Go bananas!

Houston Botanic Garden goes bananas over world's favorite fruit with specialty brunch, 5-course dinner, and more

The banana is one of those fruits it's easy to take for granted. They're pretty much everywhere: on kitchen counters, by the cash register at health club cafes and corporate cafeterias, overflowing from the stands in the produce aisle. Who stops to consider where the banana comes from, or even which varieties we're eating?

Answer: the Houston Botanic Garden.

Houston's urban garden is throwing a banana bash June 2 and 3. Back by popular demand, the Go Bananas! festival is a celebration of the popular fruit, one of the can't-miss plants in the garden. There's a host of banana-themed happenings to help guests better understand this tropical delight.

On Friday, June 2 from 6-10 pm, the garden hosts a pop-up dinner and wine pairing. For $145 a ticket, guests get a five-course dinner, each course featuring a banana-infused or inspired dish.

How infused? Chef Keisha Griggs of Kuji Kitchen and Bocage Catering has crafted special creations that showcase the banana's flavors and versatility. Think banana bisque with hazelnuts and banana-leaf-wrapped sea bass.

On June 3, with the price of admission to the garden, guests can taste several different banana varieties, help judge the garden's first-ever banana bread baking contest, and solve the mystery of the disappearance of a popular banana variety from supermarket shelves. (Admission s $15; $10 for children and students.)

On Saturday, June 3 from 9 am to 2 pm, the event will feature educational offerings on banana-related topics, cooking demonstrations and tastings of banana and plantain-inspired dishes, a kid’s zone, farmer’s market, and more, per the organization.

Banana experts will also be on hand to talk about the fruit's history and role in trade and culture.

Of course, no banana festival would be complete without brunch, complete with coffee, mimosas and peanut butter and banana bread pudding beforehand that Saturday from 9:30-11:30 am. ($65 per person.)

Houstonians would be, well, bananas to miss out.

-----

Houston Botanic Garden's Go Bananas! festival runs Friday and Saturday, June 2 and 3 at Houston Botanic Gardens, One Botanic Ln. For tickets and information, visit the event site. $15 to $145.

Photo courtesy of Houston Botanic Garden

Don your Dolce & Banana for this one.

This Week's Hot Headlines

2 favorite Houston Mexican restaurants return and more popular stories

Courtesy of El Tiempo Cantina

undefined

Editor's note: It's time to look back at the top Houston news of the week, featuring the return of two staple Mexican restaurants and the richest Houstonians of them all. Read on for our most popular stories, then head here to plan your weekend.

1. 2 treasured Houston Mexican restaurants reopen after brief closures. Two staple Houston-area Mexican restaurants are making comebacks after brief closures. Picos has already returned to service, while El Tiempo Cantina’s Webster location isn’t far behind.

2. 12 things to know in Houston food: Openings, closings, and meal deals. A successful hand roll restaurant continues to grow, a Chinese American restaurant quietly signs off, and a popular Houston chef shows off his Peruvian heritage. Plus, Houstonians can eat cold noodles for a good cause.

3. Houston oil tycoon is city's richest billionaire for 2026, Forbes finds. The richest billionaires in America have a collective worth of $8 trillion in 2026, a staggering $1.4 trillion increase since last year, says Forbes. And one local billionaire has regained the title as Houston's wealthiest resident.

President Trump Meets With Oil And Gas Executives At The White House Jeffery Hildebrand Hildebrand is the richest Houstonian. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

4. Beard Award-winning Latin chef dishes on big Houston move and menu overhaul. On this episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” chef Douglas Rodriguez and Bari Hospitality Group co-owner Pedro Teyuca join CultureMap editor Eric Sandler to discuss Exilio Latin Flair, the company’s pan-Latin restaurant in Montrose.

5. Food & Wine's Best New Chef list includes Gulf Coast-obsessed Houstonian. A Houston chef is basking in the national spotlight. Food & Wine magazine has named Josephine’s Gulf Coast Tradition executive chef Lucas McKinney to its 2026 class of Best New Chefs.