roll tide

New seafood destination from award-winning Heights restaurateur flows into Spring Branch

Low Tide's remodeled bar area.

Courtesy of Low Tide Kitchen & Bar

An award-winning Heights restaurateur is opening a new seafood restaurant in Spring Branch. Low Tide Kitchen & Bar will open for dinner this Monday, August 22 at 2030A Bingle Road.

Formerly a stand at downtown's Finn Hall food hall, owner Alli Jarrett transformed a former taqueria into a permanent home for the Carolina-inspired seafood concept. Changes include an all-new look with coastal colors and beach-inspired furnishes. Recently named Restaurateur of the Year by the Texas Restaurant Association for her leadership of Harold's in the Heights, Jarrett sees opportunity in bringing a family-friendly restaurant to Spring Branch.

“I’m very bullish on Spring Branch” Jarrett said. “It’s a multicultural area. It’s the face of Houston. And we will be one of the few restaurants in the immediate area offering weekend brunch and weekday breakfast.”

Low Tide features a menu of classic American fare designed to appeal to a range of tastes. Starters include oyster nachos, corn dogs, crab cakes, and steamed mussels. Sandwich options start with four burgers — beef, shrimp, chicken, and vegetarian — as well a shrimp po' boy, an oyster BLT, and a blackened catfish sandwich.

Entrees include fried seafood, shrimp and grits, pasta bowl with choice of protein, and a surf and turf of sirloin steak paired with grilled or fried shrimp.

Raw bar selections start with oysters from both the East and Gulf coasts as well as a Carolina-style Low Country shrimp boil. The kids' menu covers the usual basics such as mac and cheese, sliders, and chicken nuggets.

Adults will be able to pair their meals with a range of beer, wine, and cocktails. Coffee service will roll out in the coming weeks once the restaurant adds weekday breakfast and weekend brunch.

“The mission of Low Tide is to provide our guests with the utmost southern hospitality and service, along with the freshest seafood available at affordable prices,” Jarrett added. “We want a fun, neighborhood atmosphere where you feel like you are eating at the beach.”

Owner Alli Jarrett.

Courtesy of Low Tide Kitchen & Bar

Owner Alli Jarrett.

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NYT best dishes

Houston Mediterranean restaurant makes NY Times' best desserts list

Sayad Mediterranean Kitchen/Facebook

Sayad Mediterranean Kitchen is the only Houston restaurant on either list.

The New York Times included four Texas restaurants among its favorite dishes of 2025. Divided into two lists — The 23 Best Restaurant Dishes We Ate Across the U.S. in 2025 and The 14 Best Restaurant Desserts We Ate Across the U.S. in 2025 — the dishes are:

Bad Honey Bunny at Mercado Sin Nombre (Austin)
Ketan Hitam at Yeni’s Fusion (Austin)
Konafa Naama at Sayad Mediterranean Kitchen (Houston)
Picadillo Macaroni and Cheese at 2M Smokehouse (San Antonio)

Times food writer Priya Krishna, who authors the entries for all four Texas dishes, traveled to far west Houston to visit Sayad Mediterranean Kitchen. “The konafa, a signature here, arrives with a molten layer of cheese under a sticky-sweet layer of golden, nutty semolina. The craft is evident, the konafa gone in a few bites,” she writes.

Sayad Mediterranean Kitchen Konafa Naama Don't skip dessert at Sayad Mediterranean Kitchen.KSayad Mediterranean Kitchen/Facebook

In Austin, Krishna praises the rice pudding at Yeni’s Fusion. “This barely sweet version, lush with coconut milk, aromatic with pandan and as soothing as warm porridge, is the gentlest way to end a meal,” she states.

Already hailed as one of America’s best breakfast spots by Bon Appetit, Krishna singles out a honeybun at Mercado Sin Nombre. “The coiled honey bun at this semi-clandestine cafe looks almost cartoonishly perfect, and the heady scent of cardamom and honey hits you before you even take a bite. Somehow, it tastes every bit as plush and elegant as it appears,” she writes.

The picadillo mac and cheese at 2M Smokehouse showcases how the San Antonio restaurant incorporates Mexican flavors into traditional Texas barbecue. “Imagine Hamburger Helper, but spicier, punchier and even more luxuriously creamy. It’s not easy to one-up the singular, thickly spiced brisket here, but the picadillo mac and cheese — which runs as an occasional special — holds its own and then some,” Krishna writes.

The New York Times regularly shines its spotlight on Texas restaurants, In September, it named four establishments — ChòpnBlọk (Houston), Isidore (San Antonio), Lao’d Bar (Austin), and P Thai’s Khao Man Gai & Noodles (Austin) — to its list of America’s 50 Best Restaurants.

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