Want to support local farmers, eat an amazing meal and help out neighbors in need all at once? Check out the Go Texan Restaurant Round-Up the week of September 28 – October 2, where participating restaurants will be serving special menus of fresh, local Texas ingredients, with some eateries even donating a portion of the proceeds to a local food bank. A complete list of participating restaurants can be found at the Go Texan Restaurant Round-Up Web site, but we recommend the pasta dishes at Frank's Chop House with chef Frank Butera's homegrown heirloom tomatoes, the special Go Texan menu at Hugo's including Costillas de Jabalí (Central Texas wild boar rack with mole coloradito and black bean tamales, acelgas and asparagus) and Camarones Envueltos (Gulf shrimp stuffed with jalapeño and Chihuahua-style cheese from Beaumont, wrapped in Texas smoked bacon and topped with a morita pepper salsa negra), and the special prix fixe Texas food and wine pairings at Mockingbird Bistro.
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Houston speakeasy ranks No. 59 on 100 best bars list for North America
A Houston hotel’s intimate speakeasy-style cocktail lounge has been ranked as one of North America’s best bars. Bandista, the hidden bar at the Four Seasons Hotel Houston, comes in at No. 59 on the list of bars ranked 51-100 that debuted on Monday, April 15.
“Secreted within the Four Seasons Hotel Houston, Bandista is part swanky 1920s cocktail lounge, part modern-day speakeasy,” the entry reads. “There’s Latin flavour running throughout the bar’s sophisticated cocktail offering, which mixes classic and contemporary styles and rare spirits in drinks like Dulce Far Niente – their take on a tiramisu reimagined as a cocktail complete with mascarpone mousse – and Writer’s Block 27 (two types of heritage gin, absinthe, lime, pineapple, cucumber).”
Bandista is the only bar in Houston to make the list, which made its debut for 2025. Austin favorite Nickel City ranked No. 70. The bars ranked No. 1-50 will be revealed in Vancouver on April 29. No bars in Texas made the 2024 edition of North America’s 50 Best Bars.
Opened in 2022, Bandista is hidden behind Toro Toro, the hotel’s pan-Latin steakhouse. With just 20 seats — 12 in the lounge and eight at the bar — the bar offers an intimate setting for drinks made with refined techniques and premium spirits. It regularly hosts pop-ups with guest bartenders from across the country and around the world, including Jewel of the South (New Orleans), Employees Only (New York City), and VIRTÙ (Tokyo).
Patrons make reservations for 90-minute seatings. The bar is open Wednesday-Saturday from 5 pm until midnight.
“This is an honour we are truly thrilled to have earned,” Four Seasons general manager Tom Segesta said in a statement. “We’re very proud of our Bandista team, who makes the experience there so memorable with beautifully-crafted cocktails, incredible service, and a setting like no other.”
The 50 Best brand is best known for its list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, which has been published annually since 2002. Disfrutar, a restaurant in Barcelona, tops the most recent edition of the list.
