Hands down, my favorite restaurant in Houston. I come here at least once a week, and I'm not even…read morevegan. The food is just that good. The servers are very nice and recognize me since I come so often. I recommend going there to eat because the food is not as good doing takeout (the takeout container traps the heat which cooks the food further and changes the texture). You can do their buffet if you want to try several of their dishes, but I usually order off the menu since I already know what most of their stuff tastes like. My favorite dish is the Cauliflower stir fry, they use Chinese cauliflower which I prefer. It's a healthy, simple dish, but perfectly cooked every time. Other standout dishes would be: Salt and Pepper Tofu, Spicy Dry Pot, and the Bok Choy + Mushrooms. The place is not too big, but there is usually ample seating. Casual and chill vibe, their music is a piano playing recognizable songs. Veggies are good for you and good for the planet. Vegetables dishes can be delicious when prepared properly. Come here to see how it's done!!!

This would be the 'hidden gem' I'd love to share with friends (or perhaps just gatekeep). The…read moreselection is quite varied, and has a lot of favorites, mostly Chinese/East Asian cuisine. Even though everything is vegan, there's plenty of saucy and spicy flavors to make it quite delicious! The sauteed green beans, salt & pepper tofu, hot & sour soup were my favorites. There's also dessert of coconut, fruit, and jelly (I ate so many bowls of it!). The staff were so sweet, and picked up our used plates fairly quickly. The pricing for the buffet is quite fair, at $16.50 per adult and $8.50 for kids under 4 feet. Hours are good, though there is a gap between 3pm and 6pm Mon-Thu, so keep that in mind. Also, you can order a la carte! They have quite a few delivery orders come in while we were there! My only note is to come closer to the busier hours. I think we came a little too early so the food wasn't quite as fresh, but they replenish the food throughout! I'm so glad I get to live so close to this place! Being across the street from Costco makes this quite dangerous for my wallet, but at least it's healthy!

I had a pretty good experience at blue Nile. The food was pretty delicious & the ambiance was nice…read more It was a little expensive & I thought the service could've been a little better We got the family platter - the Ethiopian traditional family size special. It was a lot of food! We had a group of 7 people & it +appetizers was the perfect size for everyone. It was really fun to sample everything too - there were definitly some standouts like the door wot and the beef kibbe. The sambusas were also delicious! Definitly a standout. The honey wine was good too. Ambiance was very nice. It felt intimate and small. I do think service was a little slow. It took little bit for the food & towards the end of the meal we had to flag down the waitress a few times. Overall a good experience though. Definitly worth a try

This is my old school favorite restaurant to go to regularly in Houston. The service is wonderful…read more The food is incredible. The ambience is so calm and inviting. If you've never tried Ethiopian food, you are missing out. Take advantage of the vegetable and the meat platter, which they will combine. It is a food feast for the eyes, and the senses.

While out in Uptown Houston today, I discovered True Food Kitchen positioned gracefully along a…read moreprominent main avenue a magnificent venue for a relaxed Sunday meal. While the establishment offers charming outdoor seating, I chose to sit inside and was thoroughly enchanted by the interior design. The space is pristine, beautifully appointed, and spotlessly clean throughout, carrying an elevated yet relaxing vibe that sets a delightful tone. The hospitality was top-tier from start to finish. Our server, Omar, provided exceptional service gracious, engaging, and thoroughly professional. Upon his expert recommendation, I ordered the Iced Horchata Matcha, which proved to be an absolute triumph for a Sunday afternoon exceptionally smooth, perfectly balanced, and delightfully refreshing. For my main course, I selected the Teriyaki Quinoa Bowl. While Omar thoughtfully offered to add salmon, I found the bowl as crafted to be entirely satisfying and beautifully prepared. When it arrived, it was vibrant, remarkably fresh, and brimming with rich, wholesome flavor. Between the spotless environment, stylish decor, sublime beverages, and Omar's stellar hospitality, this Uptown gem earns full marks from me. A thoroughly marvelous experience I shall most certainly be returning

My mother and I had the pleasure of enjoying two delectable meals at True Food Kitchen today (Aug…read more 1, 2026). I ordered the vegan double cheeseburger with a kale side salad (minus the parmesan). My mother ordered vegan blueberry pancakes with a blueberry compote (minus the greek yogurt) and a side of sweet potato and onion mash. Omar, our waiter, took such great care of us. He anticipated our needs and knew the menu very well. He even knew how the food was prepared. He truly elevated our experience. This was not our first visit to True Food. We have had great food and great service each time. The staff is always excellent. We will be back!

This place literally has the best sushi I have ever had in my life. The low-key lowki roll was so…read moredelicious that I felt like I traveled to heaven eating it it is the best sushi roll I've ever had in my life!

My family and I had heard about this place before in passing but we finally decided to give them a…read moretry. First off, this is NOT a restaurant. It's a one-man show. You order online hosted by hot plate and pick up at your scheduled time/date at their house. I ordered it but someone else picked up around 2 hours later. You get an automated text when it's ready and you text when you're there. For special requests, you can call/text the number as well; he was pretty helpful and responsive and mentioned to my brother in law that he personally made sure everything had no alliums at pick up. As a note: my family consists of allium-free vegetarians (with one vegan) so we asked ahead of time what our options were before we went for it. He (I really should have gotten his name) gave us a list of rolls that could be made allium free and we chose from them so you could say they do have an allium free menu upon request. We pretty much got almost everything on his list. For 5 adults, we ordered a total of 10 rolls: LOW-KEY LOKI (2) CLASSIC SPICY TUNAH (2) NIKCO ROCK N ROLL SPICY MAMI, HOT TAMALE SPICY DRAGON FIRECRACKER (2) When we opened the boxes, it turns out that he included an extra roll of SPICY MAMI, HOT TAMALE as well as a small container of seaweed salad which I thought was really nice of him! Or maybe we spent too much or there's some buy 10 rolls get 1 free promotion I was unaware of, haha. It was an unexpected surprise. I also have 2 kids but one has multiple food allergies and the other one is picky. She wanted a sweet potato roll, but it's not on the menu so we rolled up some seaweed rice rolls for them ahead of time so they weren't left out. I didn't bring up my kids because we wanted to ease in with the allium free request and go from there. Plus, one of the food allergens is avocado and that was found in almost every roll. On that note, there's an option to make it gluten-free on each item's page, which is pretty awesome. There's also an option to use soy paper instead of seaweed and to add extra ingredients at additional cost. My family shared everything so my plate was a mix and I honestly lost track of what I was eating at the time for personal notes. But honestly? Everything was delicious. Sushi was the last thing I gave up before becoming vegetarian and I'm picky with the sushi I eat now. These are very good and I must say if I lived in Houston, I'd order again. I do wish there was a place to sit or picnic nearby, but this worked as well. (We all congregated at a house.) There was one roll that definitely had a kick to it. Oddly enough, SPICY MAMI was not it. My nose tends to run with spicy food and I didn't get to that point but it was close after that one spicy piece. Overall, a great experience. Our rolls were $8 to $17 each, 8 pieces per roll. It was around $27.20 per person before tips and tax/fees from hot plate ($7.35). They were nicely packed complete with edible orchid flowers, and personal cups of ginger and wasabi as well as chopsticks and soy sauce packets. We finished everything. This certainly wasn't cheap but when is sushi affordable enough to be a daily thing? I do wish there weren't service fees added on top, but I guess the platform needs support too. Delicious and something to try whether or not you're vegan. I hope to order again our next time in town. Many thanks to the chef for the excellent experience and his help!

I finally had a chance to try Coltivare, ever since I heard of them back in 2014 , not sure why it…read moretook this long. Anyhoo, Houston Restaurant Week (Month?) brought me to them finally, and the quest was finally completed. Reservations are a bit difficult for the weekend, at least for HRW, but I managed to snag a 5pm spot. We had to find parking in the neighborhood. We got seated immediately. The tables are a little close to each other but I don't think I could really catch conversations too easily. The food was quite excellent. For the first course, we had the corn ribs and calamari spiedino, both were fantastic, with lots of flavor. 5/5 for both. For the second course, we got the pan-roasted trout and bucatini. The fiancee liked her trout, as they got the skin nice and crispy. The bucatini was tasty, perhaps could be a little more al dente, but pretty yummy. I would say 4.5/5 for both. As for the dessert, we both got the fig leaf panna cotta, 5/5, solid. Overall assessment, food was very good, seems very chef-driven, local, and seasonal. Good flavor, and good use of veggies and herbs. Pricing is pretty fair for the type of restaurant. I would expect a non-HRW dinner to cost $30-50pp for appetizers and mains. One miss I have for the restaurant was the use of their space. The ice and silverware station(s) are way too close to guests, we were 3 tables away and the clinking sounds are loud and travels given the floors are basically concrete, fairly unpleasant to hear those sounds constantly throughout our meal. That said, we'll be back! Hopefully, it won't be in 2038!

EXTREMELY loud. Tables are close together. Wine list is large, but not impressive. The marinated…read moreolives have a slight bitter after taste. The mix drinks all have issues. Maybe stick with the lackluster wine list. The prosciutto with cheese appetizer is good. This place is highly overrated - not to mention they had a few flies buzzing around the tables.

The interior is very cozy and community-centered, just like its mission. The furniture is very…read moreantique-like and there are couches, high chairs by the window, and small square tables. It would be really great for a study spot! The coffee menu has a good amount of specialty drinks. I got the pistachio latte, which is ground pistachio with cardamom, and I got it with vanilla syrup. Every first Tuesday of the month (don't quote me on this, check their instagram!) they have free drinks covered by Frost Bank, which is very nice. Lines can get long though so come quick, right at 8!

Doshi House is a popular coffee shop and cafe located on Emancipation Ave. I finally got the chance…read moreto stop by in the morning for a coffee before work and was surprised to find it almost completely full, many of the customers being students. Not quite sure what to expect, I was pleased to see that it's completely plant-based including the pastries and no extra plus charge for alternative milks (praise!) I ended up ordering their pistachio latte which had a really rich, bold espresso note and a sweet cardamom finish at the bottom of the cup. I would definitely get this again but might try to stir it before drinking for a more even flavor distribution. In terms of the setting, there's lots of small tables and couches to work and study with either a small group or alone. They also have a back patio with additional seating, board games, and even a printer which can be hard to find in this day and age. Overall the vibe is relaxed and casual. Finally, while I had to wait about 30 minutes to order and receive my drink, I had some time to watch their workflow and would offer some suggestions for improvement to speed up their service. The staff all clearly put a lot of care into preparing each drink and were doing the best they could to move quickly, but the layout of the back counter area is fairly inefficient. To start, the ice well for cold drinks is on the complete opposite side of the register away from their espresso machines. This added a lot of steps for the staff to prepare iced coffee drinks. Secondly, the straws were also quite a reach for the staff across the counter, also by the ice well. Finally, the order retrieval process is not the best. There are no names written on the cups and customers are sometimes in the bathroom or outside on the back patio when their order is ready. It can be hard for the staff to locate the right customer or if the drink gets left on the counter, it's hard to know what it is and who it is for. Overall, a pleasant (plant-based!) discovery but hoping they might consider a few steps (pun intended) to reduce the strain on their staff.

Visited for Houston restaurant week…read more It was our first time trying this place out. After being seated, it took 20 minutes for the server to come to our table and take our drink order. It took another 20 minutes to get the restaurant week menu we had asked for. The food and drinks were good and the ambience was nice, however, the service really tainted the whole experience.

The world is full of Mexican restaurants…read more Most are some version of Tex-Mex in a family-friendly, relatively similar environment. Nothing wrong with that. Mexican Sugar breaks that mold completely. This is the most legit, wonderful, bougie, over-the-top Mexican restaurant I have ever been to, and I mean that as the highest compliment possible. This was my second trip to Mexican Sugar. The first was in Grapevine. After this visit to the Montrose location, I have officially decided that when I am in Texas, I will seek these places out. They are that good. First, dress up. I doubt there is an actual dress code, but this is not the place where I am showing up looking like I just finished mowing the yard. Come here to be seen. Come here to show out a little. The place is beautiful and has that kind of vibe. Second, the drinks. Hell yes. Fancy, creative, excellent, and impressive enough for even the person who has seen every ridiculous cocktail presentation imaginable. And then there is the food. My God, the food. The salsa and queso are legit AF. The street corn is heaven in a bowl. Get several orders. I am serious. One is not enough. The carne asada was amazing. Honestly, I could keep going, but at some point this review is just going to become me yelling about how much I love Mexican Sugar. I LOVE MEXICAN SUGAR. OK, YOU GET THE IDEA. WHY AM I YELLING? BACK TO THE REVIEW.... Service was excellent too. The place is huge and was absolutely packed, but our server stayed attentive and the food came out surprisingly quickly. Make a reservation. Park in the nearby garage. Dress nice. Order the drinks. Get the street corn. Then get more street corn. Who is ready for another trip to Houston? I'll book the reservation at Mexican Sugar.

I've never been to Morocco and yet I can tell they are doing something special here at Zoa. The…read morestaff service is extremely nice and professional and the flavors are far more robust that Cava... i said it sorry ! You won't be dissatisfied unless you are one of those people who go to Outback while on vacation . No judgement

I was looking for something different to eat for dinner and I noticed this place next to where I…read moreget my snap kitchen. I feel like I have seen it before a long time ago somewhere else. Upon walking in two young ladies greeted me and throughly explained the process of creating a bowl/sand-which etc. they also offered as many samples as I liked after learning this was my first time. I opted for half and half of rice/ couscous and beef/chicken. My favs ended up being the beef tagine and saffron rice. They also provided samples of the desert and house made drinks. I felt like I was fully informed and satisfied with what I chose. The place was clean with ample seating!!! Also the marble cake was really good! They offer their tea hot and cold. Very great customer service ladies!!!

I have driven by Lúa Viet Kitchen countless times, and it has always caught my eye. The other day,…read moreI decided to make a trip there for lunch to give it a try. After ordering at the counter, I took a seat in their dining area which is very spacious. My food arrived quickly, and I was pleasantly surprised by the portion size and the presentation of my vermicelli bowl. All of the vegetables and herbs were supremely fresh, giving off bright flavors. The grilled pork was tender and savory, adding a good contrast to the crunch of the veggies. It was filling, but that didn't stop me from eating every bite! I'd definitely come back and recommend Lúa to anyone in the Montrose area looking for quality Vietnamese food!

Solid fast casual Vietnamese restaurant. They offer half price drinks during happy hour. Food is…read moretasty and the layout is nice. You have a partial view into kitchen so can see and feel the intensity. Drinks were ok and food was very good. Prices are mid-range, on par for what you would expect for this type of restaurant. Service was ok but was there around time some folks were getting off shift so that probably had an impact. Had the chicken curry and a citrus and mint cocktail. Forgot to take photos but it was just a standard looking dish and drink. Usually don't order curry at Vietnamese restaurant but I was in the mood for it and this one surprisingly was very good. Typically for a curry I'll go to a Thai, Indian or Jamaican restaurant. Their curry was very similar to Thai style but it had a Vietnamese flair to it. Hard to describe. Hint of some Vietnamese spices with the traditional Thai style curry flavor that changed it up a bit in a good way. They also mixed some vermicelli noodles into the curry which added something new. The chicken was quality chicken and cooked well. I've found lately not all chicken is equal so worth noting it was high quality chicken. Overall I really liked the curry and would definitely order it again. Had the curry with the sticky coconut rice instead of regular rice. I didn't care for it at all. The coconut rice was hard, very chewy and sort of rubbery. It wasn't sweet at all, more in savory side so it worked with the curry dish. The wait staff had suggested sub'ing in the coconut rice for regular rice for an extra $2.99. So I was game to try it. The flavor was not bad but the rice texture was off. The rice was also browned on the outside like they fried it. I will probably stick with a Thai place when I order sticky rice in the future, pun intended ;) Cocktail was so /so, they didn't mix it well and everything was on the bottom. So first part of the drink was watery and flavorless and last half was heavy. Think the drink would have been good if they stirred it. My friend had the pho soup and he said it was good. I'd originally planned on pho but changed my mind when I saw the menu. In summary, nice fast casual Vietnamese place that has pretty good energy. It's very clean and prices are standard for that category. No comment on my cocktail as the mixed drink wasn't mixed. Curry was excellent but the coconut rice is a hard pass.

When you're stuck in town but want to feel like you're in a tropical destination, The Toasted…read moreCoconut is where you need to come. The team behind the popular restaurant Nobie's opened up this tiki inspired restaurant. Tiki bars happen to be one of my favorite varieties of bars so I was more than excited to finally check it off my list. I had recently seen them on the Food Network as well. They share a lot with another popular dining spot so parking can be a little difficult in their lot. You can find street parking or park across the street in an overflow lot. Customer service was great from start to finish. We had just ate next door and our intentions were to come in here just for cocktails, but I couldn't leave without trying some of the popular items. I wanted the most tropical drink I could find on the menu so I started off with the Blue Hawaiian. I saw fire on the description so my extra self needed to have it. I'm a big rum guy so this drink was right up my alley and very boozy with two types of rum. It was very coconut forward with pineapple being the secondary flavor. One was enough for me to feel just right. Since we had just ate, we decided to share the World Famous Cheeseburger. This was a great burger. I don't know if they were going for the smash effect, but it had smash burger characteristics. It had all my favorite things that are musts on a burger like American cheese and red onions. It also had a very nice chili aioli that added great flavor to the burger. I came on another stop for a drink visit shortly after and tried the pork dumplings and popcorn chicken. These were also very good. If I lived in the area, this place would easily be a place I would frequent often. I will most definitely be back!