Can’t get enough?
These are just a handful of the salsas tasted by the Chronicle food team. Read more reviews at houstonchronicle.com/salsaproject. Did we miss a salsa you love? Let us know: food@chron.com.
CHAPULTEPEC LUPITA
813 Richmond, 713-522-2365 Salsafication: This no-frills, comboplate joint offers some darn tasty salsa. It’s the kind of personal, familial elixir your favorite tia might have made — a brilliant kitchen salsa with vivid, satisfying flavors. Plenty of chile sting, tomato and fresh cilantro brightness, and a slightly rough, scoopable texture that have you consuming a bowl even before your second beer arrives. Multiple salsas? No. Free: Yes. Chips: Fine chips, but they could have served us cardboard; we’d use whatever vehicle to attack this hot, homespun charmer. Grade: Excellent. Other: Chapultepec is open 24 hours, so you can get this wonderful salsa whenever the craving hits you.
CHUY’S
Eight Houston-area restaurants; chuys.com Salsafication: The chunky concoction that Austin-born Chuy’s delivers with its chips is related more to pico de gallo than salsa. The color may be anemic, but those peppers sure aren’t. The burn just builds, in a good way. Multiple salsas? Sort of — there is second condiment that often comes to the table automatically. The jalapeño ranch dip is addictive and soothes any residual burn from the salsa. If it doesn’t appear, just ask. Free: Yes. Chips: So light and thin that they often make the chunky salsa a challenge to eat. Grade: Good. Other: The complimentary fully loaded nacho bar at happy hour is one of the best deals in town.
CUCHARA
214 Fairview; cuchararestaurant.com Salsafication: A grand, vergingon-baroque salsa presentation of ridiculously delicious salsa flavors you won’t find anywhere else in Houston. The salsa trio features Salsa Tia Martha (a green tomatillo version sporting an unexpected undertow of crushed peanut); Salsa de 5 Chiles (toasted chile heat enriched with porky chicharrones); and Salsa Quemada (a bold, fragrant stunner boasting “burnt” arbol chile skin). Multiple salsas? Yes, three, and they’re all fabulous. Free: No, $9. Chips: They call them tortilla “fritters”; we call them tortilla chips. Grade: Extraordinary. Other: Last year, Cuchara had an in-house salsa competition, La Mejor Salsa de Mi Mama, among six mothers who cook at the restaurant. They were all salsas the cooks had learned from their mothers and grandmothers. It was magisterial stuff. The salsa program alone is reason enough to love Cuchara.
EL HIDALGUENSE
6719 Long Point; facebook.com/ El-Hidalguense-56805544314 Salsafication: Chiles rayados, the dried and wood-smoked pods of an heirloom jalapeño unique to Mexico’s Hidalgo state, are the key to the deep, dark, thrillingly intense table salsa at this family-run regional spot. The salsa made from these chiles is so dusky it can appear almost black, and the varietal is hotter than your average jalapeño by a good bit. Mutiple salsas? No. Free: Yes. Chips: Do the job. Grade: Extraordinary. Other: The house salsa is a serious enhancement to the Hidalguense specialties of lamb barbacoa cooked in maguey leaves and whole cabrito al pastor. Just add corn tortillas.
EL PUEBLITO PATIO
1423 Richmond; elpueblitopatio.com Salsafication: That pale green potion on your table looks like a regular old salsa verde. But surprise: The base is roughly puréed pineapple, and the salsa comes on all innocent sweetness, followed by sneaky green chile heat, an edge of cilantro and a savory note of onion. It seems odd and insipid at first blush, until the heat kicks in. Then, despite your better judgment, you’re hooked. Multiple salsas? Yes. Pueblito made its name originally with that pineapple salsa, which caused a stir when the restaurant opened as El Pueblito Place in 1997. But the red table salsa is even better. A cool, rough tomato purée that creeps up on you with a big front-of-the palate sear that migrates to the back of the throat as the heat subsides, it has a nice balance of salt, tartness, cilantro and onion flavors. Free: Yes. Chips: Deep-gold, medium-thick, slightly bubbled surface. They’re decent-quality commercial specimens but nothing special. Grade: Good (pineapple); very good (red salsa). Other: Despite the outrageous charms of the big Las Vegas pool-club-style patio — complete with draped semiprivate dining pavilions, huge palms and a waterfall — the vaguely coastal Mexican food here is so-so at best. You’re safest scarfing the salsas while sipping one of the surprisingly good, tart frozen margaritas at the bar.
EL REAL
1201 Westheimer; elrealtexmex.com Salsafication: Red comes to the table warm and redolent. Its toasted red chilies are pleasant but lacking the bold heat that some Houstonians crave. Multiple salsas? Yes. Want more heat? Ask for the “other” sauce. It is green and garish. You’re welcome. Free: Yes. Chips: Arguably the best in town. Freshly fried, expertly salted and feather light. Grade: Very good. Other: El Real is one of the neighborhood’s best traditions. If you live in one of three ZIP codes (77006, 019 or 098) or dine with a friend who does, you get 50 percent off your food purchase open to close on “Montrose Mondays.”
EL TIEMPO CANTINA
Multiple locations; eltiempocantina.com Salsafication: The fact that this brand comes from Mama Ninfa’s talented clan is assurance enough that you’re getting authentic Houston salsa at the many El Tiempo outposts. The green seems more emulsified than the original Ninfa’s on Navigation but no less crave-inducing. The red, though, is a thing of beauty — a vivid, tomato-forward sauce that is visibly potent and full of flavor. It’s not terribly chile hot, but it is as well rounded a red as you can get. Multiple salsas? Yes, both green and red served automatically. Free: Yes. Chips: Abundant crunch replaced automatically and often.
Grade: Excellent (red and green). Other: It’s hard to believe that the restaurant’s enormous menu is delivered in such top-notch fashion. But it is, and that’s why El Tiempo, for many, is the ultimate go-to Tex-Mex.
HABANERA & THE GRINGO
9902 Interstate 45; habagringo.com Salsification: Brightened with both lemon and lime and rounded with garlic, the red table salsa resembles a marvelous, slightly soupy pico de gallo. Meticulously chopped tomato, onion and jalapeño impart a fine fresh texture, and cilantro adds an herbal twinge. Multiple salsas? No. Free: Yes. Chips: Sturdy and house-fried, they snap, crackle and pop. Grade: Extraordinary. Other: The food at this southeast Houston newcomer near Hobby Airport is personal and frisky; the salsa’s just the beginning. Don’t miss the frozen margaritas with hand-muddled tropical fruits and seasonings mixed in.
HUGO’S
1600 Westheimer; hugosrestaurant.net Salsafication: The sole table salsa, meant to accompany the house-fried totopos, is a salsa Mexicana so lively and fresh tasting and soft that it fools you into thinking it will be mild before socking you with its green-chile heat. Chef Hugo Ortega uses the chile pods with seeds and veins intact for more capsaicin oomph. A pulpy roomtemperature mince, it’s flecked with green chile and cilantro bits, deepened by onion and the garlic that is one of Ortega’s favorite salsa touches. Those spindles of tomato skin bristling here and there? Proof that fresh tomatoes have been roasted to make the salsa, which intensifies the flavors. Multiple salsas? Yes, many and varied, made to go with specific dishes. One of Ortega’s newest potions is the salsa macha, an evil-looking blackish sludge gritty with solids: garlic shards, sesame seeds, cilantro seeds, dried red chiles. This specialty of Veracruz hits with a toastiness followed by a note of sweetness and then bam! Sudden, throat-catching heat that hurts so good. The avocado-tomatillo green salsa is killer stuff, beautifully coarse and bright with hunks of tart tomatillo and a controlled flare of green chile heat that lingers on the tongue. The avocado component subtly mellows the effect. Free: No. Order the salsa Mexicana for $7 with totopos and guacamole. Salsa macha comes with roasted cauliflower salad; avocado-tomatillo salsa comes with Tacos Dorados, soft little folds of puffy fried potato. Chips: Sturdy house-fried totopos that emit a sharp crack with each bite. Grade: Extraordinary (Mexicana, macha and avocado-tomatillo).
LAST CONCERT CAFE
1403 Nance; lastconcert.com Salsafication: It might not be the first place that comes to mind when you’re craving Tex-Mex (and that’s your own
fault), but you’ll have a rewarding experience when you want to get on with a chips-and-salsa throwdown. The salsa is good-natured: bright-red tomato flavor churned with abundant cilantro and serrano chile. It’s made daily, and you can tell from its direct, clean, fresh impact. It’s the kind of salsa you wish you could make at home and would taste just as good. Mutiple salsas? No. Free: Yes. Chips: Good, workmanlike chips. Grade: Very good.
Other: You’ll have to knock at the red door to gain entrance, but Last Concert is as unpretentious and welcoming as they come. In a city that has a high tolerance for artifice, this hippie, be-yourself cafe puts on zero airs, making it a true comeas-you-are social hall for dependable Tex-Mex and uncontrived atmosphere.
LOS CUCOS MEXICAN CAFE
17 Houston-area restaurants; loscucos. com Salsafication: The red salsa at this Houston-born chain is served warm in a cup with a pouring lip. It’s as pretty to look at as it is good to eat, with roasted bits of red chiles and tomato. Pleasant vinegar finish. Multiple salsas? Yes. There’s palegreen cream sauce perked up with fresh cilantro. Free: Yes. Chips: They are lighter than they look, and that’s a good thing. Grade: Very good. Other: For a decadent lunch or afternoon snack, try the seafood nachos. A small order is plenty as this is one rich dish, topped with crab, shrimp, Monterey Jack, sour cream and guacamole. And it goes down swell with a pucker-inducing margarita.
LOS TIOS MEXICAN RESTAURANT
4840 Beechnut, 9527 Westheimer, 14006 Memorial, 3308 Highway 6 S. (in Sugar Land); lostiosrestaurant.com Salsafication: The old-school Tex-Mex chain’s duo of table salsas does the job, and certainly have their legion of fans. We give a slight edge to the sprightly red, a puréed blend that doesn’t overwhelm the flavor of its fried-corn vessel. It has an occasional bite of spice, but for the most part you’ll wonder how you polished off the bowl so quickly. Multiple salsas? Yes. The sour-creamy tomatillo/avocado green sauce also is imminently devourable. Free: Yes. Chips: On the thin side but sturdy enough. Salsa grade: Excellent (red); very good (green). Other: The Adair Family Restaurants Group (Skeeter’s, Adair Kitchen) acquired the Los Tios chain, which has been around for decades, in 2000.
MOLINA’S CANTINA
7901 Westheimer; 4720 Washington; 3801 Bellaire; molinascantina.com Salsafication: The “original” salsa — the recipe is more than 70 years old, just like the family-owned chain — is an acquired taste. It is super tart and vinegary, and you’re likely to get tripped up by some of those finely chopped fresh jalapeños. Multiple salsas? Yes. Molina’s other red sauce is a less brash, toastier concoction with roasted jalapeño, arbol and pasilla peppers. It grows on you. Both red salsas are served automatically. If you’d prefer a salsa verde, request the Michael sauce that accompanies the popular chicken enchiladas. Free: Yes. Chips: Fresh and fragile (in a good way). Grade: Excellent (both reds and green). Other: One of Molina’s best “para acompañar” is its mango pico de gallo. The warm salad accompanies a terrific sautéed camarones dish known as Raulito’s Shrimp Special.
NINFA’S ON NAVIGATION
2704 Navigation; ninfas.com Salsafication: Ninfa Laurenzo’s green avocado/tomatillo salsa caused a sensation when she introduced it back in the 1970s. Miraculously, it’s as good as it ever was, perhaps even better. This cool, roughly puréed salsa fools you with its avocado suavity and sour-creamy dairy innocence, sharpened by a quiet tartness from its tomatillo component. Then its green-chile heat lights a little burn on the roof of your mouth and keeps it going. This salsa is not just a Houston classic — it’s an American landmark. Multiple salsas? Yes, green and red. The cool, roughly puréed red salsa doesn’t have quite the roasty complexity it once did, nor the invigorating chile heat. But there’s a nice balance of tomato tartness and salt, and chile seeds and blackened bits impart a pleasant, spreading warmth. Upend a chip, and the salsa clings — always a plus. The pickled vegetables with their tangy heat are a nice touch. Ask for them. Free: Yes. Chips: Great thin, crackly chips with small bubbles across a surface glossed with the lightest sheen of oil. Easy to consume a half basketful without thinking about it. Salsa grade: Extraordinary (green); very good (red). Other: Wallow in chips and salsa with one of the house frozen or specialty margaritas at the bar; or apply liberally to everything from the mighty, servedhere-first fajitas to anything else on this reliable Tex-Mex menu.
PAPPASITO’S
More than a dozen Houston-area restaurants; pappasitos.com Salsafication: Served warm, this light but spicy salsa is reason alone to visit this Houston-based, family-owned chain. The roasted vegetables and pepper always taste super fresh. If we had any complaint, it is that the salsa vessels just get smaller and smaller. Multiple salsas? Yes. The creamy avocado dip is a pleasant accessory. Free: Yes. Chips: See-through-thin chips are served warm and satisfyingly salty. Grade: Very good. Other: Here’s the way to do Pappasito’s: Show up at 3 o’clock and order the addictive, butter-drenched Chipotle Shrimp that are available only at lunch, which is served until 4. The genius is that you’ve timed it just right for happy-hour pricing on your margarita.
PICO’S MEX-MEX
3601 Kirby; picos.net Salsafication: There’s red table salsa and green, in the binary tradition Ninfa’s made famous, but the green salsa is all tart tomatillo zip instead of avocado creaminess, which makes it wonderfully bright and memorable. There’s just enough grippy green-chile heat to expand the tart-fruit, onion and cilantro flavors and keep them going. Mutiple salsas? Yes. The red salsa has enough roastiness of tomato, onion and chiles to give it depth and complexity. Free: Yes. Chips: Well-made skinny totopos. Grade: Extraordinary (green); excellent (red). Other: The shaker margaritas, served straight up, have set the premium standards for this iconic Houston cocktail for three decades now. Order one with any of the well-made regional Mexican dishes.
SALTILLO MEXICAN KITCHEN
5427 Bissonnet; saltillomexicankitchen. com Salsafication: You get four-count’em-four table salsas to play with, each one formidable in its own right. The champion? An unusual minced-redonion salsa that’s almost a relish, lit up by fruity habanero chile and twinged with fragrant Mexican oregano. A touch of olive oil and orange rounds out the flavors and textures. Brilliant on everything from chips to the mesquitegrilled, Norteño-style beef that’s a specialty here. Multiple salsas? Yes. The tomatillo salsa, the mildest of the four, is a tart, spring-green purée. The perfectly calibrated red salsa, slightly pulpy and flecked with chile seeds, gets an intriguing umami note from chicken broth, and it bursts with front-of-themouth heat that spreads and fades to a lingering warmth. Fourth comes a bright, sunny habanero/papaya purée in which the papaya’s fruitiness tempers the distinctive habanero sear while salt sharpens it. Free: Yes. Chips: Sturdy, fried-in-house totopos with a layer-y effect. Grade: Extraordinary (red onion; red salsa); excellent (tomatillo, habanero). Other: Though the salsas merit a trip in themselves, the Norteño-style food at this upscale, dining-clubby Bellaire spot is terrific, and the house margarita, shaken and served straight up, is one of the city’s best.
TACO PALENQUE
3000 Woodridge; tacopalenquehouston. com
Salsafication: The standout on the serve-yourself salsa bar is the deep-red Salsa Picosa, which hits the palate with a profound sun-baked roastiness and spreading heat. Flecks of charred chile and plenty of seeds keep the slightly puréed texture real. Salty, tart and dusky, it’s hard to stop eating. Mutiple salsas? Yes, three. The good basic tomatillo green salsa hits with a quick flare of green-chile heat; and the dark, blackened Salsa Tatemada strikes with a major delayed sear that can make your nose run. Free: Yes. Chips: Thinny-thin and brittle. Grade: Excellent (Picosa); good (tomatillo and Tatemada). Other: The meats from the Rio Grande Valley-based chain are merely serviceable, but the earthy bean-andcheese tacos wrapped in flour tortillas are primal, the salsa bar’s fun, and the agua fresca jamaica is wonderful in its refusal to cloy.
THE PASTRY WAR
310 Main; thepastrywar.com Salsafication: Swamp creature. The boggy chile stew served at this serious downtown mezcal bar takes no prisoners. It is unapologetically combustible with ferocious chile heat. A red, tomato-based salsa, it almost tips to green in color for all its nearly flammable chile glory. We’ve asked what’s in it; they won’t tell. Whoever is making this fierce, verdant sludge is a salsa master. Multiple salsas? Nope, but this one practically straddles two worlds. Free: No. $5.99 for chips and salsa. Chips: Get rid of them. The awful, red/ white/blue supermarket tortilla chips are unworthy of such glorious salsa. Grade: Extraordinary. Other: The chicken and pork tamales are dreamy. We also like the queso. And that’s it for food at this bar that boasts what is surely the state’s most intelligent agave spirits program.
UNCLE JULIO’S
20526 Interstate 10, in Katy; unclejulios. com Salsafication: Roasted onions, jalapeños and tomatoes give this salsa a pleasantly smoky flavor; the little bits of cilantro provide a fresh touch. Served warm, the thin salsa is a perfect match for Uncle Julio’s ethereal chips. Multiple salsas? No. Free: Yes. Chips: Deftly salted and whisper thin. Grade: Very good. Other: Make it a celebration with this Dallas-based chain’s Chocolate Pinata. Diners use a small hammer to crack the egg-shaped chocolate, and out pour mini churros and fresh fruit.
Extraordinary: The ultimate Houston salsa Excellent: Among the very best Houston salsa Very Good: Must-do Houston salsa Good: Dependable salsa