FIFA World Cup 2026: Essential Houston foods to try

But one thing that doesn’t have to change is the food. Houston is one of the top food cities in North America, a true melting pot where cultures come together and create something unique and distinct. If you’re visiting Houston for the World Cup, know that you can go just about anywhere in Houston and enjoy a superior meal.

That said, what are the quintessential Houston foods to try while here? What are the absolute MUST eats? Let me, a longtime Houston food writer and one-time critic, help you.

Where: The Original Ninfa’s on Navigation

You may also call this fajitas. The dish commonly described as grilled meat served with onions, peppers and tortillas has been around for longer than you think, its roots in Texas with the cowboys (vaqueros) running cattle drives through the Rio Grande Valley. But tacos al carbon made it to the big city in the 1970s, when Ninfa Laurenzo popped them on the menu of her fledgling restaurant. The Original Ninfa’s on Navigation, still in operation today, is considered the place where fajitas took off, a dish that in time would become a staple of casual American cuisine. The Original Ninfa’s is kind of a necessary box to check off if you’re new to Houston, but scores of Mexican restaurants in town do tacos al carbon pretty well.

If you’re visiting Houston, you should eat Vietnamese food. Why? Because after the Fall of Saigon, waves of Vietnamese immigrants left their home country for a place that had a similar climate with good jobs and opportunities. They found Houston, settling here and starting their own businesses including lots of great restaurants. Now, phò is the go-to dish, always faithful and comfortable, but I recommend the typically spicier and wilder bún bò hué, which to me feels like a spiritual match for Houston. Just about any phò spot is going to give you a good bowl, but I’ll take Pho 21 on South Gessner Road in Asiatown, primarily because it’s a great take on the dish, and bún bò hué is best enjoyed at a shopping center.

Where: Aga’s Restaurant & Catering

The first time I visited Aga’s I marveled at the speed and efficiency. A row of endless take-out bags behind the counter, servers wasting no energy in fulfilling orders and moving things along, a never ceasing dinner service with a packed dining room and about 70 people waiting in line outside. Yet it wasn’t on the top of people’s Houston restaurant lists. All of that has changed in recent years, with critics coming around to the truth that a great restaurant isn’t always just tasting menus and homemade vermouth—it also can be soulful dishes that keep families and friends coming back for more, over and over again. No dish at Aga’s down in Southwest Houston says soulful more to me than chicken cooked in a luscious “secret” white sauce that you can’t help but mop up with bullet naan. Also, yes, the goat chops are phenomenal.

There’s no shortage of neighborhood restaurants in Houston. Close your eyes, point to a community and you can probably find a pretty good spot to eat dinner on a Thursday night. Squable is one of them. For years I’ve been telling the world about Squable’s very simple dish of homemade bread, grilled, topped with a healthy swipe of garlic aioli, marinated mussels, beans and herbs. I don’t know what the dish says about Houston exactly, only that it’s symbolic of the kind of great random dish you can find just about anywhere. 

OK, let’s get weird. Because of Texas barbecue you can get great brisket and ribs just about anywhere. Because of the influx of Louisiana residents over time you can get great crawfish and étouffée just about anywhere. There’s great West African and Korean, Chinese and Italian, Arabic and Spanish food in Houston. But this fried chicken done by the well-known Himalaya out in the city’s Mahatma Gandhi District speaks to something very Houston, something I call “we mixed some things together and it came out great.” Chef Kaiser Lashkari basically came up with fried chicken doused in South Asian spices. Simple but unique and, more, a recipe informed by Houston’s melting pot status. Fried chicken is super Southern American, and garam masala is Indo-Pak. Put the two together and you’ve got Houston. Try it.