Cuisine of Houston

Gattis cited Houston's lack of zoning, which makes it easy for a business owner to start a restaurant as land is less expensive and there are fewer regulations and permitting rules.

[4] In 2022, the oldest still operating restaurant in Houston was Christie's Seafood and Steaks, established by an ethnic Greek man who originated from Istanbul.

"[8] In Houston, as in other places in Texas, the existing Chicano community influences the cooking methods used by recent immigrants.

[9] Because of the post-World War II increase, various chains in the Houston area sell Creole food, including Frenchy's Chicken, Pappadeaux, and Popeyes.

[9] Bernadette Pruitt, author of The Other Great Migration: The Movement of Rural African Americans to Houston, 1900-1941, wrote that Creole cooking became "an important cultural bridge" in the city and in its African-American community, and that "As cooks, Creole housewives transformed Houston's typical southern cuisine.

Carl Bankston, an associate professor of Asian studies and sociology at Tulane University, said in 2004 that ethnic Vietnamese are disproportionately employed in fishing, seafood processing, and shrimping in the Gulf Coast area.

The first new-style "craft barbecue" restaurants of the 2010s were established in the 610 Loop in 2011, and much of the subsequent expansion came to areas north and south of that.

[15] Beef brisket was available commercially beginning in the 1900s, declined due to wartime rationing in World War I, and by the 1960s became a regular menu item.

[16] Houston has its own variety of the Po-Boy,[17] with chowchow added to ham, salami and provolone cheese,[18] traditionally served cold.

[19] Stephen Paulsen of the Houston Chronicle stated that the "Original" variety is "in the city's food DNA, the Shipley Do-Nuts of sandwiches.

John Lomax of Houstonia described the 1970s and 1980s as the height of their popularity and that the growth of chain sandwich shops that operated across the United States, the introduction of banh mi, and the poor quality of third party sandwiches in gas stations resulted in a decrease in popularity for the variety.

Lomax in particular stated that the storage of the sandwiches at grocery stores ruined the flavor due to the delicate properties of the chowchow and mayonnaise.