Houston’s dining scene has been touted for a lot of things: international flavors, innovative concepts, award-winning eateries. Now, it can add another distinction to the list—home to the most outrageous restaurant in the U.S.
Yelp recently released a ranking of the 10 most over-the-top restaurants across the country. The Downtown Aquarium‘s restaurant at 410 Bagby St. claimed the top spot, beating out a hilltop mansion, a spy-themed speakeasy, and a mystery meal served in the dark.
“You can feel as if you’re sitting at the bottom of the ocean as you watch colorful fish swim,” Yelp said.
The “underwater” restaurant, specifically, is inside the Aquarium’s six-acre complex, which features aquatic and geographic exhibits, rides, games, an upscale bar and ballroom. The 400-seat, full-service restaurant is surrounded by over 100 species of aquatic life from around the globe.
“At the center is a 150,000-gallon, floor-to-ceiling aquarium that’s home to Australian zebra sharks, giant shovelnose rays, bluespine unicornfish, and other exotic aquatic creatures. Walls and ceilings designed to mimic an underwater grotto, and beautiful stenciling and painting all around the dining room, add to the undersea atmosphere” General Manager Steven Harbert told Yelp.
One Yelp Elite member said “there truly isn’t a bad seat in the house,” while another said the food was as “phenomenal” as the setting, describing it as the best and freshest seafood they had ever eaten.
True to its aquatic aesthetic, much of the Aquarium’s menu features grilled and fried seafood dishes, but it also includes steaks, chicken, salads, pasta dishes, desserts, “aqua martinis” and other cocktails– with the best sellers being the Louisiana Cajun Pasta with chicken, shrimp, sausage, and crawfish tails and Mariner’s Mixed Grill with sirloin, lobster tail, and grilled shrimp, according to Yelp’s report.
Praised for its fun, family-friendly atmosphere, the Aquarium Restaurant beat out other over-the-top dining destinations in San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York City.
Tilman Fertitta’s Landry’s, Inc. opened the Aquarium in 2003. In addition to the waterlife, the for-profit facility also once housed white Bengal tigers (to the alarm of animal rights groups). The last of the original group of tigers, Marina, died in 2025 at the age of 21.