TEXAS TASTEMAKERS

Texas' top restaurants and chefs crowned at the 2026 Tastemaker Awards

After months of hard work and culinary determination, CultureMap has completed its statewide journey to honor the best chefs, restaurants, and more with the 2026 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards.

The series kicked off April 9 with our Austin Tastemaker Awards at Distribution Hall, then we moved to Houston on April 16 for our tasting event at Silver Street Studios. Next up was North Texas, for the Fort Worth celebration at Social Space on April 30 and Dallas fête at Astoria Event Venue on May 7. Our Texas culinary tour finished strong with a San Antonio extravaganza at the Briscoe Museum on May 14.

The 2026 Tastemaker Awards celebrated Texas' diverse culinary landscape and honored those who've made the biggest impact in Lone Star State dining in the past year. A host of nominated chefs and restaurants showcased their flavorful bites and treats during each of the celebrations, and winners were revealed in an onstage ceremony.

Guests dined on chef-created dishes and sipped on a variety of creative cocktails. But nothing could take away the focus from our acclaimed nominees and winners, who are the reason we bring these celebrations to life each year. Readers in each city got to know all the nominees through a special editorial series for weeks leading up to the events.

Nominees were, as always, determined by a panel of local industry experts, including previous Tastemaker winners and CultureMap editors. They voted on winners in categories such as Chef of the Year, Restaurant of the Year, Bar of the Year, and more. The champion in the Best New Restaurant category was determined by our readers in an online, bracket-style tournament. Our 2026 "wild card" category celebrated the Best Sandwich in each city.

Let's raise a glass to our 2026 CultureMap Tastemaker Award winners all across Texas, listed by city:

Houston:

Restaurant of the Year: Casaema
Chef of the Year: Manabu Horiuchi; Kata Robata, Katami, Sushi Horiuchi
Bar of the Year: Donna's
Best New Restaurant: Barbacana
Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year: ChòpnBlọk
Rising Star Chef of the Year: Adrian Torres, Maximo
Bartender of the Year: Julia Miles, Refuge
Dessert Program of the Year: Barbacana
Coffee Shop of the Year: Un Caffe
Best Sandwich: B'Tween Sandwich Co.

Dallas:

Restaurant of the Year: Mamani
Chef of the Year: Peja Krstic; Mot Hai Ba, Pillar
Bar of the Year: Ayahuasca Cantina
Best New Restaurant: Frenchie
Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year: Beverly's Bistro & Bar
Rising Star Chef of the Year: Eduardo Osorio, Meridian
Dessert Program of the Year: Lucia
Coffee Shop of the Year: Ascension
Best Sandwich: Trades Delicatessen

Fort Worth:

Restaurant of the Year: Cattlemen's Steak House
Chef of the Year: Jon Bonnell; Bonnell's, Waters, Buffalo Bros., Jon’s Grille
Bar of the Year: Crystal Springs Hideaway
Best New Restaurant: Cocodrie's Bayou Kitchen
Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year: Rex's Bar & Grill
Rising Star Chef of the Year: Levi Gardner, Westland Hospitality
Dessert Program of the Year: FunkyTown Donuts & Drafts
Coffee Shop of the Year: Buon Giorno Coffee
Best Sandwich: Carshon's Deli

Austin:

Restaurant of the Year: Odd Duck
Chef of the Year: Daniela Landaverde and Rosa Landaverde, La Santa Barbacha
Bar of the Year: Parley
Best New Restaurant: Moderna Bar & Pizzeria
Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year: Allday Pizza
Rising Star Chef of the Year: Ale Kuri, Este
Dessert Program of the Year: Rockman Coffee + Bakeshop
Coffee Shop of the Year: Palomino Coffee
Best Sandwich: Mum Foods Smokehouse & Delicatessen

San Antonio:

Restaurant of the Year: Cullum's Attaboy
Chef of the Year: Sue Kim, The Magpie
Bar of the Year: Jue Let
Best New Restaurant: Honey's Chicken Joint
Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year: Con Huevos Tacos
Rising Star Chef of the Year: Matt Garcia, Gigi's Deli
Dessert Program of the Year: Nicosi
Coffee Shop of the Year: NoFi Slow Bar
Best Sandwich: Beacon Hill Market & Deli

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The Houston Tastemaker Awards ceremony was brought to you by Maker's Mark, Culinary Khancepts, Herradura Tequila, Ritual Zero Proof + Seedlip, Shutto, and NXT LVL EVENT. A portion of proceeds benefitted our nonprofit partner, the Southern Smoke Foundation.

Photo by Vivian Leba

Houston Chef of the Year winner Manabu Horiuchi.

tastemaker awards houston restaurants bars chefs texas

a martini experience

Posh Houston seafood spot stirs up 2 over-the-top $100 caviar martinis

Courtesy of Truluck's

Diners have the choice of either a gin or vodka martini.

A Houston seafood restaurant has added some extra luxury to its martini offerings. Truluck's Ocean's Finest Seafood & Crab, the Galleria-area restaurant known for its steak and crustaceans, recently added two different $100 martinis to its menu, as well as a significantly less expensive way to zhuzh up its cocktails with caviar-stuffed olives.

Dave Mattern, Truluck’s partner and beverage director, tells CultureMap that he wanted to build an experience around the trend of martinis garnished with caviar-stuffed olives that he’d seen on social media. He began tinkering with two cocktails, a vodka martini made with Belvedere 10 and a gin martini made with Nolet’s Reserve, which retails for around $700 a bottle.

“When someone orders a martini, we hand-stuff four olives with caviar, and then we put them in a cute, little porcelain bathtub. Then we wheel the cart to the table and stir a vodka martini. We have a bottle of Belvedere 10 that lights up. It makes for a really nice experience,” Mattern says.

Similarly, the gin martini is presented with blackberry, a lemon twist, and other garnishes that highlight the different botanicals used in distilling the spirit.

Truluck's martinis Each martini is served with four caviar-stuffed olives.Courtesy of Truluck's

Truluck’s goes all out for its hand-stuffed caviar olives, too. The restaurant uses extra-large Spanish olives that, in Mattern’s words, “soak up a lot of caviar.” So much that Truluck’s uses a full ounce of caviar for every six olives.

“You get a burst of caviar when you bite into the olive,” he says.

Each of the $100 martinis comes with four caviar-stuffed olives. Diners can add an olive or two at an à la carte price of $10 for one olive. “It’s almost a little appetizer when you think about it,” Mattern says about the four olives that come with each martini.

Currently, the offering is only available at Truluck’s location on Westheimer. Since Mattern is the company’s beverage director, he’s hearing from colleagues at other locations who want to add it to their menus.

“I’m trying to figure out how to take it to every location so we do it right and use the freshest of caviar,” he says. “When you waste caviar, an angel cries in heaven. We have to make sure we’re using it all.”

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TEXAS TASTEMAKERS

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