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The James Beard Award semifinalists list for 2026 dropped this morning, and here are my thoughts (and a few hot takes) on some of the Texas restaurants and chefs who were nominated.
First and foremost, I’m thrilled to see Gabe Sanchez get his first nomination — and it is way overdue. This is for his work at Midnight Rambler, which has already landed him numerous other awards, but this man is doing incredible work at Saint Valentine and Black Swan, Dallas bars he co-owns with the equally impressive Ryan Payne. Absolutely, go enjoy the menus he devises for the basement bar at the Joule Hotel, but if you want something a little less fancy and with no valet parking charges, there are options.
Custom cocktails at Saint Valentine in Old East Dallas.
It is exciting to see David Kirkland and Ernest Servantes of Burnt Bean Co. in Seguine make the Best Chef longlist. Not the Texas chef list, but across the whole country, these guys doing barbecue, not in a major metropolis, get the nod. I wonder if this is a gentle prod from the Beards to Michelin about how to laud Texas barbecue — Burnt Bean is progressive, not just perfecting old-school barbecue, like so many Michelin-starred spots, but toying with fusion cooking and nostalgic sides full of childlike whimsy.
Mixtli once again earns a Best Service nomination, which it greatly deserves. The front of house here is run by two women, sommelier Hailey Pruitt and bar director Lauren Beckman, who have hospitality down to a science. The restaurant draws inspiration from now-closed Relæ in Copenhagen, as well as Noma and a host of critically acclaimed spots. It is truly one of the best and most well-organized service experiences I’ve had in the state of Texas. It’s also unlike how most restaurants, even tasting menu-only places, run their service. Every server and chef in the restaurant touched my table during the meal, which was so cool and prompted so many questions about how they do it that I wrote an article about it. Mixtli is, however, perpetually nominated for this award, making it to the short list even, but has never won this particular honor. It did take home a Michelin special award for service in 2024.
In the Best New Restaurant category, it is no surprise to see Houston’s Agnes & Sherman listed. It’s racked up accolades this year. More surprising is Anacacho Coffee & Cantina in San Antonio, which is a coffee shop and all-day cafe serving Mexican food. The menu reads like something the Beards would love, but casual places like this are never a lock in the big national categories. I’ll be watching to see if it makes the short list. And hey, Far-Out, the little Quonset hut in East Dallas that could, landed on the list. Misti Norris is the culinary director there, while Mery Aguayo, the former executive sous chef at Georgie, is its executive chef. I’ve been a handful of times this fall and winter, and the food is impressive. They keep a tight menu that rotates a lot. Also great is the renovation of the outdoor patio, and the new bar they’ve tucked around back for overflow space.
One of the fun features at Far-Out is that they use vintage and thrifted china that doesn’t match.
Love to see Starship Bagel, with multiple locations in Dallas, continue to be nominated for Outstanding Bakery, but I’d love it more if we could see them finally win.
One of the surprising nods on this list is Maggie Huff at Lucia in Dallas. Usually, chef/owner David Uygar ends up on the Best Chef: Texas list, but not this year. Huff is up against a powerhouse multi-time nominee, Tavel Bristol-Joseph, who lands a nod for Nicosi, the tasting menu dessert restaurant in San Antonio.
Also excited to see Ayahuasca Cantina in Dallas get Outstanding Bar recognition. It’s got a lot of critical love in Dallas, but unclear if the public has shown it enough love. Maybe that changes now.
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The big list for Best Chef: Texas is so competitive this year. I expected to see ChòpnBlọk out of Houston on the nominations list a lot more, to be honest, but at least the Beards could acknowledge it here. Overall, this list is loaded with restaurants that are extremely different, with chefs doing wildly different things. I do not envy the Beard judges their job of narrowing this down, nor do I even remotely understand what criteria they’re going to use — this list of restaurants is like apples, oranges, pineapples, and airplanes. It also gives me a lot of restaurants to add to my list of places I want to try. Osteria Il Muro in Denton is still at the top of it. Why haven’t I been there yet? JŪN in Houston is also very high up, as is Bardo in Marfa. There are a few people on the list whom I would not pick to progress further, and if you know me, you can ask for those takes in person.
ChòpnBlọk is arguably Houston’s best restaurant right now.
Random but notable: Elizabeth Blau, who took over the restaurant at the top of Reunion Arena with her chef husband Kim Canteenwalla, got a nod for Outstanding Restaurateur for Buddy V's and Honeysalt, their restaurants in Las Vegas. Crown Block earned Michelin recognition right off the bat, but hasn’t exactly gotten a lot of acclaim from locals in Dallas or the Dallas food media. It is a place built for tourists, really. Blau knows how to do that well, based on her Vegas portfolio and where it’s an asset. It doesn’t really amount to a hill of beans, it’s just interesting.
Correction: The original version of this post stated that Maggie Huff was nominated for the first time this year. She made the semifinalists list for Best Pastry Chef in 2017 at FT33 and made the semifinalists list in 2020 for her work at Homewood.