Houston Food Blog

Photos by Justine Schmider

​Where: Chiloso's Taco House, 701 E. 20th St., 713-868-2273

What $7 gets you: A quick lunch of tacos, beans and rice and a big-ass bottle of Coca-Cola.

Sometimes the weather is so nice in Houston that the best meal is one enjoyed on an outdoor patio. A personal favorite is Bubba's Texas Burger Shack, but even a place like Brother's Taco or Poppa Burger does the trick.

So when we were driving through the Heights earlier today and spotted Chiloso's Taco House, a couple blocks west of Studewood on 20th Street, it looked like the perfect spot for lunch. When we pulled into the parking lot, however, we wondered, just like our former colleague, where the hell everyone was. If it wasn't for the teenage busboy dragging a bag of trash out the side door, we might have thought the place was abandoned.

But, sometimes the only thing better than an outdoor meal on a beautiful day is an outdoor meal on a quiet patio. And a $5.50 lunch special isn't too bad, either.

 

​Where: BB Donuts, 515 Westheimer, Ste. B, 713-520-7557

What $7 gets you: Anything you want from the small, fast and easy lunch menu. (Or, because it is a donut shop as well, you could stuff your face with $7 worth of donuts, which we don't recommend.)

BB's -- which, per the business card, stands for "Best Breakfast" -- is an indistinct shop in an indistinct strip mall on lower Westheimer. One of our resident foodies picked it for "Best Breakfast Croissant," and we wanted to see how their lunch stacked up. (We'd actually passed by it a few times before we realized they offered non-donut-based lunches.) So on our quest to find a satisfying meal under $7, we figured we'd give the little place a try -- and we're half-glad we did.

Photo by Robb Walsh

​Where: The Kitchen Soul Food, 9381 Richmond, 713-977-2333

What $7 gets you: A bowl of chicken and homemade dumplings in a peppery gravy with a huge hunk of sweet cornbread on the side. The steam table also features melt-in-your-mouth oxtails, fork tender smothered pork chops, a falling-apart pepper steak, and Creole meatloaf, all served with two vegetables for $8 to $10. There's also chicken gumbo and ham hocks with butter beans.

Recommended? This place is a dump, but the cooking is stellar. The wise move is to get your food packed up to go and enjoy it at home.

Bonus points: The Kitchen Soul Food does lots of catering and its easy to see why. You can feed a big crowd some awesome home cooking for peanuts.

Photo by Robb Walsh

Where: Tan Tan Restaurant, 6816 Ranchester, 713-771-1268

What $7 gets you: A bowl of Houston's best noodles -- there are eight pages of noodle dishes, including some 87 soups on the menu. Tan Tan specializes in the curly egg noodles called mi (pronounced "me") in Vietnamese. Mi soups are made with a pork and dried shrimp broth and served with a wide choice of toppings including barbecued pork, shrimp and wontons. Don't ask for pho, the popular beef noodle soup -- Tan Tan doesn't serve it.

Recommended: The most popular order is E1, mi hoanh thanh, a bowl of pork and shrimp broth with curly egg noodles, won tons and slivered pork for $5.25.

Extra points: Mi is the traditional thing to eat when you have been out all night drinking. Tan Tan stays open until 3 a.m. on Saturday nights for your sobering-up pleasure.

Photos by Blake Whitaker

Where: Cali Sandwich

What $7 gets you: Delicious Vietnamese sandwiches, and then some.
For seven bucks, you can purchase some greasy burger-joint fare, which is similar to methadone in its ability to induce sickly listlessness and regret. Or, if you're near Midtown, you can pick up what Cali Sandwich markets as the Vietnamese version of fast food.

Despite the marketing, this family-run place is more like a fast-but-fresh café, offering the standard Vietnamese soup and noodle dishes. But for the price, you can't beat the bánh mì, Vietnamese sandwiches with meat and fixings on a fresh baguette ($2.50 to $3). Three dollars at Jack in the Box would purchase barely enough to make you feel queasy.

This Asian sub, which has roots in French colonialism, features the standard pork-chicken-beef offering, as well as options like pate, meatballs and tofu (surprisingly well-liked among meat-eaters). It comes smeared with a mayonnaise-like concoction and topped with cilantro, pickled carrots and a hot pepper. (The pepper can be a sneaky bastard, so make sure you remove it from its carrot-and-cilantro hiding place if you can't handle the spice.)

Photo by Robb Walsh

Where: Hubbell & Hudson Sandwich Counter, 24 Waterway Avenue, The Woodlands, 281-203-5600

What $7 will get you: Some of the best sandwiches in the greater Houston area. The Italian grinder, piled high with ham, salami and roasted red peppers, was $7. Most of the sandwiches at the made-to-order sandwich station are $6 or $7. The Cuban, made authentically in a sandwich press, is a little higher at $8. There are all kinds of exotic salads for sale by the pound in the prepared foods case if you're looking for a side dish. You can eat your sandwich at the tables upstairs overlooking the market or outside on the sidewalk. (And if you want to have an actual sit-down meal, there's also a fancy bistro with a bar.)

Where: Hank's Ice Cream, 9291 South Main, 713-665-5103

What $7 will get you: We tried to utilize the full expense allotment. We failed. The banana split comes in at $5.50, which includes tax and three toppings. We went for more toppings, but the girl behind the counter refused to charge for them. We threw in a can of root beer, listed on the menu as 75 cents. She insisted on making the bill an even $6.

Hank's has been serving its famous homemade ice cream out of the same small, cozy location for 24 years, and some of the patrons seem to have been coming that long. The most popular flavor by far is the butter pecan, so we went with that, strawberry and cookies-n-cream for our three scoops.

In addition to chocolate syrup, whipped cream and, of course, a split banana, the dish comes with pineapple and strawberry sauces -- the kind of sweet deliciousness that makes you sick in most cases but not, for some reason, at Hank's.

Photo by Paul Knight

Where: Poppa Burger Hamburger Stand, 1622 N. Main St., 713-227-6721

What $7 gets you: A combination of two or three items from a menu that features just about anything you could expect from a roadside hamburger stand. It's open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even on holidays.

A burger from Poppa Burger isn't too big, but it's cheap, and with $7, you can load up on anything from breakfast tacos to onion rings to shrimp baskets. The most expensive burger on the menu is the double-meat, double-cheese with bacon and jalapeños ($4.02).

We ordered the Big Poppa cheeseburger ($2.59), a couple bacon, egg and bean breakfast tacos ($1.48) and pink lemonade (78 cents). The cheeseburger was pretty standard -- nothing that dazzled, nothing that disappointed. The breakfast tacos were good, but the tortilla was paper-thin and crispy, a bad combination when you're wrapping it around greasy eggs and bacon.

Photos by Paul Knight

Where: Bodega's Taco Shop, 1200 Binz St., 713-528-6102

What $7 gets you: A Bodega taco plate that includes three tacos built to order and a choice of two sides, and that pretty much means rice and beans.

The first step to get food at Bodega's Taco Shop is "pick the pallet," which might confuse you, and if you're standing at the counter with glassy eyes the waitress might recognize that and ask, "Are you confused?"

You'll say yes, and she'll explain, "It's like Subway. Except it's Mexican food. And there's a full bar."

She should say, "It's like Chipotle, except the food is better. And there's a full bar." Because Bodega's is basically a glorified Chipotle - just as much food for just as cheap - and if you like that place, you'll love this place.

Photo by Paul Knight

Where: Putty's Pizza, underneath One Allen Center, 500 Dallas St., 713-951-9369

What $7 gets you: A greasy slice of pizza and any item from a menu that would make any bar proud. Unfortunately, Putty's doesn't serve booze.

The lunch options in the downtown tunnels are diverse, but unless you're hungry for fast food, come armed with more than $7. You'd probably make it at Ninfa's or Murphy's Deli, but don't even think about the Post Oak Grill or Café Basil.

You can definitely come under $7 at Putty's. The Thursday special is any slice of pizza for $1.69, and even though the slice we tried was drenched in coppery grease that pooled in the pepperoni and flowed like tributaries in the cheese, it tasted great. Of course, the grease may discourage more finicky eaters.

Photo by Paul Knight

Where: Bubba's Texas Burger Shack, 5230 Westpark Dr., 713-661-1622

What $7 gets you: Your pick from ten burgers made with beef or buffalo. Bubba's has a long list of other menu items, like a bowl of chili or patty melt, but it's no chili shack.

Any place that has "Bubba's," "Texas" and "Burger Shack" in its name, along with a location that's pretty much underneath a highway interchange, makes us wonder, What the hell goes on in there?

The "shack" part is not a joke, and while there are tables inside, there isn't much space to eat. We sat down at a table to wait for our burger but had to move so an employee could open a storage door.

The patio makes up for any shortcomings on the inside, and Bubba's would work great for a few after-work beers. During weekday afternoons from two to seven, beers are $2.25, and the selection goes deep into the Saint Arnold's playbook.

Photos by James Holmes

Chicken with broccoli at Chin Tao

Where: Chin Tao Chinese Restaurant, 1122 Travis St., 713-652-2822

What $7 gets you: Just about anything on the menu.

I wasn't sure if I could afford this spot in the heart of downtown, until my doubts were put to rest by the handwritten signs in the window saying "Low Price" and "Can Afford." Chin Tao is an honest, no-frills eatery with good food. The proprietors don't waste money on petty things like soda fountains or menus that weren't printed on a laser jet, probably at home. They keep their ice in an ice chest, and there's a stack of cans of cokes. They pass the savings on to you.

Photos by Mike Giglio

Pac Man and chicken reign supreme at Blodgett's Fish Market

Where: Blodgett's Fish Market, 2603 Blodgett St., 713-526-1222

What $7 will get you: Anything on the menu, and then some.

Don't be confused by the fish in the name--most people come here for the chicken, not the batch of catfish on ice behind a small glass window at the counter.

The staple is three hefty wings and a heap of fried rice. The chicken is satisfactory, and the rice might be mediocre if it weren't a little stale. The order exemplifies this restaurant's specialty, though, which is filling you up for cheap.

Photo by Craig Hlavaty

Chicken Veronique at Bell Street Cafe

Where: Bell Street Cafe, 800 Bell Street (under the Exxon Building)

What $7 gets you: Surprisingly fresh and cheap food.

Dining under the Exxon building, right next to the Houston Press building, means that you will be eating with a million suits who do business just a few floors up. There's a lot of guys in dress clothes and delicate comb-overs who probably make an untold amount of costly and wide-sweeping decisions before they belly up to the salad bar, or settle in with a fresh-grilled cheeseburger and fries with the boys from accounting.

Photo by Megan Clair-Femrite

Bhel-puri at Chaat House

Where: Chaat House, 16338 Kensington Drive, Sugar Land, 281-565-0555

What $7 gets you: Puffed rice that would make Snap, Crackle and Pop weep and a fruity, sweet treat.

As Paul Galvani said previously, "chaat" is a Hindi word meaning "lick" or "taste". At Chaat House in Sugar Land, you get much more than a taste; I had a light, refreshing meal amid a vast wasteland of chains and expense-account restaurants.

Step up to the counter, and someone will be happy to assist you in ordering. I purchased the bhel-puri, which comes with the aforementioned puffed rice, noodles, fried samosa pastry pieces, potatoes, green chile, onions and cilantro, which are then tossed with tamarind and mint chutneys. I also asked for mango, tomato and chickpeas in mine (gotta get that protein in somehow), and asked for it to be hot, spice-wise. The cost, including tax, was $3.50. Right in front of my eyes, all of the ingredients were tossed in a steel bowl, mixed together, and heaped onto a plate. I grabbed a fork and dug in.

Photo by Amber Ambrose

Where: El Rey Taqueria, 3330 Ella Blvd., 713-263-0659. Check out their website for all four locations.

What $7 gets you: A plateful of tacos, rice and beans, a.k.a. the 3 Amigo Plate for $6.99. I cheated a little and forgot to take the taxes into account, but if you dig around your dashboard, you'll probably find a quarter or two to get by. If you want any of their seafood tacos, add a measly 25 cents extra.

My favorite of the three tacos was the Cuban. Chock full of chicken (or if you choose, beef), black beans and the starchy, sweet fried plantains, it's pulled together with a smear of rich sour cream. The sweetness of the plantains enhances the savory chicken, the earthy beans and the sour cream binds the addictive flavors harmoniously.

Photo by Ruthie Johnson

Great dumplings outside of Chinatown? Yes!

Where: Weslayan Café, 2900 Weslayan, 713-626-3663, open daily for lunch and dinner.

What $7 gets you: A massive pile of the best dumplings this side of Chinatown, or any number of outstanding sandwiches and sides.

Recommended? Without hesitation. Basking in the shadows of Central Market, the Wesleyan Café uses its marigold awning as a siren song, luring all who pass to stop in for chow. The diminutive joint is a sandwich shop by trade, yet the menu board claims "Houston's best" pan-fried dumplings, handmade with love daily using Mama Wang's original family recipe. Good dumplings? Here? But Chinatown's, like, seven miles away... Sigh. As a dumpling whore, I let curiosity win and decide to pony up.

Photo by Brittanie Shey

Where: Laredo Taqueria, 915 Snover, 713-861-7279. Open Monday through Saturday 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

What $7 gets you: Almost anything on the menu. Tacos are $1.50 or $2, breakfast and dinner plates cost $5.50 to $7.50. The most expensive item is $8.

We had an asada de puerco taco, a spicy chicken breakfast taco and a half-liter Mexican Coke, all for $5, tax included. For two more bucks we could have added two sides but the tacos were enough to fill us up.

It's easy to accidentally pass this place up for the fancier Mexican restaurants further west on Washington, moreso now thanks to Hurricane Ike's destruction of its sign. But inside the yellow building with pink trim and fences across the street from Pearl Bar (look for the generic "Mexican Cafe" sign on its roof), you'll find taco truck prices in a diner-like setting.

Where: Grand Garden, 5324 Atascocita Rd., Humble, 281-812-5858, Free delivery over $15

What $7 gets you: Your choice from a pretty good selection of lunch specials with fresh food.

Those familiar with this area may remember this spot as Chino Express. Grand Garden may have a shot, given that the burger and fish places at the other end of the strip center seem to be pretty popular and have held on for a couple years already. Perhaps Grand Garden (open Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.), won't go the way of its predecessor and the two Mexican restaurants the strip center has rejected since it was built just a few years ago.

Where: New Hunan, 2345 FM 1092 (Murphy Road), Missouri City, 281-499-3061

What $7 gets you: An assortment of mainstream Chinese dishes with more than half offered in the spicy hot Szechuan style. We had one dish that stepped over into the under-$13 range, but it wasn't any better than the lunch specials.

This strip center restaurant (Hours: Monday through Thursday 11 .am. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday noon to 10 p.m.) has a less than terrific location, but seems to be hanging on. The "New" tacked onto its name may be an attempt at rejuvenation.

Where: Huddle House, 8619 Richmond off Dunvale, 713-785-0003

What $7 gets you: A chicken fried steak with hash browns, two eggs, buttered toast and jelly. It'll also get you (with change in most cases) the Patty Melt, Philly Cheese Steak, Huddle Burger, most of the rest of their sandwiches, and their egg and waffles dishes. It's only when you get into the dinner platter area that you need to get into the $13 range.

Huddle House has been open only since January 5 on Richmond. The Georgia-based chain is looking to expand and serves up breakfast, lunch or dinner 24 hours a day, every day of the week. We talked to Houston Huddle House General Manager John Schilling by phone before going over, noted that his place sounded a lot like Denny's, and asked about the difference.

Schilling, who grew up in Venezuela, said he didn't know much about Denny's but that his restaurant has lower prices than the better-known chain, and not quite the selection.

Where: Southwell's Burger Grill, 5860 San Felipe St Ste. F, 713-789-4972

What $7 gets you: A better-than-decent burger and fries, or a couple of chili dogs. No drink, though.

All I really wanted to do was sip some chicken broth, take some ibuprofen, and then crawl under my covers and quietly die. What started as a simple viral infection has evidently mutated into the goddamn Hanta virus. It laughs at antibiotics and feeds on human suffering.

Despite all this, I drove down the street where Southwell's Burger Grill sits. Upon walking in, I was struck by two things: the authentic old-school diner atmosphere, and a wall of stuffy humidity. Both stem from the same place: little Mom-and-Pop burger joints tend to shoot for a nostalgic feel by slapping up yellowed photographs of old people and places in simple frames. It's much cheaper than installing more modern scenery.

Where: CoCo's Crepes & Coffee, 218 Gray, Houston 713-521-0700

What $7 gets you: Crepes: dessert, breakfast or main meal crepes. Panini. A wide assortment of coffee, tea and other drinks. It does not get you any alcohol, though. This is BYOB.

Open seven days a week from 6 in the morning to 10 at night (till midnight on Friday and Saturdays) this corner restaurant is relatively low on overhead and high on good, competently executed crepes.

Recommended? Yes, if you like crepes done by people who know how to make them.

Where: Pat and Joe’s Bellaire Broiler Burger, 5216 Bellaire Blvd., 713-668-8171

What $7 gets you: A great meal for pocket change.

I opted for the #3, a flame-broiled hamburger with mustard, onion, pickles, lettuce and tomatoes ($3.80). Add a side of crinkly cut fries ($2) and a small soda ($.80) for a total of $6.60.

Recommended: Yes. The “flame-broiled” tag is true. From our seats in the dining room, we could see the flames shooting in the air every time a patty was added to the grill. (It was sort of like a poor man’s light show.) It makes for a down-home, clean taste.

Where: Mi Luna Tapas Restaurant & Bar, 2298 Texas Drive, Sugar Land, 281-277-8272

What $7 gets you: Some great tasting Spanish – not Tex/Mex -- food

Two of the three big TVs over the expansive bar are tuned to an Argentinean soccer demonstration. The other, in a nod to the prevailing Sugar Land culture, has an American football game going on. The surprise was how empty the place was -- it was the noon hour on a Saturday and there was only one other couple dining –so this was either going to be an undiscovered treasure, or a disaster.

Fortunately for us, it was the former.

Where: Orient Cafe, 3340 FM 1092 in Missouri City, 281-499-3597

What $7 gets you: A good place for a quick refuel on a heavy day of work or weekend errand running

Lunch specials, which start at $5.25 and top out at $6.50, are served seven days a week here from 11:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. The service is fast, friendly and designed to move the food which gives you a more than decent ROI in terms of quantity and taste. It’s not exotic – more like comfort food – but coupled with several cupfuls of hot tea, it’ll keep you going.

Tucked away in a strip shopping center with several other restaurants nearby, Orient Café also delivers throughout the area, but most of its business is either pickup or dine in.

Where: Mai’s Restaurant, 3403 Milam Street, 713-520-7684

What $7 gets you: Plenty full, plenty late.

I had the Cơm Tám Thit Nůơng (rice with BBQ Pork) for $6.25. My pork came well-done and was tasty. The rice was hot and fluffy. For being a simple meat-and-rice dish, it was nonetheless attractive.

Where: Cecil’s, 600 West Gray, 713-527-9101

What $7 gets you: A slightly less painful hangover

We haven’t always been kind to Cecil’s over the years, but we can’t quit the place, mainly because our buddy has a dog that does well there, and also because of the pool tables. Not to mention the friendly staff, and the jukebox filled with what are basically classics by now, and the big patio for smoking if you got ‘em, and the…well, okay, we just like hanging out there.

And what we really like are the folks who come by and set up a grill on weekend evenings and cook up sausages and fajitas.

Where: Chilosos Taco House, 701 E 20th Street, 713-868-2273

What $7 gets you: Three kinds of sausage and a lot of egg.

Much like the Anonymous Eater over at Food in Houston, I too had questioned whether Chilosos Taco House really exists. I drove by the place all the time, but I never saw any cars outside. I had begun to assume it was a tax shelter, or maybe the front for a top-secret elite commando unit…

But then – shameless plug, coming right up – I ran a little search on houstonpress.com and learned Chilosos is one of those breakfast/lunch places, which I rarely frequent, because, well, I work all day during the week and sleep all day during the weekend. But, as Oliver Wendell Holmes once said (or maybe it was Mark Twain, or Confucius), “The mind, once expanded to the dimensions of larger ideas, never returns to its original size,” so it was time for me to drag my butt out of bed on Saturday morning and expand my stomach.

Since sometimes $13 is too much to drop on lunch (or dinner, or breakfast, or brunch), we now present the inaugural installment of our $7 series, where we tell you what seven smackers gets you at various spots around town…

Where: Chicago Italian Beef, 1777 Airline, 713-862-2828.

What $7 gets you: Super stuffed, especially if you keep your head down.

So I was walking down Heights Boulevard when I saw colorful cardboard flyers strewn all over the ground. Looks like some canvasser took the money and ran, I thought to myself.

I picked one up and discovered it was a coupon for some joint called Chicago Italian Beef, which was pretty damn descriptive, as far as names go. Buy any sandwich and get a free hot dog? I was there.