13 Houston Area Restaurants and Chefs Are 2025 James Beard Award Semifinalists

Houston area chefs tie with San Antonio for the most nods for the James Beard Award’s Best Chef: Texas category

On Wednesday, January 22, the James Beard Foundation’s awards committee revealed its list of semifinalists for the 2025 James Beard Awards ceremony. Houston chefs and restaurants have made a great showing, with 13 semifinalists in the running for medals in seven different categories.

Six Houston area chefs, including Ope Amosu of West African restaurant ChòpnBlọk, Thomas Bille of Belly of the Beast, Beatriz Martinez of Xalisko in The Woodlands, and Top Chef: Houston alumna Evelyn Garcia have received recognition for the Best Chef: Texas category, which seems to set a new record for Houston and ties with San Antonio, which also had six semifinalists in this category. Emmanuel Chavez of the Mexican tasting menu Tatemó, who was nominated as a finalist last year, is a semifinalist again this year.

Here’s a full list of the Houston-area chefs and restaurants who made the cut.

• Ope Amosu of West African restaurant ChòpnBlọk; Emmanuel Chavez of Tatemó; Evelyn Garcia of Heights Southeast Asian and Latin restaurant Jūn; David Skinner of Native American tasting menu restaurant Ishtia in Kemah Texas; Beatriz Martines of Xalisko in The Woodlands; and Thomas Bille of Belly of the Beast in Spring are semifinalists in the Best Chef: Texas category.
• Itai Ben Eli and Itamar Levy of Sof Hospitality Group (Hamsa, Badolina Bakery, and Doris Metropolitan) and Sara and Martin Stayer, the owners of Montrose restaurants Nobie’s, Toasted Coconut, and Nonno’s, are semifinalists for Outstanding Restaurateur.
• Suu Khin of pop-up Burmalicious is a semifinalist for Emerging Chef.
• Mexican bakery and cafe Ema is a semifinalist for Best New Restaurant.
• Koffeteria is a semifinalist for Outstanding Bakery.
• Goodnight Hospitality’s tasting menu restaurant, March, is a semifinalist for the Outstanding Wine category.
• Andres Blanco of Le Jardinier received semifinalist recognition for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service.

Finalists for the James Beard Awards will be announced on Wednesday, April 2, with a ceremony to name the winners held on Monday, June 16, in Chicago.

Houston has been successful in previous years: In 2024, Emmanuel Chavez was the sole semifinalist from Houston, but ultimately, Houston had no winners. In 2022, Julep, owned by mixologist Alba Huerta was awarded Outstanding Bar Program, and chef Benchawan Jabthong Painter (Chef G) of Second Ward Thai restaurant Street to Kitchen was named Best Chef: Texas in 2023.

This year’s Beards come at an interesting time — Houston is fresh off the heels of the Michelin Guide launching its inaugural Texas guide in November. The prestigious international guide awarded six one-stars, multiple Bib Gourmands, and recommendations to Houston restaurants, and there does seem to be some overlap with Beard recognition. Tatemó, March, and Le Jardinier were each given one Michelin star; Belly of the Beast, Ema, and Nobie’s were given Bibs.

Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Foundation Awards.