Texas Dining Guide
Brisket, enchiladas, chicken-fried steak and Gulf shrimp, from smokehouses to white-tablecloth rooms.
Texas food starts with beef and smoke. Central Texas barbecue, built on brisket and sausage cooked over post oak and sold by the pound on butcher paper, comes from the German and Czech meat markets of towns such as Lockhart and Taylor, and the best places still sell out by early afternoon. Tex-Mex, the state's other signature cuisine, means cheese enchiladas with chili gravy, puffy tacos, fajitas and breakfast tacos, and San Antonio and the border towns are its home ground.
The big cities add much more. Houston has some of the country's best Vietnamese, Mexican and Gulf seafood cooking, including the Viet-Cajun crawfish that started there, and Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth have strong chef-driven scenes alongside old-school steakhouses and chicken-fried steak cafes. On the coast, look for Gulf shrimp, red snapper and oysters in season.
San Antonio
Tex-Mex institutions and the restaurants of the Pearl.
A family restaurant and bakery open around the clock since 1941, hung with year-round Christmas lights and mariachis.
Chef Johnny Hernandez's riverside restaurant of Mexican street dishes, tacos and tlayudas.
Texas and Gulf Coast cooking with beer brewed on site, in the old Pearl brewhouse.
A lively Southtown dining room known for its puffy tacos and margaritas.
Austin and Central Texas Barbecue
The brisket capital, and the towns that taught Austin how to smoke.
Aaron Franklin's brisket draws a line that forms hours before opening; it closes when the meat runs out.
A family Tex-Mex restaurant since 1952, known for its Bob Armstrong queso dip.
Tyson Cole's inventive sushi and small plates in a converted bungalow.
Started as a food trailer by two sisters, famous for its migas breakfast taco.
A meat market dating to 1900, serving sausage and smoked meats on butcher paper.
A family barbecue run by the same family since 1932, known for its giant beef ribs.
A Hill Country barbecue compound with an open pit and family-style platters.
Houston
Gulf seafood, Mexican cooking and the city's Vietnamese kitchens.
The 1973 restaurant credited with making fajitas, here called tacos al carbon, popular across the country.
Chef Hugo Ortega's regional Mexican cooking, with a well-known Sunday brunch.
Central Texas-style brisket and towering layer cakes.
Spicy boiled crawfish and Vietnamese dishes in the city's Asiatown.
Dallas and Fort Worth
Steakhouses, Tex-Mex patios and Deep Ellum barbecue.
A family restaurant since 1935 with a huge garden patio near the Stockyards.
Chef Tim Love's game and steak dishes in the heart of the Stockyards.
A Stockyards steakhouse serving charcoal-broiled steaks since 1947.
Brisket, beef ribs and sides in Deep Ellum, with a line at lunch.
Galveston and the Hill Country
Seafood on the seawall and German dishes in Fredericksburg.
A family seafood restaurant on the seawall since 1911, known for its pecan pie and Gulf fish.
A multi-level burger, tiki bar and seafood spot with decks over the seawall.
Modern German cooking, from schnitzel to duck, in a Main Street-area house.
Chicken-fried steak and burgers on decks above the Guadalupe River, next to Gruene Hall.
Restaurants change hours, menus and ownership often — check with the restaurant before you go. Listings are editorial picks, not paid placements.
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Get free trip quotes »Texas Dining — FAQ
What food is Texas known for?
Smoked brisket and sausage, Tex-Mex enchiladas and fajitas, breakfast tacos, chili, chicken-fried steak, kolaches and Gulf shrimp.
How early should I get to a famous barbecue place?
For the busiest spots, such as Franklin Barbecue, people line up well before opening, and many places close when they sell out. Weekday mornings are easier, and some restaurants take preorders.
What is the difference between Tex-Mex and Mexican food?
Tex-Mex grew out of Tejano home cooking in Texas and leans on yellow cheese, cumin, beef and wheat flour tortillas. Regional Mexican cooking uses more fresh chiles, corn, moles and seafood, and many Texas cities have both.