Top 10 Foods You Should Try On Your Trip To Houston (2024)

When you are on a journey, the things every traveler is looking for are the best experiences, adventures, and mouth-watering food. If you are a foodie traveler, then your ultimate goal to travel to different places is trying the best dishes of that particular city or country. If we talk of Houston, then it is one of the fascinating places in the United States when it comes to food. And the unique amalgamation of cultures is one of the sole reasons why Houston has one of the best food scenes.

In Houston, there are mainly two things that surprise the visitors: Houston’s diversity and its delicious culinary delights. With the best food scene, this city in Texas will make you drool over its lovely multicultural dishes. If you are planning to visit Houston anytime soon, then here are some of the best food in Houston to try during your stop-over.

Top 10 Foods You Should Try On Your Trip To Houston

Make Sure You Don’t Even Miss Out On Any Single Dish Here Mentioned Below:

1. Viet-Cajun Crawfish

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As the majority population of Houston is Vietnamese, Vietnamese food is the most pervasive and popular food in the city. And from that, one of the best food in Houston is Viet-Cajun crawfish. As the city is located on the gulf coast, Houston is no stranger to Crawfish. This dish is prepared by slathering and boiling the Crawfish in butter, and then it is dusted and marinated with several spics to add to the flavor.

This utterly delicious is not a traditional part of Vietnamese food, but it is adaptive creation by a Vietnamese cook who integrated this iconic Cajun dish. This dish is a spice with a light taste of garlic tickling your taste buds. The Crawfish season is abridged, so it might not be possible this dish all around the year, so whenever you visit Houston and get a chance to try Crawfish don’t miss it for sure.

2. Breakfast Tacos

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Who wants to miss a super delicious breakfast? Nobody, and that is why Houston boasts one of the super tasty and delicious breakfast tacos to make your holiday mornings the best. Tacos are the regular breakfast thing in this city which is served up daily. The tacos mainly consist of scrambled eggs, meat like chorizo or bacon, and also cheese and vegetables.

The best place to snag the best tacos for breakfast is at Taqueria, Tacos a Go-Go, which are located in Houston’s midtown. Breakfast tacos might be the best thing about Houston, and it matches made breakfast options made in heaven. At some places, you might also get tacos stuffed with spicy potato filling with tomato habanero sauce. So don’t forget to try the breakfast tacos, especially with red and green salsa sauce.

3. Chicken & Waffles

we know it might be sounding bizarre to you but trust us, it is one of the best foods in Houston to try during your stay. As Houston has its variety of different culinary traditions, this means you will get old-fashioned food styles like chicken and waffles. This popular dish is served with sweet fluffy waffles and chicken wings which crispy, salty, and lip-smacking good in taste. With a unique touch on this classic dish, you will get variations in this dish too.

You will also find red velvet waffles with fried chicken and bacon jam topped on them or with some chicken and waffle sliders at some places. The best places to try this dish are at the Breakfast Klub, which offers a hefty serving of chicken and waffles, and Waffle bus food truck who serve the best waffle sliders with fried chickens.

4. Pecan Pie

In Houston’s southern part, the most popular food is Pecan Pie, which is often announced as PEE-can pie and is one of the excellent and famous deserts that is served on Thanksgiving day but in Houston, you can see it any time of the year. There is no single place that serves the best Pecan Pie in the city because this popular dish is served by many restaurants and bakeries. Image Source

The best places to get your taste buds to try Pecan Pie are Goode Company, House of Pies, Flying Saucer Pie Company, and Three Brother Bakery. But if you are planning to try some piece of Pecan Pie at one of these places, make sure you come in the month of November and go early because, with the popularity and love for this dish, people line up in a queue for hours to bring home these pecan pies.

5. Tamales

One more holiday classic is Tamales which is made using Masa, a corn flour dough along with a mix of spices. Tamales are cooked in steam in a corn husk which you can remove just before eating. This Mexican dish, Tamale, is a Christmas food in Houston. Though you can eat them throughout the year, the exceptional taste comes only during Christmas days.

If you don’t have the ability to make it for you, then the best way to enjoy them is by buying them from the Original Alamo Tamales or from the Texas Tamale Company, which are the most popular spots serving Tamales in the metro area of Houston. And yes, don’t worry about eating too many because they are very small, skinny, and scarfed down, which can be well adjusted. The best Tamales is the spicy chicken variety which makes it the best anytime snack.

6. Fajitas

Houston might not be the city where Fajitas food dish was born, but it is undoubtedly a popular dish in Texas culinary delights. It was started when Ninfa Laurenoz started cooking up skirt steak in the early 1970s to serve in the tortillas from her own tortilla factory.

And from there, this dish, Fajitas, was born, which are now a great hit amongst the foodies. The restaurant started by Ninfa Laurenoz is one of the best places to visit in Texas for the best food in Houston and especially for mouth-watering delicious fajitas, also known as the tacos al carbon, which is the primary specialty of the restaurant.

7. Barbecued Beef Ribs

Texas people love their meat, and Houstonians follow the same regime. Houston has its own specialty of BBQ, especially for the beef ribs. The pitmasters here use a unique blend of spices to add natural flavors to the meat with a complimentary taste not to mask it but for a different savoring taste. With your choice of sauce, you can enjoy the best-barbecued Beef ribs in Houston, especially at Killen’s Barbecue in Pearland. The brisket is one of the best options you can try at Killens, but if you are looking to try the authentic dishes, then BBQ beef ribs are the ones to go for.

8. Banh Mi

As we mentioned earlier, Houston is full of Vietnamese people and their culinary dishes. One more thing to try if you are looking for the best foods in Houston is Banh Mi. It is unofficially the official sandwich of Houston. Banh Mi is made up of a chewy baguette which is Vietnamese bread then it is stuffed with pickled vegetables, grilled meat, and hot peppers to add up the spicy taste.

This dish sandwiches it amongst the most popular dishes which is also easy on the pockets under $5. For Banh Mi, you will have no shortage of places, and there are numerous food trucks that have their own special menu which serve Banh Mi in different variations. You can try the best Banh Mi at Thien An Sandwiches and Hughie’s Tavern and Grille.

9. Gulf Coast Seafood

If you are so close to the Gulf of Mexico, then how can you even miss the seafood in Houston? In Houston, you get the freshest and abundant seafood. From the tastiest shrimps, Crawfish to catfish, oysters, and flounders, you will find numerous options when it comes to seafood in Houston.

The most popular seafood items are seasoned fillets, caracol, Crawfish, and redfish. And if you are confused among the varieties, then the best option is to visit Goode Company Seafood which has the best seafood on its menu. Also, there you get to enjoy another famous and best food in Houston, that is Pecan Pie. So when in Houston, do try the seafood here.

10. Kolaches

Kolaches, also pronounced as the Koh-LAH-cheez, is one of the go-to breakfast foods in Houston. Served along with doughnuts and bagels, Kolaches is one of the best breakfast to enjoy before any morning meeting and take them along with you too. Kolaches originated from the Eastern European homeland with yeast dough pastries which are sweet and filled with fruits and sweet cheese. But in present times in Texas, they are stuffed with sausage or ham and cheese with jalapenos. Also, sometimes you might like kolaches with scrambled eggs or spinach that taste so well. The favorite place of Houstonians to enjoy their kolaches is from Kolache Factory and Shipley Do-Nuts, as they add unique flavors to kolaches.