Restaurants in Pearland

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.

In July of 2011, Bernard Montgomery opened a chili-focused restaurant using his grandmother's recipe, a bean-less mixture deemed "best chili in Houston" by HoustonPress. After years of preparing chili in Los Angeles for family gatherings, picnics, and church outings, he relocated to Houston where he catered a football function. Urged by family, friends, and even his own boss, he started jarring batches of the chili and eventually opened his own restaurant starring the meaty mixture. Today, The Chili Shak serves up burger patties, hot dogs, burritos, and other diner favorites slathered with this prized chili. Cooks also prepare chili rice bowls paired with a side of cornbread, a meal Montgomery's grandmother used to make on cold winter days to melt the ice on the sidewalk.

Dubbed “a carnivorous extravaganza” by the Houston Chronicle, Angus Grill Brazilian Steakhouse serves all-you-can-eat feasts of skewered meat prepared in the churrasco tradition of southern Brazil. Servers run the piquant pageant, carving slabs of Angus beef at tables lined with crisp white linens instead of the stolen Little League rain tarps that some restaurants prefer. Filet mignons borrow crispy texture by donning strips of bacon, and top sirloin, the house specialty, flavors succulent juices with a hint of garlic. Treats such as fried bananas and papaya cream conclude meals on a sweet note.

The chef at White Oak Kitchen + Drinks—which opened in the Galleria Mall in April 2011—plucks fresh rosemary, oregano, mint, and basil from an herb garden he's cultivated on the roof, mixing them into a spread of contemporary dishes with international influences. He lightly breads calamari in panko breadcrumbs, adding a spicy sriracha aioli for some kick, and pan-sears mahi-mahi with grilled shrimp and a sweet red-bell-pepper coulis. Classic, southern-style crispy chicken gets extra flavor from Hungarian paprika and a creamy side of macaroni and cheese. For dessert, the s'mores bread pudding inspires stories of hard-won paranormal-investigation merit badges with toasted marshmallows and a graham-cracker crust drizzled with chocolate sauce. Staffers also serve up freshly baked pastries or farm-fresh eggs for breakfast.

The private dining area hosts up to 30 party guests in front of a 50-inch flat-screen HD television, and business-meeting presenters can place their laptops in a docking station to project a slideshow or a deadlocked game of solitaire. The restaurant's wood walls add texture and warmth to the ambience, as do the framed cross-sections of tree-trunk rings.

Those who say things aren't the way they were back in the good old days certainly haven't had a burger and fries from The Burger Shack. The welcoming spot echoes the low-key, homey feel of those iconic burger joints past. The walkup counter and pennant-strewn dining room act as a backdrop for a deliciously nostalgic menu of juicy Angus burgers and Blue Bell shakes. The cooks lovingly shape each third-pound grilled-to-order burger using beef that’s never seen a freezer or even received Valentines from a snowflake. Toppings for the juicy sizzlers can include Wisconsin cheddar, Hass avocados, or crispy bacon. The shack's staff members also hand make addictive sides such as curly fries and hand-dipped shakes.