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    Big Beard News

    Prestigious James Beard Awards recognizes Texas as its own region

    Eric Sandler
    Sep 17, 2019 | 11:50 am
    James Beard Foundation Award medal
    The Beard Foundation is making big changes to its awards.
    Courtesy photo

    The James Beard Foundation announced sweeping changes to its annual culinary awards, which are widely considered the Oscars of the food world. Instead of 10 regions for its chef and restaurant categories, the foundation has expanded them to 12.

    Critically, Texas moves from the Southwest region to its own region. Other changes include California also becoming its own region, and New York City, previously its own region, is now combined with New York State in a new region that separates the state from the Northeast region that will now be centered on New England. States in the former Southwest and West regions have been redistributed into Northwest and Pacific, Mountain, and Southwest regions. They’re the first changes to the regional alignments since 2012.

    “The national restaurant scene and the populations that fuel it are constantly shifting,” Mitchell Davis, the foundation’s chief strategy officer, said in a statement. “We understand that as a foundation, we must continually adapt to serve our community as fairly as possible. ... By increasing our regional awards from 10 to 12, we are recognizing the explosion of food and restaurant culture across the country, and we are pleased to share this news with the food and hospitality community and all those who follow our annual Awards.”

    Mitchell hinted that these changes might be coming earlier this year at the Foundation’s press conference in Houston when none of the city’s chefs earned finalist status. “[Making changes would not be] for Houston’s sake, it’s not for Chicago’s sake, it’s not for Miami’s sake,” Davis said at the time. “It’s about this dynamic country.”

    Count Justin Yu as a fan of the decision. Yu, the winner of Best Chef: Southwest in 2016, tells CultureMap that he hopes putting Texas in its own region will allow the foundation to shine its spotlight on lesser-known chefs.

    “With Southwest being such a large region, a lot of the time the restaurants that really help define a city — a lot of them being restaurants that are defined by a culture — get overlooked. So we end up with a lot of that higher end, mostly American or quasi-American food on the finalist list,” Yu says. “I really hope this means that Kaiser Lashkari [Himalaya] ends up as a finalist this year or Teiichi Sakurai [Tei-An] from Dallas. Or Tootsie Tomanetz [Snow’s BBQ in Lexington], who to this day has served me the best plate of barbecue I’ve ever had.”

    Both Beard Award winner Chris Shepherd and restaurateur Tracy Vaught, speaking on behalf of herself and her husband, Beard Award winner Hugo Ortega, tell CultureMap that putting Texas in its own category for the awards could help shine a spotlight on lesser-known restaurants that are outside of the state’s largest cities. Shepherd also notes that Texas has enough diversity to support the recognition, a sentiment Vaught echoed.

    “We don’t believe that Texas became relevant all of a sudden; we believe Texas was producing many great chefs, and no one was noticing,” Vaught says. “They are paying attention now. Another great result of this is that we will have a winner every year that is from Texas.”

    Where will those winners come from? For at least the next couple of years, repeat finalists like Steve McHugh (Cured in San Antonio), Bryce Gilmore (Barley Swine in Austin), and Michael Fojtasek (Olamie in Austin) may finally win medals. That could open room for a new generation of chefs such as Martin Stayer of Nobie’s or Ryan Lachaine of Riel.

    The trick will be for the various voting members to avoid the trap of just focusing on Austin, which tends to draw more Beard Award voters, due to events such as South by Southwest and the Austin Food & Wine Festival. Responsibility for selecting the semifinalists will fall on the Beard Foundation’s restaurant and chef awards committee, which now includes a new Texas representative. Houston Chronicle food critic Alison Cook has replaced Texas Monthly editor Pat Sharpe.

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    news/restaurants-bars

    where to drink now

    16 Houston establishments churning out refreshing frozen cocktails

    Brianna Griff
    Jun 10, 2025 | 3:06 pm
    Solarium Frozen Cocktails
    Photo by Swiggard Creative
    The newly opened Solarium serves up racketball games and four frozen cocktails to sip on.

    If we’re going to endure another scorching Houston summer, we might as well do it with a frozen cocktail in hand. Fortunately, the city’s bartenders know how to keep us cool, serving up an impressive array of boozy adult slushies. Go ahead and bookmark this list—you’re going to need it.

    Brennan’s
    The most elaborate drink on this list, the Bananas Faster at Brennan’s is an ode to the original bananas Foster at Mr. B’s Bistro in NOLA. Bartenders sauté bananas in butter and sugar, then flambé them with rum and cinnamon before blending with Bacardi rum and soft serve. It’s topped with a banana slice, cinnamon, and an optional Mount Gay Dark Rum floater.

    Confessions
    Pair a bowl of hookah with Sweet Surrender, an adults-only take on the Dreamsicle, at Confessions. The new South American-inspired spot in Upper Kirby swirls vanilla and whipped vodka with oranges, evoking the childhood treat.

    Grand Prize
    Ease up to the downstairs bar of this Montrose haunt for the 20th Century, a frosty concoction of gin, lemon, Lillet, and crème de cacao. Upstairs, the Frozen Miami Vice is on tap: a half-strawberry daiquiri and half-pina colada, which can also be served separately if desired.

    Happy Go Lucky
    The team behind The Burger Joint opened its new shaved ice and frozen cocktail concept just as Houstonians begin to melt. Here, patrons can find more than 20 frozens, from tart palomas to zesty mules. Order the Espresso and Cream — an espresso martini meets a scoop of vanilla ice cream — for a decadent treat.

    Hudson House
    It may claim to serve the “World’s Coldest Martini,” but for a truly shivering experience, order the frozen Bellini. This East Coast-esque establishment blends up “copious amounts of” vodka with fresh peach puree, before topping it with a Grand Marnier floater.

    Il Bracco
    The Post Oak Italian eatery is blending up The Bracco, a frozen greyhound of Aperol, New Amsterdam, and fresh grapefruit. Best of all, it's available to-go in half-gallon bottles.

    Johnny’s Gold Brick
    The Tastemaker Awards’ 2025 Bar of the Year winner offers a savory slushy sipper this summer with the Garden Party. Inspired by watermelon gazpacho, bartenders Ryan Suhl and Trent Lee created a refreshing gin-based blend of juniper-forward genever, watermelon, bell pepper, herbal liqueur, lime, salt, and lemon olive oil. Or, opt for the frozen margarita, a staple on the menu.

    Monkey’s Tail
    This tropical Linden Park spot features two frosty mainstays: Tommy’s Marg, built with blanco tequila, agave nectar, gomme syrup, and fresh lime, and the sweet-spicy Chile Mangonada, a rum-tequila combination with mango nectar, passion fruit, and a chamoy swirl. Current seasonal specials are the Northside (cucumber gin, tequila, mint syrup, lime, and firewater bitters) and the dessert-like combo, Banana Colada (Jamaican rums, pineapple, banana liqueur, banana pudding mix, coconut cream, and whipped cream) — but operating partner and frozen fan Lainey Collum reserves the right to switch things up at any time.

    Refuge
    The lively cocktail bar's Tropic Summer returns for 2025 with a fresh menu that includes the Blended Sling, a vibrant drink made with saffron-infused Vietnamese gin, pineapple sherbet, pomegranate, cherry liqueur, Curaçao, Benedictine, and a dash of Angostura.

    The Savoy
    This historic neighborhood bar in Third Ward features Sneaky Link, the locale’s rendition of a Branson Peach Sidecar, and the Emancipation, which blends the house frozen margarita with 818 Tequila Reposado, pineapple, and fresh strawberries.

    Solarium
    What’s a better pick-me-up after a sweltering game of pickleball than a frozen cocktail at Rex Hospitality’s latest addition to the racket sport craze? The stylish lounge offers four options worth sipping: the 820 Marg (blanco tequila, curaçao, lime, agave), El Mercado (a house take on a mangonada), Purple Drank (12-year aged rum, coconut, ube, pineapple, lime), and the Courtside Frosé, made with blood orange vodka, citrus, and rosé.

    Starduster Lounge
    The recently-opened, West Texas-inspired bar in the Heights serves an updated version of the Frozen Shandy that was a smash hit at D&T Drive-Inn. Now dubbed the Rio Red Shandy, the drink combines Lone Star beer, lemon, grapefruit, and vodka for a refreshing, citrus forward sip.

    Two Headed Dog
    This intimate Midtown dive always has four frozens on rotation. The current lineup includes the gin-based Blood of My Enemies, featuring pomegranate, hibiscus, and pineapple, and the Siren’s Drawl, a rum-based concoction with kiwi, mango, honey, and allspice, served with a flaming lime boat. Mezcal lovers will appreciate the Smoking Diablo, featuring crème de cassis, ginger, and lime, while the no-nonsense Big Ass Margarita rounds out the offerings.

    Under the Volcano
    The tiki bar offers two simple, yet delightful, frozen riffs on classics: the Screwdriver, where orange juice meets vodka, and a Cuba Libre, which is essentially a Coke Slurpee with the addition of rum and fresh lime juice.

    Voodoo Queen
    This daiquiri dive is a frozen fan’s paradise, with eight machines spinning boozy slushies at all times. Owner Brandon Young recommends the house-favorite The Bends, a banana daiquiri consisting of two rums, 151, and Everclear. Most of the bar's other creations are made with rum and 151, but the margarita keeps it classic with 100 percent blue agave tequila and orange liqueur.

    Still can’t decide? The bar will also combine its frozen creations to make over-the-top combos, such as the Caribbean Xanax, a crowd favorite that combines The Bends, Tropical Depression, Mango Larry, Pineapple Express, and a splash of Demerara 151. And don’t sleep on the hand-spun 151 daiquiris.

    Winnie's
    The Midtown bar has created a frozen version of the tiki favorite the Saturn that's made with gin, toasted almond orgeat, passion fruit, and lemon. Get it for $12 regularly, $6 during happy hour, or as part of a frozen flight with the bar's three other frozens — margarita, strawberry daiquiri, and peach bourbon iced tea.

    Happy Go Lucky frozen espresso martini
      

    Photo by Becca Wright

    Cool off with a frozen espresso martini at Happy Go Lucky.

    where to drinkcocktailsfrozen cocktails
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