Restaurants Open on Christmas and Christmas Eve in Houston: 33 Top Picks for Eating Out on the Holidays

It’s not beginning to look a lot like Christmas. It’s full-on Christmas, with people decking the halls, going on last-minute shopping sprees, singing along to Christmas carols — even “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” for now, anyway. With all the wrapping gifts and checking the tracking on shipped orders, it’s hard to spend much time planning the menus for these most merry of days.

Sure, you could make like a Who down in Whoville with an extravagant feast. You could glaze a ham. You could stuff a turkey. You could spend countless hours in the kitchen instead of quality time with the family.

Or, you could pick up delicious dishes from your favorite restaurant. You could feel festive with a night out on Christmas Eve. You could chill out at brunch on Christmas Day. It’s no pressure, no stress. It’s a win-win.

PaperCity has rounded up the best spots for season’s eatings. These are the best restaurants open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Houston. Happy Holidays!

CHRISTMAS EVE

Brennan’s

5 to 8 pm

Tuck in for Christmas Eve dinner at a classic Houston institution. Brennan’s created a lengthy list of options for its three-course menu. It’ll be hard to resist Brennan’s snapping turtle soup for starters, especially followed by Gulf Fish Pontchartrain.

Just save room for the unforgettable bananas foster — worth a trip all on its own.

B&B Butchers

10 am to 11pm

This meat haven will be open for lunch and dinner on Christmas Eve, so get ready for some of Chef Tommy’s Bacon drizzled with honey and sprinkled with bleu cheese, chicken fried pork chops and Wagyu skirt steak.

You can also hear a few tunes if you dine from 7:30 to 8:30, courtesy of jaunty Christmas carolers. 

Georgia James

Seatings at 1 pm and 5 pm

Underbelly may be a thing of the past, but its treasured Christmas Eve dinner isn’t. Chris Shepherd’s not-a-steakhouse steakhouse Georgia James picks up the mantle with a $75, three-course dinner.

Get ready for spaghetti and meatballs, prime rib with horseradish cream, cheesy broccoli and candy canes and coffee cake, just to give you a sneak peek.

Ousie’s Table

5 to 10 pm

Get some of that all-time Southern comfort at Ouisie’s Table with its regular menu and a specialty Christmas Eve feast. Feeling festive? Go for the quail with veal prosciutto or pistachio-crusted lamb with mint sauce.

Hugo’s

5 to 8 pm

This mighty Mexican institution serves up its classic Buffet de Noche Buena for $45 per adult and $15 per child. Expect all the traditional dishes you know and love, plus live jams from house band Viento.

La Table

11 am to 9 pm

Come take a tour of France’s finest with specials like Yellow Fin tuna and roasted venison tenderloin with sweet potato and huckleberry juniper jus. The classic bouche de Noel Christmas dessert will be offered up in two standout flavors, almond white chocolate and raspberry lemon.

Roka Akor

11:30 am to 2:30 pm, 5 pm to 11 pm

This palindromic sushi paradise is serving up an exclusive five-course Christmas Eve dinner along with its a la carte offerings. The menu runs the gamut from escolar tataki and Wagyu beef and kimchi dumplings to truffle hot pot at $95 per person.

Backstreet Cafe

11 am to 3 pm, 5 to 10 pm

This River Oaks mainstay’s serving up a triple threat with a three-course Christmas Eve dinner for $52. Treat yourself to baked oysters, charred cauliflower, eggplant pappardelle and bleu cheese-stuffed chicken, topped off with a Christmas Sundae.

Mastro’s

3 to 10 pm

Billionaire Houston Rockets owner Tillman Fertitta’s Mastro’s is something of a slam dunk for Christmas Eve. The sophisticated steakhouse is offering an exclusive special from now through the New Year: roasted long-bone prime rib for $140.

You can also sip on the specialty Holiday Cheer cocktail, a festive blend of Tito’s, Irish cream, Kahlua and Licor 43. But then again, there’s always the 20,000-bottle wine list.

Sud Italia

5 to 9 pm

Feast your eyes — and your belly — on the epic Italian Feast of Seven Fishes. Think gnocchi in a pink squill fish sauce, grilled swordfish with fingerling potatoes, salmon tartare and more, all for $59.50 per person.

The Classic

Last seating at 9 pm

This year, The Classic’s offering up holiday specials such as Zaatar Roasted Duck with Brussels sprouts, Marcona almonds and pomegranate glaze and gingerbread cookies with spiced eggnog alongside its usual classic burgers and feel-good American food.

Eight Row Flint

2 to 10 pm

Head to Eight Row Flint for its epic tacos on the spacious patio. It’s hard to pass up their frozen G&Ts, but you just might check out Rompope, a specialty eggnog made of rum, allspice dram and pumpkin syrup.

Hotel Granduca

6:30 to 9 pm

On Christmas Eve make it a package deal with a sweet hotel stay and special four-course dinner at Ristorante Cavour. The Junior Suite package runs $449, the Executive Granduca costs $479 and the Signature Granduca is $509.

Your stay comes with Granduca roses, chocolate-covered strawberries and two glasses of Prosecco. That’s sure to get you feeling bubbly.

Etoile Cuisine et Bar

5 to 9 pm

Fine French dining kicks it up a notch in Uptown Park. The pre fixe Christmas Eve dinner features savory options like duck foie gras, lobster bisque, Maine diver scallops and a delicious duo of prime beef tenderloin and braised short ribs.

Quattro

5:30 to 10 pm

You don’t need quattro reasons to head to this dining destination in the Four Seasons. One will suffice: braised veal osso buco with classic gremolata and saffron risotto. Not convinced? Give the celery root raviolo a shot.

Revival Market

7 am to 4 pm

Enjoy this Agricole Hospitality spot’s appetizing eats. Think Sicilian breakfast sandwiches with housemade spicy pork sausage, a heaping jumbo biscuit sandwich, or something lighter like a kale salad or hummus plate with house-cured salmon.

Helen Greek Food and Wine

Helen in The Heights

11 am to 9 pm

It’s all Greek — authentic Greek — at Helen. Hit up either location, which are typically closed on Mondays, for some hearty gyros, a feta-brined chicken that’s out of this world, or soothing avgolemono soup to warm you right up on a cold night.

FM Kitchen and Bar

11 am to 8 pm

You can count on FM for a good time, whether it’s an afternoon cozying up inside or an evening spent idling on the patio. Come for those unbeatable burgers, stay for the charred corn elote.

Avondale Food & Wine

11 am to 8 pm

The former L’Olivier is treating guests with its fun regular menu of American-meets-French dishes like the Black Hill Farm crispy pork belly, prosciutto Panini and rustic chicken with Robuchon potatoes.

CHRISTMAS DAY

Hotel Granduca

11 am to 2:30 pm

Enjoy a special Christmas Brunch with seasonal flavors, traditional delights like turkey and all the trimmings, ham, prime beef, seafood and more at $85 per adult and $40 per child.

Grotto

Times vary

This ristorante is serving up its Italian classics like pesce al forno, shrimp piatta with grilled asparagus and blistered tomatoes, veal chop and proscuttio and melon. And who can beat that ambience?

Fielding’s Local Kitchen + Bar

10 am to 3 pm, 3 to 9 pm

Fielding’s favorites will be available, like brunch time chicken and waffles, and cornbread pancakes, and dinner classics like Colorado smoked lamb and milk braised pork shoulder. But that’s only part of the fun — Christmas Day means sweet and sour snow crab claws and a 44 Farms prime rib cart. 

Hotel Alessandra

11 am to 2:30 pm

Lucienne restaurant is spreading Christmas cheer with a three-course brunch with tantalizing options like salmon gravlax with caviar, crepes suzette and king crab benedict eggs. Brunch is $65 per person.

Ambrosia

5 to 10 pm

This fun fusion restaurant is sharing its shareable-heavy menu in the Museum District. Expect the unexpected at this cozy-chic eatery with deep-fried masala dry rub chicken wings and plancha charred curry leaf leaf bok choy.

Fogo de Chao

11 am to 9 pm

Get your holiday feasting on in epic proportions at Fogo de Chao. The world’s meatiest options are at your fingertips, along with a salad bar that can’t be beat.

Cadillac Bar

10 am to 3 pm

This one’s a no-brainer — Cadillac Bar’s festive every day out of the year, and it’s known for one of the very best brunches in Houston. Thanks, in no small part, to its Tex-Mex favorites.

Quattro

6 to 10 pm

Holiday feasts aren’t always best homemade — leave it to the expert chefs. Head to Quattro for Maine lobster salad, Christmas beef carpaccio and Red Snapper with shrimp and calamari in a cioppino sauce.

Avenida Brazil Churrascaria Steakhouse

11 am to 8 pm

For just $50, you can chow down on Avenida Brazil’s extensive menu that caters like crazy to carnivores. Succulent beef, lamb, chicken and fish are only the flip of a coaster away.

The Houstonian

Seatings from 10:30 am to 2:15 pm

The Houstonian is celebrating the season with several dining options: an out-of-this-world brunch buffet, a sensational pre-fixe menu in the elegant Manor House and a special, seasonal a la care menu in the new Tribute restaurant. You simply can’t go wrong.

Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse

3 to 8 pm

It’s prime time for some Prime Rib — $45 for 16 ounces, $55 for 20 ounces — at one of Houston’s premier steakhouses. And don’t forget about that dry-aged steak.

PICK UP

Goode Company BBQ

Customers can pre-order this festive takeout for a December 23rd or December 24th pick-up. For $200, you can get a 2.5-pouind smoked beef tenderloin, two quarts of potatoes au gratin, one quart of creamed spinach and a dozen homemade dinner rolls with a beer-shallot jam butter.

B&B Butchers

Calling all carnivores. Benjamin Berg’s meaty paradise is offering up several takeout options, from pork crown roasts at $65 each to filet mignon at $33.99 per pound and premium roasted prime rib au jus, $550 for a whole and $300 for a half.

And don’t forget the a la carte sides — whipped potatoes, creamed spinach and B&B mac n cheese, oh my indeed.

Underbelly Hospitality

This group is offering an amazing range of goodies from all of their restaurants, like 44 Farms Prime Rib, tater tot casserole, cinnamon rolls and UB Preserv’s Ca Phe Sua Da Carrot Cake. Give the menu a whirl — and get that credit card ready.