Squeezed into a tiny shotgun space, the hyper-colorful, art-filled Maximo looks like it was designed for a rich, maximalist cowboy. But most of the people here are families attempting to trick a toddler into eating mashed, Tex-Mex-style lentils. The counter-service spot serves loaded tacos on handmade blue corn tortillas and the best take on the classic Big Mac in town, with tangy sauce on a double patty over a thick layer of caramelized onions.

While most outdoor tents have sad rental equipment energy, The Tent sparkles. Friend groups at this Mediterranean cafe and hookah lounge eat beef kabob wraps under string lights, puffing clouds of smoke inside personal cabanas or the main tent until as late as 4am. Earlier in the night, the Westchase spot fills with families, so you'll hear the squeals of children on the playground under lively music played on the oud. Bring your friends for gossip, hookah, and mint lemonade slushes.

People who saw Ema's lines at the Urban Harvest farmers market and wondered, “Are those pastries really that good?” — yeah, the pastries really are that good. Ema left the farmers market hustle and became a small counter-service Mexican food cafe in The Heights. Not only can you get hype-worthy pastries, like a berlineser donut stuffed with cinnamon-spiced horchata cream, but also vegan mushroom tetelas and salsa-smothered chilaquiles.

Drinking at the dive-bar-adjacent Nickel City makes you cool, like driving-a-Harley cool or I’m-with-the-band cool. The East Downtown cocktail bar arrives by way of Austin with a Buffalo, New York theme. This means an industrial setting—in this case, a fairly dark warehouse—and a menu featuring boilermakers and burgers. And while that’s not really different from most bars, it’s a great place to slam whiskey shots, swig a Coors Banquet, and eat a greasy, griddled double-decker cheeseburger.

A little rustic and a little retro, the Tex-Mex restaurant HiWay Cantina in EaDo comes from the team behind EZ’s Liquor Lounge and Lightnin’s Good Times. The food fits the archetype for a standard Tex-Mex spot (chile con queso, fajitas giant prickly pear margaritas that require two people to finish.) It’s good, but it’s the energy at Hiway Cantina that we want to bottle up and take home. Solo diners at the bar chat with bartenders like they’re old buddies.

Tearing into a whole roasted fish looks and feels very sexy while nuzzled up at Baso, a Basque-leaning restaurant in The Heights. The interior is impeccably dark, as though someone forgot to turn on a couple of lights, and smoldering embers from the open fire kitchen belong in the backdrop of a rom-com. The food is good—dishes like venison tartare and the choco flan are tasty but a bit bland. But the pintxos are balanced out by a helpful staff, fun cocktails, and an exciting Spanish wine list.

Taking cues from Mexico City-style taquerias, Comalito—opened by the folks behind Underbelly Hospitality—serves up a long list of fantastic tacos, suaderos, quesadillas, crispy cheese-slathered tostadas, and so much more. Housed in a drab and sparse space behind The Heights Houston Farmers Market with yellow-gray interiors, concrete floors, and metal chairs, the menu does enough heavy lifting that it's worth being a little uncomfortable to taste this food.

From the team behind Kin Dee, Makiin is an Upper Kirby Thai restaurant dripping in opulence and decked out in deep red and golden embellishment. Everything at Makiin feels a bit extravagant—appetizer samplers show up at the table on shimmering tiered towers, sizzling yellow curry is poured over braised ribs, and there’s almost certainly a dish that will arrive in a decadent cloud of smoke. Even with all of the spectacle, the food at Makiin is packed with flavor.

After nearly fifteen years, the team behind the powerhouse Kata Robata finally opened another Japanese sushi restaurant, Katami in Montrose. Katami takes what makes its predecessor excellent—incredible nigiri and sashimi selections, robata-grilled meats, and top tier service—and adds a layer of refinement and ease. The menu leans into all things special, hard-to-get, and anything honed by skilled craftsmanship.

Beloved Thai restaurant Street to Kitchen may have moved on up to new digs on the west side of the East End, but everything that matters (the food) remains exactly the same. Heaped with near-tongue-obliterating spice, every dish at Street To Kitchen tastes like someone electrocuted your taste buds, but you really liked it. We also appreciate the new cocktail menu and the curt but polite service that makes us want to be on our best behavior.