Our Top 5 Date Night Spots: Houston Edition

If you have been following us on social media in the last few years, you've probably noticed our love for trying new restaurants. We live in the suburbs not too far from Houston, so when we want to try something new, we don't mind making the drive into town.

Let's face it, the suburbs are filled with big chain restaurants, and that's not really our thing.

In 2020, amidst everything that happened, cooking became therapeutic for me (Liz). I loved watching all the competition cooking shows like Top Chef and Master Chef. Creating delicious meals from scratch was so therapeutic and rewarding. In this cooking journey, I became a little picky when it came to going out to eat. Not to toot my own horn, but I could throw down in the kitchen, so if we are going to pay money for a meal, it better be good. 🙂

Choosing restaurants to try came down to research and reviews. What was the ambiance, what was the vibe, and mostly, what were people saying about the food?

Armando and I value our date nights because we remember what it USED TO BE to go on dates. Usually, we were with other friends with the intention to get drunk and be seen. Thank God for deliverance! We feel our date nights now are so much more precious and intentional. We genuinely enjoy each other's presence and getting to know each other more.

So for today's article, we wanted to share our top 5 date night restaurants in Houston. Most of these we have been to more than once, and a couple are new favorites!

Here we go:

1. Tiny Champions

We LOVE Tiny Champions. It's a small restaurant that is always bustling. The service is friendly, and the pizza is AMAZING! We usually get the cabbage salad, fried scamorza cheese appetizer, and the salami piccante pizza with pepperoni and jalapenos added. Reservations are needed for this restaurant.

2. Jun

This restaurant is beautiful, but it's not only the aesthetic that is good; the food was delicious. It's a shared plate kind of experience. We ordered the Gulf Shrimp Aguachili, the carrots, and the Fried Chicken whole portion. The appetizers, although small, were so fresh and unique in their flavors, and the fried chicken was the best I've ever had! We finished with the sticky toffee pudding, which was amazing! Reservations are needed for this restaurant.

3. Koi

We love a good sushi roll! This place had such a cool aesthetic and vibe. The sushi rolls tasted like some of the freshest I've had in Houston. We got the El Diablo and Mega Dragon rolls and did the Handroll Tasting. It was a different and new experience for us trying handrolls, and We loved it! The only one we didn't like was the Uni handroll, but it's just a taste preference. This is definitely on our list of new favorite sushi spots because of the freshness, flavor, and vibes. Reservations are needed for this restaurant.

4. Oporto

We have been here a few times, and writing about it is making me want to go again. Lol! If you love tapas, you will probably enjoy this place. Its ambiance is romantic and perfect for a date night. Tapas are small plates of food packed with lots of flavor. The last time we were at Oporto, we had croquetas, Shishito peppers, octopus, and Paella. Everything was delicious, and it's always fun to try things the servers recommend. It's one of our favorite ways to eat. 🙂 Reservations are needed for this restaurant.

5. Perry’s Steakhouse

I know this one can be categorized as a “chain restaurant,” but Armando and I get the same thing every time, and it never disappoints. When we want a good steak, we go to Perry's, which is actually in our neck of the woods. Armando orders the ribeye, and I order the chateaubriand. We split the loaded mashed potatoes and finish off with creme brûlée every time. This is our exact order each time, and we always leave happy.

We hope you have been inspired to get out and try something new with your spouse today. Remember you have a lifetime to learn more about one another and have fun together, so might as well enjoy the person God has given you. Hope we made you hungry LOL!

Prayer for today: “God, we thank you for what you are doing today in our lives. We surrender our lives and marriage to you. We thank you that the marriage you've given us is one we can both enjoy. Give us joy along this journey and bless our time together, amen.”

Thanks for reading and sharing our newsletter with someone you know.

-Liz and Armando