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    where to eat on new year's eve

    Where to eat on New Year's Eve: 24 best Houston restaurants and bars for festive feasts

    Holly Beretto
    Dec 20, 2023 | 1:23 pm

    From big parties to intimate dining, restaurants all over Houston offer an array of ways to send 2023 out on a high note and ring in all the best for 2024.

    As always, reservations are highly recommended for a stress-free New Year’s Eve feast.

    13 Celsius
    The wine bar celebrates the changing of the calendar with a special, ticketed, five-course dinner with a 1920s Midnight in Paris theme. Guest chef Daniel Leal collaborates with 13’s chef Joe Apa on a menu featuring items like a morel tart with poached egg paired with 2018 Virna Borgogno nebbiolo Cannubi and brown sugar seared beef steak with a chimichurri butter paired with 2020 Chateau Dame de Montrose St. Estephe. Midnight brings a Champagne toast happens and an anniversary cake to celebrate 13 Celsius’ 17th year in business. The cost is $250 per person. Dinner starts at 8:30 pm. Reserve online.

    a'Bouzy
    Houston's destination for Champagne-infused dining offers a 'Beau' in the Snow New Year's Eve brunch, featuring a la carte dishes and $49 bottles of Beau Joie Special Cuvée Brut NV. Faux snowfall adds to the festive atmosphere. Reservations recommended. 10 am to 3 pm.

    Aiko
    The Washington Avenue sushi restaurant has a 17-course New Year’s Eve omakase experience for New Year's Eve. The thoughtfully curated menu features cold and hot dishes, assorted sushi/sashimi courses, and dessert selections from co-chefs Daniel Lee and Patrick Pham. The cost is $200 per person. Reservations are available between available from 5 to 10 pm. Reserve a spot online.

    Axelrad
    Head to Midtown for the bar's New Year's Eve backyard bash, featuring a DJ and a midnight Champagne toast. It's a chill way to ring in 2024. Noon to Midnight.

    Backstreet Cafe
    Tucked away in a corner of River Oaks, this cozy classic has a four-course, $79 dinner menu on New Year's Eve, including a sparkling cocktail toast at midnight and live music by Bob Chadwick. The menu includes selections such as lobster chowder, Gulf Coast beignets, chanterelle mushroom risotto, duck confit, red snapper, and hazelnut mousse. Reservations available from 5 to 10 pm.

    Bari Ristorante
    Dress to impress for this A Night at the Masquerade-themed New Year’s Eve party. Seatings are available at 7 pm and 9:30 pm, and specials will supplement the regular menu. Expect entertainment and a champagne toast at midnight. Black-tie and masks highly encouraged. Reservations strongly recommended.

    The Blind Goat
    Start your New Year's Eve festivities with brunch at this Spring Branch restaurant. Chef-owner Christine Ha has invited a group of her friends to contribute to a decadent brunch buffet. Participants include James Beard Award winner Tom Cunanan (Soy Pinoy) as well as CultureMap Tastemaker Award winner Gabe Medina (formerly of Click Virtual Food Hall), Daniel Lee and Patrick Pham (Aiko, Handies Douzo, Kokoro), and pastry chef Christina Au (Blacksmith). Priced at $109 per person, brunch is served from 11 am - 3 pm.

    Brennan's
    The elegant Midtown favorite ushers in the new year with a Texas-Creole bang. Diners can expect a special prix fixe menu, Champagne giveaways, and live music. Seatings are available from 5 to 9:45 pm. For reservations, call 713-522-9711.

    Chez Nous
    The cozy Humble favorite for French fare hosts a New Year's Eve gala with a four-course, pre-fixe menu. Options include lobster bisque, an Anjou pear and arugula salad, escargots, Dover sole, roasted veal, and a mocha-chocolate-almond opera cake. Seatings are available between 5 and 5:30 pm., 7 and 7:30 pm, and 9:15 and 10:00 pm. The price for the first two seatings is $125 per person; the cost is $150 per person for the final seating. Complimentary Champagne is available throughout the evening, as is complimentary valet parking. Call 281-446-6717 to reserve.

    Cocody
    The Montrose newcomer offers a five-course menu to ring in the new year. Begin with an amuse bouche, followed by open-faced Dover sole ravioli in sturgeon caviar beurre monté sauce, center-cut beef tenderloin with a cognac morel sauce, a cheese course, and Mandarin crepe log flambéed tableside. $160 per person plus beverages, tax & gratuity. 6 pm to midnight. Reservations required.

    Doris Metropolitan
    Feel like a super star at this red carpet-style event with DJ Just V, a balloon drop, festive favors, and more. The beats begin at 9 pm, followed by a champagne saber at 11:30, a New Years countdown and complimentary toast, and entertainment until 1 am. Black tie attire is encouraged.

    Georgia James
    Count down to 2024 with an indulgent four-course prix fixe menu ($150 per person). Selections include an A5 pierogi with crème fraiche and pearl onions, charred chicories with boquerones and preserved lemon, RC Ranch wagyu strip steak paired with bone marrow bordelaise and whipped potatoes or Alaskan halibut with Meyer lemon beurre blanc and king crab salad, and chocolate hazelnut cake. Wine pairings are available for an additional $75. Reservations required.

    Heights & Co.
    The restaurant's fireside festivities have been wildly popular, so it's no wonder they make an appearance on its New Year's Eve menu. Diners can get a three-course meal with a choice of appetizer and entree, with a s'mores board for dessert ($60 per person). There's a complimentary Champagne toast at midnight, and holiday movies will play all night long. Reserve online.

    J-Bar-M Barbecue
    The EaDo restaurant hosts a New Year's Eve Whole Hog Party in collaboration with barbecue virtuosos David Dan BBQ and Rosemeyer BBQ. The menu features a whole hog barbecue sandwich, nestled in a pretzel bun and accompanied by black-eyed peas, collard greens, and a Maui Wowie (Hot Hawaiian) sausage link. Tickets are $40 each and the event is limited to 100 guests. 11 am to 4 pm. Reserve online.

    La Colombe D'Or
    The historic Montrose hotel hosts its first-ever New Year’s Eve Bash, coinciding with the mansion’s Centennial. Enjoy cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, cigars and scotch, a DJ, and dancing into 2024. General admission tickets are $195 per person. Add to the festivities by starting the evening at the hotel's restaurant Tonight and Tomorrow, where guests will find a special dinner menu including tableside showpieces like chateaubriand and Crepes Suzette. The cost for dinner and general admission to the evening’s festivities is $289 per person. The cost of dinner only for $125 per person.

    Lei Low
    The Heights-area tiki bar continues its tradition of transforming itself into another iconic tiki spot for New Year's Eve by paying homage to El Floridita, the rum-soaked Havana hideaway where Hemingway bellied up to the bar. El Floridita favorites will be on the menu, augmenting Lei Low's usual creations. 4 pm to 2 am.

    Liberty Kitchen & Oysterette
    Ring in the New Year with a three-course wine dinner featuring Duckhorn wines. Choose from a first course of lobster bisque or roasted pear salad paired with Decoy Sauvignon; a second course of lobster tail medallions or Wagyu strip paired with Duckhorn Merlot, and dark chocolate mousse paired with Postmark Cabernet for dessert. The wine dinner is $99 per person.

    March
    The intimate, 28-seat restaurant pulls out all the stops on New Year's Eve with a six-course dinner augmented with premium wine selections. Expect a menu with dishes including Peperunata, featuring a delicately roasted pepper stuffed with king crab, served with Sicilian pistachio cream, salmoriglio and trout roe, and La Norma, an elegant arrangement of pasta with eggplant, tomato, basil, and ricotta salata stuffed gettoni under a tableside pourover of parmesan brodo. Reservations can be made online.

    Mimo
    The East End Italian restaurant will serve a four-course, $85 menu ($135 with wine pairings). Dishes include ricotta crostini, lentils with rapini, lasagna (choice of meat or vegetarian), and dessert. Reservations available online.

    Nobu Houston
    The multi-course omakase menu features a sashimi tasting with king salmon, tuna Yubuki, and Kan Buri pastrami, chef-selected sushi, and entrées like grilled A5 Japanese wagyu, umami snapper tempura, Maine lobster truffle miso, and cherry Baked Alaska. The cost is $200 per person. Find the full menu and reservation details online.

    State of Grace
    Texas persimmons, pappardelle, and iberico osso bucco are all on the pre-fixe New Year's Eve menu at this River Oaks restaurant. The cost is $145 per person, and an optional $45 or $95 wine pairing will enhance the evening's flavors. The full menu and reservations are available online.

    Tony's
    One of Houston's most iconic restaurants offers a four-course dinner for New Year's Eve, with a selection of starters, mains, and desserts. A live band adds to the elegance all night long. Reservations are available between 5:30 and 8:45 pm for $115 per person, and from 9:15 pm till the partying stops for $195 per person. A Champagne toast will take place at midnight. Reserve online.

    Travelers Table
    Global fare features prominently in this four-course pre-fixe menu, with selections such as Viet-Cajun fried oysters, falafel and beet hummus, crab samosas, and crispy pork belly in pasilla sauce. The cost is $95 per person. View the full menu and reserve online.

    URBE
    Head to Uptown Park for the restaurant's masquerade party, which includes passed bites, Mexican street food stations, a dessert table, cocktails, live DJ, festive décor, and more. Each ticket includes four specialty tequila cocktails (cash bar after) and sparkling toast at midnight. 8:30 pm to midnight. $85 per person plus tax and gratuity. Reservations required.

    Woman holding a flute of Champagne at Tony's restaurant

    Courtesy of Tony's

    Ring in the New Year with a four-course dinner and midnight Champagne toast at Tony's

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    Slowpokes is coming

    Sawyer Yards cafe closes as Astro-owned Houston coffee brand pivots

    Eric Sandler
    Jan 2, 2026 | 3:39 pm
    Maven Coffee Sawyer Yards interior
    Photo by Becca Wright
    Maven Coffee's interior will be renovated to reflect Slowpokes' style.

    A Houston hospitality group is shifting from operating cafes to selling coffee products to as many people as possible. Rex Hospitality’s decision to focus on products such as cold brew concentrate means that Maven Coffee in Sawyer Yards has closed, but the space will soon reopen as the newest outpost of a growing Houston coffee shop.

    Rex partner Juan Carlos de Aldecoa tells CultureMap that he and his business partners, attorney Jimmy Doan and Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr., have turned over the property to Slowpokes, the growing Houston coffee shop with locations in Garden Oaks, the East End, Levy Park, and more. While Rex is still operating Maven Coffee’s shop at the Thompson Hotel, the company is actively searching for a new operator who would keep the location open as Maven but free it from day-to-day oversight. The future of Maven’s coffee and cocktail stands at Toyota Center and Daikin Park has yet to be decided.

    “The cafes are brand plays for us,” de Aldecoa says. “We’re shifting that a bit. We still have more locations coming, but they won’t be operated by us. They’ll be licensing deals in different developments. That’s our new model.”

    Instead, the company will focus on growing Maven Coffee Company, which sells cold brew concentrate and other coffee products to both restaurants and directly to consumers. “We’ve had a record month-over-month. If we put the right amount of time and effort into this project, we can make a big impact. I feel that’s where our resources are best utilized,” de Aldecoa says.

    Later, he adds, “We’re in 14 different metros. We’d like to increase that to about 50 through our concentrate and having different sorts of products such as RTDs.”

    Rex opened Maven at Sawyer Yards in October 2024. Intended to be an all-day cafe, it served coffee and breakfast in the morning as well as a sophisticated dinner menu that included everything from roast chicken and spicy rigatoni to steak and octopus.

    Coming Soon to Sawyer Yards

    Slowpokes owner Mazen Baltagi tells CultureMap that, after building a friendship with de Aldecoa, he welcomed the opportunity to bring his coffee shop to Sawyer Yards. Having assumed control of the space on January 1, he’s optimistic that the new Slowpokes will open in March. Plans call for replacing the current interior with more homey fabrics and installing vintage speakers that are more in line with Slowpokes’ other shops. He thinks the location is ideal for Slowpokes, which has built a devoted following by selling coffee, beer, and wine that are paired with a diverse food menu built around sandwiches, flatbread pizzas, and breakfast items.

    “If you look at all of our locations, most of them aren’t necessarily in high-traffic areas. They’re in underserved areas — besides [nearby] Catalina Coffee, which we’re huge fans of, but they don’t have food [other than pastries] or Wi-Fi,” Baltagi says.

    In particular, Baltagi thinks Slowpokes will appeal both to area residents looking for a coffee shop where they can get a little work done and to people exercising at nearby gyms such as Orange Theory and Momentum Climbing Gym. Slowpokes will also build on some of Maven’s existing events, such as the monthly Cars & Coffee gathering and a weekly run club.

    “I think it’s a phenomenal brand that can get to 25-plus locations in the Houston area and throughout the state,” de Aldecoa says about Slowpokes. “I think they do a great job. They’ve figured out how to do it at scale. I’m excited for them, and they have a great model.”

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