RFK Rankings · Houston
Best Restaurants for Brunch in Houston (2026)
Weekend brunch · Houston · 6 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published May 18, 2024 · Updated June 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Only one Houston room cracked OpenTable's 2026 Top 100 Brunch list, and it sits inside an art museum. Around it the city splits by neighborhood: a Michelin-starred French prix fixe on Main Street, progressive Mexican in West U, Ford Fry's River Oaks room and a five-star hotel garden in Uptown. These six, ranked, are where to spend a Saturday morning when the table matters as much as the mimosa.
1.Le Jardinier
A one-star French prix fixe inside the art museum, the only Houston room on OpenTable's 2026 brunch list; book the occasion table.
Le Jardinier holds Texas's first Michelin star for a museum restaurant, tucked into the Kinder Building of the Museum of Fine Arts at 5500 Main Street. Executive chef Felipe Botero cooks under culinary director Alain Verzeroli, a Joël Robuchon protégé, and the daytime service is a seasonal prix fixe; Houston Restaurant Weeks ran a $25 two-course weekend version in 2025.
The room is glass-walled and garden-bright, open Wednesday through Saturday and Sunday for the midday seating that doubles as brunch. It was the single Houston restaurant named to OpenTable's 2026 Top 100 Brunch in America list. Reserve through the restaurant well ahead, and treat the museum-hours window as the dressed-up morning rather than a casual one.
2.Maximo
Adrian Torres's Bib Gourmand Mexican kitchen and the city's other OpenTable brunch pick; reserve the West U table for chef-driven cooking.
Maximo is the second Houston name on OpenTable's 2026 Top 100 Brunch list, a progressive Mexican room from the Local Foods Group at 6119 Edloe Street in West University. Chef Adrian Torres earned the kitchen a Michelin Bib Gourmand for its quality-to-value cooking, and the weekend brunch runs Friday through Sunday from eleven.
The menu reaches past the standard taco brunch into masa, mole and raw-bar plates built on Gulf seafood. The room is compact and the weekend tables go fast, so book through OpenTable rather than walking up. This is the chef-driven pick when you want the food to lead and the bill to stay sane.
3.State of Grace
Ford Fry's reworked River Oaks room, now leaning steaks and European plates; book the Westheimer table for an easy group brunch.
State of Grace is Houston native Ford Fry's River Oaks room at 3258 Westheimer Road, rebooted in 2024 from a Gulf Coast seafood house toward steaks and classic European fare with chef Bobby Matos. Brunch runs Saturday and Sunday from ten to three, a broad menu that suits a crowd more than a counter.
The dining room is one of the larger and easier weekend reservations on this list, the kind of bright River Oaks space that absorbs a birthday table without strain. Book through OpenTable for the weekend, and lean into the rebuilt menu; this is the group pick when the party is large and the morning is unhurried.
4.Annabelle Brasserie
A Berg Hospitality French brasserie on Buffalo Bayou Park, lobster omelet to duck confit hash; reserve the Autry Park table for a leisurely weekend.
Annabelle Brasserie anchors the Autry Park development at 811 Buffalo Park Drive along Allen Parkway, Ben Berg's modern French room with executive chef Russell Kirkham, formerly of Artisans. Weekend brunch runs to the decadent end: a lobster omelet, duck confit hash, croque madame and pain perdu, with brasserie plates such as $18 French onion soup and $28 roasted bone marrow anchoring the carte.
The room is a proper brasserie, big and mirrored, with a Buffalo Bayou Park setting that suits a long table and a slow morning. Book through OpenTable for the weekend; this is the relaxed French pick when you want the full brunch spread without a museum-hours clock.
5.Bloom & Bee
A garden-styled room with blown-glass blooms inside Texas's only five-star hotel; book the Uptown table for a dressed-up seafood brunch.
Bloom & Bee sits inside the Post Oak Hotel in Uptown, the only Forbes five-star hotel in Texas, a dining room hung with blown-glass blooms and built around seafood and sushi. Weekend brunch runs Saturday and Sunday from eleven to four, a polished service that draws the Galleria-area celebration crowd.
The setting does a lot of the work here, all glass flowers and hotel-grade service, the photogenic Uptown morning rather than the chef's-counter one. Book through OpenTable and dress for the room. This is the splurge brunch when the occasion calls for a hotel address and a raw bar.
6.Brenner's on the Bayou
A Landry's steakhouse on the bayou with a live-music Sunday spread; book the patio table for a scenic, low-key Houston brunch.
Brenner's on the Bayou is the Landry's steakhouse set on the banks of Buffalo Bayou near Memorial Park, a long-running room that won OpenTable's 2025 Diners' Choice for Best Scenic View and a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. Its "Sundays on the Bayou" brunch runs eleven to two with live music, crab-cake Benedict, corn-flake-crusted brioche French toast and Belgian waffles.
The draw is the setting, a wooded bayou patio that reads more retreat than city, with a wine list deep enough to justify the steakhouse address. Book through OpenTable for a patio table on a clear Sunday. This is the scenic, low-key pick when the view and the music matter as much as the plate.
Not for everyone
Famous, but skip for brunch
Backstreet Cafe. Tracy Vaught and Hugo Ortega's River Oaks room, famous for its Sunday jazz brunch, closed its South Shepherd location in early 2025 to relocate up the street, with reopening pushed to summer 2026. For a chef-driven morning in the meantime, book Maximo in West U above.
Le Jardinier on a budget. The museum room is a seasonal prix fixe with a short midday window, so it is the wrong call for a casual, lingering Saturday. For an all-morning table with a wide menu instead, Annabelle Brasserie at Autry Park is the lower-pressure pick.
Generic hotel buffets. Several Houston hotels run a Sunday spread that trades cooking for volume. Skip them for the chef-driven rooms here; Maximo in West University and State of Grace on Westheimer both cook to order.
How to brunch well in Houston
Houston brunch splits by neighborhood: the Museum District and Main Street for the Michelin room, West University and River Oaks for the chef-driven tables, Uptown and the Galleria for the hotel splurge, and Memorial Park's bayou edge for the scenic morning. The city is built for the car, so plan the drive and the valet; Uptown and River Oaks parking fills by noon on a weekend, and the Museum District has paid lots near the MFAH.
The destination rooms take reservations and fill early, so book Le Jardinier, Maximo and Bloom & Bee rather than walking up. State of Grace and Annabelle Brasserie hold more space for groups, while Brenner's patio is the one to lock in first on a clear Sunday. Houston brunch skews Saturday and Sunday from ten or eleven, and August's Houston Restaurant Weeks is when the prix-fixe rooms run their best-value menus.
Frequently asked
Where is the best brunch in Houston?
For the occasion brunch, Le Jardinier at the Museum of Fine Arts is the pick, a one-Michelin-star French room that landed the only Houston spot on OpenTable's 2026 Top 100 Brunch list. For a chef-driven neighborhood table instead, Maximo in West University plates a progressive Mexican brunch under chef Adrian Torres, and State of Grace runs Ford Fry's River Oaks room on Westheimer.
Which Houston brunch is best for a group?
State of Grace in River Oaks is the easiest large-group brunch, a big Westheimer Road room with a Saturday and Sunday service from ten to three. Annabelle Brasserie at Autry Park is the other group-friendly option, a French brasserie on Buffalo Bayou Park with a wide weekend menu and space for a crowd along Allen Parkway.
Do you need a reservation for brunch in Houston?
Yes at the destination rooms. Le Jardinier, Maximo and Bloom & Bee fill their weekend tables early, and Le Jardinier seats a short museum-hours window on Main Street. For a lower-key morning, Annabelle Brasserie and State of Grace hold more space, so book ahead through OpenTable or arrive before eleven on a Saturday or expect a wait.
What is a good upscale brunch in Houston?
Le Jardinier is the dressed-up pick, a one-Michelin-star French prix fixe under chef Felipe Botero inside the Museum of Fine Arts on Main Street. Bloom & Bee at the five-star Post Oak Hotel in Uptown is the other splurge, a garden-styled dining room with blown-glass blooms and a Saturday and Sunday brunch built on seafood and sushi.
Is Backstreet Cafe still open for brunch in Houston?
Not yet. Backstreet Cafe, Tracy Vaught and Hugo Ortega's River Oaks room famous for its Sunday jazz brunch, closed its South Shepherd location in early 2025 to relocate up the street, with reopening pushed to summer 2026. For a chef-driven morning in the meantime, book Maximo in West U or State of Grace on Westheimer.
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