christmas day dining guide

Houston's best restaurants open for Christmas Day — dine-in or to-go

Bloom & Bee makes an appropriately festive location for Christmas Day dining.

Courtesy of Landry's

Even in a year as strange as this one has been, not everyone wants to stay home on Christmas. Some people don’t celebrate the holiday; others are bad cooks.

Regardless of the reason, Houston restaurants are ready to serve with options that range from prime rib to goat chops. The list below also includes a couple of our favorite Chinese-American spots for those people looking to celebrate what we typically describe as Jewish Christmas — even if the traditional trip to a movie theater is swapped out with watching Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max.

Many of the Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Thai, and other East Asian restaurants located along Bellaire Boulevard will also be open. We recommend calling your favorites to verify exact hours.

Aga’s Restaurant and Catering
Feast on goat chops, biryani, and other Indo-Pak fare at this Southwest Houston institution, 11 am-close.

Black Bear Diner
The family-friendly restaurant with seven Houston-area locations will be open for both dine-in and to-go with special three-course menus featuring turkey, ham, or prime rib.

Blacksmith
The popular coffee shop will be serving its finest lattes, scratch-made biscuits, and other fare from 8 am-2 pm.

Bloom & Bee
The restaurant located inside The Post Oak Hotel will feature a three-course, $85 menu that includes choices such as celeriac bisque, crab salad, pan-seared duck breast with foie gras, and prime rib with vegetables.

Bowl & Barrel
CityCentre’s fancy bowling alley will offer a limited menu of sliders and pretzels plus cold beer from 3 - 9 pm.

China Garden
The downtown institution opens at 11 am on Christmas to serve dumplings, egg rolls, and other Chinese-American favorites.

Chow Wok
General Tso’s chicken is the west Houston restaurant’s most-popular dish, but real fans know the shrimp egg rolls are also can’t-miss, 11 am - 9:30 pm.

Cleburne Cafeteria
The Houston institution will be open for dine-in and to-go from 11 am-8 pm with its familiar menu of classic comfort food and scratch- made desserts.

Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse
All of the Landry’s upscale steakhouses — including The Palm, Morton’s, Mastro’s, and Vic & Anthony’s — are open on Christmas. Rather than list them all as individual entries, we’ll highlight this option in the Galleria that’s feature prime rib in 16 and 20-ounce portions ($48 or $58) along with the rest of its classic steakhouse fare.

Doris Metropolitan
The Israeli-inspired steakhouse will be open for dinner on December 25, because nothing says Christmas quite like dry-aged beef, grilled octopus, and the best bread service in Houston.

Fielding’s Local Kitchen & Bar
This globally inspired restaurant in The Woodlands will serve brunch (until 3 pm) and dinner on Christmas. Featured specials include lobster bisque, garlic chili crab claws, and prime rib.

Grupo Herrera Restaurants
All of the company’s Houston-area restaurants — including five locations of Alicia’s Mexican Grille, Galiana’s Tex Mex & Agave Bar, Dario’s Steakhouse & Seafood, and Marvino’s Italian Steakhouse in Cypress — will be open from 11am to 9pm for both dine-in and to-go.

Himalaya
The CultureMap Tastemaker Awards Restaurant of the Year will open with its menu of acclaimed Indo-Pak fare as well as specials like smoked brisket tikka masala mac and cheese.

Le Colonial
The elegant Vietnamese restaurant in River Oaks District will be open on Christmas from 11 am-10 pm with a three-course prix fixe menu ($65, lunch; $85, dinner). Choices include over a dozen different starters and entrees, including lobster bisque, spicy beef carpaccio salad, bo luc lac, lamb chops, and five spice duck cassoulet. Wine pairings are available for an additional $65.

Mala Sichuan Bistro
All four locations — including the newly opened Sugar Land outpost — will be open for dine-in and to-go on Christmas.

Phat Eatery
Spice up Christmas with roti canai, beef rendang, and other Malaysian fare at this Katy restaurant. Open on Christmas from 11 am - 8:30 pm.

The Rustic
The Uptown Park location of the combination bar, restaurant, and live music venue will be serving tamales and beer from 4 - 9 pm.

Safina and The Naturalist Café and Lounge Bar
Located inside the InterContinental Houston in the Medical Center, the two restaurants will serve a limited menu that includes dishes such as braised short ribs and cioppino, 11 am - 10 pm.

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service switcheroo

Street food-inspired Houston restaurant swaps counter service for servers

Photo by Andrew Hemingway

Traveler's Cart is add new dishes to its menu, including steak frites and chicken parm.

A globally-inspired Houston restaurant is making a big change to its service model. Traveler’s Cart will switch from counter service to full service beginning this Monday, November 17.

When owners Thy and Matthew Mitchell opened Traveler’s Cart last year as a more casual sister concept to Traveler’s Table, their globally-inspired Montrose restaurant, they decided counter service would match the restaurant’s street food-inspired menu and lower price point. With a year of experience, they’ve decided full service — where diners sit down and order from a server — will improve the customer experience in a number of ways.

First, they noticed that some of their online reviews go to great lengths to explain the ordering process. Moving to traditional table service will elimination that confusion.

“We want to be like a great brasserie or izakaya where people come and enjoy food and drinks at a reasonable price,” Matthew Mitchell tells CultureMap. “There’s a lack of intuitiveness about the process right now. Almost a year in, we’re still having to explain where you go and how you order. That tells you we probably missed the mark.”

He also recognizes that the inherent uncertainty of counter service — people are concerned about how long they’ll have to wait to order and whether a table will be available once they do — limits the restaurant’s appeal as a date night option or for larger groups who want the certainty of having a place to sit.

Even though the restaurant has been a financial success, according to Mitchell, he thinks Traveler’s Cart is missing out on revenue with its counter service model. “I think people order less at the counter. You may not order a cocktail, and you certainly won’t get back up and order more drinks,” he says.

Switching to full service will also help the restaurant’s perceived value. With entrees mostly priced between $15 and $25, the restaurant may feel expensive relative to other fast casual restaurants. Once servers are added, Mitchell thinks diners will appreciate the value, particularly since its prices are about half of sister concept Traveler’s Table.

“I feel like the food quality is outstanding for the price, but when it crosses that $20 or $30 threshold, people perceive it as pricey,” he says.

Traveler’s Cart has other ways to enhance the value of its offering, such as its $18, three-course lunch that includes iced tea or a fountain drink. Happy hour, available Monday through Friday from 3-6 pm, includes $8 cocktails, $3 drafts, $8 small plates, and more.

Along with the new service model, Travelers Cart is updating its menu with a number of new dishes. They include Thai chili queso, Baja shrimp tacos, salmon donburi bowl, chicken parmesan, and steak frites. The cocktail menu has also been refreshed with a Mexican espresso martini and a Tuk Tuk Old Fashioned, named for the vehicle that now sits in front of the restaurant’s entrance.

Recently recognized by the Texas Restaurant Association as Restaurateurs of the Year for the Houston region, the Mitchells hope that these changes will lead to even more success. With the service style refined and the menu dialed in, they’re already looking for another location.

Photo by Andrew Hemingway

Traveler's Cart is add new dishes to its menu, including steak frites and chicken parm.

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