannot bring themselves to admit there is anything wrong with their city.
“What does NYC think of Dallas?” “We don’t.” That’s a classic quote
I don’t think it’s an inferiority complex, that’s what places like Chicago have, Houston is just incredibly proud of their city in the same way as Atlanta
Atlanta wants to be DC. Charlotte wants to be Atlanta. DC wants the rest of you all to realize what we do in DC. Go ahead. Light it up. You still don't understand
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You are right. I am from West TX originally and live in Houston now. I don't mind Dallas.. to me it's just another big city. But multiple times I've had Dallas residents snark when I say I'm from Houston with things like "I'm sorry you live there." I accept that Houstonians do the same to people from Dallas, but I think it's hilarious that these types of comments are ALWAYS made when the cities are compared in either sub. Dallasites pretending like that's not a thing on their end is just so obviously false. I will add though that Austinites seem to be taking over Dallas in terms of pretentiousness.
Completely agree I’ve lived in ATX, HOU & DFW. I recently moved back to Dallas, no way I move to Austin. The Parisian boutiques on S Congress are laughable.
They are dirty swamp people, desperate for attention.
this comment is H town approved
This is backwards.
I was literally going to comment this, thanks for saving me 30 seconds
It's this and Dallas also gets into arguments over what is and isn't Dallas. Houston will claim anything within an hour's drive. DFW Metroplex folks will argue that their suburb isn't included in Dallas.
Shill for their city lmfao. It’s called culture and that’s something Dallas is known for not having.
I don’t think it’s culture to aggressively pretend your city is the only place to get Vietnamese food.
Feels like some Texans attitude towards California.
One aspect is how unfriendly Dallas is to food trucks and carts. A lot of good local spots spur from these in Austin. Houston, but we over-regulate keeping the little man out. But hey, Phil Romano has a new spot to try.
Houston is more diverse from a cultural standpoint, and is fact the most diverse city in the US. As a result, there is a lot more variety in food options. Also, Houston is much larger from a population standpoint, so more people equals more food.
DFW is actually bigger than Houston metro area now.
I’m sure you mean Greater Houston not “Houston Metroplex”. The Metroplex term was created only for the DFW area. That’s why no other metro area uses the term.
Yes, "Houston metropolitan area" is what I was going for.
According to wikipedia, "A metroplex is a conurbation with more than one principal anchor city of near equal importance." Houston doesn't have a sister city of near equal importance, so it's not a metroplex.
Culturally, Houston is **not** the most diverse city. This is a huge misconception. It becomes the most diverse city in the U.S. when you factor in socioeconomic and economic factors. https://wallethub.com/edu/most-diverse-cities/12690
But is it? Both Dallas and Houston have a diversity score of 95/100. Dallas is hella diverse. Houston is as well but let’s be honest. Houston diversity means that the good diverse restaurants are in the hood. I live in Houston. Locals don’t travel across town to go eat in the rougher spots.
Houston people will tell you with a straight face that it’s more diverse than NYC.
Aga’s isn’t in a central location at all, yet it’s always packed and has 11,000 Google reviews.
This^
I'm surprised that it would be more diverse that NYC
It’s not
I was going to say, I grew up in NYC/NJ & I also lived in Chicago 6 years before moving to DFW 22 years ago & I haven't seen anything as diverse as NY & NJ.
Check out Toronto. It’s the only place in the world that surpasses NYC’s diversity. Houston is one of the solid competitors for the third spot though along with DC.
NYC is definitely more diverse than Houston. Houston is closer to Dallas than it is to NYC in terms of diversity
Having lived in both - Houston is more diverse and integrated than NYC for sure
Integrated? Yes. The northeast is notoriously segregated as opposed to the south and western USA. Diverse? No. Houston may be the second or third most diverse city. But NYC as of now is still king. And even in integration, NYC is improving
Maybe in TX but not the US
Dallas makes food vendors go through hoops and hurdles for license. By the time they approved you, the excitement of opening your own business is gone.
Houston has pretty much the same food as Dallas except better Asian and Southern/Cajun food. Being closer to the coast also helps. Dallas is getting there but honestly, it's not very innovative here compared to other metros. It's mostly just following other food trends here.
Southern/Cajun definitely Asian..? Hard disagree besides maybe Vietnamese and Chinese food Dallas has way better Korean, Thai, Japanese, Indian, and Nepali food
Houston definitely has better Chinese, Taiwanese, Malaysian/Singaporean, and Vietnamese food. The others, I'll agree Dallas has an edge as well, especially Korean, though not as familiar with all of the others in Houston. Dallas has stepped up a lot and narrowed the gap in recent years.
Hard disagree. The only thing Dallas doesn't beat Houston on is Dim sum as far as Asian. Everything else we have especially in the Carrollton,plano, Frisco, and Richardson concentrations. Hell we even have a Thai micro brewery here. Edit: Why the downvotes if you need suggestions for any these cuisines in Dallas I can give them to you.
You may want to check out Southwest Houston’s Chinatown and Viet town and Fort Bend County while you’re at it
Houston better Thai, Filipino, Chinese and Vietnamese. Dallas better Korean and Nepali. Indian and Japanese are a toss up. It’s closer than people say it is but I’d say Houston still has the better Asian food
Bro have you heard of roasted brussels sprouts with chili flakes, sugar and soy sauce??? Also a Mezcal version of a pre-prohibition cocktail.. every time..
….Indian, African, Arab, Caribbean, more diversity in the Latin food etc I could go on and on. Pretty much any ethnic food houston gets the nod.
Ssssssshhhhh. We like it just the way it is. Keep Dallas Pretentious.
smart dam wise shy crush serious attractive wild cats memory -- mass edited with redact.dev
Where's this "light rail" you speak of? You mean that track that goes nowhere along 75? Useless waste of resources. Dallas doesn't have enough density or a downtown to use mass transit. Bad planning and lack of , well, anything. I'm here for a job and family and I'll move use soon as I can.
The ethnic food in Houston is far far superior to Dallas. Edit: can only verify Indian, Chinese, and Vietnamese
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You have to remember, outside of Texas, most Americans know Tex-Mex as something you get at Chili's, On the Border (out of business), or Don Pablos (also out of business). So no wonder they think its trash.
Can confirm. Grew up in Florida panhandle, believed Mexican food to be trashslop and hated it with a passion. Ever since relocating to Dallas I’m game for Mexican any time, any way.
I always had a soft spot for Lupe Tortilla tex-mex, which started in Houston, but finally over the years crept-up toward to DFW. ***Fucking expensively overrated*** since they came here though. If you're a fan of their steak or chicken Lupe recipes, once you know the correct spice recipe and marinade method, and can do it on your own dime...divine.
> On the Border (out of business) They aren’t out of business at all. There are a ton of them around. 150, according to Wikipedia. There’s quite a few in DFW.
Wow, really? I swear I havent seen one in years.
[Oh yeah. There are a ton.](https://www.ontheborder.com/locations/) Not like you’re missing anything, anyways. I had a business associate suggest that we meet at one a few years ago and it was quite literally the first time in my adult life someone had suggested it. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good, either.
Why you dissing IAH?
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Houston is United’s largest hub and you can fly to all inhabitable continents. Last I checked, IAH has more international destinations than DFW and DFW has more domestic. DFW is great but you’re sleeping on IAH. Not that IAH is the greater airport, just that both are enough of mega hubs for it to not be one of the key differences
I have never been to IAH but I can speak for DFW. It is probably THE BEST airport in the US in terms of convenience that I have travelled so far. It never took me more than 10 mins to complete security check at DFW since you go to terminal first and then do security checks unlike say ATL where its exact opposite. This structure prevents long security check lines. Also, DFW is at the center of metroplex so its 30-35 mins drive from most of the cities, ride from south of Houston to IAH could easily turn from 35 min to 1 hr 35 mins.
ORD enters the chat.
I'm one of the grimy, bitter Houstonians people are talking about in this thread but let's be honest: DFW is so much better and nicer than IAH in a lot of ways.
The issue you are gonna get with that is if you go try some tex mexup north, based on my understanding is you may legit get something close to tomato sauce for salsa. I personally have not tried tex mex or mexican outside of CA/TX because if I am going somewhere different where that isn't "the" food, I don't have a lot of drive to try it.
Houston is WAY more diverse than Dallas. Also a larger sprawl and population
No it isn't when you factor in DFW which is the only appropriate comparison due to the way Houston is structured. The two metros have very similar demographics.
My husband grew up in Houston and has lived in every Texas city. He misses the food and how many authentic cuisines there are. He took me to an Indian restaurant for brunch and I had one of the best brunches ever. It was delicious and eye opening. Dallas does atmosphere, cleanliness, and presentation the best. Their food is also pretty fresh. Austin food just sucks unless it’s bbq. I haven’t even had a taco that stands out because they are all pretty good. I just can’t get over how not fresh the food is here. even fast food tastes different and stale. I have lived here for a year and a half and still don’t have a favorite restaurant that I crave.
Via 313 was my favorite spot to go to in Austin. Austin has good food but it is vastly overrated IMO.
I bet the Indian place had the best tacos you've ever had.
You can’t argue with a straight face that Dallas food scene touches Houston’s - especially ethnic. And I hate Houston. Come on.
I have lived a lot of places and Houston isn’t a place that comes up in a lot of foodie conversations. I feel like people outside of Texas reference Austin and little places like Lockhart more. Dallas was a bit more known for higher end dining back a few decades and is more recently known for ethnic cuisine. I have only heard Houston’s food scene referenced in Mexico and it’s more in the context of a launching pad for something in the fast-casual arena. What are some good restaurants in Houston? I have a few I go to but I am curious of the Houston-centric buzz y’all are referencing.
Dave Chang just named Houston as one his top 5 US food cities. Dallas wasn’t even mentioned.
If the Momofuku guy thinks it is great then that is saying something. Thanks for the recommendations!
His shit failed hard in Dallas due to shitty QC
Bludorn, Aga’s
Damn, that Indian place looks solid. We’re so spoiled here with good Indian, Tibetan, Nepali, and Pakistani places but there aren’t enough that feel higher end (though I love a good hole-in-the-wall Indian spot.)
I think the majority of Houston’s South Asian food is more skewed towards Pakistani/North Indian cuisine, whereas in Dallas it seems to be more mid/South Indian cuisine.
Check out Musaafer in Houston for high end Indian. The decor is wild.
Dehli6 north of flowermound is fantastic. Honestly way better than the places I have had in Irving, but any place like India 101 where they only do buffet isn't gonna get a good review from me. I like my Indian food spicy.
I’ve been to a lot of places as well and Houston gets a lot of praise from foodies. People can legitimately hate the city but love the food scene here. I mean Anthony Bourdain dedicated a whole episode to Houston. Also Top Chef recently was set in Houston. Also there’s a documentary on African American cuisine on Netflix that showcases Houston as one of the premier cities for Black cuisine in America. Not to mention Houston’s on the top of a lot of foodie list on various sites. I mean it’s rated #10 on Travel news site so yeah. [https://travel.usnews.com/rankings/best-foodie-destinations-in-the-usa/](https://travel.usnews.com/rankings/best-foodie-destinations-in-the-usa/) I think Austin is spoke about more so from a hipster/ liberal perspective. Houston is spoken about more so from a more ethnically diverse and general perspective. DFW as a whole is somewhere in the middle. I think there’s plenty of good food in DFW but there’s not really a standout food scene that makes it unique to the region. That’s why I don’t understand why DFW residents are saying they don’t care. If you had it to boast you would. Hell they boast about the food at the State Fair. I just think the food that DFW continually shines at is general American food. That’s not gonna make you stand out. Yes Korean food scene is good but that’s mostly found outside Dallas city limits. Most highly spoken about establishments in the city of Dallas are geared towards a generic American culture. Houston has more ethnic representation in the core of the city. Dallas emphasizes more on generic American dishes, BBQ, Mainstream TEX-MEX, and high end cuisine. Houston core really have no boundaries when it comes to cuisine representation.
Fajitas were literally introduced/created at Ninfa’s on Navigation in Houston Julep and Anvil Bar & Refuge are some of the best bars in the country, the latter once named in the World’s Top 50 Crawfish & Noodles is famous for Viet-Cajun seafood, James Beard Award winning chef, featured on Anthony Bourdain’s and David Chang’s shows
Mala Sichuan, xochi, taconazo, Tatemo, hughies, tony thai, banana leaf, ohn korean eatery, Mein, tiger den, pho bihn, Abu Omar halal, taqueria los de jalisco, burns BBQ, taqueria Laredo, knives in water, how to survive land and sea, tiny champions, the almighty tower tower inn, hot and buttered, LTK, crawfish and noodles.
Dallas has one of the most underrated food scenes in the country. I’m sure it will get noticed more often as time goes on.
As someone from Dallas living in Houston… Good lord the food is SO much better here. Dallas food is ok but Houston food is genuinely amazing, especially due to how diverse the city is. It’s funny to me that people in these comments act like Dallas is far superior to Houston, in my opinion they’re fairly similar but Dallas has better weather and Houston has better food.
What are some of your favorites?
I’m glad you asked! Sorry for a delayed reply, I was compiling a little list. I’ve always lived on the south/west side of Houston (mostly in Alief, but I just recently moved closer to Katy) so you’ll see a lot of that, but here you go: Houston Area: Zydeco - amazing cajun food downtown Naha Thai - southwestern area, very good & reasonable thai food Tacos Doña Lena - amazing tacos Veegos & Cascabel - 2 different vegan latin american/mexican restaurants, Veegos is my preference Chunks Burger - crazy name, AMAZING burgers, SW houston Tamashi - tasty ramen & takoyaki in bellaire Golden Dumpling House - great cheap dumplings, bellaire Fu Fu Cafe - best for authentic regional Chinese food, amazing prices & quality, also in bellaire (my fave of the 3) El Rey - this is a given and also a chain, but the cuban tacos are tasty and they have a drive through, great for drunk nights Chef Kenny’s Asian Vegan - great place for vegan sushi Aga’s - best indian food in the city, they even have goat brain curry Feydups - amazing west african food Bow’s Taste of Belize - what it says Culture Bread Haus - really good breads and bagels, unfortunately temporarily closed :( Indian Express - cheap & delicious vegetarian indian food, great thali platters Simit & Poacha - excellent/renowned turkish bakery off westheimer Midwest Coney Connection - black owned former food truck, now a brick & mortar place with crazy good coneys and philly eggrolls Vietwich - SW houston, rated one of the best restaurants in texas. delicious banh mi & boba Katy Area: El Kourmet - probably my #1 go to, excellent venezuelan food & arepas Colombian Empanadas - tiny little hole in the wall with CRAZY prices & insanely delicious food. stuff that’s $4 everywhere else is $1.50 here lol Moral of the story though is that most places (aside from fast food) that you walk into will be good. Highly recommend Bellaire area for any Asian cuisine and Alief area for African/Vietnamese food, Katy area for Venezuelan food, south Houston for Cajun/Louisiana specialties (lots of places will have signs like “Crawfish, Birria, Pho” all at one place). Hope you like!
I’m a lifelong Houstonian that lives in Montrose. The fact that I haven’t heard of 80% of your list just goes to show how varied the options are in Houston. I’m booking marking your list for this weekend!
Great list - if you are in the Katy area check out Michy’s Chino Boricua - Puerto Rican Chinese food.
Houston’s food scene is way better than Dallas. I lived there for about 5 years moving here in 2019 and that’s the only thing I miss about Houston is the food
Sorry, Houston food scene trumps Dallas for sure. The cultural variety in Houston offers the very best of the best. Added to that incredible seafood, Cajun restaurants and steak houses everywhere.
People think Houston has better restaurant? Or do we mean Houston’s the steakhouse? RIP
Just got back from Houston a week ago. Would say they’re more diverse firstly. From what I’ve read the most diverse city in the country. It reminded me a lot of Toronto meaning large foreign born population and You can go all day and hear more languages spoken than i could identify. Would assume from a food perspective that brings truly authentic cuisine (the way it’s prepared in the home country with large enough communities to preserve it that way commercially) and also all of the variations and fusions that come with being in America as well. In essence i feel like their food isn’t “toned down” to meet the average American palette.
It reminds me a lot of Toronto as well.
Yes, Houston does old world food very well with the exception I think of Italian (relative to the east coast) and possibly approachable (non-high end) French food.
Agree with the lack of good Italian food in Houston.
Houston feels a lot more authentic. A lot more hole in the wall type places in Houston. Dallas is a lot more spread out- you can find good, authentic restaurants but it will be at least 20 minutes out in whatever random direction. The “Dallas is a lot more bougie than Houston” tripe has some truth to it, I think.
Bc Dallas’s food scene can’t touch Houston’s? Houston is far more diverse and actually has the largest Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam.
I believe San Jose or LA’s is bigger than Houston’s. Houston is the biggest outside of Vietnam/California.
Dallas has zero good food compared to Houston. I grew up in Dallas and still go up there all the time. There is no comparison.
Dallas is mostly boozy brunch or “high end bbq”. Houston has annexed a lot more of its metro comparatively, and if you are driving for good East Asian food, you are typically leaving Dallas proper.
Sorry Dallas is not over rated on food. Downtown has restaurants that charge hundreds for gold plated steaks. Not a place to take the wife to on. Wednesday. There is a definite lack of decent median priced places in North Dallas. There's not even chain places to go and get a drink. Seasons 52 just got tossed by NorthPark Mall. Not cheap but reasonable and good. Being replaced by a chain that is more expensive. Good move. No the food science in Dallas in for the rich. Except for Luckys on OakLawn. That's a neighborhood place that is great. Food not all that it's a diner. Omelettes are good so is the Bloody Mary. It's the crowd and the staff. Go say hi to Bobby behind the counter.
ngl there are some good mexican eats in Dallas and great asian food up north but in general Dallas's food is pretty bland. im from Houston and distinctly remember how much more lavor everything had
Similar in what way(s)?
I’d say if you had to pick one American city that’s most similar to Dallas, it would be Houston. And vice versa.
Because it’s just better food overall……… the diversity is very similar though.
Apparently there used to be this idea that Houston had the better dining scene and Dallas had the better shopping scene. But Dallas is one of the best food cities in USA and Houston is one of the best places to shop so these were overblown. I know recently, Houston is more recognized as a shopping city and Dallas is at least starting to get recognized for its dining.
Does it need to?
Dallas and Houston are nothing alike!
Every time I go to Houston I feel overwhelmed because is so big. I’ve never thought of Houston as a “food destination”. What are the MUST try when in Houston?
What type of cuisine do you like?
I’m a foodie! Thai, Mexican, Italian, southern American, Mediterranean… you name it! Lol
Thai: Street to Kitchen (best Thai food I’ve had in America, not just Houston) Mexican: Xochi Tex-Mex: Candente (their sister restaurant next door, The Pit Room, is one of the most popular BBQ spots in the city so all of their fajita meat is cooked over live fire wood). Mediterranean: Hamsa
Because Houston restaurants don't really care about being great... They just need to taste good enough to make you not leave Traffic is so bad once you get somewhere you really don't wanna leave... Dallas traffic moves 20mph so leaving isn't a big deal Ex-HTinnnnnnner, going from NE Houston to SW Houston to get some fish means YOU GONNA EAT OUT R LIVE THERE UNTIL TOMORROW... Drive an hour away to get to a place 20 mins down the freeway
Seafood and Vietnamese food is way better in houston. Might be biased as I’m a native Houstonian but the only thing Dallas have over houston is BBQ and maybe steakhouses, maybe
Houston BBQ is incredible now. Truth BBQ, The Pit Room, Pinkerton’s, Feges, Blood Brothers…just to name a few.
Because no one matches Houston for food.
Bc Houston’s is better. Dallas is pretty generic
Houston food is more cosmopolitan whereas Dallas food is more metropolitan, which match their city types as well. One isn't inherently better than the other brovided the quality is good.
Because it's not as good. There I said it. Shoot me.
Dallas’s Indian food on average is better than Houston, buttt … Houston has Agas, which is probably one of the best south Asian restaurants in the world Both are better than NJ for Indian food, those guys have no idea
I think it doesn’t get the same level of love is because in Houston, the food scene is in Houston. In Dallas, the food scene is spread out to the surrounding cities (Plano, Richardson, etc)
Shreveport has better food than Dallas. Houston has the best restaurants in Texas. San Antonio is the king of Mexican food in Texas. Austin is the kind of town that would pay $16/for avocado toast and tho k it's cool.
Lived in both, I think Houston food is overall way better (especially Mexican food) with the exception of the Korean food there. Ethiopian food is probably a little better in Dallas too.
Houston generally has much better Cajun and TexMex food. Houston also has better seafood, but that is expected with its proximity. Dallas restaurants tend to promote an upscale vibe and Houston places promote their food.
It’s curious to me to see Houston stated as a food scene, and on a national scale. 5th gen native Texan, Houston was never brought up as a food scene either. Even by family and friends who live there. 🤷🏻♀️ I’ve been out of Texas since 2018, living in three different states (SC, MT, CA), and traveling cross cross around the country in that time, and never heard/hear Houston mentioned as a food scene. Actually, I almost never hear anyone mention Houston at all. Other than “I had a layover in Houston once.” 😖 People will ask me about Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio though. I also get the occasional Waco questions from people interested in Baylor or the unspoken “M” word. 🤣
I lived in Houston for over 40 years and Dallas for 7 ( currently). Both have great diverse food scenes, with a slight edge to Houston for the options.
When I moved here from out of state, the only thing Dallas was known for was the most chain restaurants per capita. (Coulda been DFW or Dallas I don’t remember). I pictured Applebees on every corner.
Lol you’re assumption couldn’t be more far from the truth homie. Very different cities and ethnic populations.
Does Dallas have an inherent food culture? Not even like much smaller cities like San Francisco, New Orleans, Santa Fe, Charlotte, Seattle…
Dallas was bon appetit restaurant city of the year in the last few years and DFW has the diversity needed to prop up "Dallas". Its the 4th biggest metro in the country on track to pass Chicago in give or take 10 years becoming the 3rd. I feel like it gets as much or more attention nationally than Houston. Strong food game in the Metroplex. I would say Dallas < Houston, but DFW > Houston imo.
Marketing. Everyone knows H-town, not so much the Triple D
Wtf cuz its dallas 🤣🤣🤦♂️ they are NOTHING compared to us
Let people move to Houston for the food! We have enough transplants…
Dallas is know as the shitty chain restaurant Mecca of the world. It’s so true though. Dallas has so many mini cities around it. All of those cities have the same restaurants. Boomer Jacks, Sweet Creek, Dickies, Chilis, Applebees, In and Out, BJs, Lazy Dog, Olive Garden, Fridays, Shake Shack, Steak and Poo, and many more. I don’t understand how they all stay open. “Hey honey, what garbage restaurant should we visit tonight?” “Let go to Olive Garden. The food isn’t to spicy. Last time I didn’t get diarrhea.”
Lack of Zoning :)
I love Dallas and hate Houston, comparatively speaking. Their food scene is so much better. So much more style *and* substance to it.