Things to do in Houston

Rooftop Restaurants in Houston

Dine with a view at Houston's rooftop restaurants, where food is elevated — literally.

Experience the Southern hospitality and charm of Houston. While the nightlife thrives in this dynamic city, there’s much more to explore, including various things to do, from rooftop dining to vibrant cultural experiences. Set your eyes skyward to Houston’s rooftop bars, where happy hour comes with an unforgettable view.

American

The Grove

Dine at The Grove to forget your worries while enjoying soft urban lights and twinkling stars in the distance. What’s unique about The Grove is its focus on freshness—it grows its own herbs on this rooftop to enhance its artisanal meals. What's most impressive about The Grove is its vast menu of spirits and liqueurs. Of course, American classics are also star menu items, with drinks such as the Cosmopolitan or whiskey sour.

Photographer: Johann Trasch

Brenner’s on the Bayou

The original Brenner’s began as a simple café in 1936. While it has expanded since then, it stayed true to its roots. Today, it serves a menu dominated by American cuisine with groundbreaking twists.  High up on this upscale rooftop restaurant and bar, you’ll experience panoramic views of Buffalo Bayou and Memorial Park. The menu pays homage to the original Brenner’s Steakhouse, with many meat and seafood dishes, while the bar transforms classic cocktails with its signature details.

Harold's Restaurant, Bar, & Terrace

You’d be hard-pressed to find a rooftop restaurant in Houston with a more central location than Harold’s. Situated in the city’s beating heart, it allows you to step into an oasis within the bustling metropolis to whet your appetite and slake your thirst.

Dining at Harold’s lets you enjoy your meal against the backdrop of the Victorian Houston Heights, one of the city’s most historic neighborhoods. But if you prefer a different vibe, the restaurant also has an indoor dining room and a taproom bar area, in addition to its outdoor patio and terrace.

Parkview Terrace at Marriot Marquis

Parkview Terrace is a special place! The holidays are an energetic time here, with celebrations showcased in many ways. Patrons can enjoy events such as concerts under the stars, yoga classes, and jazz performances. In winter, thousands of dazzling lights brighten the rooftop for an interactive experience.

Photographer: Leon Contreras

Mexican

El Big Bad

El Big Bad has 30 house-made tequilas, so you needn’t travel to the desert to experience this classic beverage in all its forms. Pair a margarita with the restaurant’s authentic cuisine for the perfect accompaniment, which takes a modern and innovative approach to Mexican, Latin, and Texan food. It’s a great parallel to how we blend performance styles from throughout the world using contemporary techniques. Passion is a catalyst that can unearth a realm of possibilities.

Sunset Rooftop Lounge

Sunset Rooftop Lounge, in Eado, is a spot where you can dine up high. The experience is only enhanced its classic cocktails and food. Whiskey lovers may be enthralled with the restaurant's ever-growing classic and unexpected selection. If creative cocktails are more your thing, try the bar’s expansive list of tequila sunset variations that may give you an entirely new impression of this traditional and timeless drink.

However, Sunset Rooftop Lounge’s pièce de résistance is the live music hosted at the restaurant throughout the week, reflecting just one of the many unique things to do in Houston. Whether it's saxophone, Latin tunes, or industrial music, the variety here caters to all tastes, showcasing the city's diverse cultural roots.

Captain Foxheart’s Bad News Bar & Spirit Lodge

Despite its name, visiting Captain Foxheart’s Bad News Bar & Spirit Lodge is all good news. The establishment has a list of spirits featuring rare finds and beloved classics from across the globe. This is much like how we’ve grown from our street performance roots in Quebec to spread wonder worldwide.

Whether you like absinthe, cognac, or mezcal, you’ll enjoy it more from the bar’s rooftop, offering downtown views of Main Street in Houston. Bartenders can also mix cocktails, helping the establishment’s impressive spirit collection shine. Whether you want a classic drink such as a Manhattan or something wholly new and unique, your sense of adventure is the only limit.

High & Dry

High & Dry, a chic Houston bar, offers an extensive selection of delicious drinks, echoing the diverse offerings of rooftop bars in Houston. Its impressive collection of about 200 varieties of rum is a testament to the city's vibrant and varied bar scene. Complementing these are syrups, tinctures, and freshly squeezed juices, each adding a burst of flavor to every cocktail.

Ambiance is just as vital to a good cocktail as it is to one of our heart-pounding performances. This attention to atmosphere is something High & Dry has in spades. The bar features beautiful hardwood floors, large windows, and warm colors throughout, enhanced further by soft lighting that will make you feel right at home on a Saturday evening.

Wine and Romantic

La Carafe

Carafe is a French word for glass, which encapsulates this bar’s essence as a place to enjoy a fine glass of wine in intimate, candle-lit surroundings. However, it might surprise you to learn that it’s believed to be the oldest bar in Houston.

The building housing La Carafe is even listed on the National Register for Historic Places, making it not only a dreamy destination for wine and beer connoisseurs but also a cherished landmark steeped in history.

Inside, La Carafe is lit dimly to capture the style of old French and New York bars, with each table primarily lit by a single candle for a soft ambiance. This is accompanied by a jukebox, playing jazz, reggae, and blues to create the perfect environment to sip pinot noir or swirl a buttery chardonnay.

Late-Night Dining

Grand Prize

Landing a major prize takes incredible luck, but everyone can feel like they’ve stepped into the winner’s circle at Grand Prize — one of Houston’s most immersive dive bars. Inside, neon lights create a relaxing and inviting atmosphere where patrons can enjoy the pool tables and sip their favorite drinks while the stress melts away.

Adding to its unique charm, the bar even serves adult Happy Meals, consisting of a beer and a shot.

If you’re not digging the dive bar ambiance, heading upstairs onto the terrace gives you a beautiful vista of nearby Bell Park. Grand Prize also serves a variety of delicious foods, such as tacos, so you can enjoy a hearty meal with the view.

Skyline Views

Z on 23

Z on 23 holds the distinction of being one of the highest open-air cocktail bars, giving you a bird's-eye view of skyscrapers and the downtown skyline of Houston from the 23rd floor of Le Méridien.

Watch as evening falls and the glittering urban environment encapsulates you with all the sights and sounds of Houston’s bustling nightlife scene.

However, stunning views and cool breezes aren’t the only things on the menu at Z on 23. The bar is also a vibrant hotspot for those who enjoy shareable meals such as flatbreads and chicken wings. Pair your food with a chilly glass of prosecco on a warm summer afternoon for an ideal way to relax as the sun sets.

Cielo XLIII at Market Square Tower

Exclusivity is the name of the game at Cielo XLIII. Positioned above Market Square, this skyline bar sits 43 floors up from the ground, offering the perfect spot for late-night hangouts, dancing, and sultry conversations. You’ll also find a diverse mix of musical numbers, from soothing jazz to DJ-mixed electronica, adding the finishing touch to elevate the atmosphere.

Food at Cielo XLIII is prepared primarily as small, elegant bites, ideal for snacking or sharing with friends. The cocktail menu also follows a more upmarket trend, with unique drinks tailored to your tastes by expert mixologists. Have a recipe you like? Take it with you, and the staff might bring it to life before your eyes.

Skylawn Rooftop at POST HTX

Urban agriculture and community engagement come together in a visionary blend to forge the Skylawn Rooftop — one of Houston’s best spots for social gatherings. Imagine welcoming the day with a relaxing yoga session or dancing away all your stress with an energetic Zumba class set against lush greenery and the beautiful city skyline.

Expanding over 5 acres, Skylawn features seven gardens to explore, space for private events, and a games area. The rooftop also has bars and a café where you can unwind. Arrive in the afternoon for a spectacular surprise as the whole area lights up when night falls.

The Monarch Restaurant and Terrace

The Monarch, a beloved Houston establishment, pairs captivating meals with an assortment of exciting and unique cocktails. Each drink is expertly mixed to evoke a particular flavor style, from playful fruity notes to crisp ginger or even rich, layered chocolate. We’re big fans of this style of edgy innovation, which features heavily in our performances.

Outdoor and Casual

The Dogwood

The Dogwood, much like its namesake, the Flowering Dogwood, is a symbol of Texas culture. Envisioned as a social hub for outdoor dining, the establishment features a rooftop bar that provides panoramic views of Houston’s cityscape, allowing guests to enjoy meals under the sparkle of stars. You can also dine indoors or on the patio — partitioned spaces that adjust easily to accommodate the size of most groups.

Photographer: Danita Delimont

Entertainment

Electric FeelGood

Electric FeelGood, one of Houston’s most popular retro bars, replicates the nostalgic neon colors of ‘50s-inspired American bars, blending them with motifs from the 80s and 90s to create a fun space for meetups. However, Electric FeelGood offers something for everyone, so you don’t necessarily have to be a fan of Guns N’ Roses or vintage leg warmers if that’s not your style. Their daily specials include tantalizing American food, and you can even design your own burger.

R24 Executive Rooftop Lounge

Hilton’s global hotel empire has its roots in Texas, with the opening of its first hotel in Dallas in 1925. Over the years, the brand has cultivated an image of sophistication and luxury — a standard meticulously upheld in Hilton’s R24 Rooftop Lounge.

Overlooking Discovery Green, the lounge is an elegant place for Diamond Hilton Honors members and guests of the Executive Level floors during the day. Come nightfall, it opens to the public, offering amazing views and cocktails crafted by mixologists. Day and night evoke slightly different sensations here, just like at our shows, but both are memorable.

Photographer: Faizan Saeed

Trendy Downtown Dining

Bungalow Downtown Dining

Ambiance improves everything, as the perfect environment allows conversations and laughter to flow effortlessly. At its heart, Bungalow Downtown Dining is an upscale establishment, but it’s designed to make any occasion feel special.

It achieves this by dividing its floor space into several distinct dining areas with unique decor styles, including a bar, private rooms, and a rooftop patio.

The restaurant also has two private event rooms. The Prive’ Room exudes affluence and soft ambiance, perfect for intimate parties, while The Low Lounge features more edgy decor for hip social events.

Elevate Your Houston Dining Experience: Rooftop Delights Await

Lifting your dining journey above the ordinary is no small feat, but it’s easier when the restaurant sits high above the city streets. So, next time you visit Houston, why not take a walk on the wild side by moving your weekend brunch plans to the skyline at one of the rooftop bars we’ve explored?

If you’re still eager to defy gravity, we’d love for you to see the out-of-this-world aerial acrobatics of our performers in Corteo and our other unforgettable Houston shows.

More articles about