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Houston Mexican restaurant makes list of America's 38 most essential eateries

Three Texas establishments appear on Eater restaurant editor Bill Addison's list of America's 38 most essential restaurants, but he's mixed things up for 2016. Only one, Austin's Franklin Barbecue, returns from previous years; Houston Mexican restaurant Hugo's and San Antonio Tex-Mex institution Garcia's Mexican Restaurant appear for the first time.

Off the list are Houston's Oxheart restaurant, which announced last week that it will close in March, and Tei-An, the Dallas soba noodle palace from renowned chef Teiichi Sakurai. Both restaurants appeared on both the 2015 and 2016 versions of the list. Overall, 20 restaurants returned from last year.

"Each of these restaurants also leads the dining conversation in their communities — and by extension, the nation. Together, they form a mosaic illustrating how we eat in this country, and how we build culture around food," Addison writes. Later, he adds "Both inclusion and exclusion ultimately always come down to the question of which restaurants feel most relevant right now — even if their relevance comes in the form of a certain timelessness."

Franklin Barbecue's inclusion on all three incarnations of Addison's list grants it a place in Eater's "Hall of Fame," along with 12 other establishments that offer some of the country's most outstanding dining experiences. "Like seeing the Grand Canyon or the Statue of Liberty, everyone should experience the long waits and ample rewards of Franklin Barbecue at least once," Addison writes.

Hugo's, the restaurant where five times James Beard Award finalist Hugo Ortega explores the diversity of regional Mexican cuisine, makes it debut on the list after also appearing in Addison's self-described "love letter" to Houston that he wrote back in April. "(Ortega's) mastery of chiles and meats and maize (truly, don’t miss the lechón with habanero salsa and tortillas) stands out even in a city rife with excellent Mexican restaurants," the critic opines.

Ortega's wife and business partner Tracy Vaught tells CultureMap that they are "humbled and thrilled" to appear on the list. "Speaking for our team . . . I know each of us will work just a little bit harder in the coming year to be worthy."

Garcia's Mexican Restaurant made an adjacent list of "standout singularities" in 2016, but makes the jump to the master list for 2017. Addison acknowledges that picking one Tex-Mex restaurant to represent the entire cuisine constitutes "fighting words," but the former Dallas Morning News critic is ready for the argument. "Let’s squabble at Garcia's, while we scarf down a Deluxe Mexican Dinner plate (it includes two cheese enchiladas, a pork tamale, and the essential web of yellow cheese, for starters) and two of the restaurant's unorthodox, awesome tacos: one with brisket, and one folded around a bone-in pork chop," he proposes.

Hugo's appears on Eater's list for the first time.

Photo by Julie Soefer/Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau

Hugo's appears on Eater's list for the first time.

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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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