Restaurants in Bellaire

Both Crapitto's lunch and dinner menus were constructed from Old World Crapitto family recipes for the best Italian fish, meat, antipasti, and propastas. Appetizers include jumbo lump crab cakes drizzled with lemon wine sauce ($15) and sautéed shrimp Nellie coated in a garlic cream sauce ($12). The eatery's signature dish, a succulent 16-ounce grilled veal chop, comes with parmesan-dusted asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes, and is topped with Roquefort butter ($34). Other favorites include the grilled snapper Red Griffin served with artichoke hearts and capers in a lemon-white-wine sauce alongside linguine marinara ($27), chicken grilled in a rosemary-Dijon cream sauce ($17), and the caliente Pasta Diablo, with grilled chicken, linguine, tomatoes, onions, and jalapeños ($18). Seal in flavors with one of Crapitto's signature desserts, or a goblet or carafe from its extensive wine menu.

As a working mother, Stephanie Allen was constantly racing against the clock. One timesaving endeavor she quickly mastered was preparing meals ahead of time from raw, fresh ingredients and popping them in the freezer for a later date. Stephanie eventually amassed a book of recipes and began sharing her culinary secrets with friends. With the help of Tina Kuna's business savvy, Stephanie's personal practice burgeoned into a nationwide phenomenon known as Dream Dinners.

Today at shops across the country, busy matriarchs and patriarchs shuffle around meal stations, each stocked with recipe cards, ingredients, and scratch-and-sniff tinfoil to construct meals that serve three or six. They tick off recipe components as they add the proper amount to meal containers, ferrying the uncooked dishes home and tucking them into freezers. Then, throughout the week, they simply thaw, heat, and serve these dinners to eagerly waiting eaters.

Though Dream Dinners does not cater to specific diets, the company does offer nutritious meals with antibiotic- and hormone-free chicken. Customers can survey all nutritional information before selecting dishes.

Frank's Chop House has menus full of soulful offerings at both lunch and dinner, allowing the taste buds to nestle into flavors as familiar and enveloping as a well-worn beanbag chair. Do Frank proud with a lunchtime pork chop and potato, green beans, and a tomato salad ($15.95), or have the local favorite, a chicken-fried steak ($15.95). To start a dinner right, have a jumbo lump crab cake ($12) or ahi-tuna tartare ($15). Then dive into some home cookin' with fare such as the Chop House burger and fries ($12) or a fried gulf-shrimp and oyster platter ($24). Comfort food isn't complete without a side of green beans or mac ’n’ cheese ($7 each).

Texadelphia's menu of cheesy, steaky, 100%-Angus-beefy goodness kicks off any meal with a bang. Order some chips and guac ($5.49–$5.99) and chicken tenders ($6.49–$6.99) before tearing into the Founder's Favorite, the cheesesteak that started it all (Angus beef or thin-sliced chicken breast, cheese, mushrooms, and jalapeños, $6.89–$6.99). Branch out along southern lines with the Texican, a beef or chicken cheesesteak with all the trimmings and a side of chili con queso for topping or spooning ($6.89–$6.99), or the Hickory, laden with house-recipe hickory barbecue sauce and manned by a crew of mouth-pleasing cherry peppers ($6.89–$6.99). Items of non-Philly origin also dot the menu, such as the grilled-chicken sandwich on a toasted wheat bun ($6.29–$6.59) and the smoked turkey and guacamole salad ($6.79). Prices and menu offerings vary slightly between the two locations.

Decades before opening the doors on his own sub shop, Len Moore was cutting his teeth on the lower rungs of the restaurant ladder. But, while he was running between busy tables as a busboy and fighting for a promotion to dishwasher, Len kept his eyes and ears open, slowly piecing together bits of kitchen wisdom that would eventually find their way into the sandwiches he makes today.

At Lenny’s, freshness comes first; sub rolls rise in the oven each morning, and the sandwich crew carves deli meats and cheeses for each order. The menu lists gargantuan favorites—large subs weigh in with a full pound of meat—including philly cheesesteaks, half-pound hot dogs, deluxe club sandwiches, and classic ham and capicola. Each sandwich is also willing to join up with combo standbys including drinks, chips, and cookies baked by each franchise owner's grandmother.