Rainbow Lodge Tucked away on Buffalo Bayou, this once-private home with a pond, meandering gardens and sunroom overlooking a quaint gazebo has a way of making you think you're nowhere near the city. Pick a shady spot on the terrace and lose yourself in the trickling of the bayou below. The hand-carved wood bar, the collection of antique outboard motors mounted on the walls and the deep red cedar and pine details give the place a cozy hunting-lodge feel. If you don't mind stuffed trophies peering at you as you munch on some of the best Gulf Coast cuisine Houston has to offer, you'll enjoy a menu that leans heavily on wild game (the mixed grill appetizer includes venison, quail, elk and wild boar) and fresh seafood (salmon, lobster and blue crab plus daily fresh catches).

With its rattan furniture and mounted trophy fish, the bar at this "Floribbean" restaurant is one of the most colorful in the city. In fact, the Floridita restaurant on Kirby takes its name from the El Floridita bar in Havana, Cuba, where Ernest "Papa" Hemingway drank. Try a Papa Doble, a double daiquiri made to Hemingway's specs, or a premium rum drink. If you hate theme restaurants, you may see this place as little more than a Bennigan's with a thin veneer of Key West pasted on. But if you can get over that, you'll find some standouts, like Gulf red snapper and mussels in Thai broth.

In the Indian community, Bombay Sweets is known for its huge candy case and elaborate selection of chaat, the popular Bombay snacks made with crunchy stuff that tastes like breakfast cereal. For everyone else, the buffet is the main attraction. Try the awesome chickpea curry called chana masala and the spicy fire-roasted eggplant stew called bengan bhurta. Lots of other dishes rotate in and out of the lineup. Don't miss the velvety miniature stuffed eggplant fried in chickpea batter and served in a spicy tomato ginger sauce when it's available or the kadhi pakora, with crusty graham flour dumplings that look like chunks of meat floating in a yogurt-based yellow curry. In truth you can hardly go wrong with any of the featured dishes.

There's something magically peculiar about this space. It began as a church, then became the Dream Merchant, a freaky little clothing store. Now completely transformed into a restaurant, the former vestibule houses a dramatic, attractive wine cellar. The comfortably sedate furnishings flank a small glowing bar. But chef Mark Cox's cuisine outshines even these beautiful surroundings. He is an expert at balancing Houston's taste for comfort food (Mississippi-style grits served with chicken breasts) with a flair for the dramatic (black pearl risotto). But be sure to bring the corporate card, so you won't blanch when you learn that dessert costs a cool nine bucks.

Onion Creek Coffee House The Houston Heights is a great neighborhood that's starving for more social spots, and the Onion Creek Coffee House is a prime example of what those hangouts could look like (if more people had the fortitude to battle the prohibition-minded Houston Heights Association). Onion Creek's expansive sun deck, embellished with a tropical flair by owner Gary Mosely's green thumb, has transformed a once-bleak strip along White Oak into a magnet for everyone from morning dog walkers to late-night hipsters. Whether your thing is a $1.50 brunch-time mimosa, a Shiner, or just a cup of joe, this is where it's at. Settle into one of the retro velvet couches, and you might hear an aid worker talking about her recent trip to Afghanistan, or a thespian explaining the perks of canned-food night at the Alley. The Heights is just that kind of place, and Onion Creek helps make it happen.

This is no tourist joint, so don't expect anybody to explain things in English for you. But if you're looking for exotic Vietnamese specialties, you can't beat A Dong. Muc rang muoi, hot fried cuttlefish over a cold watercress salad, is the No. 1 thing to order here. "Summer delight," a tossed salad of pork, shrimp and jellyfish over salad, is another standout. The rock and roll beef (bo luc lac) is pretty good, and so is the curried goat (ca ri de). If you go for the goat, get the one listed under house specialties: This presentation features the tasty goat curry in a small bowl, served with rice and a baguette on the side. Who knew French bread would taste so good dunked in goat curry?

Artista The best complement to a fine performance is a fine meal. Lucky for theatergoers, the perfect eatery is right in the thick of downtown. At Artista, on the second floor of the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, every dish is a skilled production. From the ethereally light soft-shell crawfish taquitos to the crispy duck scallopini to the flourless chocolate cake with orange-chocolate bisque sauce, Artista's sometimes surprising taste combinations are an art form unto themselves. With an elegant atmosphere and a view overlooking Tranquility Park's trees and fountains, the stage is set for the perfect evening.

Oh, come on. You knew it was still Tony's, right? The Post Oak institution is the white-glove, cork-waving place to dine if you want to really be waited on. And it's not just about being surrounded by help -- it's the feeling that you're somebody. If Cheers is the place where everybody knows your name, then Tony's is the place where everyone is someone special. It doesn't matter if you're a bricklayer or a captain of industry -- you always get superb treatment. It's the philosophy that made Texas famous: If you can afford the prices, you deserve the service.

Come for the cheap and excellent food, but come back for the bizarre mix of Heights yuppies, ethnic groups, gay couples and long-haul trucker types that populate this second location, the first one being the much smaller version on Irvington. With the Aztec mural on the wall, the Mexican soaps on the bar TV and the piped-in music (often in competition with the jukebox), it's possible to get overstimulated while dining here. If that happens, you can just get your tacos to go. There's no better food or people-watching for the price.

According to the sign in the window of this no-frills grill on Hillcroft, Kabul serves such traditional Afghani foods as tekka kebab, shami kebab and the ever-popular qaduiy pulow. But don't worry about the weird names: Everything ends up being highly spiced ground lamb or ground beef shaped onto kebabs and grilled. The green chutney is made with jalapeños and tastes just like Tabasco's green sauce. Another relish made with tomatoes, onions and cilantro might as well be called pico de gallo. You get rice mixed with carrots and currants and a velvety eggplant stew on the side, along with hot crusty Afghani "slipper bread" -- all for incredibly low prices.