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5 The Inn at Dos Brisas*** 7 (50 miles away in Washington, TX)
4 Quattro**** 13 (added years to boost points since Mobil and AAA rate it 4 diamonds)
4 The Remington Restaurant 8
4 Tony's 8
4 The Steakhouse 7
4 Shearn's Restaurant 6
1 Five Diamond Restaurant (actually in Washington, TX 50 miles from Houston)
7 Rated Restaurants in Total (2 for the 1 five diamond restaurant)
Side-score
Are the Restaurants Concentrated?: N 0
No. of James Beard Nominees: 2 40
No. of James Beard Winners: 1 50
No. of Top Chef/Iron Chef Contestants: 3 60
No. of Top Chefs: 0 0
No. of Iron Chefs: 0 0
No. of Diners, Drive-Ins, Dives: 7 70
No. of Food Feuds: 0 0
No. of Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and Fresh Markets: 5 25
No. of Gayot/Other Rated Restaurants and Chefs: 7 70
Food Tradition/History: N 0
Total Side-Score: 315
Total Aggregate Scoer: 518, Per Capita: 8.8283
Ranked 23rd in country for aggregate score, 23rd in country for side-score, 54th in country per capita, 25th in country for total number of rated restaurants, 21st in country for number of 5 diamond restaurants
23 + 23 + 54 + 25 + 21 = 146, or 24th Best Restaurant/Foodie scene in the country.
For being one of the largest, most cosmopolitan, and wealthiest cities in America, Houston has a pretty awful food scene. Both Dallas and Atlanta have much better food scenes (comparing massive sunbelt cities). Miami and Houston are literally night and day. New Yorkers will fly to Miami or Charleston just to try a new restaurant and enjoy good food. I guarandamntee you nobody goes to Houston for its food/restaurant scene. Sorry
If Houston had such a great restaurant scene, one would think that AAA, Mobil, Gayot, and other rating agencies would take notice. Same goes for James Beard. Houston can't just be nominated a couple times and win once for having the best restaurant in the SW or an American Classic mom and pop. It needs at least 10 James Beard nominees and 2 winners just to be at the same level as Atlanta. James Beard is the ultimate say so in a city's restaurant scene. Also, I understand that Houston has a 5 Diamond restaurant 50 miles out that Houstonians probably visit, but for a 6 million person city, one would think there would be 1-2 5 diamond restaurants right in town, maybe Uptown or near Hermann Park. I know everyone has a problem with this part, but Houston doesn't even have very many Whole Foods, and it's headquartered in Texas! Nor does Houston have many/any Trader Joes or Fresh Markets. If Houston can't support those, then it's farmer's market and specialty grocers are most likely nonexistent or lacking, too. That doesn't speak well for having a great foodie scene. I also can't think of a fresh food that Houston is known for. I know it's near the coast with Galveston, but is Houston even a seafood place? I worry about having all that oil there.
5 The Inn at Dos Brisas*** 7 (50 miles away in Washington, TX)
4 Quattro**** 13 (added years to boost points since Mobil and AAA rate it 4 diamonds)
4 The Remington Restaurant 8
4 Tony's 8
4 The Steakhouse 7
4 Shearn's Restaurant 6
1 Five Diamond Restaurant (actually in Washington, TX 50 miles from Houston)
7 Rated Restaurants in Total (2 for the 1 five diamond restaurant)
Side-score
Are the Restaurants Concentrated?: N 0
No. of James Beard Nominees: 2 40
No. of James Beard Winners: 1 50
No. of Top Chef/Iron Chef Contestants: 3 60
No. of Top Chefs: 0 0
No. of Iron Chefs: 0 0
No. of Diners, Drive-Ins, Dives: 7 70
No. of Food Feuds: 0 0
No. of Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and Fresh Markets: 5 25
No. of Gayot/Other Rated Restaurants and Chefs: 7 70
Food Tradition/History: N 0
Total Side-Score: 315
Total Aggregate Scoer: 518, Per Capita: 8.8283
Ranked 23rd in country for aggregate score, 23rd in country for side-score, 54th in country per capita, 25th in country for total number of rated restaurants, 21st in country for number of 5 diamond restaurants
23 + 23 + 54 + 25 + 21 = 146, or 24th Best Restaurant/Foodie scene in the country.
For being one of the largest, most cosmopolitan, and wealthiest cities in America, Houston has a pretty awful food scene. Both Dallas and Atlanta have much better food scenes (comparing massive sunbelt cities). Miami and Houston are literally night and day. New Yorkers will fly to Miami or Charleston just to try a new restaurant and enjoy good food. I guarandamntee you nobody goes to Houston for its food/restaurant scene. Sorry
If Houston had such a great restaurant scene, one would think that AAA, Mobil, Gayot, and other rating agencies would take notice. Same goes for James Beard. Houston can't just be nominated a couple times and win once for having the best restaurant in the SW or an American Classic mom and pop. It needs at least 10 James Beard nominees and 2 winners just to be at the same level as Atlanta. James Beard is the ultimate say so in a city's restaurant scene. Also, I understand that Houston has a 5 Diamond restaurant 50 miles out that Houstonians probably visit, but for a 6 million person city, one would think there would be 1-2 5 diamond restaurants right in town, maybe Uptown or near Hermann Park. I know everyone has a problem with this part, but Houston doesn't even have very many Whole Foods, and it's headquartered in Texas! Nor does Houston have many/any Trader Joes or Fresh Markets. If Houston can't support those, then it's farmer's market and specialty grocers are most likely nonexistent or lacking, too. That doesn't speak well for having a great foodie scene. I also can't think of a fresh food that Houston is known for. I know it's near the coast with Galveston, but is Houston even a seafood place? I worry about having all that oil there.
Food Feud and Iron Chef as index items in which to denigrate Houston's overall food scene? Really?
I would rather take greater subjective stock in what the NY Post or well-traveled and knowledgeable John Mariani has to say about Houston, "more vibrant than other cities outside of New York" than your subjectiveness and meaningless indices.
Why not take issue with what they have to say about Houston's food scene?
Most people don't care about "Five Diamond" when they want a diverse and substantial culinary range...those whatever five stars don't make up the entire food scene of a city. To be honest, there's a LOT of subjective prejudice against what Houston has in the first place, and Houston is not a packaged tourist city that would have legions of AAA visitors knowing where to go in the first place...so how the hell would they know what's going on down here? (I mean really, Chicago is plastered with the most five-star AAA restaurants that most of us will never eat at...does that make it a better food city than New York?)
Whole Foods? How is that really relevant in cosmopolitan food offerings? Does that diminsh the yummy dinuguan at Boracay Cafe? The awesome suya over at Finger Lickin Bukateria? Ethnic preparations that are more than likely tougher to find in a Boston or Miami.
Again, Miami? Houston can put out Filipino, Nigerian, Pakistani and Vietnamese cafes in SPADES. Can Miami? Can Boston?
Atlanta? Really? John Mariani, possibly THE MOST knowledgeable yet STREET researcher of city food every year...says he doesn't even need to go to Atlanta year in and year out because he probably sees not as much goes on there as H-town. But Houston is an "always have to" to keep up with new happenings.
So I don't care that pansy and stereotyping program researchers ignore Houston for those sub-reality food TV shows we see on the boob tube and that seemingly automated GayFlawed systems do the same.
I'd rather take stock of what people who ACTUALLY eat at Houston places, while also visiting other US locales, say! It seems like a traveling specialist like John Mariani would be MORE IN TOUCH with a city's gastronomic performance than AAA raters who largely never see what's actually in Houston in the first place.
Even those know-it-all foundations ranking what is "internationally connective" don't rank Houston high among US cities...despite the fact that Houston has more foreign consulates than any other US city apart from NY and LA. What does that say?
There's a lot of prejudice, subconscious or not, that goes against H-town in many terms of subjective rankings.
Last edited by worldlyman; 01-24-2011 at 09:53 PM..
Yeah, the food scene in Houston is "awful" alright, lol.
Your standard "rating agencies" , where they hand out stars like teachers in first grade...at least the narrative media give a more defined parameter of what some good food cities are. Among these agencies, those prestigious Michelin rankings...yep, it seems like they kinda throw out these stars without telling why apart from a one-liner or too: http://www.3starrestaurants.com/
And didn't one of Michelin's reviewers let the cat out of the bag, his case illustrating how flawed "rating agency" methodology can be?http://www.grumpygourmetusa.com/michelin.html
Actually, it's all more laughable because Mobil and AAA do not typically put full focus on foodie criteria for their rankings.
I believe it's better to take heed of a street guy like John Mariani who regularly travels all over and at least gives explanations of his rankings...(and he's certainly not alone in saying Houston is a top food city.)
Oh please, a bunch of newspaper and magazine articles as if Dallas or any other city for that matter hasn't garnered the same attention. And John Mariani is just one of many many many traveling "guides" and food critics. Him saying that "Houston is more vibrant than any city outside of NYC" to me is an automatic disqualifier (sounds like someone in Houston paid him to say that...and was he even referring to the food scene?).
Also, your James Beard link brings me to a link that can't be displayed. I guarandamntee you, though, that the list is for semi-finalists, not finalists. Houston had 3 finalists, of which 1 won his category (it was an American Classic Irma's Restaurant in 2008, for being a staple and good mom and pop place). Even my small hometown has a few chefs that consistently make the semifinalist round. I didn't count any of them, either.
You know where else (preliminarily, if that's a word) Houston gets schooled by Dallas? In the luxury hotel segment. Sorry Houston, I think I would prefer to live in your city than in Dallas for many reasons, but Dallas has you beat in its food and lodging scene. That's basically fact at this point. And in food, I would say San Antonio and Austin's scenes are not too far behind Houston's.
Bottom line "worldlyman" is that you just can't stand that even when I balanced out almost every kind of criteria one can look at for a city's food and dining scene that Houston doesn't place very high as it should. Houston is one of the largest and most international cities in America, even if all the rating agencies are flawed, etc etc, and all my other criteria aren't the best indicators, one would think that given just being Houston that the rating agencies would take more notice, James Beard would take more notice, Gayot would take more notice, specialty grocers would feel the demographics are there (especially given one of the largest ones is HQ'd a few hours away), and one would think there would be more of a Houston presence on the Food Network and Cooking Channel. Nope. It's not the case. Don't get mad at me, get mad at your own food scene or everyone else in the food world for not noticing it.
And you obviously can't wrap your mind around the insane work I did with my own rating criteria. Most of a city's scoring did not come from how many 4 an 5 diamond and 3 star Michelin restaurants a city had. I looked at so many other things. You try coming up with something more comprehensive.
If Forbes or the NYPost or any editorial magazine or agency came up with the same list, you would be calling them BS because Houston did not place very high and Dallas has a better food scene. You're acting like a "homer" here
5 The Inn at Dos Brisas*** 7 (50 miles away in Washington, TX)
4 Quattro**** 13 (added years to boost points since Mobil and AAA rate it 4 diamonds)
4 The Remington Restaurant 8
4 Tony's 8
4 The Steakhouse 7
4 Shearn's Restaurant 6
1 Five Diamond Restaurant (actually in Washington, TX 50 miles from Houston)
7 Rated Restaurants in Total (2 for the 1 five diamond restaurant)
Side-score
Are the Restaurants Concentrated?: N 0
No. of James Beard Nominees: 2 40
No. of James Beard Winners: 1 50
No. of Top Chef/Iron Chef Contestants: 3 60
No. of Top Chefs: 0 0
No. of Iron Chefs: 0 0
No. of Diners, Drive-Ins, Dives: 7 70
No. of Food Feuds: 0 0
No. of Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and Fresh Markets: 5 25
No. of Gayot/Other Rated Restaurants and Chefs: 7 70
Food Tradition/History: N 0
Total Side-Score: 315
Total Aggregate Scoer: 518, Per Capita: 8.8283
Ranked 23rd in country for aggregate score, 23rd in country for side-score, 54th in country per capita, 25th in country for total number of rated restaurants, 21st in country for number of 5 diamond restaurants
23 + 23 + 54 + 25 + 21 = 146, or 24th Best Restaurant/Foodie scene in the country.
For being one of the largest, most cosmopolitan, and wealthiest cities in America, Houston has a pretty awful food scene. Both Dallas and Atlanta have much better food scenes (comparing massive sunbelt cities). Miami and Houston are literally night and day. New Yorkers will fly to Miami or Charleston just to try a new restaurant and enjoy good food. I guarandamntee you nobody goes to Houston for its food/restaurant scene. Sorry
If Houston had such a great restaurant scene, one would think that AAA, Mobil, Gayot, and other rating agencies would take notice. Same goes for James Beard. Houston can't just be nominated a couple times and win once for having the best restaurant in the SW or an American Classic mom and pop. It needs at least 10 James Beard nominees and 2 winners just to be at the same level as Atlanta. James Beard is the ultimate say so in a city's restaurant scene. Also, I understand that Houston has a 5 Diamond restaurant 50 miles out that Houstonians probably visit, but for a 6 million person city, one would think there would be 1-2 5 diamond restaurants right in town, maybe Uptown or near Hermann Park. I know everyone has a problem with this part, but Houston doesn't even have very many Whole Foods, and it's headquartered in Texas! Nor does Houston have many/any Trader Joes or Fresh Markets. If Houston can't support those, then it's farmer's market and specialty grocers are most likely nonexistent or lacking, too. That doesn't speak well for having a great foodie scene. I also can't think of a fresh food that Houston is known for. I know it's near the coast with Galveston, but is Houston even a seafood place? I worry about having all that oil there.
and what magazines or articles have ranked Atlanta and Dallas as top food places in America???
^^^And people are complaining about Dallas' or Atlanta's food/restaurant scene? How about someone not from Houston make the claim that Houston's food/restaurant scene deserves to be top 5 or 10 in the country. I don't think you guys realize that there are a few areas in the country that school huge cities. Namely Charleston, Las Vegas, Hawaii/Honolulu, the Colorado Rockies (Aspen, Telluride, etc), and I can go on. I don't think you guys know that much about the food and dining scene in this country if you insist that because John Mariachi, one guy, said Houston rocks that Houston has one of the best food scenes. There isn't even a food indentity or food tradition/history in Houston that's recognized on a national scale.
I'll bring the subject off of Dallas and compare Houston and Atlanta. I won't even consider AAA or Mobil, as if they really don't count for anything (btw, AAA and Mobil are on to something when all the restaurants they rate are run by chefs consistently nominated by James Beard Foundation and appear on all the other rating agencies and are frequently mentioned in magazines and newspapers and by food critics and who's chefs also appear on Food Network shows, hmmm ).
Houston has 3 JB Finalists and 1 winner (which was a mom and pop American Classic)
Houston has 3 chefs who have appeared on Top Chef or Iron Chef America to compete
Houston has 7 restaurants that Guy Fieri has highlighted on his show DDD
Houston has 5 either Whole Foods, Trader Joes, or Fresh Market (an indicator of having other food markets)
Whole Foods is HQ'd only a few hours away
Houston has 7 other restaurants and/or chefs who have been highlighted on either Gayot, Prime Steakhouses of America, America's Top Seafood, or other lists that you can find in an airline magazine
Atlanta, OTOH, has had 12 JB Finalists and 2 Winners
Atlanta has had 14 chefs compete on Top Chef or Iron Chef America
Atlanta has 6 restaurants that Guy Fieri has highlighted on his show DDD
Atlanta has 22 either Whole Foods (like 8-9 of those if I remember), Trader Joes, or Fresh Markets
Atlanta has 21 other restaurants and/or chefs who have been highlighted anywhere else (Gayot, airline magazine lists, etc)
Atlanta is slightly smaller than Houston and in all of those categories it schools Houston. This isn't even looking at AAA or Mobil, which happen to coincidentally coincide with all of the other rating agencies/JB/food critics. I'm sure Houston has some of the best Mexican and Tex-Mex food in this country, but overall, if you want seafood, fine dining, or just about anything else, there are 23 overall better areas to travel to than Houston. Dallas can even lay claim to being kind of the American frontier of Brazillian steakhouses.
And this isn't to mention that famous NYC chefs like Jean-Georges and Tom Colicchio have opened up restaurants like Craft and Spice Market just to name a few in Atlanta. Houston does not attract the attention of these big time chefs like Atlanta does. Sorry, Houston, but you're not quite on the same level as even Atlanta (which is actually on a higher level than Dallas-Fort Worth).
Why have 3 residents of Houston been the only disputes so far? I've had quite a few DMs saying they liked the list and the input, and then I get 3 residents of Houston who vehemently can't swallow the list because Houston doesn't sit very high up the list. Hmmm, scratching head.
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(btw, AAA and Mobil are on to something when all the restaurants they rate are run by chefs consistently nominated by James Beard Foundation and appear on all the other rating agencies and are frequently mentioned in magazines and newspapers and by food critics and who's chefs also appear on Food Network shows, hmmm 
).
