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2 top Houston steakhouses score Wine Spectator's most prestigious award

Pappas Bros. is once again a Wine Spectator winner.

Courtesy of Pappas Bros. Steakhouse

Two of Houston's most prominent steakhouses are among the country's best restaurants for drinking. Wine Spectator has once again recognized the offerings at both locations of Pappas Bros. Steakhouse and Mastro's Steakhouse with its Grand Award.

Given to just 97 establishments nationwide, the Grand Award recognizes restaurants that, in the magazine's words, "show an uncompromising, passionate devotion to the quality of their wine programs." That means cellars with more than 1,000 bottles, a range of vintages, a generous selection of large format bottles, and a knowledgeable team of sommeliers to serve the wines properly.

The magazine reports that Mastro's has 4,000 selections and identifies strengths in regions such as Burgundy, Tuscany, Champagne, and Loire. Pappas Bros. Galleria-area location has approximately 5,000 different selections with depths in many popular regions, including Burgundy, Bordeaux, California, and Champagne. Similarly, the steakhouse's downtown location earned praise for its 3,900 selections with strengths such as Champagne, Piedmont, Rhône, and Tuscany.

“Receiving the Grand Award is one of the greatest honors a wine program can get! We worked for over 5 years assembling the best and most encompassing wine selections from around the world, and when I got the news in 2019 that we had been selected for the Grand Award, I was personally beyond thrilled," Pappas Bros. Downtown wine director Bill Elsey said.

"I absolutely think that people strive for this recognition. It signifies a devotion and investment in wine that most restaurants can not make," he added. "From the top down, specifically starting with Harris and Chris [Pappas, owners of Pappas Restaurants], the commitment to earning a Grand Award is a monumental financial and time-consuming investment."

Wine Spectator also recognizes approximately 1,300 restaurants with its Best of Award of Excellence for "excellent breadth across multiple wine growing regions and/or significant vertical depth of top producers." These establishments typically offer at least 350 different selections.

Local recipients include: the Capital Grille's CityCentre location, Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse, El Meson, Georgia James, Kiran's, March, Rainbow Lodge, and Vic & Anthony's. In The Woodlands, both Mastro's Ocean Club and newly opened Indian fine dining restaurant Amrina earned Best Of status.

Oenophiles will find the full list of winners on the Wine Spectator website. A print edition with its annual restaurant awards comes out on July 12.

“I want to congratulate all 3,169 restaurants that earned one of Wine Spectator’s three awards for their devotion to all things wine,” Wine Spectator editor and publisher Marvin R. Shanken said in a statement. “These awards not only guide our readers to dining establishments with impressive wine lists and outstanding service, but also serve to honor restaurants for their achievements and commitment to maintaining pristine cellars. We are thrilled to reveal our 2022 Dining Guide, which points to places where wine drinkers are warmly welcomed.”

wine awards

the more things change

Houston's essential Jewish diner looks better than ever after refresh

Photo by Sergio Trevino

The dining room has more light than ever.

It’s tricky to renovate a restaurant that’s as essential to its community as New York Deli. A staple of Houston’s Jewish community for almost 50 years, the tiny restaurant near Meyerland will serve as many as 400 people during a busy Sunday brunch.

Still, the time had come, as the tape on the deteriorating banquettes and peeling wallpaper illustrated. With the restaurant’s lease up for renewal, co-owner Michael Saghian saw an opportunity for some updates.

“I couldn’t be the new guy who ruined the place by moving it,” he tells CultureMap. “We worked out a deal with the landlord [to stay] and did a big refresh.”

The most noticeable change is the removal of the restaurant’s front door and vestibule. Instead, diners enter through the restaurant’s companion bagel shop. Separate entrances made sense when the bagel shop was certified kosher by local religious authorities, but now that designation only applies to the Bellaire location that opened in 2020. Not only is the new setup easier for people with mobility issues to navigate, it allows more light into the dining room, brightening the place considerably..

Saghian and co-owner Riana Sherman worked with interior designer Erin Hicks on the refresh. Tables, chairs, and banquettes are all new, but the color scheme remains the same. The process yielded 10 more seats, and the furniture is a little more durable, too.

“People have flipped chairs because they’re so lightweight,” Sherman says. “We got a sturdier chair.”

Behind the scenes, an expanded kitchen allows for the restaurant’s cooks to work faster and more efficiently. An additional egg cooker should cut down the amount of time people wait for their food to arrive.

“The kitchen had one of everything. Now we have two of everything. We can pump out a lot more food,” Saghian says.

Photographs on the walls honor longtime customers such as the “bagel girls,” a group of woman who’ve eaten breakfast at the restaurant since the ‘80s. A piece of old wallpaper has been framed and hung on the wall, too, as a nod to the space’s history.

New York Deli interior changes Photographs on the walls honor longtime customers.Photo by Sergio Trevino

Photo by Sergio Trevino

The dining room has more light than ever.

Saghian says he suffered from sleepless nights as he worried about people’s reactions to the changes, but so far his customers have been effusive.

“It still feels like an old school diner,” Saghian says. “It has pieces you remember. Even the new stuff is old school.”

While the physical environment is new, the staff remains the same. To ensure he kept the same team of cooks and servers, Saghian paid their wages for the two weeks the restaurant was closed for renovations.

Even more importantly, the prices are the same. That’s something that will make even the oldest regulars happy.

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