Best of the City 2016

Best of the Bayou City: Foodie Finds

Including the best butcher and the city's best grocery store corridor.

By Houstonia Staff July 18, 2016 Published in the August 2016 issue of Houstonia Magazine

Best Bakery

El Bolillo

The majestic El Bolillo location on Wayside Drive eliminates the parking lot hassles of the busier spot on Airline Drive, leaving you more time to peruse the pastry cases full of every pan dulce imaginable: churros, fresh-from-the-griddle tortillas, crumbly cinnamon-laced ojarrascas and, of course, all the hot little bolillos you desire.

Multiple locations, elbolillo.com

Shutterstock 286408049 v8ec5g — Image: Matty Newton

Best Butcher

B&W Meat Company

The meat that’s cut to order here represents every culture of the Gulf Coast: Oxtails and fajitas are ready for cooking, along with rarely seen meats such as turtle, frogs’ legs and alligator. Game sausages are smoked in-house, and for special occasions, you can’t beat the turducken and crawfish pie.

4801 N. Shepherd Dr., bwmeatcompany.com

10378001 1007259589300123 5862693397653990083 n tzbbyw — Image: Plant It Forward/ Facebook.com

Best Local Farm

Plant It Forward

It doesn’t get more local than this network of four urban farms, which not only provide the city with hyper-fresh produce but help economically disadvantaged refugees earn a living wage. Buy from any location during farm stand hours or from five area farmers markets, or head to Oxheart, benjy’s, Dish Society or Coltivare, all of which use PIF’s fresh fruits and veggies.

plant-it-forward.org

Best Grocery Guru

Scott McClelland

President of H-E-B Houston

Let’s get this straight: Scott McClelland doesn’t really live next door to J.J. Watt, despite what you’ve been led to believe by those commercials. H-E-B, with its focus on fresh, local food, may be the Bayou City’s favorite grocery store—thanks in no small part to McClelland’s supermarket smarts about what Houstonians want (and where).

His Local Favorites

Best Small Grocery

“Phoenicia’s pita bread, and seeing it come through the conveyor belts, makes it a destination. It’s the most interesting niche grocery store for what they do.”

Best Houston-made Product

“I’m a fan of Pita Pal hummus. I think it’s wonderfully creamy.”

Best High-End Restaurant

“I think you’d be hard-pressed to pass up Da Marco. It’s quaint and delicious.” His order? The chianti-braised short ribs with burrata risotto.

Best Grocery Store Corridor

Blalock between I-10 and Campbell

Four of our favorite grocery stores, international and otherwise, line this lucky stretch of Spring Branch. Below, where to go and what to look for.

Teloloapan

9480 Long Point Rd. supermercadosteloloapan.com

What you'll find there: marinated fajitas, fresh tortillas, pan dulces, in-house taqueria

Polonia Restaurant

1780 Blalock Rd., poloniarestaurant.com

What you'll find there: house-cured kabanosy, ample varieties of pierogi, more pickled products than you can imagine

99 Ranch Market

1005 Blalock Rd., 99ranch.com

What you'll find there: vast seafood section, the city’s best Vietnamese crawfish, Chinese pastries

Super H Mart

1302 Blalock Rd., hmart.com

What you'll find there: massive Korean food court, killer produce, amazing kimchi selection

Plant It Forward, El Bolillo, Bakeries, Local Food, H-E-B

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