Burrata Tartufo and Short Rib Rojo earned high marks at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo’s food-and-wine focused kick-off event. A sold out crowd of more than 6,000 people turned out for the annual Rodeo Uncorked! Roundup & Best Bites Competition.
Over 100 Houston-area restaurant served food at the event. In between bites, attendees could choose from a selection of more than 500 award-winning wines from the 2026 Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition. The annual competition featured 3,127 entries from a record 25 countries, including 567 from Texas and 225 from Oregon, this year’s featured region.
While attendees enjoyed all the food and wine, a panel of judges made up of restaurant professionals, media, and influencers awarded prizes in various categories. They recognized a range of dishes that included a tomahawk steak from Toro Toro at the Four Seasons Hotel, seafood pasta from a local catering company, chicken pot pie from Montrose favorite Southern Yankee Crafthouse, and a truffle burger slider from Tejas Brewery. In what has become an almost annual tradition, chicken tenders from Raising Cane’s took home one of the coveted prizes, earning third place in the Lone Star Entrée Award category.
Cotton Culinary made it back-to-back victories in the People’s Choice category with its “The Huntsman’s Harvest,” while second place went to Gus’s Fried Chicken.
Some of the crowd favorites from the non-winning dishes included lamb belly from Jūn, steak with chili crisp from downtown steakhouse Guard & Grace, and wagyu beef taco from Spring’s Belly of the Beast, which is led by James Beard Award-winning chef Thomas Bille. Pier 6 Seafood & Oyster House drew a long line for its innovative oyster stew pot pie, which was served in oyster shells.
Best Bites serves as the unofficial kick-off to Rodeo season ahead of the trail rides and barbecue cook-off that take place later this week. Those who missed the festivities have the opportunity to sample some of the winning wines in the Rodeo's wine garden, and many of the bottles will be auctioned off at the Rodeo Uncorked! Champion Wine Auction & Dinner on Sunday, March 1.
Here’s the full list of winners:
People’s Choice Award
1st: Cotton Culinary – The Huntsman's Harvest
2nd: Gus’s Fried Chicken – Fried Chicken
Outstanding Showmanship Award
1st: Creole Kitchen and Daiquiris – Creole Heaven
2nd: SheShe Treats – Iced Sugar Cookies
Tasty Tradition Award
1st: Coppa Osteria – Burrata Tartufo
2nd: Toro Toro Houston – Flamed Tomahawk
Trailblazer Appetizer Award
1st: Robinette Company Caterers – Cheddar Raspberry Bite topped with jalapeno bacon
2nd: Deuce of Spades Catering & Events – Seafood Pasts
3rd: Flora Mexican Kitchen – Cochinita Pibil
Lone Star Entrée Award
1st: House of Blues – Short Rib Rojo
2nd: Southern Yankee Crafthouse – Chicken Pot Pie
3rd: Raising Cane’s -- Chicken Finger with Cane’s Sauce & Garlic Butter Texas Toast
Two-Steppin’ Dessert Award
1st: Lemond Kitchen – Louisiana Bread Pudding
2nd: Guzel Cakes – Perfect Love Cheesecake
3rd: Kendal & Kelby’s Cheesecakes – Apple Crumble Cheesecake Stuffed Cookie
Rookie Award
Tejas Brewery – Truffle Burger Slider
Courtesy of Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
Cotton Culinary won People's Choice for its "The Huntsman's Harvest."
