Major Restaurant Honors

Two Houston restaurants crack the nation's most fickle food critic's coveted Top 100 list

A notoriously fickle food critic has given Houston two coveted entries for his annual list of top restaurants in the United States.

For the 2013 rankings, Steve Plotnicki — a noted culinary writer and a former music executive known for signing RUN-DMC — chose Oxheart and Pass & Provisions as the first Space City restaurants to appear on his Opinionated About Dining blog's 100 best.

Were it in Europe, Plitnicki says Oxheart would be "one of the regular stops on the hard-core foodie circuit."

Coming in at No. 73, Justin Yu’s Oxheart garnered recognition for its meticulous attention to plants and vegetables, not to mention the breads and desserts crafted by pastry chef (and Yu's wife and business partner) Karen Man.

Were it in Europe, Plitnicki says Oxheart would be "one of the regular stops on the hard-core foodie circuit."

At No. 90 is Pass & Provisions, which the food critic praises for the "highly-technical cooking and whimsical concepts" brought to the table by chefs Terrence Gallivan and Seth Siegel-Gardner. Plotnicki specifically points to a dish titled "Ham and Eggs" that features caviar and pork cracklings.

Though only its original Austin branch was singled out, Tyson Cole's Uchi, which continues to wow Houston diners in Montrose, came in just below Oxheart at No. 74.

Click here to see the full list. And to put things in perspective, Houston restaurants now rank among stalwarts like Wolfgang Puck's Spago, 126-year-old steakhouse Peter Luger and California's celebrated French Laundry (which took its usual spot at No. 1).

The OA ranks The Pass $ Provisions at No. 90, praising its "Ham & Eggs," a caviar service with pork cracklings shown here.

The Pass and Provisions, Ham & Eggs, caviar service with pork cracklings

Photo by Ralph Smith The Pass and Provisions/Facebook

The OA ranks The Pass $ Provisions at No. 90, praising its "Ham & Eggs," a caviar service with pork cracklings shown here.

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Farewell, ElRo

Creative Montrose pizzeria will shutter after only a year-and-a-half

Photo by Julie Soefer

ElRo Pizza & Crudo

An acclaimed Houston pizzeria will soon serve its final pies. ElRo Pizza & Crudo will close after service on December 31.

In a post on Instagram, chef-owner Terrence Gallivan thanks his staff for their dedication and his customers for their support. “We hope to see you all over the next couple weeks. Come celebrate with us,” he writes.

Open since June 2023, ElRo intrigued diners who enjoyed Gallivan’s work at pioneering Houston restaurant The Pass & Provisions. At ElRo, the chef served a modified version of the Provisions pizza recipe alongside crudos and shareable small plates such as arancini and housemade sausage. It earned four nominations in this year’s CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, including Best New Restaurant and Chef of the Year.

Sadly, Gallivan tells CultureMap that business has seen “a steady decline in business for many months.” Recently, the restaurant had tried a number of initiatives to draw in diners, such as steak night on Tuesday and fried chicken on Saturday.

The early announcement gives diners two weeks to make one more visit (or two) to the restaurant before it closes. Customers may want to time their visit for happy hour, which takes places from 3-6 pm Tuesday-Friday. It includes half-off glasses of wine, $4 draft beers, $9 select cocktails, and food specials.

Gallivan adds that he doesn’t know yet what his next move will be. Hopefully, he’s got one more comeback in him. Houston is a more fun town to dine in when Gallivan is cooking in it.

news-you-can-eat pizza closings

Major Restaurant Honors

Two Houston restaurants crack the nation's most fickle food critic's coveted Top 100 list

The OA ranks The Pass $ Provisions at No. 90, praising its "Ham & Eggs," a caviar service with pork cracklings shown here.

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Farewell, ElRo

Creative Montrose pizzeria will shutter after only a year-and-a-half

CultureMap Emails Are Awesome
Get Houston intel delivered daily.