This Week's Hot Headlines

Houston's first In-N-Out burger and H-E-B's hot coffee shop lead top stories

In-N-Out, neon sign, hamburgers, burgers

In-N-Out Burger is finally coming to Houston.

Editor's note: It's time to recap the top stories on CultureMap from this past week.

1. Finally! In-N-Out will open first Houston location at massive mixed-use complex. Animal-style burgers are fries are coming to the former TI campus in Stafford.

2. Celebrity chef Jonathan Waxman brewing up all-day cafe in Houston's new 2-story H-E-B. "Hmmm.... I wonder what the heck is going on here," tweets H-E-B president Scott McClelland. We do, too, Scott.

3. Sneak peek: Popular Memorial restaurant sets opening date for stylish new location. Jonathan's the Rub will throw open the doors to its second location on October 4.

4. Wildly popular Austin burger joint reveals opening date for CityCentre location. Hopdoddy will bring its hormone-free burgers, queso, and boozy milkshakes to CityCentre on October 8

5. Ken Hoffman sounds off on Sarah Palin's 'brilliant' Houston visit and Emmy proposals. Our columnist hits an array of topics ranging from a new shake at Fuddrucker's to the wisdom of UH hosting a presentaiton by Sarah Palin and Donna Brazile.

hot-headlines

H-Town rising

Houston leaps back into top 50 'World's Best Cities' list for 2025

Photo by Adrian Newell on Unsplash

Houston made a big leap back into the top 50, ranking No. 40, after previously plummeting into No. 72 last year.

Lively Houston has regained its rightful place among the top 50 best cities in the world, according to a prestigious new report by Resonance Consultancy.

The Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing advisors ranked Houston the 40th best city worldwide for 2025 in its annual "World's Best Cities" list.

The report quantifies the relative qualities of livability, "lovability," and prosperity for the world's top 100 cities with metropolitan populations of 1 million or more. New to the 10th anniversary edition, Resonance partnered with global market researchers Ipsos to include perception-based data into the rankings, surveying over 22,000 people in 30 countries worldwide to determine "the most desirable places to visit, live or work."

Houston made a major rebound after plummeting to No. 73 in last year's report. In 2022, Houston ranked No. 42.

Resonance refers to its previous "World's Best Cities" reports and its 2024 "America's Best Cities" list – which ranked Houston in the top 10 – when explaining the Bayou City's successes. The report praised Houston's vast cultural diversity and placed a great focus on its economic prosperity, even going so far as to suggest Houston residents make more money "and can sock more away."

"...[W]here America’s fourth-largest city truly takes off is in its economic heft and wealth, ranking No. 9 globally for GDP per Capita and No. 14 for Fortune 500 companies in town," the report said. "All that rolls up into an overall Prosperity index ranking of No. 36, which is even more impressive given the No. 14-ranked Price-to Income Ratio [of the city]."

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin and Dallas also earned spots on the World's Best Cities list for 2025, but only one made a similar rebound from the previous year's rankings. Dallas moved up from No. 66 in last year's report to its current rank as No. 55. Meanwhile, Austin took its first tumble out of the 43rd spot (which it had occupied for two years straight) and now ranks No. 53.

London held onto its crown as the No. 1 best city in the world for 2025, followed by New York (No. 2), Paris (No. 3), Tokyo (No. 4), and Singapore (No. 5).

This Week's Hot Headlines

Houston's first In-N-Out burger and H-E-B's hot coffee shop lead top stories

Gluten-free Austin restaurant picks River Oaks for first Houston store

Broadcaster Frank Billingsley finds second act at Houston radio station

Houston's new piano bar hits a high note with 2-story patio & martinis

H-Town rising

Houston leaps back into top 50 'World's Best Cities' list for 2025