Nice/Impressive:
June’s All Day is full of delicious bubbles, ever changing wines by the glass, and has a whole Zine dedicated to making you feel comfortable ordering wines you don’t know about. A jukebox and live DJ’s fill the room on Friday and Saturday night, and the Fried Chicken Sandwich, Catch of the Day with Leeks, Citrusy Snapper Carpaccio, and hot, homemade sourdough steal your heart. This is also a great brunch place, and don’t miss the Monster Cookie with M&M’s, pretzels, peanuts, and chocolate chips. They also won a place on Food & Wine’s Best New Restaurants of the Year in 2017 list which includes only 10.
Emmer & Rye is another new popular restaurant and on Rainey Street so you can hit the bars after. Skip the dim sum cart service but go for the Farmer’s Cheese, Carnitas with Roti, and any of the greens offered that day. Also, I love their orange wine.
Kemuri Tatsuya is the first ever Texas Japanese Izakaya with a menu that I guarantee you’ve never seen before. It’s in an old BBQ restaurant space, so they kept the smoker to make Fish Collar, BBQ Eel, Brisket, and Duck Breast in. I love the back patio that’s airy, and indoors it is pretty comical with Japanese paraphernalia and Texas twang. P.S. Only beer, liquor and sake here.
If you really want to ball out on some modern Mexican food, then I’d go to Comedor which has Mexico City and LA atmosphere vibes and was designed by high-end architect Tom Kundig. They have high top tables in the main dining room area that make it cozy and fun for your group. I like the Smoked Tuna, Octopus, Shrimp Tostada; Carrots with Mole, do NOT miss the Quesadilla or bone marrow tacos (yes, even if you don’t like bone marrow they change your mind and there is plenty of kale!).