NYT's Favorite Houston Restaurant
Houston soul food cafe makes New York Times favorite restaurants list
Don't skip the catfish at Viola & Agnes.
The New York Times has included three Texas restaurants — including one in the Houston area — on its annual list of “our 50 favorite places in America right now.”
They are:- Barbs B Q (Lockhart)
- Simply South (Irving)
- Viola and Agnes Neo Soul Cafe (Seabrook)
Published Tuesday, September 24, the list mixes newer restaurants that have opened since 2023 with older establishments. Overall, 26 states and Washington, D.C. are represented. California leads the way with five representatives, followed by New York with four.
Priya Krishna, a food reporter and interim restaurant critic, writes the entries for all three Texas restaurants.
At Viola and Agnes, a casual soul food restaurant that's located just down the street from NASA's Johnson Space Center, Krishna hails chef-owner Aaron Davis for dishes such as gumbo, fried catfish, and cornbread. “[Davis] — who has Louisiana roots and named the restaurant after his grandmothers — has spent the last few years honing this rustic Southern cooking that embodies all the delights this planet has to offer,” she writes.
Last year, Krishna included two Houston restaurants on the list: Mexican restaurant El Hidalguense and Southern restaurant Gatlin's Fins & Feathers.
Located in a former Tex-Mex restaurant, Simply South’s vegetarian fare has earned three-hour waits for dosas, chutneys, and other dishes from the region of Andhra Pradesh, in southern India. “The Sunday scene here speaks volumes: The wait is three hours, the chatter of Telugu fills the space and the tables are full of bisi bele bath, filter coffee and every variety of dosa and idli you can imagine,” she writes.
Barbs B Q is no stranger to the New York Times. It made the publication’s 2023 list of “The 20 Best Texas Barbecue Restaurants From the New Generation.” On this list, Krishna praises the way pitmaster Chuck Charnichart incorporates international flavors into her brisket, ribs, and sides. “Barbs B Q honors centuries of barbecue traditions while also bucking them,” she writes. “[Charnichart] brings a distinct point of view that makes her food stand out in a crowded meat landscape.”
