Listed below are the winners of the 2025 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards. These bars, eating places, and people characterize the very best of Houston’s culinary scene, as chosen by our judges’ panel of former winners and native consultants and revealed at an awards ceremony on Thursday, April 3 at Silver Avenue Studios.
Our winners embrace native favorites which were satisfying prospects for 10 years or extra, in addition to 4 eating places which were open for lower than two years.
No matter how lengthy they’ve been in enterprise, they’re setting the usual for hospitality in Houston. All are price visiting. If you go, inform them howdy from CultureMap.
Rising Star Chef of the Yr and Restaurant of the Yr – Jacques Varon and Max Lappe, Baso
It took lower than a year-and-a-half for Baso to go from an under-the-radar, late December 2023 opening to turn out to be the toast of the Tastemaker Awards. Credit score for that goes to cooks Varon and Lappe for frequently enhancing the menu as they refine what it means to be a Basque-influenced, Texas-inspired restaurant. It’s additionally essential to acknowledge the restaurant’s hard-working entrance of home employees that shares the cooks’ pleasure for the delicacies being served.
Neighborhood Restaurant of the Yr – Josephine’s Gulf Coast Custom
Houston has loads of eating places serving Gulf Coast dishes, however none are fairly like Josephine’s. It serves glorious variations of all of the classics — assume shrimp po’ boys, boiled crawfish, and grilled redfish — alongside a few of chef Lucas McKinney’s one-off creations just like the blue crab rice bowl and Mississippi Sizzling Catfish Sandwich. Taken collectively, it’s a restaurant that Midtown residents ought to really feel lucky calls their neighborhood dwelling.
Bar of the Yr – Johnny’s Gold Brick
Contemporary off celebrating its tenth anniversary, the low-key cocktail bar in the Heights takes dwelling the Tastemaker Awards equal of a lifetime achievement award. A part of what makes Johnny’s so interesting is its inherent high-low nature. Patrons might select a chilly beer, one of many traditional cocktails that’s painted on the wall (priced at simply $10), or a extra inventive sip from the month-to-month menu. The dimly lit room serves as a hospitable venue for every kind of gatherings, starting from pleased hour to the final cease on date evening.
Bartender of the Yr – Aaron Lara, Kira
The veteran bartender has discovered a house because the beverage director for Comma Hospitality, the rising group behind omakase counter Neo and Kira, its hand roll-focused sister idea close to River Oaks. At Kira, Lara’s cocktails incorporate elements reminiscent of melon, sakura blossom, and loose-leaf teas that don’t overwhelm a dish’s flavors. His childhood reminiscences of having fun with meals together with his mom at restaurant bars encourage him to make every buyer interplay a optimistic one.
Pastry Chef of the Yr – Stephanie Velasquez, Ema/Papalo
As Ema’s James Beard Award finalist nomination for America’s Greatest New Restaurant demonstrates, one thing particular is going on inside its partitions. As one of many idea’s three house owners, Velasquez is liable for the pastries, conchas, and different candy treats which are a core part of Ema’s choices. The proof comes from the handfuls of Houstonians lining up for Velasquez’s signature horchata Berlinesa, which earned a shoutout in The New York Instances.
Greatest Pop-up/Startup – Suu Khin, Burmalicious
Having burst onto the scene as a finalist on season 11 of the Gordon Ramsay cooking competitors present Masterchef, Khin has earned legions of followers by remaining true to Burmese tradition. Houstonians are promoting her out of tea leaf salad, duck puffs, and catfish lemongrass soup. The acclaim led Khin to a James Beard Award semifinalist nomination — might a brick and mortar restaurant be far behind?
Greatest Espresso Store – Blacksmith
On condition that our judges work within the hospitality trade, it’s no shock that the Montrose favourite took dwelling the prize on this yr’s wildcard class. Blacksmith’s proximity to most of the metropolis’s greatest eating places and bars makes it a preferred possibility for a pre-shift caffeine increase. Apart from, no journey to Blacksmith is full with no cookie or a muffin from pastry chef (and Tastemaker Awards winner) Christina Au.
Greatest New Restaurant – Leo’s River Oaks
After 4 rounds of voting, our area of 16 Greatest New Restaurant finalists has led to Leo’s as our winner. The intimate supper membership has been a success with diners, courtesy of its snug eating room that options dwell music nightly. Led by government chef Tim Studying, the restaurant’s menu of steaks and seafood retains issues traditional and satisfying.
Chef of the Yr – Emmanuel Chavez, Tatemó
That is the third yr in a row Chavez has taken dwelling an award, following wins for Rising Star Chef in 2023 and Restaurant of the Yr in 2024. That matches his nationwide acclaim, which incorporates three James Beard Award finalist nominations, a Meals & Wine Greatest New Chef award, and a Michelin star. Regardless of all the eye, not solely does Chavez stay targeted on repeatedly enhancing Tatemó’s masa-focused tasting menu, however he’s additionally fast to credit score his cooks for serving to him obtain success.
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The Tastemaker Awards ceremony was dropped at you by Stella Artois, Chardon, Jim Beam Black, Ritual Zero Proof, Seedlip, Valencia’s Tex-Mex Storage, Hornitos, Ghost Hill Natural Vodka, and PicMe Occasions. A portion of proceeds will profit our nonprofit companion, the Southern Smoke Basis.
