Texas Monthly editor Patricia Sharpe has published her list of Texas’s Best New Restaurants in 2024. Numbered 1-10, the 23rd edition of the magazine's list is open to establishments that opened between December 1, 2022 and November 30, 2023, and it must be a restaurant's first Texas location.

Austin is graced with two representatives in the top 10: Bureau de Poste (sixth), a French restaurant from Top Chef contestant Jo Chan, and Ezov, an Mediterranean restaurant in the Emmer and Rye Family with a special interest in Tel Aviv (10th). Bureau de Poste and Ezov are also among the nominees for Best New Restaurant in CultureMap's Tastemaker Awards.

Sharpe commends the rich offerings at Bureau de Poste while pointing out diners are "kidding themselves" with any attempts to "be sensible" and order just a few menu items, such as the Gruyère-topped French onion soup or the classic ratatouille.

"[W]hen the server arrives, they will in fact kick willpower to the curb and demand the scandalous pommes dauphine, four perfectly fried globes of whipped potato topped with crème fraîche," Sharpe writes. "And when they’re finished with that, they will indulge in a fourteen-ounce ribeye in peppercorn sauce (avec frites, s’il vous plait). By dessert, all pretense will be gone. They know they should order the clafouti, a demure, cakey French custard, but are helpless before the lure of dark chocolate mousse."

At Ezov, Sharpe was enchanted by the "unbridled flavors," and her summary touches on influence from around Southwest Asia and North Africa.

"I was taken with the Smashed Cucumber, the chunky slices atop a bed of smoked labneh enhanced with Aleppo chiles and amba (a tart fermented-green-mango condiment)," she writes. "The Moroccan-tinged cigarim (looking rather like long, thin flautas) came stuffed with sweetbreads and chicken heart, all kicked up with schug, a piquant herbal sauce popular in Yemen."

Top Chef winner Gabe Erales’s Mexican restaurant Bacalar also earned an honorable mention.

Representing San Antonio is Peruvian restaurant Leche de Tigre Cebichería Peruana, a triple nominee in CultureMap's Tastemaker Awards (for Best New Restaurant, Restaurant of the Year, and Chef of the Year). The restaurant came in seventh place on Sharpe's list. Also in San Antonio, Japanese restaurant Nineteen Hyaku and Mexican-Cuban restaurant Padadar land honorable mentions.

As it did last year, Houston not only leads the way with three entries in the top 10 but also takes the top spot for the second year in a row. Katami, the upscale Japanese restaurant from the team behind Kata Robata, ranks as the state’s best new restaurant. It’s joined in the top 10 by Gulf Coast seafood restaurant Josephine’s Gulf Coast Tradition (fifth) and Midtown pizzeria ElRo Pizza & Crudo (ninth). Jūn and Little’s Oyster Bar earn honorable mentions.

Sharpe praises nearly every aspect of Katami, calling it “the most exciting restaurant to open in Texas this past year.” In her review, she hails the “polished and coolly contemporary” environment, its “spectacularly fresh” seafood, and traditional Japanese dishes such as chawanmushi and okonomiyaki.

Dallas is represented by French restaurant Quarter Acre (third) and Italian restaurant Via Triozzi (eighth). Sushi restaurant Naminohana earns an honorable mention.

Le Margot (second), a French restaurant from former Masterchef judge Graham Elliot, and Italian restaurant 61 Osteria (fourth) give Fort Worth two spots in the top five.

“The Texas restaurant scene is as delicious as it’s ever been,” Sharpe declares, but the writer has some concerns about the present dining moment. Her complaints include the push towards ever more prominent (and more expensive) cocktail lists and the vibe dining trend, but her introduction ends on an optimistic note.

“But even though drinking while dining is fast becoming the new normal, I’m glad to report that kitchens are as disciplined and chefs as talented and ambitious as ever,” she writes.

The full list in order is as follows:

• 1. Katami, a Japanese restaurant in Houston
• 2. Le Margot, a French restaurant in Fort Worth
• 3. Quarter Acre, a French restaurant in Dallas
• 4. 61 Osteria, an Italian restaurant in Fort Worth
• 5. Josephine’s Gulf Coast Tradition, a seafood restaurant in Houston
• 6. Bureau de Poste, a French restaurant in Austin
• 7. Leche de Tigre Cebichería Peruana, a Peruvian restaurant in San Antonio
• 8. Via Triozzi, an Italian restaurant in Dallas
• 9. ElRo Pizza & Crudo, a pizzeria in Houston
• 10. Ezov, an Israeli restaurant in Austin