Restaurants in Lake Jackson

Thick branches of 140-year-old oak trees stretch above Live Oak Bar and Grill, shrouding its wooden outdoor patio in a gentle blanket of leafy shade. The patio stands behind the restaurant itself, a home built in 1876 that is still decorated with photos of its original occupants and recent shots of their poltergeists.

And while the building itself is steep in century old history, the grill's cooks prefer to use ingredients whose age doesn’t match Live Oak's historic surrounds. Instead, they source fresh, natural ingredients from local farms to create their homestyle versions of classic bar dishes, from half-pound burgers to fish tacos smothered with jalapeno ranch dressing. Feasts unfold amidst rounds of billiards, sports flashing on flat-screen TVs, and weekly karaoke, while outside, live musicians occasionally take to the stage to serenade diners.

Named for one of Spain’s most prominent wine regions, Rioja restaurant's extensive wine menu is merely the icing on a cake made of tapas. Voted the best paella in Houston by the Houston International Paella Festival in 2004 and 2005, Rioja enhances traditional hot and cold Spanish tapas with an array of exotic ingredients. Below intricate wrought-iron chandeliers, entrées of seafood paella and grilled baby-lamb chops pair with more than 50 wines. Stuffed piquillo peppers, prime-beef short rib, and white asparagus imported from Navarra pair up with Spanish paprika and sweet pear purée. After questioning servers about Rioja’s homemade chorizo, guests can study flags on the wall emblazoned with the Spanish crest, the silhouette of a bull, and the silhouette of an astronaut drinking a martini inside a black hole.

Recalling the swirling skirts of tango dancers, Tango & Malbec’s dining room pulsates with red and black hues. Red cloths grace tables and can be removed easily in the event of impromptu bull stampedes, and a dark wooden floor hosts tango dancers on Saturday nights. In keeping with the sultry ambiance, the flicker of flames from the open kitchen’s grill casts the dining room in a warm glow. Over a wood-burning grill, chefs coax flavors from juicy slabs of grass-fed, free-range elk, buffalo, and beef. Once the succulent cuts have soaked up smoky aromas, chefs serve them with piquant chimichurri sauce or atop beds of homemade pastas.

At Kabab Kahani, grill masters skewer sustainably sourced, certified halal morsels of Indian- and Mediterranean-style meats, creating lamb kebabs, tandoori chicken, and gyros. The eatery also adheres to eco-friendly business practices such as recycling dinnerware and transforming leftovers into chicken feed. Guests can settle into the dining area’s vibrant red booths to gobble down falafel and lamb chops, or hop across the black-and-white-checkered floor in a game of human chess.

Chef and owner Paul Friedman channels his international roots into the fusion fare at Peli Peli, named for the South African spice that flavors its signature flame-pepper chicken dish. His menu mingles European-style focaccia and Chilean sea bass with South African classics such as homemade boerewors sausage, washing it all down with rivers of South African wine. Chef Paul also mixes the selection of dipping sauces—such as mint mojito, roasted garlic, and spicy ginger—that tag along with each entree, enabling a different burst of flavor or color of cocktail-napkin art with each bite. The food's not the only thing that expresses Peli Peli's South African influences. The dining room's glowing, 30-foot-tall central pillar recalls the nation's towering acacia trees, anchoring an avant-garde architectural scheme that the Houston Chronicle calls "eye-popping." Voted Houston’s Best Live Music Venue as well as Best Romantic Bar by Citysearch users in 2009, the moodily lit space also hosts live music Monday–Saturday evenings and live jazz during Sunday brunch.