Macie Kelly/Houston Public Media
Chef Hugo Ortega stands at the entrance of his restaurant Hugo’s, which opened in 2002. He’s nominated for outstanding restaurateur at the 2026 James Beard Awards.
Semifinalists for the 2026 James Beard Awards, among the most celebrated culinary awards in the United States, were unveiled on Wednesday. Houston-area restaurants and chefs racked up 12 semifinalist nominations.
Those include nominations for outstanding overall restaurateur, outstanding chef, best new restaurant and best new bar, some of the highest-achieving awards from the James Beard Foundation.
The foundation also presents awards by region for best chef. Texas qualifies as its own region, where Houston scored four nominations.
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This year’s finalists will be announced on March 31. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Chicago on June 15.
Here are the Houston area’s semifinalists for the 2026 James Beard Awards:
Outstanding Restaurateur: Hugo Ortega and Tracy Vaught, H-Town Restaurant Group (Hugo’s, Xochi, Urbe and others)
Outstanding Chef: Manabu Horiuchi, Katami
Emerging Chef: Max Lappé and Jacques Varon, Baso
Emerging Chef: Adrian Torres, Maximo
Best New Restaurant: Agnes and Sherman
Best New Bar: Lee’s
Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service: June Rodil, March
Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service: Kristine Nguyen, Bludorn
Best Chef, Texas:
The full list of semifinalists can be found on the James Beard Foundation’s website.
Beyond Houston, several other Texas cities secured semifinalist nominations from the foundation, including one for outstanding chef for David Kirkland and Ernest Servantes of Burnt Bean Co. in Seguin.