Houston’s restaurant scene hasn’t slowed down in 2026. This month, three new spots join the city’s best-restaurant map: La Rosa, Eastbound Barbecue, and Toga. With those additions, Hypsi, Zaranda, and Pinkerton’s Barbecue cycle off the list.
The new openings range from a tiny Italian sandwich shop to a barbecue joint founded by four friends. Additional reporting by Marcy de Luna, Lane Gillespie, H. Drew Blackburn, and Brittany Britto Garley. Here is where to eat right now.
Alturas and Long Weekend
Alturas Mexican Cafe is a casual, family-owned restaurant in the Heights. It serves traditional Mexican dishes based on family recipes, with a menu that highlights cooking from Northeastern and East-Central Mexico. Expect enchiladas, street tacos, pambazos, mole poblano, milanesa, and quecas — fried corn tortilla quesadillas filled with melted cheese and protein. Breakfast runs from 7 a.m. to noon, with huevos revueltos, chilaquiles, pancakes, coffee, and espresso drinks.
Fans of the TV series Yellowstone will feel at home at Long Weekend. The Western-inspired spot sits in the Lazybrook/Timbergrove neighborhood and features a sprawling backyard playground. Kids can roam while adults gather around fire pits with cocktails. The menu pairs buttery rolls or beer-battered onion rings with steaks cooked over oak-fired grills. There is also pizza, with toppings ranging from slow-braised rabbit to a crowd-pleasing pepperoni with hot honey. Nights get crowded, so the daytime cafe is the move for breakfast.
Star Rover and The Green Room
Star Rover is a throwback steakhouse. Diners choose their cut of beef, chicken, or fish, and each plate comes with a crisp salad and warm milk rolls. Fries and onion rings arrive for the table. The short appetizer list includes shrimp cocktail, Gulf oysters, potato skins, and vegetable crudites with whipped goat cheese. For dessert, there are house-made pies a la mode, plus soft serve topped with brown butter and saltine crunch. Cocktails include the Filthy Martini, the Fro’spro Tini — a frozen espresso martini — margaritas, beer, and steak-friendly wines.
Ambitious diners can take the 76er challenge: finish 76 ounces of beef, a salad, yeast rolls, a bowl of fries, and onion rings in under an hour. The meal is free.
The Green Room is a 26-seat restaurant from Doke Concepts in the Heights, next to the group’s Heights & Co. Chef-owner Daniel Davidson and chef de cuisine Tom Cunanan lead the kitchen. Cunanan is the James Beard Award winner behind Washington, D.C.’s Bad Saint. The menu changes monthly, with dishes such as salmon crudo with crispy fried garlic, risotto alla plancha with scallops, and dry-aged duck in a beet reduction.
Each diner gets a complimentary pour of Champagne or a mini martini. Meals can be paired with grower Champagne, organic wines, and classic cocktails. The rotating Cellar Series features premium pours like Brunello di Montalcino, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Sancerre, and red and white Burgundy by the glass, with most bottles priced under $100.
Exilio, Jantra, and 1111
Exilio Latin Flair is the latest addition to the Harlow District. The menu transports diners to Spain and Latin America, heavy on prime cuts and bold flavors. Beef is the star: Argentine-style steaks, ribeye tacos, wagyu empanadas, and the must-order ribeye aguachile negro ceviche. Bookend the entree with the vibrant house salad and luscious tres leches. The New World-focused wine list is extensive, and cocktails include a mezcal Old Fashioned with house-made chocolate balsamic and the lychee-forward Romance in the Glass. The spacious patio, lit by hanging lanterns, is poised to get more popular as temperatures climb.
Jantra is an intimate tasting menu restaurant from chef Benchawon Jabthong Painter, known around Houston as “Chef G.” She already holds a James Beard Award. Jantra means “to the moon” in Thai, and Painter imagines food through the eyes of diners who have just landed from outer space — a fitting premise for Space City. The eight-seat restaurant sits inside the former private dining room at Michelin Bib Gourmand-recognized Street to Kitchen.
The $175 experience features eight to 10 dishes like wild Canadian lobster in a morel sauce. Optional wine pairings are curated by Painter’s husband, co-owner, and beverage director, Graham Painter. Jantra offers one seating nightly at 7 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.
1111 is the newest nightlife destination from Army Sadeghi and Brandon Duliakas of Melrose. It was developed as an ode to Mexico City.
| Restaurant | Cuisine | Notable Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Alturas Mexican Cafe | Traditional Mexican | Family recipes from Northeastern and East-Central Mexico |
| Long Weekend | Western-inspired | Backyard playground and fire pits |
| Star Rover | Throwback steakhouse | 76er challenge: 76 ounces of beef in under an hour |
| The Green Room | Monthly changing menu | James Beard winner Tom Cunanan in the kitchen |
| Exilio Latin Flair | Spanish and Latin American | Ribeye aguachile negro ceviche |
| Jantra | Thai tasting menu | Eight seats, $175, one seating nightly |
| 1111 | Nightlife, Mexico City-inspired | From the team behind Melrose |
The list will keep moving. Houston’s restaurant scene hasn’t slowed down in 2026, and the city’s dining landscape keeps evolving. We’ll be watching to see what new concepts join the map next.
Source: houston.eater.com