where to eat on independence day

These Houston restaurants are celebrating July 4 with food and drink deals

Houston restaurants are getting into the spirit of America’s semiquincentennial with all sorts of Independence Day-inspired food and drink specials. From red, white, and blue doughnuts to a bluegrass brunch, this article offers a range of experiences designed to appeal to a wide range of tastes and price points.

Those making dining plans on July 4 should note that some restaurants will be closed, so always confirm in advance by calling or checking social media.

Of course, CultureMap has also compiled a list of Houston-area fireworks celebrations to complete your Independence Day experience.

Boo’s Burgers
The Tastemaker Award-nominated burger stand on the Navigation Esplanade will be open with its regular hours and familiar menu of smash burgers, spicy chicken sandwiches, and fried mushroom sandos.

The Branch at Forme
Operated by Lucille’s Hospitality Group, the restaurant’s Independence Day party will feature an open bar, passed appetizers, live music, and views of fireworks from the 12th-floor pool deck.Tickets are $125, and the party begins at 6 pm.

Brennan’s of Houston
The Creole institution will host its All-American Bluegrass Brunch from 11 am-4 pm. The event will feature a bluegrass band roaming through the dining room, along with an a la carte brunch menu featuring dishes such as chicken fried steak and eggs, shrimp and grits, chicken and beignets, eggs Benedict, fried seafood platters, and desserts. Reservations are recommended.

Feges BBQ
The restaurant’s Spring Branch location will be open from 11 am-9 pm with its full menu of creative craft barbecue, including a special Fourth of July board that’s designed to feed four people for $70.

Fielding’s Steak
The River Oaks restaurant is adding some holiday specials to its regular menu. They include: Taleggio cheese sticks with Calabrian hot honey and crème fraîche ranch; the 1776 Burger that’s topped with smoked bacon, pimento cheese, grilled jalapeños, onion rings, and chipotle aioli; and Camp Fire S'mores made with gooey brown butter cake, chocolate crémeux, toasted marshmallow, and bourbon caramel. The restaurant will serve brunch on Friday beginning at 11:30 am, weekend brunch beginning at 11 am, and dinner all three days beginning at 5 pm.

The Finn
Pre-game Freedom Over Texas at this downtown food hall’s Fourth of July patio party. Held from 3-6 pm, it will feature Korean-style corn dogs from Nyam Nyam with a soundtrack from DJ Mike Bondz. Cocktail and beer specials will also be available.

Little Woodrow's
The casual sports bar will offer select drafts for $2.50 all day. It also recently introduced a new food special — Hot American Sliders (wagyu beef topped with bacon, fresh jalapeños, onion, American cheese, lettuce, and pickles) — as well as a spiked cherry limeade made with vodka and black cherry purée.

Long Weekend
The ranch-inspired restaurant in Lazybrook/Timbergrove is throwing a backyard barbecue to celebrate the holiday. Beginning at 11 am, it will add specials such as a BBQ Plate with ribs, chicken, and sides as well as a beef hot with all the fixins and a “Little Wrangler” hot dog for kids. The party will also include a dunk tank, face painting, and live music from Amanda Kate Riley.

New York Deli
The bakery and diner will celebrate the holiday with red, white, and blue bagels ($3). It’s open from 7 am-4 pm.

Pier 6 Seafood & Oyster House
The acclaimed seafood restaurant’s annual waterfront extravaganza will feature live music, carnival games, performers, face painting and drink specials. It ends with a fireworks show over the water.

Shipley Do-Nuts
Participating locations will sell a doughnut frosted with red, white, or blue icing and topped with sprinkles. It’s available through July 5.

Tacodeli
All three Houston-area locations of the Austin-based restaurant will be selling breakfast tacos for $2.50 until 3 pm. Choices include bacon, egg, and cheese; sausage, egg, and cheese; potato, egg, and cheese; bean and cheese, Suavecito, the current “Special of the Moment.”

The Union Kitchen
All three locations of the globally-inspired comfort food restaurants will offer happy hour prices all day on cocktails and spirits (but not wine or beer). Hours are 10 am-10 pm. Reservations are recommended.

Courtesy of Long Weekend

Long Weekend is serving a barbecue plate on July 4.

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bring on the Bacalhau

Michelin-starred Houston restaurant heads to Portugal for new season

Photo by Zach Horst

No conversation about Houston’s best restaurants would be complete without mentioning March, Goodnight Hospitality’s Mediterranean-inspired, fine dining, tasting menu restaurant in Montrose.

For its 12th season, which begins this Friday, August 7, March will take a broad look at Portugal. Over the course of pre-dinner snacks in its lounge, seven courses in its dining room, and take away desserts, chef-partner Felipe Riccio and his team will guide diners through all aspects of Portuguese cuisine, including its trade routes with China, India, and North Africa.

Riccio tells CultureMap that Portugal was the logical follow up to March’s 11th season, which examined northern Spain. He began the research process a few months ago, drawing upon published literature, cookbooks, and his own experiences as a stage at a restaurant in Lisbon. More than a menu update, seasons at March also include changes to the beverage offerings and creating service touches that enhance the experience.

Photo by Zach Horst

Rabbit cozido.

“Portugal is so close geographically to the north of Spain, and there’s a lot of similarities,” he says. “The menu really explores a lot of places outside of the Mediterranean where the Portuguese had influence and were influenced by. It’s all these trade routes.”

Priced at $230 plus drinks, tax, and gratuity, a meal at March begins in the lounge with four snacks, including a peri peri-spiced duck rillette, a delicate tart with lobster and caviar, a tempura-fried fish (peixinhos da horta) and the Macau-inspired porcho balichao made with manilla clams.

As always, March brings premium ingredients to its take on classic dishes. For example, it sources Japanese Almaco Jack for a crudo that’s inspired by Portuguese salt cod (bacalahua). Cozido, a slow-cooked stew that’s a staple of Portuguese cooking, gets reinterpreted as a house made rabbit sauce with foie gras. Riccio acknowledges that diners expect a certain level of luxury at this price point, but diners may not always realize how valuable properly-sourced ingredients are.

“I don’t think it always has to be so overt. I think the majority of people, the experience as a whole delivers that value,” Riccio says.

Similarly, the Portugal menu continues March’s move to a set, seven-course menu instead of giving diners the choice of either six or nine courses. Riccio see that as another sign of the restaurant’s maturity.

“A tasting menu is restrictive. We needed to earn that trust and give people options. I felt like people trust us and we’ve proved we can create an experience,” he says.

Since part of the criteria for a Michelin star is consistency across visits, March’s ability to hold its star while still changing its menu twice a year is a testament to the kitchen’s skill. Add in the server’s deep knowledge of every dish on the menu, its comprehensive beverage offerings, and a dining room that features museum- quality art, and it’s reasonable to think that March might become Texas’ first restaurant to earn a two-star rating. For his part, Riccio would welcome the recognition.

“I think March as an entire experience, as a restaurant day-in and day-out, we can be at that level. We strive to give people that experience to where they have that menu and feel it’s well worth it,” he says. “That recognition. I’ve seen what it means for the team, for the guests, and for the validation of the experience, and, obviously, for my career and the restaurant as a business.”

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