August is ripe with heat, but there are plenty of reasons to brave the air. Need a lunch or dinner recommendation?

Here’s where you should eat right now in Houston.

Roots Juice
Roots Juice quietly opened last month as the “crunchy little sister” to next-door neighbor Roots Bistro. Stop by this combo juice bar + café for a breakfast juice or smoothie, vegan zucchini muffin or granola with coconut yogurt and seasonal fruit.

Or try a few items from the lunch menu, like cold soba salads, nori rolls, or our favorite: The chevre, avocado and sprout sandwich on house-made focaccia.

Dolce Delights
Thanks to Dolce Delights, Midtown is sweeter — but just a little bit. This new bakery specializes in not-too-sweet treats: Gorgeous mini layer cakes filled with mousses and fruit purees, which give the cakes plenty of flavor and texture without a whole lot of sugary sweetness.

Dolce Delights also offers coffees, teas and a basic sandwich list.

Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar
We hear the just-opened Heights location of Sonoma will be more food-driven than its Richmond counterpart, and indeed the menu’s got a little something for everyone: Salads, small plates, pizzas and sliders, plus an excellent list of cheeses and charcuterie.

Add in a jaw-dropping wine and beer list, and you’ve got a great place to spend an evening.

The Refinery Burgers & Whiskey
Houston always has room for another burger place. Or so it would seem. Perched just off I-45 on the edge of downtown, The Refinery makes a play on Houston’s deep oil history.

The place offers burgers and hot dogs, onion rings and fries, chips and salsa. If the burger doesn’t turn you on, you can always belly up to the whiskey bar (which also boasts a nice selection of craft beers).

Monster PBJ
The diversity of Houston’s food truck scene continues to astound, and now there’s even a PB&J truck to behold. Monster PBJ is all vegetarian and quite vegan friendly.

The menu is DIY-style: Choose your bread, a freshly-ground nut butter and a local jam or fruit. You can add a sweetener and even dictate how you’d like your sammich cut (triangles, y’all!). Check the Twitter feed for a daily location.

Hugo’s
It’s always nice to see good things happen to great people, which is why we were thrilled to see Hugo Ortega and Ruben Ortega (executive chef and pastry chef at Hugo’s) rockin’ the August issue of Saveur Magazine. Hugo’s consistently turns out some of the most appealing cuisine in Houston.

Stop by this month to see why its national spotlight is so well deserved.

Sirena Seafood
Few things are as refreshing as cool ceviche on a hot day. Houston’s got plenty of heat this month, so it’s a good thing we also have Sirena Seafood, a food truck offering fresh ceviches, campechana, fish tacos and the like.

While the standard items are plenty deserving of praise, the creative fish specials are where it’s at. Follow Sirena Seafood on Twitter for a daily location.

Line & Lariat
The restaurant space in the Hotel Icon has been something of a revolving door. We offer our best wishes to Line & Lariat, which moved into the beautiful space (previously occupied by Voice) last month.

Most of the menu’s produce, fish and meats are sourced locally. The output is a classic list of dishes with a few modern touches thrown in for good measure.

Sweet Paris
Two years ago you couldn’t find a crepe in Houston, yet now there are plenty of top-notch options, Sweet Paris among them.

The Rice Village creperie offers sweet and savory, lunch and dinner, all for about $7 to $8 apiece. We love the prosciutto-mozzarella crepe, though nothing beats the dulce de leche with bananas.

Somewhere for Houston Restaurant Weeks
The annual meal deal is back, giving us a nice opportunity to try restaurants that might be too spendy for our usual budgets.

This year’s list includes Concepcion, Mockingbird Bistro, Kata Robata and Triniti, plus scores of others. Each offers a special menu — $20 for a two-course lunch, or $35 for a three-course dinner — with a portion of each meal’s cost going to the Houston Food Bank.

Need more recs? Try our lists from previous months:

December – January – March – May – June – July