Eater names Indigo among country’s best new restaurants

Indigo restaurant in Houston has been named one of Eater's 16 Best New American Restaurants. Indigo restaurant in Houston has been named one of Eater's 16 Best New American Restaurants. Photo: Christopher Anderson/Solomon Sixteenth Photo: Christopher Anderson/Solomon Sixteenth Image 1 of / 24 Caption Close Eater names Indigo among country’s best new restaurants 1 / 24 Back to Gallery

Indigo, the tiny Houston restaurant that made giant noise last year, continues to resonate with critics: Eater has named it among its new list of the 16 Best New Restaurants in America.

Chef Jonathan "Jonny" Rhodes opened the 13-seat "neo-soul" restaurant in July 2018 in a nondescript storefront in a hardscrabble neighborhood near the Northline Transit Center. Critics quickly found reason to celebrate its prix-fixe menu of dishes inspired by the historical experiences of African-Americans and indigenous people. Houston Chronicle restaurant critic Alison Cook included Indigo on her list of 2018's best new restaurants in Houston. Texas Monthly included Indigo in its 2019 list of the 10 Best New Restaurants in Texas. And in February Rhodes found himself on the semi-finals list for Rising Star Chef of the Year for the James Beard Awards, considered the country's highest culinary honor.

In May Food & Wine named Indigo one of the Top 10 Restaurants in America.

This week Eater joins national publications that have called out Indigo and the work of Rhodes and his wife Chana Rhodes, who run the restaurant practically single-handedly.

MOOD INDIGO: How a 13-seat restaurant became Houston's hottest dining experience

This is what Eater editors, who compiled the list of Best New Restaurants, had to say about Indigo:

"Rhodes and his wife and co-owner, Chana Rhodes, aim to challenge systematic racism and oppression in America with their restaurant. Rhodes delivers monologues between courses on weighty topics ranging from mass incarceration to the Great Migration, but even without them, Indigo's very existence is part of the work: a fine dining restaurant in a historically underserved neighborhood, serving food that unabashedly claims its purpose. In a more equitable dining culture, none of this would be revolutionary, but today it is; diners simply don't see restaurants like this very often."

Indigo is one of three Texas restaurants (and the only from Houston) on the Eater list which also includes The Jerk Shack in San Antonio and Khao Noodle Shop in Dallas.

Greg Morago writes about food for the Houston Chronicle. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter. Send him news tips at greg.morago@chron.com. Hear him on our BBQ State of Mind podcast to learn about Houston and Texas barbecue culture.