The Cadillac
Now open near Memorial City, Via 313 brings authentic Detroit-style pizza to Houston. Named for Detroit's area code, the restaurant offers rectangular pizzas that are delightfully crispy on all four sides, but oh-so-perfectly fluffy in all the right spots. Everything — right down to the cream-cheese drizzle on the cinnamon sticks, which you should probably save room for — is made from scratch in-house. You can build your own, but The Cadillac is one of the signature pizzas that is a must-try: A savory blend of cheeses, including gorgonzola, is topped with thinly sliced prosciutto and fig preserves, and it's all doused in a balsamic glaze. Pizzas take around 20-25 minutes, and are worth the wait.
Spicy chicken karage (photo by Shawn Chippendale)
The River Oaks dinner-and-a-show hot spot has rolled out new happy-hour and tasting menus. Available Wednesday through Friday, 4:30-7pm, HH offerings include the spicy chicken karage, hamachi tacos and other bites for $10, plus sushi rolls and nigiri for $8-$12. Alternatively, score a whole bunch more sashimi, nigiri and maki for $50 — the Sushi Flight tasting menu is a great deal, and comes with an optional $20 Champagne pairing. There's also a five-course tasting menu for $75 (wine pairing $35), boasting a grande finale of peanut-whipped ganache with milk-chocolate cremeaux and salted-caramel ice cream. Sweet!
The famous Seattle bakery pops up at 8th Wonder Brewery on March 22 (4-6pm). For the uninitiated, a piroshky — not unlike a kolache — is a freshly baked, handheld pie filled with sweet, savory, veggie or vegan options. Also score Seattle-famous goods like Pikes Place chowder! Pre-order here.
Bananas Foster (photo by Kimberly Park)
To toast its 57th year in business, Brennan's of Houston — which calls a John Staub building, originally built for the Junior League, home — is cooking up some great specials. Featuring food inspired by the 1968 Junior League Cookbook, a three-course brunch is a steal for $33, featuring Hawaiian banana bread pain perdu — and Banana's Foster, of course. The three-course lunch ($57) is also a great deal, made even better with a $0.25 martini. For dinner, three courses are $67 (in celebration of the grand opening in 1967), and include your choice of an entree: How do we choose among Gulf fish almondine, peppercorn-crusted beef tenderloin Paillard, and crabmeat Imperial?!
Some will recognize Mandito's to mean "Little Armando's," which is great news for lovers of Armandos in Upper Kirby: Mandito's has opened its newest outpost in Katy, bringing approachable, family-friendly cantina food to the west side. Like the original in Round Top and its second location in Bellaire, Mandito's Katy serves tried-and-true fajitas, margaritas, and family packs that make dinner a cinch. Bonus for parents: Dine on the patio and watch the kiddos run amok on the Stableside greenspace at Falcon Landing!