No one knows Houston restaurants better than the people who run them, own them, and work in the kitchens. In this continuing series, CultureMap is asking our favorite foodie personalities around town where they go for great eats when they're not working.

Bill Floyd is a busy guy. He owns three of Houston's most buzzed about restaurants — Reef, Stella Sola, and Little Bigs — and is in the midst of working on El Real, the feverishly anticipated Mexican restaurant in the former Tower Theatre he's opening in early 2011 in conjunction with Houston food guru Robb Walsh.

Floyd tells us about the laid-back seafood place he always takes visitors to, his new Vietnamese favorite and the dessert that's stuck with him for more than a decade.

Restaurant to take out-of-towners to: For something casual I love Tampico Seafood. I absolutely love it, it's great. They have the best snapper in the city, the snapper a la plancha with the shrimp mojo de ajo. It's where I take people who come in town besides our restaurants.

Restaurant for a special occasion: Mark's or Hugo's are probably our two favorites. We really like Mark Cox and Tracy and Hugo, they are great people and their restaurants are fantastic.

Favorite meal: Pagoda Vietnamese Bistro on Shepherd, right across the parking lot from Cadillac Bar. They make a pork hot roll, that's so delicious, it's the best thing in the city. It's been open four or five months and we eat there every other week.

Breakfast/Brunch favorite:La Mexicana for breakfast, they have just great huevos rancheros. For brunch it would have to be Hugo's again.

Dessert: That's easy, my absolute favorite is a dessert at Américas called the Pio Dias. It's a tequila bread pudding and it's the best thing in the world.

When I was president of Churrascos I ate it all the time and it's been about 12 years and I still eat it.

Other articles in the Houston Chef's Table series:

Lee Ellis loves Les Givral

Sugar hooker Rebecca Masson can't get enough of Catalan's Cake

Beachy L.J. Wiley digs the special occasion simple flavors at Dos Brisas

David Grossman goes for Vic & Anthony's crab cake, Yelapa late nights & some Bootsie

Jeramie Robison appreciates Kata Robata's sushi, Beaver's bangin' meatloaf & foodie chicks

Tony Mandola finds breakfast magic at Sunrise Taquitos

Philippe Schmit craves a Picnic romance & Stella Sola's French toast

Benjy Levit is torn between Indika's salads and Hank's Ice Cream

Flora & Muse's David Luna likes to hang with his fishing buddy and hit the Blue Nile

Asian Bistro's Gigi Huang seeks out spicy fried chicken at a Dive

Hugo Ortega believes in a Goode tradition

Soma Sushi's Jason Hauck is anti-brunch, pro-Feast

Jenni Tran-Weaver can't get enough hot pot

Bistro Alex's Juan Carlos Gonzalez finds a great $1.50 meal & giant key lime pie

Mockingbird Bistro's John Sheely treasures homemade Mexican & cool Connie's Seafood

Elizabeth Abraham dishes on her secret Royal Restaurant

Fleming's Jason Cole finds Texas' best barbecue, surf secrets

Kraftsmen Cafe's Scott Tycer hungers for the Taco Nazi's tortillas

Robert Del Grande reveals his IHOP regular past & his Baskin beginning

Ristorante Cavour's Renato De Pirro finds hidden food gems

Chip Hight adores Queen Vic, but he's still a Le Peep kind of guy

Food snob Craig Mallinson unearths the best steak in Houston