the polls are open

16 of Houston's best new restaurants compete for coveted Tastemakers title

For 10 of the 11 categories in the 2024 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, our panel of former winners and local food experts picks the winners. Best New Restaurant is the exception.

Our readers — food experts in their own right — choose the winner in a bracket-style, head-to-head tournament. The competition always produces surprising results. For example, who could have predicted that Aiko would edge out Burger Bodega for last year’s title?

Just as winning one of the judges’ prizes is extremely difficult, so too is winning the Best New Restaurant tournament. To keep things interesting, round one always matches up restaurants that have a common tie, whether it’s geography, style of cuisine, or something a little more ephemeral. Let the debates begin!

Voting is open now at this link. People may vote once per day. The results are closely monitored for cheating and other shenanigans, so don’t even try to game the system. Round one ends at 11:59 pm on Sunday, March 10.

Which restaurant will win? Find out March 27 at the Tastemaker Awards party. We’ll dine on bites from this year’s nominated restaurants and sip cocktails from our sponsors before revealing the winners in our short and sweet ceremony.

Buy your tickets now. VIP passes are already sold out. Don’t miss out on the remaining General Admission tickets.

Here are the eight matchups in the Best New Restaurant contest:

Andiron vs Annabelle Brasserie
Our first matchup features two of the newest restaurants to open along Allen Parkway. Andiron takes its owners' experiences at The Pit Room and Candente and applies it to steakhouses. The result is a live fire destination that serves luxurious ingredients in an intimate environment. French-inspired Annabelle is one of three restaurants Berg Hospitality opened in 2023. The restaurant’s classic comfort fare — think beef bourguignon and moules frites — matches with the interior’s eye-catching ceiling installation.

Balboa Surf Club vs Rumi’s Kitchen
This pairing features two of the restaurants raising the game on Post Oak Boulevard. Dallas-based Western Addition opened California-inspired Balboa as a follow up to 2023 Best New Restaurant nominee il Bracco. Both restaurants share a fastidious attention to detail that’s reflected in Balboa’s precisely prepared crab cake, fried oysters, and sushi rolls. Rumi’s comes to Houston via Atlanta, where its earned a sterling reputation for elevated takes on classic Persian cuisine. Houstonians have been quick to embrace dishes such as mushroom hummus, lamb ribs, and duck fesenjoon.

Josephine’s Gulf Coast Cuisine vs Katami
While these two restaurants serve different cuisines, they do share both a common owner in restaurateur Yun Cheng and a common perspective in that they serve as showcases for their talented chefs. Mississippi native Lucas McKinney draws upon his personal history and time spent working for Chris Shepherd to serve a menu that’s inspired by the entire Gulf Coast. At Katami, former Tastemaker Awards Chef of the Year winner Manabu Horiuchi elevates the cuisine he serves at Kata Robata with more premium fish, Japanese beef, and luxurious ingredients like uni and caviar.

Baso vs Jūn
Two of the most exciting new restaurants in the Heights square off in this matchup. In-the-know diners have been flocking to Baso for its Basque fare that’s cooked on the restaurant’s wood-burning hearth. At Jūn, chefs Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu blend their childhood influences with their professional experiences working at restaurants in New York City to produce “New Asian American” cuisine. Both restaurants feature natural wines, but only one will move on to round two.

Clark’s Oyster Bar vs Little’s Oyster Bar
Surely the most obvious first round pairing is the battle for best oyster bar on West Alabama. Hailing from Austin, Clark’s see-and-be-seen patio has been full since day one as Houstonians gather over oysters on the half shell, oak-grilled octopus, and cocktails. Pappas Restaurants applied all of its knowledge about seafood and wine to create Little’s, which features a retro, Art-Deco design, a can’t-miss caviar service, and a seafood-friendly wine list that’s the lighter, fresher counterpoint to the company’s celebrated steakhouse.

Mimo vs Pastore
Two different takes on contemporary Italian fare square off. Mimo reflects the personal vision of its owners, chef Fernando Rios and sommelier Mike Sammons, who prefer more rustic fare paired with an all-Italian wine list. Carefully made pastas allow Rios to show off the skills he acquired at Da Marco and Weights + Measures.

Pastore’s bright, coastal-inspired setting reflects its seafood-oriented menu. Underbelly Hospitality culinary director Scott Muns has been tweaking things of late by adding more pastas and enhancing the menu’s already strong selection of shareables.

Gold Tooth Tony’s vs Trill Burgers
The tournament’s only fast-casual restaurants face off in this matchup. Anthony Calleo’s affection for Detroit-style pizza has a dedicated home at Gold Tooth Tony’s. Diners can get classic toppings like pepperoni or meatballs alongside more unusual riffs like the Sebastian's Big Idea, a Hawaiian-style pie topped with crispy Spam and roasted pineapple. No wonder he’s already looking for a second location.

Between co-founder Bun B and endless endorsements from his celebrity friends — Drake called it “the best I’ve ever had” — Trill Burgers’ success speaks for itself. The secret is the way the burger’s elements — its tangy Trill sauce, melty cheese, and crispy, smashed burger patties — come together to create an utterly craveable bite. Bun recently revealed on Chris Shepherd’s TV show Eat Like a Local that Trill Burgers has plans for two more brick and mortar locations, which will only enhance its popularity.

ElRo Pizza & Crudo vs Nonno’s Family Pizza Tavern
Two very different pizzerias are pitted against each other in round one. At ElRo, chef Terrence Gallivan serves carefully constructed crudos and precisely topped pizzas in an intimate setting with Houston’s best wallpaper. At Nonno’s, Nobie’s owners Sara and Martin Stayer pay homage to Chicago pizzerias by serving thin crust, tavern-style pies and epic mozzarella sticks in a room dripping with Gen X nostalgia.

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The 2024 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards event runs 6-10 pm Wednesday, March 27 at Silver Street Studios (2000 Edwards St.).

The Tastemaker Awards ceremony is brought to you by Stella Artois, Rías Baixas Albariño, Topo Chico Sparkling Mineral Water, 8th Wonder Cannabis, and more to be announced. A portion of proceeds will benefit our nonprofit partner, the Southern Smoke Foundation.

ElRo serves a variety of pizzas.

Photo by Julie Soefer

ElRo Pizza & Crudo

news-you-can-eat tastemakers

something for everyone

New brewery pours into Houston with craft beer, cocktails, and homebrew

Photo by Ralph Palmer

Farmboy Brewing Company is now open on N. Shepherd.

The tides of craft breweries in Houston and across the country have shifted dramatically over the past five years, marked by closures and a clear softening of the once unstoppable boom, with names like True Anomaly, Elder Son, and Buffalo Bayou Brewing serving as recent reminders of how quickly the landscape can change. What is emerging in its place is a new phase that is far less rigid about labels and more focused on flexibility and meeting customers where they actually are.

For Landon Weiershausen, that evolution is not guesswork. It's the entire business plan.

After more than a decade running Farmboy Brew Shop and working across nearly every space of the beer supply chain, (hops to kegs to fruit) Weiershausen has stepped back into ownership with a new brewery. Farmboy Brewing Company (4816 N Shepherd Dr.) blends a taproom, full cocktail bar, and homebrew retail shop into a single, community-driven space. The location will be familiar to many craft beer fans, as it previously housed both North Shepherd Brewing and Astral Brewing.

“It’s about giving people what they actually want when they walk in the door,” Weiershausen tells CultureMap.

Weiershausen’s roots in Houston’s beer world stretch back to 2014, when he opened Farmboy Brew Shop, a go-to spot for local Oak Forest/Garden Oaks homebrewers looking for ingredients, gear, and advice. With the launch of Farmboy Brewing, that business still exists, but it’s now integrated into the new brewery.

The move creates something unique in the world of Houston beer — a space where hobbyists, beer nerds, and casual drinkers can intersect. In the 9,000-square-foot space, customers can shop for grains and yeast then walk a few steps over and grab a pint or a cocktail.

“The majority of people coming in for homebrew are also interested in drinking,” Weiershausen says. “Now they don’t have to choose.”

Instead of fighting changes in the beverage industry, Weiershausen is leaning into diversification. His brewery operates with a mixed beverage license, allowing for a full cocktail program alongside beer, wine, non-alcoholic options, and THC-infused drinks. That last category, while politically contentious in Texas, represents what he sees as an undeniable shift in consumer behavior. Currently, Weiershausen is stocking a few verities of THC-infused offerings from Eureka Heights Brew Co.

“There’s a huge market for it,” he says. “Whether people like it or not, customers are choosing those products over traditional alcoholic beverages."

Rather than drawing lines between beer drinkers and everyone else, the goal is to make the space work for large groups that have diverse drink preferences.

“If someone doesn’t drink beer, or doesn’t drink alcohol at all, we still want them to have options.”

Despite the brewery name on the door, Weiershausen isn’t rushing his own beer to market. Instead, the tap list currently leans on guest kegs from local and regional breweries such as Great Heights, Spindletap, Saint Arnold, and Lone Pint. This decision is a deliberate move that buys time while new brewing equipment is installed and optimized. It’s a patient approach that prioritizes long-term quality over a fast rollout and reflects lessons learned from years inside the industry. In the meantime, the guest taps double as a nod to relationships that Weiershausen has built over many years.

“A lot of these are people who took care of me over the years,” he says. “This is a way to return the favor.”

Once the brewing program is rolled out in the next few weeks, expect the first batch of offering to include a West Coast IPA, Hazy IPA, Light Lager, and an American Wheat. The program itself will also be led by head brewer Steven Treleaven, formerly of Conroe’s B-52 Brewing.

Weiershausen’s vision prioritizes education. The homebrew shop has always served as an entry point for teaching its customers more about beer, but the expanded space opens the door to something he describes as an “education escalator.” Plans include monthly workshops covering everything from brewing basics to off-flavor detection (a critical skill for anyone serious about improving their homebrew).

Like most breweries, the space will feature familiar weekly staples including trivia nights, but Weiershausen is also looking to mix in less predictable programming. Think dance classes, themed events, and rotating concepts that go beyond the usual bingo-and-beer formula.

On the food side, Weiershausen has chosen not to build an in-house kitchen. Instead, the brewery will host food trucks, including the return of fan-favorite El Alabrije, known for its Oaxacan-inspired menu.

At its core, the concept reflects something bigger than one brewery. It’s a response to a changing market, a shifting customer base, and a city that’s never fit neatly into one category anyway. For Weiershausen, the path forward isn’t about choosing between beer, cocktails, or anything else. It’s about building a place where all of it works together.

“We’re just trying to create something for the community,” he says. “Whatever that means for them.”

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Ralph Palmer is a co-owner of the Deckle and Hyde barbecue pop-up and a longtime craft beer enthusiast. Follow him on Instagram at eyefearnobeer.

craft beer openings