TOP 27 places to order chile con queso in Houston

These Houston restaurants have some the hottest, meltiest, most essential gooey cheese dips in the city.

While most of the world longs for wealth, Texas has been blessed with its own inherent pot of gold. And it’s filled with gooey yellow cheese.

Chile con queso, that essential Tex-Mex dip most often made with processed American cheese, is practically a Texas birthright of the culinary kind.

While white or blanco versions and other lavas fashioned from assorted molten cheeses exist, our queso hungers can almost always be met with the familiar golden glow of yellow cheese dip studded with bits of tomato, chopped green chile, and onion.

Almost every Tex-Mex restaurant worth its salt has its own spin on chile con queso (or, more infrequently, its queso flameado cousin). And plenty of non-Tex-Mex eateries take their own dip into the queso pool without flinching. And that’s because no matter how you ladle it up, we can always find something to appreciate in a bowl of creamy melted cheese.

Bring on the tortilla chips, here are some of Houston’s favorite quesos.

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Showing 27 of 27

Armandos

2630 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77098
Kirsten Gilliam

The River Oaks Tex-Mex is using the same 45-year-old recipe for its chile con queso made with green chiles and fresh diced tomatoes. The restaurant also makes its own tortilla chips daily to provide the perfect crunch to creamy queso.

Arnaldo Richards’ Picos

3601 Kirby Dr, Houston, TX 77098
Picos

Not every Houston Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurant offers queso flameado, an indulgent dive into cheese, and perhaps a cousin to chile con queso. At Picos, the melted Chihuahua cheese is topped with poblano pepper rajas and a choice of house-made chorizo or sauteed mushrooms.

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Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen

6401 Woodway Dr, Houston, TX 77057
Paula Murphy

The chile con queso here is classic stuff; a bowlful of creamy cheese that chef/owner Sylvia Casares includes as a recipe in her “The Enchilada Queen Cookbook.” Customers can add ground meat to the dip or, better, pair with classic guacamole.

EZ’s Liquor Lounge

3302 White Oak Dr, Houston, TX 77007
Mikah Danae

The food menu at this heavenly Heights bar perfectly matches the laid-back, Texas-proud vibe. Grab a beer or frozen cocktail and settle in with a bowl of the house’s white queso, a fantastically rich dip whose creamy consistency borders on pudding. The dab of pico is great; next time we’re going for the dollop of chile con carne.

Eight Row Flint

1039 Yale St, Houston, TX 77008
Agricole Hospitality

The queso, made with white cheddar and buttermilk, is shot through with serrano chile and charred onions at the icehouse (original location and new EaDo outpost), served with most excellent tortilla chips or fresh chicharrones.

Killen’s

101 Heights Blvd, Houston, TX 77007
Killen's

Chef Ronnie Killen offers queso at his Killen’s TMX in Pearland (classic queso that can be topped with smoked brisket, ground beef or fajitas). But we like the creamy queso at his Killen’s Heights location, a rich elixir invested with ground beef, mushrooms, and pico de gallo. You won’t be able to stop dipping.

Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina

8865 Six Pines Dr ste 150, Shenandoah, TX 77380 (and multiple other locations)
Goode Co.

A classic chile con queso can be found at the Goode family’s Tex-Mex cantina restaurants. It can be augmented with picadillo and served with pico de gallo, sour cream, and guacamole.

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El Patio

6444 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77057
Greg Morago

Houston’s classic Tex-Mex restaurant and its beloved Club No Minors serves two types of queso. The first is a classic chile con queso cheese dip that can be had with with taco meat or fajitas. The second is the famous queso from the historic Felix Mexican Restaurant (El Patio owns the recipe). The Felix queso, enjoyed by generations, may be an acquired taste, but it lives in full glory here.

Flora

3422 Allen Pkwy, Houston, TX 77019
Greg Morago

The haute Mexican restaurant set in a beauteous space in Buffalo Bayou Park offers a lovely queso with house-made chorizo and a fiery roasted tomatillo salsa, served with righteous tortilla chips.

J-Bar-M Barbecue

2201 Leeland St, Houston, TX 77003
J-Bar-M Barbecue

The EaDo barbecue joint has a new beer garden menu that includes queso made with a blend of sharp cheddar and Swiss cheeses and topped with smoked brisket and pico de gallo, served with house-made tortilla chips.

Superica

1801 N Shepherd Dr #B, Houston, TX 77008
Greg Morago

Ford Fry’s Heights restaurant serving classic Tex-Mex includes, of course, chile con queso. Order it straight up, topped with chorizo, garnished with chicken fajita, or “compuesto” style with picadillo, guacamole, and sour cream. Superica also had queso fundido, broiled Chihuahua and Jack cheeses.

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Bayou Heights Biergarten

3905 Washington Ave, Houston, TX 77007
Greg Morago

This new night spot from The Kirby Group is packing them in on Washington. Yes, for the beer and cocktails, but also for chef Teddy Lopez’s barbecue-inspired food menu that includes smoked queso served with pico de gallo and the option to smoked brisket. Order the chicharrones to go along.

La Tapatia

1749 Richmond Ave., Houston, TX 77098
Greg Morago

The Tex-Mex mainstay with multiple locations offers a great straight-ahead chile con queso dip, made even better with the optional addition of picadillo, chorizo or beef fajitas. The house salsas and standout chips make this queso a pleasure; the kitchen also does a variety of quesos flameados.

Escalante’s

12821 Kimberley Ln, Houston, TX 77024 (and multiple other locations)
Greg Morago

The “blanco” chile con queso at Escalante’s is a winner — a bowl of supple cheese dip you must order with wonderful roasted poblano peppers, pico de gallo and taco meat. Blend it all together yourself and dig in. Queso heaven.

Chuy’s

19827 Northwest Fwy, Houston, TX 77065 (and multiple other locations)
Greg Morago

We can’t help but love the menu here (we could eat the creamy jalapeño cilantro dip on everything), especially the house queso made with a blend of melted cheeses. We order our bowl of molten cheese with taco meat, guacamole, and pico de gallo, naturally.

Gatsby’s Grill

2929 Navigation Blvd Suite 200, Houston, TX 77003
Raydon Creative

This new restaurant on Navigation makes its home in queso territory but holds its own with a rather uptown version of white cheese gussied up with jumbo lump crab, avocado and house pico de gallo.

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Los Tios

3308 Hwy 6, Sugar Land, TX 77479 (and multiple other locations)
Los Tios

The old school Tex-Mex joys at Los Tios are many. We love the nostalgia of the house classic chile con queso, even better in the guise of Katie’s T-Sip Dip larded with guacamole and taco meat. That same essential cheese sauce gets ladled over the restaurant’s famous puffy queso shells.

Wild Oats

2520 Airline Dr Suite C-315, Houston, TX 77009
Underbelly Hospitality

The restaurant that celebrates the glories of Texas foodways rightly offers a classic queso served with house-made green salsa and/or nopales salad. Order with corn tortilla chips or vegetarian-friendly potato chicharron.

The Original Ninfa’s

2704 Navigation Blvd, Houston, TX 77003
Ninfa's

We come, as we must, for the tacos al carbon, the dish Mama Ninfa made famous. But we stay for the queso, a spicy slurry of cheese, peppers and onions. We can’t stop scooping into the dip and the house red and green salsas. Ninfa’s also makes a memorable queso flameado prepared tableside.

Molina’s Cantina

7901 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77063 (and multiple other locations)
Julie Soefer

The oldest locally owned and operated Tex-Mex restaurant in Houston excels at so many staples of the Tex-Mex repertoire, including chile con queso. The original “Jose’s Dip” is a queso-lover’s masterpiece, served with spicy taco meat and a side of pickled jalapeños. Can’t be beat.

Pappasito’s

18101 Interstate 45 N, Shenandoah, TX 77385 (and multiple other locations)
Pappas Restaurants

The home-grown Tex-Mex brand with locations far and wide offers both traditional chile con queso (yellow molten goodness) and queso blanco, both shot through with tomato, onion, and green chile and served with the house’s light-as-air chips. The blanco also can be ordered with chicharrones.

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El Tiempo Cantina

114 Vintage Park Blvd, Houston, TX 77070 (and multiple other locations)
El Tiempo Cantina

It might be unthinkable to begin a typical blowout meal at El Tiempo without first digging into the chile con queso. Here, the queso is studded with bits of onion, tomato and chile. The house “Joey” dip is queso with ground beef. Familiar; essential.

Candente

4306 Yoakum Blvd, Houston, TX 77006
Candente

The Montrose Tex-Mex that makes the city’s best composed nachos also dishes up a crave-worthy chile con queso. Don’t pass up the many optional toppings: chile torreados, taco meat, chopped brisket, beef or chicken fajitas, or Texas red chile. That same queso is part of the can’t-stop-eating strata that is the house’s 7 Layer Bean Dip.

Tacos A Go Go

3704 Main St, Houston, TX 77002
Marco Torres

One of our favorite taco joints caters to deeply held queso preferences by offering both traditional yellow dip and queso blanco made with a blend of white cheeses. The traditional yellow gets an upgrade in Queso Quintero with the addition of chorizo, pico de gallo, and scallions.

Jax Grill

6510 S Rice Ave, Bellaire, TX 77401 (and one other location)
Kirsten Gilliam

We like the menu’s Southwestern flair at this casual restaurant, especially when it comes to familiar appetizers including the house’s addictive queso blanco. The chicken fajita fries and crispy chicken taquitos are served with green chile queso.

CounterCommon Beerworks & Kitchen

5413 Bellaire Blvd, Bellaire, TX 77401
Becca Wright

This newish Bellaire brewpub sports a menu that neatly marries Mexican and Korean culinary traditions including the house’s play on queso, here called K-So: a cheese dip with chorizo, a gochujang glaze, and roasted jalapeños served with abundant tortilla chips (or substitute soft pretzel sticks).

Winnie’s

3622 Main St Suite A, Houston, TX 77002
Winnie's

One of our favorite Midtown bars has an impressive menu that leans on Gulf and New Orleans flavors (think oysters and po’boys). There’s also a nifty twist on queso here, a dip made with pimento cheese that offers the option of crawfish tails. H-Town meets the Big Easy.

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Credits

Reporting by Greg Morago / Houston Chronicle . Editing by Jody Schmal / Houston Chronicle . Production by Julie Takahashi / Houston Chronicle . Icons by Font Awesome / CC BY.