Vote for Houston's Ultimate Sports Bar

Houston's Ultimate Sports Bar Showdown: 16 favorites face off for the MVP title

CultureMap and SportsMap are teaming up to celebrate the return of the fall sports season with The Tailgate, our all-out party devoted to everything sports. It’s happening Wednesday, October 25 at Silver Street Studios, and tickets are already on sale.

For The Tailgate’s second year, we’re inviting CultureMap and SportsMap readers to vote for Houston’s best sports bar in our Ultimate Sports Bar Showdown. Our panel of editors and other local experts has compiled a roster of 16 local favorites with an array of different strengths. Some are owned by professional athletes, while others are part of local or national chains.

Some are big enough to accommodate hundreds of people at a time, while others are more intimate. Regardless of the specifics, they all offer a lively atmosphere for rooting on all of our favorite teams.

Rather than a head-to-head, bracket-style tournament, we’re inviting readers to vote for their favorite establishments from the entire field. The top half of all vote getters will advance to the next round as we go from 16 to eight to four to two to a winner. People may vote once per day, and voting will be monitored to ensure every establishment gets a fair shot to win. Vote here for your favorite.

Want to find out who wins? Join us at The Tailgate on Wednesday, October 25 at Silver Street Studios. Favorite restaurants such as FM Kitchen and Bar, Wild Concepts, Leaf & Grain, Ramen Tatsu-ya, and CultureMap Tastemaker Awards Best New Restaurant winner Aiko will serve sports-themed bites alongside many of our Ultimate Sports Bar nominees.

The event also will shine a spotlight on sports-related nonprofits and give you the chance to pitch in and make a difference for the causes they champion. Learn more about Dynamo and Dash Charities, Houston Texans Foundation, and others.

General admission ($50) and VIP ($75) tickets are on sale now. All tickets include bites by participating restaurants, complimentary premium beverages, and access to fun activities throughout the event. VIP tickets offer one-hour early entry, a dedicated VIP bar, and a meet-and-greet with former Houston Texans star Jonathan Joseph. Buy them now.

Not sure who to vote for? Read on for profiles of all 16 nominees. May the best sports bar win.

Biggio’s
The first of three sports bar nominees tied to a professional athlete, Biggio’s honors Craig Biggio, the first player to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame wearing an Astros cap. Located inside downtown’s luxurious Marriott Marquis — yes, that’s the one with the Texas-shaped lazy river — Biggio’s features two, 30-foot tall screens that wouldn’t be out of place in a Vegas sportsbook. With an extensive cocktail selection and a wide-ranging menu, it’s an ideal place to celebrate an Astros win.

Christian’s Tailgate
Originally a legendary burger joint on the I-10 feeder, Christian’s has evolved into a four-location mini-empire of local sports bars. The burger still leads the way, of course, but they’re now joined by tacos, sandwiches, wings, and even salads. Daily specials and a generous reverse happy hour ensure fans stay properly motivated to root for their favorite teams.

Cobo’s
This EaDo bar’s proximity to both Minute Maid Park and Shell Energy Stadium has made it a favorite place for Dynamo fans and members of #AstrosTwitter to gather for pre and post-game celebrations. It probably helps that owner Raul Jacobo (aka Cobo) maintains such a fiery presence on the platform, posting in support of the local teams and mocking their rivals. The epic deliciousness of the signature brisket boudin mac and cheese quesadilla helps, too.

George Country Sports Bar
A Montrose favorite for more than 15 years, this gay sports bar subverts stereotypes and affirms that all Houstonians like to root for their favorite teams. When patrons aren’t watching TVs, they gather around the pool table or at the dart boards. Get there early on Thursday nights for the steak special as it routinely sells out.

Kirby Ice House
The lines about “everything is bigger in Texas” are mostly a tired cliche, but it is true at this three-location sports bar empire. Each one that opens debuts with what’s touted as “the longest bar in Texas” (surpassing its predecessor) — all the better to find a space to choose from the dozens of beer, wine, and cocktail options. The massive interiors and spacious patios also mean never having to struggle to find a place to watch one of the dozens of TVs that fill each location.

Little Woodrow’s
Given that it has locations all over Texas, including nine in Greater Houston, we probably don’t need to say much about Little Woodrow’s. We celebrate this local institution for its extensive beer selection, lively atmosphere, and hospitable service. No wonder that so many alumni groups make it their game-watching destination of choice.

Maple Leaf Pub
Among sports fans, it’s routinely acknowledged that the NHL playoffs are the most exciting tournament of the four major professional sports. Hockey-loving Houstonians know that the most exciting place to watch the NHL is this Midtown bar. Being surrounded by like-minded fans always creates a festive atmosphere, as does the Molson on tap and the signature poutine.

McIntyre’s
With its casual, indoor-outdoor space, dog-friendly environment, and signature swings, both the original Shady Acres location and downtown outpost have become popular destinations. TVs everywhere allows fans to follow multiple games at once — perfect at times like the NCAA tournament or when watching the Rangers choke away the division. The formula has proven popular enough to sprout two locations in San Antonio and a new Webster expansion that’s opening soon.

Nick’s Place
For almost 30 years, this West Houston sports bar has prided itself on showing every major college and pro game — as well as boxing, UFC, and WWE — on its more than 40 TVs. Serving food until 1 am means that fans can get a signature calzone or other Italian American favorite even when the games go into overtime. Weekday happy hour specials keep regulars coming back again and again.

Patterson Park
Fans of the Longhorns, Aggies, and LSU Tigers have made this Heights-area patio bar their game day destination. Patterson Park caters to their interests with team-themed drink specials, food trucks, and more than 40 TVs spread throughout its inviting, treehouse-inspired atmosphere. Co-owner Lonnie Schiller, one of the Houston hospitality legends who founded concepts such as Cafe Annie and Cafe Express, ensures that friendly, welcoming service will always be a priority.

Pitch 25
Dynamo legend Brian Ching partnered with the owners of the Kirby Group (Heights Bier Garten, Holman Draft Hall, etc.) on this sprawling bar in EaDo. Located blocks from Shell Energy Stadium, it’s become a favorite pre and post-game destination as well as one of the city’s most popular destinations to watch the World Cup and other global tournaments. Those who are feeling particularly athletic can show off their skills on on its indoor pitch.

The Phoenix on Westheimer
This intimate Montrose pub is a favorite of sports fans who appreciate its welcoming atmosphere and elevated pub group that caters to the neighborhood with well-executed plant-based dishes. The 24 TVs mean never missing a critical play. Regular parking lot parties take the fun outside.

Pour Behavior
At 18,000-square-feet, this massive Midtown bar offers plenty of room for watching the game. A scratch-made kitchen, including Italian-style pizzas made with imported flour, offers a fresh alertnative to typical pub fare. Beer towers, bottle service, and craft cocktails help fans keep their spirits up throughout the night.

Quad Houston Restaurant & Sports Lounge
Our third athlete-owned establishment comes from native Houstonian Michael Brockers, who had a distinguished career at LSU before playing for the Rams and Lions. Newly opened in Third Ward, Quad and its companion cigar lounge The Den feature a menu of elevated, Southern-style fare such as blackened salmon and shrimp and grits. With more than 40 TVs, fans will never miss a pitch, snap, or corner kick.

Rockhouse Southern Kitchen
Among our most recently-opened nominees, this concept from the minds behind Patterson Park and The Warwick features a lively game day atmosphere that’s backed up by a game day Goal Line menu. It features specials such as red and blue frozen cocktails, $15 domestic buckets, and massive platters that combine wings, chicken tenders, and Rockhouse’s signature oxtail egg rolls. On weekends, the restaurant lives up to its name with live music in a variety of genres.

Twin Peaks
With more than 100 locations across the U.S. and Mexico, Twin Peaks is arguably the country’s most successful sports bar. While the attractive staff gets people in the door the first time, they come back for scratch-made food that includes in-house smoked pork ribs and chicken wings. Cold beers and plenty of TVs further enhance the game day atmosphere.

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The Tailgate is sponsored by Bud Light, NÜTRL Vodka Seltzer, Cutwater Spirits, 1800 Tequila, Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, and more to be announced.

Pour Behavior/Facebook

Watch the game on Pour Behavior's 42 giant TVs.

news-you-can-eat sports bar

Notes from a chef

Globe-trotting Houston chef reviews Noma's $1,500 Los Angeles pop-up

Courtesy of David Skinner

Pink pepper Dungeness crab.

[Editor’s note: When David Skinner, chef and owner of Kemah’s celebrated eculent and Ishtia restaurants, offered to share his experience eating at one of the world’s best restaurants, we said, of course. Read on for his experience at Copenhagen restaurant Noma’s pop-up in Los Angeles that took place this summer. Take it away, David.]

The crab was alive a few minutes before I ate it.

Just before service, the kitchen broke down a Dungeness crab and set it over open charcoal, the downtown Los Angeles skyline behind the smoke. It came to the table wreathed in dried pink pepper branches, with a butter sauce built on the same pepper. I've eaten crab all over the world — this was maybe the best crab ever.

That was the first of 17 courses at Noma LA, and the best bite of the afternoon. Leading with your best shot is either confidence or a statement. By the end of lunch, I'd decided it was both.

The residency had begun in turmoil. Founder René Redzepi stepped away from the residency the day it opened, following a news investigation into allegations of demeaning treatment of staff — conduct that had been discussed in industry circles for years. Protesters gathered at the gate that day. The kitchen, led by Pablo Soto, carried on through the residency's close on June 26.

I went for lunch at the Paramour Estate, the 1920s Mediterranean mansion in Silver Lake that Noma called home for 16 weeks. For more than 30 years, I've traveled the world in search of culture, a little mystery, and always food, eating everywhere from strangers' kitchen tables to three-Michelin-star dining rooms.

As the chef behind eculent and Ishtia in Kemah, I also eat with a cook's eye — which means I'll tell you what was brilliant and what was oversalted. Noma LA had a little of both, but after a half dozen meals at Noma over the past 10 years, I can say this one was a standout.

The setup

The logistics alone are remarkable. Noma relocated roughly 130 staff members and their families to Los Angeles and built a pantry sourced within 300 miles of the mansion. Lunch ran 17 courses over about four hours at $1,500 per person, including beverages and gratuity.

Chef Soto greeted us at the entrance with the full kitchen staff, a Noma tradition. By the time I arrived, the protesters were long gone, and the brigade seemed to be cooking with a sense of relief.

Rather than choose between the wine pairing and the nonalcoholic program, we asked our server, Mara, to mix the two course by course. She nailed it, moving from a sparkling rose-and-pink-pepper drink to a bright cherimoya lemonade to a 25-year-old Tony Coturri zinfandel from Glen Ellen that became the table's favorite pour.

The standouts

The crab. It opened the meal, and nothing that followed topped it. The pink pepper did double duty with the dried branches perfuming the shell, the butter sauce carrying a gentle heat — the sweet, smoky meat needed nothing else. Alongside came a 2022 Phelan Farm chardonnay from Rajat Parr's Cambria operation: white Burgundy in spirit, California in its bones.

The cactus. Pickled tacinga cactus, marinated in Oaxacan mezcal and citrus and crowned with honeypot ants, arrived beneath a live cactus paddle with a eucalyptus handle.

The acorn. A single braised acorn, glazed with black pepper, sat atop an uni custard made with Santa Barbara sea urchin and caviar in hoja santa oil. The server described it as a nod to California's Indigenous peoples. As a Choctaw, whose ancestors relied on acorns for thousands of years, I felt that one. It was also the most technically accomplished savory course of the meal.

The seaweed and clams. Six varieties of Southern California seaweed with butter-kissed clams tasted like the coast itself. This is Noma at its best: not interpreting California so much as listening to it.

The tuna eye. I've eaten cod eye at Noma in Copenhagen, but this version was way better. The kitchen removed the tough cornea, replaced it with a thin disk of kumquat, and served the eye chilled inside a ruby-red banana flower bract. Rich and gelatinous, it's eaten in one bite. When our table wondered aloud where the rest of all that tuna goes, Mara had the answer: family meal for the staff.

The kelp mole. Grilled greens, a squash blossom stuffed with huitlacoche, and an artichoke on its stalk arrived with tortillas from Komal, one of Los Angeles's top heirloom molinos, paired with a mole built on kelp.

Between the acorn, the cactus, and the mole, a question kept surfacing: what does it mean for a Danish kitchen to arrive in someone else's pantry and cook as though it has always been there? Some of these ingredients have fed Indigenous and Mexican cooks for centuries. Noma handled them with obvious respect and real curiosity. Sometimes, though, the line between homage and borrowing comes down to whether you're willing to say the name out loud.

Dessert kept the surprises coming, including a macadamia custard served in a sunflower whose base turned out to be beeswax. The finale arrived as a bundle of ferns tied with string. Diners snip it open with tiny scissors to find a chocolate cookie and a fortune inside. Mine quoted Nietzsche: You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.

Nietzsche, at $1,500 a head, in a Silver Lake mansion, from a kitchen whose founder walked away on opening day while protesters stood at the gate. The kitchen knew exactly what it was doing.

The full menu, course by course

For those keeping score, here's the complete lineup.

Pink pepper Dungeness crab
Daylily crab dumpling — The rest of the crab, tucked inside a trumpet-shaped daylily with buds plumped in crustacean liquor. The flower dominated; the crab was the reason to eat it.
Chilled lobster broth — Spiny lobster stock, dashi, and elderflower oil served chilled in the lobster's own coral-colored shell. A palate reset dressed as a course.
Spot prawn with matcha — Served in real seaweed, the head filled with smoked pumpkin paste for sucking, the tail painted with matcha. Paired with the 2024 Verso from Caleb Leisure in Sebastopol.
Sea urchin custard and braised acorn
Cactus with mezcal
Ragout of California botanicals — Seasonal greens, peas, and herbs in a warm, quiet preparation, tied together by a hint of horseradish.
SoCal seaweed and clam
Tuna neck — Minced tuna neck in a koji-inoculated steamed bun with the texture of suede, topped with translucent shards of dried chicken-stock skin. Paired with the 2000 Estate Zinfandel from Tony Coturri.
Tuna eye
Black pearl rice steamed in avocado leaf — Ringed with pistachio oil and scattered with dime-sized macadamia slices. Humble ingredients in the spirit of California great Jeremiah Tower.
Morels with habanero and yuzu — Sierra Nevada morels on turkey-tail mushrooms over hot stones. Bright and spicy, but heavy on the salt.
Greens and grilled artichoke in spiced kelp mole
Cherimoya and lemongrass — A green cocoa butter shell shaped like a cactus, hiding a smooth cherimoya ice cream. A California fruit most California menus ignore.
Macadamia milk custard and pistachio — Topped with heirloom Hong Kong kumquats from a handful of research trees that fruit four weeks a year, served in a beeswax-lined sunflower.
Silver Lake fortune cookie — A Chiapas chocolate mousse cookie garnished with insects, hidden in a bundle of ferns you cut open with tiny scissors. Fortune included.

The misses

Not every course landed. Morels with habanero and yuzu were oversalted, and some presentations were delivered too quietly to catch the full story. At $1,500 a seat, the storytelling should be as confident as the cooking.

The verdict

Having now eaten Noma's traveling editions in Tulum and Los Angeles, I'll offer an opinion that may be unpopular in certain circles: the pop-ups are better than Copenhagen. Maybe it's the hunt for new ingredients, or the urgency of a 16-week run in a borrowed house. Whatever the reason, the results are hard to argue with. I put that theory to the test in August, when I returned to Noma on my birthday, three days after it reopened with Soto at the helm. More on that meal soon.

Noma LA wasn't really a restaurant. It was an argument about a place, made in food, by people who flew 6,000 miles to make it. The argument was frequently brilliant, occasionally presumptuous, and closed with Nietzsche in a fortune cookie. On balance, it won.

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David Skinner is a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: Texas and the owner of eculent and Ishtia in Kemah. He also writes the culinary travel journal Destination Eater on Substack.

Courtesy of David Skinner

Pink pepper Dungeness crab.

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Notes from a chef

Globe-trotting Houston chef reviews Noma's $1,500 Los Angeles pop-up