Houston restaurant suggestions
 

My college daughter and I will be in Houston mid-December for a wedding. Can anyone suggest a fun, hip restaurant she might like? We both enjoy all types of food. We are staying at the St. Regis. I called the hotel and they suggested Soma, Max's, Polo Signature and Gravitas. I'm not familiar with any of them. Last trips to Houston I tried Prego, Benjy's, Cafe Annies and really enjoyed them; each being so different.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you.

Max's Wine Dive is good and your daughter would probably like it. It's really more of a bar with food than an actual restaurant, though. Is she 21?

I am not that big a fan of Gravitas. I like Ibiza better, and there are always lots of young people there. Catalan has the same owner as Ibiza. It's good, too, but really loud. It is, however, closer to the St. Regis than Ibiza.

Indika is really good if you like Indian food.

Hugo's has good upscale Mexican. Pico's and El Tiempo are good for more casual Mexican. Red Onion is good for Central American.

Backstreet Cafe is always good.

Check out the reviews for these and the place the hotel suggested on www.b4-u-eat.com. Their reviews are generally very dependable.

Thanks maryanntex, great info. I'll be sure to check them out on www.b4-u-eat.com.

Could you also recommend a good lunch spot?

And, if I could impose a bit more...." shopping." We prefer boutique shops vs. malls. I'm somewhat familiar with the Rice Village and River Oaks. Not so much with Shepherd/Montrose areas. Looking for clothing and home design type shops... anything you could add would be appreciated.

A great spot for lunch is Niko Niko's Greek on Montrose. http://www.nikonikos.com/ I always make it a point to visit when I'm in Houston! There are all sorts of funky shops up and down Montrose, too.

Niko Niko's on Montrose is one of our favorites, too. Good shrimp salad, gyros, spanikopita, etc. Also good in the Montrose area are Brasil and Empire Cafe (especially good for breakfast). They are both near the Westheimer and Dunlavy intersection. There are antique/junk stores on Westheimer and also some cute boutiques like Edin http://edinclothing.blogspot.com/ and Wish at 1614 Westheimer.

Another fun place to shop is the Heights. Lots of random, funky stores--antiques, clothing, gifts, etc. Shade is a good restaurant on 19th Street and you could have lunch or dinner there. I like Balinskas Imports on 19th for imported accessories and furniture. Also Wind Water Gallery on 19th has nice Asian things.

If you need more suggestions and info on restaurants, put in "Montrose" or "Heights" as the location on b4-u-eat and it will come up with all the possibilities in those areas/

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Looking forward to our trip to Houston. If you think of anything else, let me know. thanks

Nit Noi for Thai food. We had dinner there last year as part of our Fodors GTG.

http://www.nitnoithai.com/

{Apparently, the Rice Village location is closed. I spent 20+ minutes looking for it tonight! Don't I feel silly, glad you posted this so I had to look at website for you}

I second re: Mikomiko; it's excellent.

We also liked Cafe Montrose [French/Belgian]

http://www.cafemontrose.com/

Deb

Deb,
Cafe Montrose is closed and no one seems to know if it's going to reopen. The Greek place is Niko Niko's ("n" not "m"). Haven't been there, but I've heard the Nit Noi on Voss is not nearly as good as the original that is now gone. We always go to Nidda on Westheimer near Montrose for Thai--it is the best Thai I have ever had anywhere and the staff is so so so nice. Try it next time you're in Houston.

Katie,
There are some cute new clothing stores in Rice Village--may have opened since you were there. If you and your daughter haven't been to Lot8, it's fun to visit. The owner, Chloe Dao, won "Project Runway." Also, for home furnishings, Kuhl-Linscomb (near Kirby/Westheimer) is fun to browse through. http://www.kuhl-linscomb.com/press.htm
The gift shop at the Center for Contemporary Craft has really interesting jewelry. http://www.crafthouston.org/default.asp?ID=1

maryanntex: Glad you mentioned Lot8, my daughter and I both were huge fans of Project Runway the season she was on. She would LOVE to stop by there. Another place I really like is AREA, a wonderful interior design shop. (on Kirby) Pricey, but does have reasonable priced gifts.

DebitNM I can't imagine the entire Rice Village closed. It's rather large are. Two of my all time favorite restaurants are there: Prego and Benjy's. Have you been to either?

What about Soma or Polo?

Thanks for your additions. This is great!

Sorry, I meant Nit Noy location in Rice Village is closed. {Yesterday was a very long day}.

Ate at Prego last year and it was excellent though a bit pricey.

I ended up eating at Collina's Italian Cafe 2400 Times Boulevard, (713) 526-4499. I had a really good plate of Eggplant Parm that came with a side salad, foccaia, ziti and sauce. All for $10! IT was very tasty.

We ate at La Madeleine
6205 Kirby Dr last year. Bistro, casual French style food, nothing fancy but nice.

I don't have a car, so I am limited as to where I can go for dinner.

Maryann - have you eaten at Thai Village near Prego?

Deb

Amazon Cafe is a good lunch spot for Central/South American food. If you want an upscale spot for dinner, our favorite restaurant is Mark's - wonderful food and neat spot because it's built in an old church. Tila's is a cute spot for Mexican.

Deb, no, I haven't eaten at Thai Village near Prego. I love Nidda so much that it's the only place I go for Thai now.