33 Best Restaurants in Houston, Houston and Galveston

It's a strange fact of Houston life that many of the city's finest restaurants are found in strip shopping centers, albeit the more glamorous ones. Tony Mandola's, in the art deco–themed River Oaks Shopping Center, is an upscale restaurant that proves, with loads of tastebud-pleasing menu choices, that the concept of a Texas-, Italian-, and (some) Mexican-influenced seafood restaurant is here to stay. Off-the-menu items, such as Calamari a la Mama, lightly battered with lemon-butter sauce, may make you see stars. You'll see everyone you know at this neighborhood joint, if everyone you know is rich, famous, and well connected. There's open-air dining and a kids' menu.

This adult playground is the place where deals get done, life celebrations are marked, and people keep an eagle eye out for the next boldfaced type (as in boldface type in the social columns) to walk through the water-wall-surrounded front doors. Oh right, the Euro-Italian food is excellent, too, and the über-elegant surroundings, complete with contemporary artworks by Jesus Moroles, Robert Rauschenberg, and Donald Sultan, are sensory overload. Tony Vallone and his trained staff take excellent care of each and every customer. Watch for him and wife Donna moving around the room at lunch and dinner, personally greeting diners. Call ahead to order the towering molten white-chocolate soufflé, a local favorite. The cellar holds more than 1,000 labels, and is particularly strong in wines of France, Italy, and California. Lunch is a prix-fixe steal.

Sure it's trendy, and maybe more stylish than substantive, but if you're looking for the decadent sushi experience, it's hard to beat the pricey and delicious Uptown Sushi. With its ethereal, white-on-white and Lucite-and-low-light decor, this Galleria-area hot spot offers fresh, interesting takes on sushi and sashimi. The Seven-and-a-Half Roll (tuna, salmon, yellowtail, masago, and avocado, all tempura fried) is not to be missed, nor is the Ribeye Roll (slices of beef wrapped around avocados and sweet Japanese yams). Try to snag a mezzanine-level table so you can see all the glamour go down. While waiting for said table, cool your designer heels at the raucous, pick-up-line-laden bar, with great, expensive wines and strong mixed drinks.