where to eat on valentine's day

Where to eat in Houston right now: The most swoon-worthy restaurants with open tables on Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day is two weeks away. Couples who wish to celebrate at a Houston restaurant need to make their plans now.

Instead of listing every establishment with a prix fixe, this list offers suggestions of newer or more offbeat options. All of the restaurants listed below show at least some reservations available online as of Monday, January 30.

Of course, those who want to avoid the Valentine’s Day crowds may want to consider going out the weekend before. People who aren’t football fans will find plentiful options on Super Bowl Sunday.

Axelrad
Couples looking for a more casual celebration should consider the popular Midtown bar, which will host a market curated by Shop Local Market. The evening also includes a screening of the cult classic movie True Romance, tacos by Boombox Tacos, and cocktail specials.

El Topo
Chef-owner Tony Luhrman will collaborate with former Top Chef contestant Sasha Grumman (Sasha’s Focaccia) on a five-course, $140 per person menu that explores the intersection of Texan and Italian flavors. Dishes include cherries and chicories salad, ricotta cavatelli with guanciale, and smoked tenderloin with masa polenta. Beverage pairings ($25 for non-alcoholic, $50 for alcoholic) are also available.

George’s Bistro & Bar
This neighborhood restaurant in West U. will supplement its regular menu with a three-course, $100 per person prix fixe. Choose lobster bisque or fried mozzarella to start, followed by either a 10-ounce filet mignon or pan-seared sea bass. Finish with chocolate covered strawberries and lemon meringue pie.

GJ Tavern
Chef Tim Reading will serve a six-course, $135 per person menu at this intimate downtown restaurant. Dishes include East Coast oysters, fried asparagus with crispy prosciutto, octopus, roasted flounder, and New York strip. Two seatings available.

Hidden Omakase
Chef Niki Vongthong will serve a special, Valentine’s themed version of her $175 tasting menu from February 9-12. Look for dishes such as oysters with ikura and yuzu, wagyu udon, and sour cream panna cotta.

Indianola
Agricole Hospitality’s Texan-inspired restaurant in EaDo will supplement its regular menu with a few Valentine’s Day specials, including three different shared entrees — mesquite-grilled veal chop, snapper with lemongrass butter, and chicken fried piccata — as well as Mexican hot chocolate lava cake. Miss Carousel, its companion cocktail bar, makes for a worthy pre or post-dinner destination.

Louie’s Italian American
This East End newcomer will supplement its regular a la carte with a four-course, $60 prix fixe that includes shared starters, lemon and ricotta ravioli, redfish with salsa verde, and olive oil cake.

The Lymbar
Chef David Cordua’s new restaurant in Midtown will offer a three-course, $85 per person menu. Start with choices such as snapper ceviche or chicken chicharrones before picking an entree such as chicken ballotine, gemelli pasta, or beef tenderloin tacos arabes. A few dessert choices are available, but people should get the tres leches.

Navy Blue
The Bludorn team’s newly opened Rice Village seafood restaurant will serve a three-course, $145 per person prix fixe. Start with one of six appetizers, including oysters, seafood gumbo, or crab cake. The six entree choices include blackened snapper, lobster ravioli, and dry-aged striploin. Finish with any dessert from the menu.

Passerella Ristorante & Wine Bar

This Italian restaurant in Cypress from the owners of The Union Kitchen will offers its Valentine’s menu from February 10-19. Choices include wild mushroom tart, lobster ravioli, veal osso bucco, and bone-in pork milanese.

Pondicheri
Chef Anita Jaisinghani’s Lover’s Thali is a two person, $50 dinner that includes Potato Cake Chaat, Vegetable Korma (carrots, cauliflower, snap peas), and sides such as citrus pilaf, grilled zucchini, and avocado herb salad. Add chicken for $10 or shrimp or scallops for $15. Available Saturday, February 11 through Valentine’s.

Roma Ristorante
Rice Village’s homey Italian restaurant will serve a three-course, $59 per person prix fixe. Starters include Caesar salad, octopus, and arancini. Risotto, chicken cacciatore, veal scallopini, and crispy skin salmon are the entree choices. Finish with one of three desserts.

Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Houston’s oldest craft brewery will host a six-course dinner that includes beer pairings. Even better, the $100 per person price includes tax and gratuity. Look for dishes such as French onion soup paired with Spring Bock; oysters Rockefeller paired with Bishop’s Barrel No. 11; and lamb chops paired with Bishop’s Barrel No. 20.

State of Grace
The luxurious steak and seafood restaurant in River Oaks will serve a five-course, $145 per person menu on Valentine’s. Everyone starts with caviar and and oysters before selecting from four appetizers, three pastas, and six entrees. Choices include roasted bone marrow, grilled strawberry salad, blue crab risotto, braised lamb shank, and a surf and turf of filet and lobster ($15 supplement).

Urbe
Chef Hugo Ortega’s street food concept in Uptown Park will serve a three-course, $95 menu that’s designed to feed two people. Available on February 10, 11, 13, and 14, choices include chicken taquitos, ceviche, braised pork shank, huitlacoche quesadilla, and skirt steak. Drink specials will provide pairing options.

Photo by Ajna Jai

Share a Valentine's thali at Pondicheri.

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an offer he couldn't refuse

Exclusive: Killen's Barbecue will soon shutter in The Woodlands

Killen's barbecue meat platter with sides

Photo by Robert Jacob Lerma

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Fans of Killen’s Barbecue’s location in The Woodlands have a days to make one last visit. The restaurant will close this Sunday, December 7, chef-owner Ronnie Killen tells CultureMap.

Open since 2021, Killen says that he’s in final negotiations to sell the location at 8800 Six Pines Dr. to Whataburger for a new location of the iconic Texas fast food restaurant. Neither the original location of Killen’s Barbecue in Pearland nor its Cypress location are affected by the closure of The Woodlands and will remain open.

“Whataburger made me a deal I couldn’t pass up. It would take 10 years to do that kind of revenue,” Killen writes in a text, adding that the company recently made a significant payment to keep the deal’s window open through the end of the year.

He added that the costs to operate the restaurant have gone up significantly. As one example, a cord of wood cost $175 when he opened the first Killen’s Barbecue in 2013. It costs $475 now, he writes.

If the deal falls through, Killen states that he could look for a new buyer or convert the restaurant into a second location of Killen’s Burger, the retro-styled burger joint he operates in Pearland.

The restaurant’s closure had been expected since February, when Killen sold The Woodlands’ location of Killen's Steakhouse. At the time, Killen said he also planned to find a buyer for his barbecue joint in the bustling suburb. He cited the driving distance from Pearland to The Woodlands as one reason he chose to divest both locations. He still operates Killen's Steakhouse in Pearland, comfort food restaurant Killen's near the Heights, Killen's Burger, and three other locations of Killen's Barbecue.

As it approaches its 13th anniversary in the spring, Killen’s Barbecue remains a vital part of Houston’s barbecue scene. The restaurant recently earned an honorable mention from Texas Monthly and holds a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide. In July, it opened a new location at Hobby Airport.

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