The Best Mediterranean Restaurants In Houston

When it comes to labels, “Mediterranean” is as vague as it gets. The sea stretches between three continents and touches over 20 countries, each with its own distinct culinary identity. And yet, it’s a term you hear every day. The next time a friend tells you that they have Mediterranean on the brain, here are a bunch of spots—with influences that range from Spain to Lebanon—that should fit the bill.

THE SPOTS

Cedar’s Bakery

There are many incredible inventions in human history—the printing press, modern medicine, and the soda machine, which lets you mix different soda flavors. We believe the manakish from Cedar’s Bakery deserves such legendary status. Each hand-formed wood-fired dough gets topped with your choice of spiced beef with diced onion, drizzled with za’atar spice and olive oil, or bubbling mild but salty akkawi cheese and chopped parsley. Bites of the spongy yet crispy bread are wonderful and make us grateful the sun rises each morning, mostly because it means another day full of manakish.

Aladdin Mediterranean Cuisine

Aladdin stands like a pita bread beacon at Montrose and Westheimer, one of the neighborhood’s busiest intersections. The Mediterranean counter-service spot pumps out fresh pita all day, along with combo plates with lamb shawarma, kebabs, falafel, and your choice of a long list of delicious sides, like stewed eggplant topped with fresh pomegranate. The only decision you need to worry about is whether to order caramelized onion or traditional hummus—and, look, you want the onion. Dine in for a quick lunch, or bring your takeout to Menil Park, where you will be the envy of every overfed squirrel.

March

Dining at March is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, with every detail from the first cocktail to the last dessert making the $185 six-course and $250 nine-course menus worth the splurge. The Montrose restaurant hosts tasting menus that change every six months and serve as a dissertation of the Mediterranean region in season. Start your evening in the bar area (preferably around sunset) with snacks and a cocktail, then spend the next few hours in the main dining room having escalivada with arctic char or paella with lamb chorizo. And if you want to experience March without shelling out two months’ worth of savings, make a reservation at the bar, double up on some uni tomaquets (or your favorite snack from the a la carte menu), and soak up the best view in Montrose.

Helen Greek Food & Wine

Despite Rice Village resembling rows of strip centers, the Greek restaurant Helen feels more like a wine cellar. The space is cavernous, with a thin railing cantilevered between massive wine bottle shelves that split the dining room in half. No matter the time of day, Helen stays cold and dark, with only the front tables basking in golden hour light. This is perfect for conversation-centered date nights, Happy Hours that require more than a few bottles of wine, and meals where everyone is as comfortable passing around plates of charred octopus and seared beef kabobs as they are office gossip.

Empire Turkish Grill

Open for over 20 years, Empire Turkish Grill looks like a debutante ballroom inside but serves way better food. Passing around pita and mezze likely feels more enjoyable here than sitting around a table with an etiquette instructor. Expect dishes like a mixed platter of tangy and acidic vegetable dips and several different lamb, beef, and chicken kebabs or ciger; a pleasantly gamey fried calf’s liver arrives with fresh, thinly sliced onions and lemon.

Cafe Lili

Cafe Lili has been serving Lebanese food since the ‘90s, and from your first visit to when the cashier knows your order by heart, this family-run restaurant makes everyone feel comfortable. After ordering at the counter of this Galleria restaurant, expect your food to be ready by the time you find a table, regardless of how much you order. But make sure their smooth “special hummus” makes it to your plate so you can try the tender chuck beef topping the dish. Come with a crew and split a kabob platter, or come solo and talk yourself into buying a bottle of their rich olive oil.

Phoenicia Specialty Foods

The Downtown location of Phoenicia Specialty Foods, an enormous, fully-stocked Mediterranean grocery, always backs up with a line at the hot counter around lunch . Office folks and nearby apartment dwellers circle the salad bar, waiting for plates of crispy falafel, spiced shawarma wraps, and rice pilaf. We love that we can pick up a few sodas, boxes of dessert, or even an armful of imported olive oils or tins of Turkish delight, along with a solid lunch of sliced gyro.

Ekko's Greek American Deli

Even though Ekko’s is nothing more than a counter and a few tables inside a Valero gas station, there's enough bright blue paint on the walls that you could pretend you’re looking out on the Mediterranean Sea. This Galleria spot operates a mostly carryout business with folks lining up for beef souvlaki kebabs with pita warmed-to-order and massive salads with dressing you should consider taking extra home extra of. Plus, if you stare into Ekko's deep blue walls for a few minutes, you may catch the scent of sea spray.

Agnes Café & Provisions

When you need to hack away on a laptop but can’t concentrate unless you’re in a luxe cafe with studio-worthy lighting and a tiny, curated pantry full of chocolates and potato chips that taste like delicious Spanish ham, go to Agnes Cafe & Provisions. The all-day cafe just off Rice Village offers counter-service Mediterranean dishes like an acid-tinged freekeh salad with parmesan and flatbreads stuffed with spiced lamb kofta. It’s a chic spot for splitting mezze while sitting on designer mid-century wooden chairs. And the food tastes fantastic, like something you would spend $73 at Central Market to try to recreate but never quite can. So opt for the genuine article instead.

Istanbul Grill & Deli

Istanbul Grill & Deli, a casual Turkish restaurant, has made grilled tender kebabs and savory cheese-covered baked pides since the late ‘90s. This Rice Village spot is shrouded in a giant plastic canopy tent behind giant potted plants, making it easy to miss, apart from the bright red awning and the faint scent of warm brick-oven-baked bread. Once inside, you’ll find a menu full of pickles, spiced vegetable spreads that make you want to reevaluate every dip you've ever had, baked bread with tangy cheese, and wonderfully tender döner and kebabs. Split a slew of mixed plates between friends after a Rice game or before a day of shopping.

AL Quick Stop

Housed inside a Montrose corner store, AL Quick Stop—colloquially called Al’s—is a convenient spot to grab a quick meal or food on the go. It also replicates the neighborhood feel of a town square. Because whether or not you live near Montrose, you’ll likely run into someone you know here. Or you’ll find a worthy lunch interlocutor to spar over philosophical concepts and plates of fully loaded hummus and cheesy shawarma fries. And even though AL’s doesn’t make the best shawarma we’ve ever had, the food here tastes equally good for lunch takeout before a busy shift or at 11pm when handheld foods with nutty tahini taste all the more satisfying.

Niko Niko's

The family-run Niko Niko’s has been serving gyros in Montrose since 1977. It’s now a fast-casual takeout empire with folks lining up for one of the hundreds of items on its delightful, cartoon-colored menu. Think loaded plates of lamb kebabs with seasoned rice and crispy fries, salads topped with massive slabs of feta, and a chicken avgolemono soup that can cure any ailment, allegedly. Food at Niko Niko’s flies out of the kitchen fast, and one plate can feed at least two people, especially because each one comes with about a million extra pieces of pita bread.

Craft Pita

At Craft Pita, everyone has their own space, from the lone soul donning headphones and hacking away at a falafel pita to the family of six that prioritizes the seasonal special and french fries. The large Mediterranean restaurant in West University is where people come to sit in their bubble while having mezze samplers and rubbing sticky baklava bits off of their fingers. There’s a neighborhood joint feel. At some point, a staff member will come from behind the counter to check on their favorite regular or ensure newcomers have everything they need. Come here when you need a quick meal or are in the mood for booza ice cream and want to stay in one spot.