Christmas Dining

Procrastinator's Guide to dining out on Christmas weekend: 13 restaurants with multi-course options

Wondering where to feast this Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? There's a full weekend of dining opportunities and, if you're like us, you might have waited until the last minute to make reservations. We’ve got you covered with our guide to dining out in Houston this holiday, including eight hotspots offering special prix fixe menus on December 24, and five restaurants with stellar eats open on December 25. For details, read on.

Christmas Eve

Ritual
At casual Heights neighborhood eatery Ritual, the three-course Christmas Eve dinner features alluring dishes like maple winter squash bisque, boudin-stuffed pork chop (with Creole mustard reduction, Cajun spiced sweet potato, and broccolini), and duck breast (with smoked mushrooms, snow peas, baby bok choy, and toasted sesame-chestnut puree).
Price: $65 per person.
Hours: 5 pm-9 pm.

Triniti Restaurant
The creative, super-delicious fare at Triniti attracts locals and out-of-towners alike, including first lady Michelle Obama. Here, the special four-course holiday menu showcases dishes including celery root and apple soup (with beets and bacon), orange glazed duck (with confit dumpling, green beans and almonds), and sea bass (with roasted green olives and ratatouille). For dessert, choose from cookies and milk, eggnog pot de crème, or yule log with marshmallows.
Price: $75 per person.
Hours: 5 pm-8:30 pm.

Prohibition Supperclub & Bar
At downtown’s Prohibition Supperclub & Bar, dine on delectable eats while partaking in the burlesque musical, Tales of a Hard Nut, a sexy spin on the holiday staple The Nutcracker. For dinner, guests will have the choice of one starter, one entree and one dessert such as smoked chicken and andouille gumbo, short ribs (with bordelaise sauce, roasted carrots, mushrooms, and mashed potatoes), butternut orecchiette, and chocolate cheesecake.
Price: Show tickets range from $29 to $75 per person; the three-course, prix-fixe dinner is an additional $45 per person.
Hours: Dinner/show seatings are at 6 pm and 8:30 pm.

Sud Italia
Dig into extravagant offerings, from octopus carpaccio and mussels in white wine reduction to linguini (with clams in olive oil and garlic) and to freshwater trout (with fingerling potatoes and limoncello sauce) at Sud Italia, located in Rice Village.
Price: $49.50 per person.
Hours: 5 pm-10 pm.

Le Mistral
The elegant French restaurant Le Mistral in the Energy Corridor will serve four-courses of fabulous items like a mini Maine lobster roll on butter brioche, chestnut veloute soup (with duck confit and hazelnut whipped cream), and roasted black cod filet (with champagne sauce and potato crisp). As if that wasn’t enough to get our attention, there’s also a decadent prime beef chateaubriand served with truffle bordelaise sauce and wild mushrooms.
Price: $90 per person.
Hours: 5 pm-11 pm.

Bistro Provence
Dine French-style at Bistro Provence, which will bring a three-course menu to the table on Christmas Eve. Starters include onion soup and caramelized scallops (with pomegranate sauce), while second-course items range from wild red snapper (with saffron sauce and vegetable gratin) to herb-mustard crusted rack of lamb (with crème fraîch potatoes). Save room for a chocolate mousse dessert.
Price: $60 per person, with a $30 deposit via Paypal required in advance.
Hours: Reservations are available between 6 pm-6:30 pm for the first seating, and between 8 pm-8:30 pm for the second seating.

Radio Milano
Spend the holiday at CityCentre’s Radio Milano, where they're plating up a four-course Italian menu. Along with main course options like oven-roasted quail (with wild seasonal mushrooms, a potato cake and cippolini onions) and porchetta pork roast (with chestnut spread, apple glaze, and caramelized chestnuts), choose from wild winter mushroom soup (with black truffles and parmesan froth), apple tart (with apple brandy ice cream and caramel sauce) and more.
Price: $75 per person; optional wine pairing is available for an additional $45 per person.
Hours: 5 pm-9 pm.

Etoile Cuisine et Bar
Duck foie gras (with dry fruit on toasted brioche), roasted duck breast (with mushrooms and a potato cake), John Dory fish (with brown butter, roasted marble potatoes, cauliflower, broccolini, and tomato confit), and milk chocolate Christmas log are all selections on the Christmas Eve menu at Etoile Cuisine et Bar, where chef Philippe Verpiand adds his own modern spin to authentic French/Mediterranean cuisine.
Price: $65 per person.
Hours: Reservations still available for 5 pm (only).

Christmas Day

Morton's The Steakhouse
Morton's The Steakhouse scores points for extra-deliciousness with its holiday special of a 6-oz. filet mignon and 6-oz. lobster tail. You can also order from the regular menu of meaty offerings at the classic American chophouse.
Price: $55 per person.
Hours: 4 pm-9 pm.

The Oceanaire Seafood Room
It’s ships ahoy at Galleria restaurant The Oceanaire, which boasts a dining room decked out to resemble an ocean liner. Load up on seafood offerings on Christmas Day, from jumbo shrimp scampi to pan-seared Dover sole.
Price: A la carte.
Hours: 2 pm-8 pm.

Red Lion Pub
The traditional turkey meal at the cozy British pub Red Lion arrives with sides of sage and onion stuffing, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, carrots, Brussels sprouts, peas, and gravy. Pair it with a pint or a whiskey from the bar.
Price: $24 per person.
Hours: 11 am-2 am.

Fogo de Chao
A carnivores dream, choose from 16 skewered meat options (think rib-eye, leg of lamb, and pork loin) at Fogo de Chao. The Brazilian chain will also serve Christmas-Day-only selections like seasonal beef roast and sweet potato casserole.
Price: A la carte.
Hours: 12 pm-9 pm.

Quattro
Quattro Restaurant, located at the Four Season Hotel Houston, cranks out a killer contemporary Italian buffet this holiday. The expansive list of over 60 items features roast turkey, mesquite smoked prime rib, roasted lamb, and much more. Featured sips include Bottomless Bloody Marys, mimosas, and house red and white wine.
Price: $95 per adult and $42 per child, ages 5-12.
Hours: 11 am- 7 pm.

The creative, super-delicious fare at Triniti attracts locals and out-of-towners alike, including First Lady Michelle Obama.

holidays dinner lists

slice of life

Exclusive: Houston pizza legend to open new neighborhood joint in Spring

Photo by Eric Sandler

Anthony Calleo will open Galaxy Pizza in the coming weeks.

Any conversation about the evolution of Houston’s pizza offerings over the last decade or so would have to include a discussion of chef Anthony Calleo. As the founder of Pi Pizza, the co-founder of Gold Tooth Tony’s, and a consultant for Betelgeuse Betelgeuse, he’s contributed to the rise (sorry) of better pizza in the Bayou City.

After some time away from the restaurant business (more on that in a minute), Calleo will soon open his latest project, a neighborhood pizza joint in Spring that he’s calling Galaxy Pizza. Smaller in size and more focused than his previous restaurants, Galaxy Pizza showcases many of the lessons Calleo has learned along the way.

As Calleo tells CultureMap, he quietly left Gold Tooth Tony’s and his partnership in Rudyard’s last year after being diagnosed as autistic right around his 45th birthday. He says it pained him to leave — Gold Tooth Tony’s had just opened its Bellaire location and Rudyard’s was doing well — but his doctors gave him an ultimatum.

“‘You need to take time to stop and rest or die,’” Calleo says they told him. “I love this, but I don’t want to die. I had to stop. I didn’t think there was a way for me to do this again.”

The Location

Calleo took time off to rest. He got back into commercial real estate and began consulting with restaurateurs about new concepts they wanted to open. Through those efforts, he found the former Jackpot Pizza space at 6450 Louetta Rd. in Spring, a small space that’s ideally suited to carryout and to-go with just a couple of tables for either dine-in or waiting.

While the location may seem obscure to people who know Calleo for his inner loop eateries, it’s part of a busy dining district that includes the Spring location of Trill Burgers as well as neighborhood favorites like Toki, a Japanese restaurant that serves ramen and sushi.

“I have found so much good food up here. Really good food. At a bunch of mom-and-pop places. Some are trucks. Some are little restaurants that have been here forever,” he says.

As Calleo studied the location’s economics, he came to a realization. “At the end of the day, I really miss doing this. I miss making pizza. It is my autistic special interest,” he says.

The location’s lower lease rate compared to what landlords can get inside the loop allows Galaxy Pizza to be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. That will give both its staff and its owner some much-needed time off.

“The rent makes it doable. I can sell food out here and actually make a living and not just pay a lease,” Calleo says.

While it has a small footprint, the interior features murals by Houston artist Brian Dibala (aka Neon Thrash), who contributed to the design of both Endless Bummer, the speakeasy-style tiki bar in Montrose, and Radio Tave, Houston's Meow Wolf installation.

The Pizza

Calleo made “Houston pizza” at Pi Pizza and Detroit-style pizza at Gold Tooth Tony’s and Rudyard’s. For Galaxy, he’s chasing something a little more, shall we say, nostalgic.

“It’s a classic neighborhood pizzeria. It’s almost a thing that doesn’t exist anymore. It’s how Pizza Hut made pizza in 1987,” he says. “It’s got a good rise on the crust. It doesn’t droop, but it’s not stiff like a cracker. It’s got a little too much cheese and sauce on it. It’s slutty, do you know what I mean?

“A culinary instructor would tell you it’s unbalanced, and that’s the point. There’s some sneaky tricks we’re going to do that will be really nostalgic, but done with cheffy intention.”

The menu is still being finalized, but Calleo acknowledges he’ll serve classics like pepperoni and cheese. He’ll have salads, sandwiches, and appetizers like breadsticks and cheesy garlic bread. Notably, the menu doesn’t contain any chicken, which covers its sandwiches, pizza toppings, and appetizers, which means no wings or buffalo chicken pizza — at least for now.

Generally speaking, the preparations will be simpler and more traditional than his previous stops, where toppings included bacon-braised collard greens with pancetta or blackberries with chevre. For example, Galaxy Pizza will be the first time Calleo will serve raw onions rather than caramelizing them.

“This is a neighborhood pizza place,” he says. “There’s no goat cheese on the menu. This place doesn’t know how to spell ‘confit,’ and it doesn’t need to.”

In an acknowledgement of the neighborhood’s demographics, all of the beef at Galaxy Pizza will be halal. The restaurant will have two pizza ovens and two prep stations — one for pizzas with pork and one for pizzas without. Each oven will also have dedicated pans, utensils, and other cooking tools to prevent cross-contamination. Calleo acknowledges it won’t satisfy the most observant Muslims in the area, but he hopes it will help demonstrate a commitment to serving that community well.

The restaurant will soon host an invite-only friends and family service to see how its team works in the space. Then, they’ll go dark for a couple of weeks of practice before announcing an official opening date.

Once it’s open, Galaxy Pizza will offer carryout and delivery via third-party apps. Those who want more of a dine-in experience can walk next door to HR Bar and Grill.

Wherever a customer decides to eat his pizza, Calleo hopes it conjures a very specific memory.

“I am still chasing Showbiz Pizza in 1986 from my fifth birthday — the way it smelled, how it made me feel, the way the pepperoni crunched and how it tasted. I’m still chasing that. This is my chasing it in its most authentic form” he says.

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