At this new cool spot, you can get King crab legs -- but not served in any sort of traditional manner. Instead, the leg meat is removed and topped with a truffle oil-infused hot sauce and some fried lotus chips. It's sweet, spicy, totally different and totally addictive.

At this burger stand in the East End, lunchtime is the busiest time of the day. But there's a not-so-secret secret to avoiding their midday lines: call ahead. Your food will be ready by the time you get there and you can take it with you or eat in the cute -- if spartan -- outdoor dining area that's attached to the side of the stand.

Although this sushi joint didn't make our recent list of Houston's 10 Best Sushi Restaurants, it's still one of my personal favorites. One of the reasons is the casual patio, and another is the creativity shown in rolls like the rainbow roll. This traditional roll is served in a straightforward manner at most sushi places, but here it's topped with a quail egg and beautiful orange masago.

This new hot spot just recently opened for lunch, serving pizzas, sandwiches and smaller portions of its housemade pasta. Below is one of those pizzas -- which recently snagged a spot on our Top 10 Pizzas list -- with potato, roasted garlic and taleggio.

At this new French restaurant in the Heights, you'll find a menu of Gallic favorites and plenty of crepes. It's one of a passel of new restaurants to specialize in the stuffed pancake, which can be made sweet or savory. A spicy chicken version has been my favorite so far.

At this new Galleria-area restaurant, you're encourage to B.Y.O.S. -- build your own salad, to order -- from an array of interesting ingredients. During a recent lunch, I enjoyed a spinach salad with bacon, beets, goat cheese and pumpkin seeds in a light lemon vinaigrette that paired nicely with a creamy bowl of lemon-artichoke soup ordered on the side.

At the new restaurant of the former Samba Grille head chef, you'll find a menu that focuses on Peruvian favorites such as lomo saltado, anticuchos and -- of course -- cebiche, served fresh from a full-service cebiche bar. This particular dish features snapper marinated in lime and aji limón leche de tigre with choclo, roasted corn, red onions and sweet potatoes.

At this critically acclaimed restaurant, an Asian spin is given to an old Southern favorite: fried green tomatoes. Here, the tomatoes are battered and fried in crispy panko while accompanying shisito peppers get the tempura treatment, making for a sweet side to the tart tomatoes. And underneath it all, a layer of creamy grits is mixed with kimchi for a tangy, sour punch at the end.

At this newly opened Upper Kirby spot, a traditionally Italian family is trying their luck with burgers and ribs. If you go try it for yourself, be sure to grab yourself a free soft serve cone on the way out.

When you order the "pork and beans" at this new restaurant, you might be surprised with the kind of pork and beans you receive: fresh, vibrantly green fava beans beans and a huge braised pork shank, all of it in a sweet-and-sour agrodolce reduction that mimics the tangy taste of old-fashioned pork 'n' beans.