AS with a game of hide-and-seek, half the fun of dining at some of the city’s trending hot spots is finding them. A wave of new restaurants and cocktail bars have opened in Houston that mimic the speakeasy-style concepts that have long been popular in New York City, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. These establishments may not look like much at first, but a deeper dive reveals a ritzy dining room or a glamorous cocktail bar.
In a city full of retail strips, it can be refreshing to find a unique destination tucked away from the chaos of the outside world. Check out our picks of some of the city’s best-kept secret restaurants and bars.
The Ritual at Bandista comes with palo santo to ward off bad energy.
Downtown
Downtown’s posh Four Seasons Hotel houses two food-and-drink destinations: the lobby bar, Bayou & Bottle, and Toro Toro, helmed by celebrity chef Richard Sandoval. But it also boasts an ultra-exclusive cocktail bar hidden behind a mock bookcase. Bandista, the hotel’s 20-seat bar, is an upscale speakeasy—one that requires a secret numerical code to enter. Once inside, patrons can experience the bar’s innovative cocktail program, including drinks poured over dry ice and presented in vintage glassware. There are rare spirits, with pours priced as high as $8,000, and cocktails large enough for couples to share. A seat at the bar allows guests to witness all of the thoughtful prep that goes into crafting Instagram-worthy drinks, but the adjoining lounge area has nighttime views of the city. Bandista is reservation-only, with guests receiving a confirmation by text and instructions on how to be escorted up.
Galleria
What appears to be a comic book store on the outside is an omakase-only dining experience in Uptown, appropriately named Hidden Omakase. The multicourse, Michelin-recommended restaurant experience is precisely that: an experience from start to finish, and with only two seatings per night, it is one of the hottest chef-led dinners in town. Upon entering the front door, guests find themselves in a dining room anchored by a large, wraparound sushi bar with only 18 seats. In the center of the room, chef Marcos Juarez and his team of skilled sushi chefs prepare course after course, hand-delivering pieces of sashimi, uni, nigiri, and more to each diner.
Galleria
While it may look like this cinema plays all of the old classics, there is only one feature presentation here: Juliet. Beyond its retro movie-theater facade, complete with a lit-up marquee, a ticket window, and a concession stand, Juliet is an upscale, modern American fine-dining restaurant and steakhouse boasting old-Hollywood glam. Film stills adorn the walls; the movie-inspired menu sections off into Preview, Main Event, and Co-Stars; and instead of bread service, guests are given bowls of popcorn when they are seated. Juliet also offers a raw bar with oysters, Alaskan king crab, and three shrimp cocktails. The beverage program features Insta-worthy drinks. Just make sure to adhere to the restaurant’s dress code.
Kanpai Club
Heights
With only 10 seats inside a narrow, 400-square-foot space, Kanpai Club is one of the coziest drinking spots in H-Town. Those in the know can access the bar through a shared door located inside Hando, its sister hand-roll restaurant, and partake of craft cocktails, martinis, sake, beer, and wine. As a perk of being right next door, guests can order many of Hando’s small plates, including brussels sprouts, edamame, and shrimp lollipops. Visitors looking for a nightcap can also score heartier bites like poke tacos and yuzu kosho fries from the late-night menu, served from 10pm to midnight Sunday through Thursday and 11pm to 2am Friday and Saturday.
Heights
While there are many novel entrances to Houston speakeasies, this is the only one you enter through a cat door—well, not a typical cat door, per se, but a door hidden behind a mural of a cat. Once you make it inside Mèo, Vietnamese for “cat,” you feel as if you’ve been miraculously transported to a dockside bar in Vietnam. The speakeasy, located inside Texas-Asian fusion restaurant Wokker in the Heights, has a menu that honors Vietnam through and through. Mèo’s cocktail menu includes must-tries like the Upside Down, made with a pineapple, shishito, Thai red chile, and jalapeño cordial, plus coconut, tequila, and soda. You’ll want to throw back a couple of those as you feast on the bar’s food menu, which features pork egg rolls, crispy pork belly, and street corn.
Heights
Although the shipping container craze has gotten a little out of hand of late, we can’t think of a more efficient way to create a speakeasy than just plopping one down on the back patio of a bar. Mijo Mezcal Bar, located in a dimly lit shipping container behind Cantina Barba in the Heights, is a fun side quest to conquer after eating your fill of tacos inside its parent bar. This cozy spot features a delightfully macabre vibe: The entire back wall of the pipsqueak bar is filled with row after row of black skulls, which glisten menacingly under the bar’s moody LED light show. While you sit back and enjoy the ambience, order yourself a mezcal flight; it’s one of the best in town.
Washington Ave
Nestled amid the lively bars along Washington Avenue, a pastry shop features glass cases stocked with macarons, cakes, and sugary concoctions. But investigate further and find what lies beyond the innocent storefront’s pantry door: Sugar Room, a large, dimly lit, speakeasy-style cocktail bar. The swanky, 1920s-inspired decor transports you to the Prohibition era, when hidden bars were more necessity than luxury. Head-turning cocktails are reason enough to linger around, but if you’re not a drinker, there is also hookah on the patio.
