Best Craft Beers

Tastemakers Beers of the Year: Favorite Made-in-Houston craft beers offer diverse styles for all tastes

Craft beer is one of the hottest segments of Houston's culinary world. Long gone are the days when a restaurant could limit its beer offerings to some combination of Bud Light, Shiner and Corona. Today, just about every bar and restaurant has at least a couple of local craft beers if not an extensive beer list.

The trend shows no signs of slowing down. Every year brings new breweries and new places to drink what those breweries produce.

Of course, people don't drink "breweries;" they drink beer. Rather than recognize an individual brewery as we did last year, we asked our Tastemaker panel of restaurant industry insiders which local beers they've been enjoying recently. Their selections cover a range of styles and serve as testimony to the diversity of the city's output.

Don't forget to join us May 13 when we reveal the winner at a party. Tickets are going fast. Get yours today.

Boiler Room, Saint Arnold Brewing Company
In a year when Saint Arnold released a lot of good beer, Boiler Room stood out thanks to its subtle, sour tang and low alcohol level that makes it perfect to pair with food. In keeping with how the Berliner Weisse style is served in Germany, Saint Arnold even developed fruit syrups that complement the flavor. Boiler Room probably won't ever make it to Saint Arnold's new canning line, but it should have a starring role in the company's future beer garden.

Dome Faux'm, 8th Wonder Brewery
Just as 8th Wonder named itself after the Astrodome, this cream ale serves as a nod to light, easy-drinking pilsners served by stadium vendors during innumerable Oilers and Astros games. Presented as a collaboration with Moon Tower Inn, Dome Faux'm serves as a great companion to an afternoon spent doing nothing important thanks to its mild hop flavor and low ABV. Now that 8th Wonder has partnered with Silver Eagle, it may even start showing up in Houston's sports stadiums.

Hopadillo, Karbach Brewing Company
By far the most hop forward beer among this year's nominees, Hopadillo blends German, English and American hops for a distinct flavor. The beer is also dry-hopped to give it a strong aroma. Yes, true hop heads probably prefer stronger brews, but, like all Karbach beers, Hopadillo is a well-executed version of its style that's always easy to drink. Just think how good it will taste when the new brewery's new taproom opens soon.

Pumpkinator, Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Originally brewed as Divine Reserve No. 9, this imperial pumpkin stout causes a frenzy on its annual release day. Full of pumpkin flavor and spice notes, it's like pumpkin pie in a bottle — if pumpkin pie weighed in at a hefty 10-percent ABV. Enjoy one close to release or let it age for a bit to let the alcohol flavors cool down and the spice notes flourish. It's delicious either way.

Red Velvet, Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company
Brewed in collaboration with Fluff Bake Bar, Red Velvet typifies Buffalo Bayou's ethos of constant experimentation. This stout mixes flavors of cherries and chocolate for a slightly sweet, easy-drinking flavor profile. The production run is long gone, of course, but perhaps another version will show up again soon.

Rocket Fuel, 8th Wonder Brewery
Just as the Eastsie Boys explored Vietnamese flavors with cafe sua da ice cream and matzah ball pho, their companion brewery gave the traditional coffee porter a Houston-style twist. Brewed with a heavy dose of locally-roasted Greenway Coffee, Rocket Fuel is a sweet, creamy, easy-to-drink beer that's proven to be so popular it's moved from occasional one-off to a staple of 8th Wonder's lineup.

Yellow Rose, Lone Pint Brewery
No other brewery in the Houston-area is more closely associated with one beer than Lone Pint is with its signature Yellow Rose. This single malt, single hop India Pale Ale uses Mosaic hops that give the beer strong citrus flavors with just enough bitter notes to be interesting. Available on draft or in bottles, it's a flavorful choice that's popular in bars across the city.

Lone Pint is defined by Yellow Rose. Thank goodness it's so tasty.

Lone Pint Brewery/Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/lone.brewery/photos/a.527253913972660.121772.527253880639330/915998705098177/?type=1&theater]

Lone Pint is defined by Yellow Rose. Thank goodness it's so tasty.

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East Coast-style Austin pizzeria confirms plans to open in the Heights

Home Slice Pizza Heights location rendering

Courtesy of the Michael Hsu Office of Architecture

A rendering previews Home Slice Pizza's new location in the Heights.

One of Austin’s pizzerias is expanding its presence in Houston. Home Slice Pizza has claimed the former Mapojeong space in the Heights (602 Studewood) for a new location that will open in the fall of 2026.

Founder Joseph Strickland tells CultureMap that Home Slice wanted to add a second Houston location that would build on the success of its Midtown restaurant that opened in late 2022. Unlike Midtown, which is counter service and offers limited seating, the Heights location will offer full service, an expanded menu, and cocktails, which is in line with Home Slice’s North Austin location.

“We saw a lot of synergy in North Austin and the Heights,” Strickland says. “They have a similar feel, a lot of families, a lot of people looking to get together in big groups. There’s also a robust bar scene on White Oak that we’re happy to be part of.”

Strickland says Home Slice had several requirements for a new location, including a larger dining room than Midtown, a decent-sized parking lot, and enough kitchen capacity to serve both dine-in and larger to-go orders. Not only did they find the right building, but they established a productive relationship with the property’s owner, Revive Development, the Houston-based firm that also owns properties that are home to Loro, Squable, Camaraderie, and the Stomping Grounds development in Garden Oaks.

“It was hard to believe at first. The more we talked with the Revive folks, there was a lot of alignment and opportunity for us to expand what we’re showing Houston,” Stickland says.

Home Slice is working with the Michael Hsu Office of Architecture to renovate the building. Strickland notes that it will require some extensive changes, including removing the butcher shop that was installed as part of its iteration as Ritual, a steakhouse that closed in 2021. Assuming everything goes according to plan, the restaurant should open sometime in the fall of 2026.

Home Slice Pizza food spread Home Slice serves New York-style pizza.Photo by Garrett Smith

Once open, Home Slice will serve its East Coast-inspired menu of New York-style pizzas (whole or by-the-slice), hot and cold Italian deli sandwiches, salads, and desserts — all of which utilize dough or bread that’s made in-house. In particular, the restaurant is known for its white clam pizza, as well as classics such as pepperoni and mushroom or sausage with ricotta and roasted peppers. In 2024, the Houston Press awarded “Best Sandwich” to the restaurant’s Italian Assorted, which is made with ham, dry salami, capicola, genoa salami, vegetables, provolone, mayo, and oil & vinegar.

Critically, the Heights Home Slice location will add wings to the New York and Sicilian-style pizzas, salads, and sandwiches that the restaurant serves in Midtown. Inspired by the wings served at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, Home Slice keeps its wings simple — medium or hot and served with a house made blue cheese dressing. “It goes with our pizza quite wonderfully,” Stickland says.

He hopes that the the wide-ranging menu, flexible menu, and late night hours will appeal to Heights locals, people patronizing the nearby bars on White Oak, and anyone else looking for a slice and a drink. The larger location and full service should make home slice an option for date nights, office happy hours, any just about any other occasion.

“We hope the neighborhood will be happy to have another offering that’s like ours, where you can bring a first date or your office or go by yourself. We offer all those experiences,” Strickland says.

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