Top 20 Best Upscale Restaurants in Houston

Houston has no shortage of great affordable restaurants, but sometimes the occasion calls for a dish that highlights a restaurant’s culinary prowess while costing good bucks. This article provides a tour of the best upscale restaurants in Houston. Ranging from stylish steakhouses to fine sushi bars.

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Houstonians are spoiled with choices when it comes to upscale restaurants. In fact, there are too many spots to select from, which is a wonderful thing!

Around every corner, there’s either a new spot popping up or an old favorite that’s still as amazing as it was when the doors first opened. Houston is unquestionably a gourmet city.

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Best Upscale Restaurants in Houston

Since having too much of anything can give a selection headache, we’ve compiled a list of some of Houston’s greatest premium restaurants that are a must-see.

1. B&B Butchers & Restaurant

Steaks, filets, and lobster, among other things, B&B Butchers on Washington can surely rack up the bill with the finest pieces of meat in town, but the quality is always worth it, making B&B Butchers one of the best upscale restaurants in Houston.

Try the $78 Gearhart Ranch Wagyu ribeye or the $120 A5 Wagyu Katsu Sando. Do you want to go all out? Allow head chef Tommy Elbashary guides you through a twelve-course meat tasting with wine pairings.

2. Bludorn

Celebrity chef Aaron Bludorn’s classic restaurant is the go-to spot for a long, wine-filled dinner and excellent people-watching. Cozy banquettes dot the softly lit dining area, where customers gleefully huddle over carefully created towers of seafood and picture-perfect cocktails.

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Enjoy veal sweetbreads or a dry-aged New York strip made with beef from the R-C Ranch. But be warned to dine at one of the best upscale restaurants in Houston you need to plan ahead as tables fill up quickly on weekdays and weekends alike.

3. Marmo

Atlas Group has opened Marmo, a sophisticated Italian chophouse, at the gleaming new Montrose Collective development, as an impressive follow-up to River Oaks District hotspots Ouzo Bay and Loch Bar.

The “see and be seen” restaurant has a live pianist every night, a big 22-page wine list, and a delicious cuisine of hand-rolled pasta and dry-aged steaks, making it one of the best upscale restaurants in Houston.

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4. Warwick

The Houston’s location near the Galleria, where the Warwick has taken up residence, is buzzing with fresh life. Seasoned chef Antoine Ware, who combines New American and Southern dishes with Cajun influences, leads the original concept.

Charbroiled Gulf oysters topped with butter, collard greens, and cheese, blackened fish with jambalaya risotto, and shrimp and grits are among the satisfying dishes., making Warwick one of the best upscale restaurants in Houston.

Ware also pays tribute to the restaurant’s legendary predecessor by putting his own take on Houston classics like spinach and artichoke dip and Hawaiian steak.

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5. Trattoria Sophia

This beautiful Italian restaurant is the newest addition to Benjamin Berg’s impressive restaurant portfolio, which includes Turner’s, B&B Butchers Steakhouse, Annie, and BB Lemon.

This “trattoria,” which has an attractive dining room and a temperature-controlled patio with a live olive tree, is named after Berg’s firstborn daughter Sophia.

The menu offers original Italian pleasures such as cacio e pepe and veal Milanese. The beverage recipe was created in partnership with Julep’s famous bar pro and mixologist Alba Huerta.

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If you want a true taste of class, then visit Trattoria Sophia, one of the best upscale restaurants in Houston.

6. Gatsby’s

When Gatsby first opened its doors in 2021, it quickly became popular, resulting in an almost instantaneous expansion into its neighboring bar, called the Daisy Buchanan Lounge.

This steakhouse now has 150 seats in the form of snug booths and tables spread across many rooms, with reservations going through the roof.

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The atmosphere is set by the sounds of Rat Pack tunes and vintage jazz, and the menu, which includes great seafood, steaks, and inventive sides and desserts, is well worth the expense.

7. Gratify

In the summer of ’21, Gratify ( one of the best upscale restaurants in Houston) began heating up Houston’s culinary landscape, and the heat is yet to cool. The colorful environment, with a baroque-inspired interior and a gleaming disco ball, attracts warm bodies dressed to impress.

A long buzz-filled night might start with a variety of excellent cheeses, followed by taglierini pasta with shaved truffles.

8. Mastro’s Steakhouse

Tilman Fertitta has spent big on his exquisite steakhouse within the stylish Post Oak Hotel, which usually hosts Houston’s elite.

The cuisine mirrors the opulence of the setting, with delicacies like a 12-ounce Japanese Wagyu beef for $200, while more affordable options include an Australian rack of lamb and Hawaiian swordfish.

Add a side of mashed potatoes with lobster or Alaskan king crab black truffle gnocchi to get a full sense of what it’s like to dine at one of the best upscale restaurants in Houston.

9. Le Jardinier

Le Jardinier, which means “the gardener” in French, is one of the most appealing and best upscale restaurants in Houston.

This creative idea, housed inside the MFAH’s Kinder Building, is an extension of the Cullen Sculpture Garden.

It provides customers with a double dose of garden-side dining with its beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows, green velvet chairs, and vintage limba wood walls.

The cuisine reflects the best of the season’s harvest, and the dishes are pieces of art in their own right. Explore the meal piece by piece or go all-in on the seasonal expression chef’s tasting menu.

10. Tris

Austin Simmons proves why he is one of the top chefs in the region by fusing French, American, and Asian food at this Woodlands steakhouse.

customers can expect to find exciting seafood dishes in addition to various cuts of beef, including Korean butter-poached crab loaded on lobster toast, kimchi pancake with smoked trout roe, and yuzu aioli and a creamy crab truffle ravioli.

Finish the evening with wine pairings to get the true feel of eating in of the best upscale restaurants in Houston.

11. La Table Houston

La Table’s stunning, opulent interiors suit the high-class menu and hefty price tag. La Table has given each level of the four-tiered eating space its own distinct name and decor.

Château, the upstairs dining room, features a seasonally changing menu with dishes fit for even the most sophisticated French palette.

The signature dish for two includes a dover sole meuniere with grilled asparagus in a brown butter sauce and a cognac-flamed Akaushi ribeye. For $85, you could get a half-ounce of cognac Louis XII.

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12. Uchi

The Houston outpost of this iconic restaurant has continually maintained its place as one of Montrose’s most inventive Japanese dining hotspots, combining amazing menu items from Uchi and Uchiko in Austin.

Make a reservation and pay roughly $150 per person for the signature Omakase ten-course tasting menu, and let these top-tier sushi chefs supervise your dinner in one of the best upscale restaurants in Houston.

13. Da Marco Cucina E Vino

Chef Marco Wiles routinely goes above and above at this luxurious restaurant, showcasing Tuscany’s finest delicacies.

Start with peperoncini, grilled octopus, and potatoes, then go on to spaghetti with crab and wild Santa Barbara sea urchin, and finally veal chops with thyme roasted tomatoes.

14. State of Grace

This upscale River Oaks restaurant serves excellent seafood and meat. Main meals like the prime steak with demi glace and crushed potatoes would cost you between $32 and $70. Smoky beef ribs, warm bacon grease tortillas with duck carnitas, or squid ink spaghetti are all amazing options.

Finish with a delicious slice of lemon pie made with chantilly cream, saltine crust, and candied lemon for the ideal ending to a costly but well-worth-it lunch at one of the best upscale restaurants in Houston.

15. One Fifth Gulf Coast

Chef Chris Shepherd’s ever-changing restaurant is currently focusing on a Gulf Coast theme, indicating that the Houston-obsessed chef is right at home.

Start with Texas stone crab claws and a muffaletta salad before diving into wood-roasted flounder amandine, cane syrup-lacquered duck, or fresh Gulf fish served with jalapeno corn chowder.

16. Potente

It’s no surprise that Jim Crane’s Downtown restaurant Potente has a price tag to match its luxurious décor. Menu items such as fire-roasted sea bass with giant lump crab and braised veal cheeks with lima bean risotto are available.

You can also order the crown gem of the restaurant, a rich, huge pile of cacio e pepe pasta topped with slivers of Italian black truffle.

17. Nobu Houston

Trendy Houston restaurants come and go in the blink of an eye, but Nobu has cruised on months after opening in Clutch City.

The service is exceptional, and the food provides a totally unique and imaginative experience with each visit. Dover sole with yuzu caper sauce, red snapper sashimi with dry miso, and Mishima reserve wagyu tenderloin are all must-orders.

The Nobu standout tasting menu cost $125 and the Chef’s Choice Omakase menu is $175 for those who prefer a multi-course tasting experience in one of the best upscale restaurants in Houston.

18. Kiran’s Restaurant

Excellent service and a lovely setting complement Chef Kiran Verma’s Indian-inspired meals. Explore the vast menu, which includes dishes like Chilean sea bass with a poblano mango chutney and grilled asparagus, and a rack of venison with a fried duck egg.

With traditional vegetarian sides like paneer makhani and malai kofta and dessert, lunches here may easily reach $150, not counting wine and beverages. So if you want to dine in Kiran’s. one of the best upscale restaurants in Houston, then be ready to go all in.

19. Hamsa

Hamsa is an upscale Israeli restaurant in the heart of Rice Village from the same team that brought you Doris Metropolitan and Badolina Bakery.

Watch as fluffy housemade pita emerges from the kitchen’s brick oven on a regular basis, then pair it with one of two kinds of hummus, baba ganoush, squash tahini, and a half-dozen other dishes.

If you can’t decide what to have, the Yala Yala tasting experience offers substantial quantities of the menu’s best sellers and is well worth the money.

20. March

Chef Felipe Riccio’s reservation-only tasting menu restaurant aims to take customers to different parts of the Mediterranean.

For a few months at a time, a single region is highlighted, and then the restaurant closes to re-strategize and relaunch with a new focus after a little hiatus.

Formerly, March enchanted customers with cuisine from France’s Corsica, Spain’s Balearic Islands, and Italian islands such as Elba, Malta, Sardinia, and Cyprus.

Its present menu, which runs from February to July, focuses on delicacies from Greece, with 6- and 9-course tastings.

Summary

It is said that just by eating out, one could tour the globe without ever leaving Houston. Whether Spanish, Italian, or contemporary American cuisine, Houston has something for everyone.

In this piece, we have highlighted the 15 best upscale restaurants in Houston. Offering wonderful food, an intimate atmosphere, and lovely cocktails, these restaurants are ideal for a romantic night out.

Make a reservation, grab your special someone, and have a memorable evening at one of Houston’s best romantic restaurants.

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