Best cups of coffee in town?

Aside from Catalina, go to Blacksmith. It’s excellent and gets its coffee from Greenway. I would also try Boomtown Coffee, which is right near Down House, because it’s nicely located to visit antique shops and boutiques afterword. Their second shop is called The Honeymoon, a New Orleans-style café and bar open till 2 a.m. that transports you as soon as you walk in. It’s worth lingering there for brunch. One last one is a new little shop called Fix Coffeehouse; it just opened. I’ve gone in there three or four times already and having positive experiences all around.

Courtesy of Coltivare

Hottest new restaurants in town?

Coltivare for sure. It calls itself an Italian-fusion restaurant, but it’s more than that. It’s a small plates restaurant doing fun, innovative dishes. The last one I had there was a salad with pecan, pickled butternut squash, and Gouda cheese—fun, juicy, sweet, salty, fruity, and fantastic. I think Coltivare also has the best pepperoni pizza I’ve ever had, with pepperoni from a butcher in town. I’d also say Paulie’s, one of the better fast-casual Italian places here. You can spend a lot there or just split one plate of pasta between two people. The other is Weights + Measures in Midtown, an American fusion restaurant doing small plates with a full bar, bakery, and coffee shop.

Old-school Houston restaurant institution?

Ninfa’s. Houstonians call it “The Original Ninfa’s” on Navigation. Now there are locations all over Texas but this location in particular is special to Houstonians and serves some of the best Tex-Mex food you can find. For a dive, Stanton's City Bites. It’s in an old grocery store from the 1960s. You walk in and sit at old-school booths for one of the best burgers in Houston.

Where to get great barbecue?

A short 20 minutes outside of Houston, in Pearland, is Killen’s Barbecue. It’s the one that wins national awards where you get there at 8 a.m., stand in line for it to open at 11 a.m. so you can wait it out with people. You have to go there. As for something in Houston, Brookstreet Bar-B-Que is killing it.

Restaurants that you actually go to all the time?

Taqueria Barba: killer $2.50 tacos. I go three times a week for a chicken quesadilla, a chicken taco, and a smoked pork taco. I also get pho a lot at Pho Binh on White Oak. I love the vibe at Paulie’s, and go there quite a bit for Italian foods, and Local Foods, which only uses local ingredients from around the state and the menu changes every couple of months.