root, root, root

All the grand-slam restaurant and bar specials every Houston Astros fan should catch for this year's playoff run

Home runs = free milkshakes.

Photo by Becca Wright

The Houston Astros are back in the playoffs where they belong. With the American League’s best record, fans have reason to believe they’ll be root, root, rooting for the home team all the way through the World Series.

And why not? After a dramatic, walk-off, three-run home homer by Yordan Alvarez devastated the Seattle Mariners in a nail-biting, 8-7 Game 1 win on Tuesday, October 11, Houstonians everywhere are ready to pack local bars, and restaurants to cheer the 'Stros on through the championship series.

With that ind mind, we've rounded a number of Houston-area bars and restaurants offering game day specials that are good for pre-game, during the game, post-game, and even the day after. Put on that Bregman or Alvarez jersey and root the team to another championship.

7 Pie
The newly opened pizza chain will sell diners a 12-inch pepperoni pizza for $7 after every Astros win.

Acme Oyster House
The Montrose location of this Louisiana favorite will feature $15 buckets of beer (six bottles or cans) during Astros playoff games. Customers can also take advantage of happy hour (2-6 pm Monday-Friday), which includes $1 raw Gulf Coast oysters, $1 off drafts, $2 off glasses of wine, and $3 off frozens.

Angel Share
The downtown bar opens at noon on game days. Located five blocks from the stadium, it will feature $5 drafts as well as half-off wine and half-off draft and frozen cocktails.

Be More Pacific
This lively Filipino spot in the Heights will take 10-percent off the bills of patrons who both wear Astros gear and sit at the bar. In addition, they’ll offer $3 drafts and $1 off Filipino beers.

Bovine & Barley
The downtown sports bar will offer $4s select beers, $5 bar bites, and take 10-percent off the tabs of people wearing Astros gear.

Brasserie du Parc
Located near Discovery Green, the French restaurant has a number of game day specials. That starts with a bar bites menu offering dishes such as $2 raw or baked oysters, $12 fish and chips, $10 fried shrimp, and an 8-ounce wagyu burger with fries for $10. Drink specials include $5 select beers, $7 glasses of house red or white wine, and $9 select cocktails.

The Burger Joint
All three locations of the popular burger restaurant will provide dine-in customers with free milkshakes every time an Astros player hits a home run.

Craft Pita
Buy two get one free dip at this Briargrove restaurant. Choices include hummus, spicy hummus, labneh, and babaganoush.

Ducky McShweeney’s Irish Pub
The Galleria-area bar and restaurant will offer specials that include a bucket of beer and cheese pizza for $25 as well as Astros-themed frozen cocktails.

Eight Row Flint
Agricole Hospitality’s casual bar will feature $5 game day nachos and hot dogs. Pair it with the Astros Thriller, a bucket of Karbach Crawford Bach and shots.

El Big Bad
Head to this margarita bar near Market Square for a Gameday Dog: a smoked sausage link topped with chopped fries, caramelized onions, and burger sauce ($4.50). As the restaurant advises, diners may want a fork.

Feges BBQ
The Spring Branch location has a number of specials, including $12 smoked meatballs, 10 wings for $15, 1-pound of rib tips for $10, $10 chopped brisket or pulled pork sandwiches, $10 half hog platter, and $8 Frito pie. Pair it with $3 select beers, and half-off select wines by-the-glass, and discounts on frozen margaritas.

Henderson Heights
Get $2 corn dogs during Astros games at this Washington Avenue spot that has 22 TVs. Diners will also find rotating drinks specials.

J-Bar-M Barbecue
The EaDo barbecue joint is offering eight smoked wings with a Lone Star beer for $15. Watch the game on one of the restaurant’s 13 TVs.

KP’s Kitchen
The Memorial-area favorite is offering 20-percent off its family pack to-go meals when customers say the word Astros when order. Choices include chicken tenders, baby back ribs, and burgers.

Monkey’s Tail
Get $12 Tecate Lite buckets at this bar in Lindale Park. In addition, sample a frozen Orange for $6 during happy hour.

Pitch 25
Located near the stadium, the soccer-themed bar will open at noon for Astros day game. Look for drinks specials such as the Space City margarita and the Orbit, an orange piña colada.

Ribeye & Rye
Get a free shot or mocktail every time the Astros score.

Riel
The Montrose restaurant will honor Lance McCullers, Jr. with its $7 LMJ shandy. In addition, look for special ballpark-themed bites (hot dogs, etc.) during happy hour (Monday-Friday, 5-6:30 pm).

Sticky’s Chicken
The Sawyer Yards favorite will celebrate every Astros win by giving customers two free wings over rice.

Tikila’s
The Heights-area patio bar will open at 2 pm on Thursday for the Astros game. Specials include half-off whiskey and $7 beer and shot specials. On Saturday and Sunday, fans wearing Astros gear will get 10-percent off their tabs. Best of all, every home run means free Jell-O shots.

Tobiuo Sushi & Bar
Customers wearing Astros gear get half-off yakitori skewers and $2 glasses of hot sake (wagyu excluded).

Underground Hall
The downtown food hall is serving $4 Crawford Bocks all day on game day.

The Upside Pub
Newly opened in Garden Oaks, this casual bar will feature $12 pitchers and free shots of beer for every home run. Food specials include a bacon-wrapped hot dog that’s topped with queso.

William Price Distilling
During any playoff game, get $5 beer, $5 house shot, and $9 frozen cocktails at this distillery in Garden Oaks-Oak Forest.

Xochi
Located next to Discovery Green, Hugo Ortega’s Oaxacan restaurant offers a $22 Tlayuda de Res (a large, thin Oaxacan tortilla topped with black beans, housemade quesillo, grilled skirt steak, chichilo mole and fresh greens) and choice of draft beer for $22 plus tax & gratuity.

houston-astros news-you-can-eat

hail to the chef

Food & Wine's Best New Chef list includes Gulf Coast-obsessed Houstonian

Photo by Ally Hardgrave

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A Houston chef is basking in the national spotlight. Food & Wine magazine has named Josephine’s Gulf Coast Tradition executive chef Lucas McKinney to its 2026 class of Best New Chefs.

Announced Tuesday, September 15, McKinney is one of 14 chefs nationally — and the only Texan — to receive the prestigious award. He joins a roster of local Best New Chef alumni that includes Michael Cordua (Churrascos, Americas), Bryan Caswell (Reef, Latuli), Chris Shepherd (Underbelly, Georgia James), Justin Yu (Oxheart, Theodore Rex), and Emmanuel Chavez (Tatemó), whose win in 2023 made him the first Houston chef to be named a Best New Chef since Yu in 2014.

Open since 2023, Josephine’s is a Gulf Coast-inspired seafood restaurant in Midtown. Named for McKinney’s great-grandmother Althea Josephine, its menu is inspired in part McKinney’s family history in the seafood business. It sources ingredients from across the Gulf Coast, including blue crab, redfish, oysters, and local produce.

Both Josephine’s and McKinney have already earned significant awards, including both Rising Star Chef of the Year and Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year in the CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, a Rising Star award from Star Chefs magazine, and a Recommended designation in the Michelin Guide.

“I don't know how to put it into words,” McKinney said in a statement. “Josephine's would be nothing without our team, the farmers and fishermen we’ve built relationships with, and our guests who support us. To be able to do something this big with Gulf Coast cooking – the fish we grew up eating, the crabs we grew up cooking, the oysters we shucked at home – means the world.”

McKinney has come a long way from his time as a line cook at Georgia James and a chef de cuisine at Hay Merchant. He credits Shepherd for pushing him to think about the future and what kind of chef he wanted to be.

"I didn’t know how big a moment that would be," McKinney tells CultureMap about his time at Hay Merchant. "The trust they put in me to have fun and cook. I look back, Chris would say, 'what do you want to cook?' I’d say a 'divey oyster bar.' Seven years later, we’re here in New York on the biggest stage with the best people. I’ll come back home on Thursday to shuck oysters."

In an essay on the Food & Wine website, Shepherd praises McKinney — who worked for him at Georgia James, Hay Merchant, and Georgia James Tavern — for the way the chef has embraced his Gulf Coast roots at Josephine’s. Shepherd praises many of the restaurant’s signature dishes, such as smoked red fish dip, gumbo, and Viet-Cajun crawfish, which sell “a few thousand pounds a week in peak season.” Shepherd notes that McKinney’s talents extend beyond his cooking.

“Chefs, staff, and diners are drawn to McKinney, not just because of how delicious his food is but because he is generous with what he knows,” Shepherd writes. “Spend enough time at Josephine’s, and you may find him pulling up a chair to explain the best way to eat a hard shell blue crab; I’ve seen him do it. In that moment, he’s passing along a Gulf Coast tradition that has been in his family for generations.”

Speaking to CultureMap from New York, Shepherd says McKinney came onto Food & Wine's radar after participating in last year's Southern Smoke Festival. Many of his fellow BNC alumni dined at Josephine's either before or after the festival.

"For me, every time you see someone who worked for you succeed, it’s a beautiful moment. All I want for them is to follow their dreams. It’s pretty amazing," Shepherd says.

Six of this year's BNC recipients, including McKinney, will participate in this year's Southern Smoke Festival, which is taking place at Discovery Green on Saturday, October 3. Southern Smoke shared which chefs are coming and what they're cooking in an email. Tickets for the festival are available here.

Food & Wine has named Best New Chefs since 1988. To be eligible, chefs must have led a kitchen for five years or less. The magazine’s editors travel across the country to scout applicants. Finalists undergo background checks, including anonymous surveys by the restaurant’s staff to evaluate the culture at their businesses. Previous recipients include culinary superstars such as Thomas Keller, David Chang, Tom Colicchio, and more.

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