Best Restaurants in Texas

Texas Monthly names 4 Austin favorites on best new restaurants and bars list

The bible of the Lone Star State, Texas Monthly, announced Tuesday the selections for Texas's best new bars and restaurants of 2014. Led by executive editor and food critic Patricia Sharpe, the TM team ate its way from Marshall to Midland tracking down the best joints to wine and dine. (Although we imagine there will be some criticism for failing to select places outside of Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin or San Antonio.)

Dallas and Austin each have three restaurants on the list. Of the top 10 best restaurants, Arro led the Capital City picks coming in at no. 5 on the list. A French-inspired venture from ELM Restaurant Group — the same folks behind 24 Diner and Easy Tiger — Arro is known not only for its dynamic menu but for an impressive wine list (with a knowledgeable staff to match).

Rounding out the Austin picks is Sway, which made the list at no. 7 despite the departure of Executive Chef Rene Ortiz in August. Texas Monthly is sure to shock readers by the selection of the no. 8 pick, qui. Paul Qui's never celebrated, little-known flagship restaurant in East Austin has enjoyed flying under the radar until now.

Dallas topped the TM list with three restaurants in the top four. Spoon Bar and Kitchen has been named the number one best new restaurant with Casa Rubia coming in second. Though Houston's Osteria Mazzantini took the no. 3 spot, Dallas rounded out the top four with CBD Provisions.

San Antonio also made an appearance on the list with The Granary 'Cue & Brew coming in at no. 9.

And proving once and for all that no one in Texas does booze better than Austin, the two best new bars in the state are qui and Whisler's named number one and two, respectively.

Osteria Mazzantini in Houston.

Osteria Mazzantini Facebook

Osteria Mazzantini in Houston.

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NYT loves AUS

Homey Austin bakery Comadre makes New York Times Best Bakeries list

Comadre Panadería/Instagram

Comadre Panadería is known for nostalgic Mexican bakes with feminine flair.

The New York Times has once again shined its spotlight on Austin’s culinary scene. It included Comadre Panadería, an Austin bakery focusing on Mexican treats, on its new list of the 22 of the Best Bakeries Across the U.S. Right Now.

Interim food critic Priya Krishna praises pastry chef Mariela Camacho’s pastries that include conchas and her signature pink cake. “Despite their saccharine appearances, not one of the desserts is overly cloying, and even the coffee drinks (Texas pecan horchata! Cranberry vanilla agua fresca!) strike the playful tone of the pastries,” she writes.

Comadre Panadería has been widely recognized, including by this publication; she won Pastry Chef of the Year in the 2023 CultureMap Austin Tastemaker Awards. She also earned a 2024 James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker.

Camacho and Comadre as a whole are both invested in using baked goods to make a more equitable world, from the bakery's early days as a fundraiser for disaster relief, to a current insistence on charging enough to support ethical and organic foods, and paying staff enough to keep up with rising costs in Austin.

Mariela Camacho of Comadre Panaderia in Austin Mariela Camacho, Comadre Panaderia. Courtesy photo

The Times also recognized Houston's Koffeteria. Krishna hails the bakery for pastry chef-owner Vanarin Kuch’s creative fare that includes dishes such as beef pho kolaches, Chinese sausage breakfast tacos, and butter mochi.

“Some of Mr. Kuch’s offerings are rooted in his Cambodian American identity — he makes cornbread with the coconutty, scallion-forward flavors of Cambodian street corn — while others are odes to Houston’s multicultural makeup. But most of the fun of Koffeteria is having no idea what Mr. Kuch will do next, and eagerly awaiting his next innovation,” Krishna writes.

Open since 2019, Koffeteria has been riding high this year. It earned a James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for Outstanding Bakery and a CultureMap Houston Tastemaker Award for Pastry Chef of the Year.

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Comadre Panadería and Koffeteria are the only Texas establishments to make the Times’ list. Only California and New York City, which each have three representatives, earn more recognition.

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