The Room
Rick Di Virgilio opened Oporto Fooding House & Wine in 2014 — the only credible Portuguese dining room in Texas. The room is intentionally warm and intimate — exposed brick, a small bar at the front, framed photographs of Porto on the walls, banquettes along the western wall.
The Houston Press has held Oporto in its top-twenty list every year since opening. The Texas Monthly review listed the kitchen among the most-disciplined small kitchens in the state. The Port-and-Madeira programme is among America's deepest.
The Food
The menu runs Portuguese-leaning small plates — bacalhau preparations, octopus a la lagareiro, the seasonal-rotating Portuguese seafood, and a serious chouriço programme. The Sunday Portuguese supper is the order to plan around.
Wine programme is heavily Portuguese — vinho verde, Douro reds, a serious Port programme that runs over a hundred bottlings. Cocktails are short and Portuguese-aperitivi-led.
Best Occasion Fit
First Date: The bar at Oporto is one of Montrose's most-reliable first-date seats. The Port programme is the conversation, the small-plates menu shares well, and the room's Portuguese register reads as warm and adventurous at once.
Birthday: Birthdays at Oporto are warm, bacalhau-led, Port-friendly affairs the room handles with eleven years of practice.
Solo Dining: The bar at Oporto is one of the better Houston solo-dining seats for the diner whose interest in dining is wine-led.