BEST BITES 2019
Pearland favorite gets top honors at Rodeo Uncorked Best Bites competition
Feb 18, 2019, 12:44 pm
Brothers Produce won for best display. Photo by Eric Sandler
This article originally appeared on CultureMap and was written by Eric Sandler.
Everything old is new again at this year's edition of the Rodeo Uncorked! Best Bites competition. Behind-the-scenes changes in the judging process elevated some winners from previous years back into the spotlight.
Pearland's Grazia Italian Kitchen returned to the winner's circle for the first time since 2016, taking home people's choice for its wagyu ribeye burnt ends over cheddar grits. Fellow Pearland spot Killen's Barbecue, last year's people's choice and entree category winner, took second place in the people's choice for their ultra-popular pork belly burnt ends.
Other winners included Houston classic Ouisie's Table in the entree category and Woodlands restaurant Broken Barrel in the appetizer category (see full list of winners below).
Highlights from among the non-winning entries included burrata and truffle ice cream in a chive waffle cone —a collaboration between Roost chef Kevin Naderi and Sweet Bribery chef Sharon Leonard — homemade hot dogs an everything-seasoned buns from Revival Market, venison puffs from Yauatcha, and shrimp etouffee from Eunice. Unofficial award for the longest line of the night went to Gus's Fried Chicken, who were frying chicken on-site. Special shout out to Tiny's Milk & Cookies for giving away hundreds of their ultra-popular chocolate chip cookies.
Some 40 media judges from radio, TV, print, and online media had the allegedly difficult task of evaluating the entries from the 118 participating restaurants. Instead of two rounds of judging as in previous years, this time restaurants only had one opportunity to make an impression on the panel.
The sold-out event — unofficially the kick-off of Rodeo season ahead of the trail rides and barbecue cook-off — draws 5,000-plus to NRG Center. In addition to food from some of the city's top restaurants, attendees may sample some of the 500 wines that earned medals in the annual International Wine Competition. Thankfully, those who missed the festivities have the opportunity to sample many of the vintages in the Rodeo's wine garden.
Continue reading on CultureMap to see the complete list of winners.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
Critical levers Astros can pull as health concerns, deadline pressures grow
Jul 10, 2025, 3:46 pm
Jake Meyers is the latest Astro to be rushed back from injury too soon. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Houston center fielder Jake Meyers was removed from Wednesday night’s game against Cleveland during pregame warmups because of right calf tightness.
Meyers, who had missed the last two games with a right calf injury, jogged onto the field before the game but soon summoned the training staff, who joined him on the field to tend to him. He remained on the field on one knee as manager Joe Espada joined the group. After a couple minutes, Meyers got up and was helped off the field and to the tunnel in right field by a trainer.
Mauricio Dubón moved from shortstop to center field and Zack Short entered the game to replace Dubón at shortstop.
Meyers is batting .308 with three homers and 21 RBIs this season.
After the game, Meyers met with the media and spoke about the injury. Meyers declined to answer when asked if the latest injury feels worse than the one he sustained Sunday. Wow, that is not a good sign.
Asked if this calf injury feels worse than the one he sustained on Sunday, Jake Meyers looked toward a team spokesman and asked "do I have to answer that?" He did not and then politely ended the interview.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 10, 2025
Lack of imaging strikes again!
The Athletic's Chandler Rome reported on Thursday that the Astros didn't do any imaging on Meyers after the initial injury. You can't make this stuff up. This is exactly the kind of thing that has the Astros return-to-play policy under constant scrutiny.
The All-Star break is right around the corner, why take the risk in playing Meyers after missing just two games with calf discomfort? The guy literally fell to the ground running out to his position before the game started. The people that make these risk vs. reward assessments clearly are making some serious mistakes.
The question remains: will the Astros finally do something about it?