The Room
Megan and Eric Nguyen opened Krio in Rice Village in 2022 — a chef-driven modern-Filipino dining room dedicated to the proposition that Filipino cooking deserved a fine-dining expression at full restaurant scale. The James Beard Foundation has shortlisted Megan Nguyen for Best Chef Texas. The dining room is intentionally polished: exposed brick, a long bar, an open kitchen at the back.
Eater Houston named Krio one of the year's best new restaurants in 2023. The Texas Monthly review listed the kitchen among the most-disciplined modern-cuisine openings of the year.
The Food
The menu draws across the Filipino regional canon — sinigang, kare-kare, lechon, pancit. The sinigang programme is the menu's calling card. The seasonal-rotating Filipino preparations, the wood-grilled secondi, and the rice-and-noodle programme handle the menu's wider draws.
Cocktail programme runs Filipino-spice-led. Wine programme is short, weighted toward Riesling and Champagne. Service is informed and warm — the Nguyen family is on the floor on most services.
Best Occasion Fit
First Date: The bar at Krio is one of Rice Village's most-reliable first-date seats. The Filipino menu shares well, the cocktail programme is the conversation.
Impress Clients: International visitors recognise modern Filipino cooking by the kind of regional-cuisine fine-dining language a serious chef-driven kitchen requires.
Birthday: Birthdays at Krio are warm, Filipino-led, family-style affairs the room handles with the personal grace a chef-driven family operation offers.